Not only is young Jaden Smith, son to Will Smith, an acting sensation in the remake of The Karate Kid, but he’s got his father’s rapping talent as well. He can be heard singing on one of the songs from the soundtrack to the new film by Columbia Pictures.
He is a guest artist on the single “Never Say Never” which is sung by teen sensation Justin Bieber. Watch the video here and enjoy seeing how the apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Here is an exciting glimpse of the Broadway musical produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. This musical uses Afrobeat music to tell the story of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s controversial life as an artists, political activist and revolutionary musician.
Kuti’s music is experiencing a revival at the moment. This is both due to the Broadway musical, and to the release of re-mastered editions of his entire music catalog.
Certainly, you never know which musicians will make a comeback and when. At the moment, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a pioneer in the mix of African music, jazz, funk and “Afrobeat” is enjoying a revival. As a global superstar in the 1970s, Fela Kuti is enjoying a comeback. While he’s been gone for over a decade, his revolutionary music is enjoying a resurgence in American pop culture.
Certainly, this revival is due to two main influences. “Fela!”, a hit Broadway musical, uses Afrobeat music to tell the story of Kuti’s life. This musical is backed by Jay-Z and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. In addition to this obvious recognition of Kuti’s talents, Knitting Factory Records recently began releasing re-mastered editions of his entire catalog of music. This project will include, in total, nine albums that were recorded from 1969 to 1974.
Since February is “Black History Month,” a time to commemorate African-Americans who have changed the world, it’s only appropriate to take our hats off to Will Smith. In addition to many of his other important and ground-breaking actions, Will Smith is important to the history of hip-hop. He had one of the first music videos by a hip-hop artist to be shown on MTV.
Enjoy the show below!
This weekend, some of the biggest starts in Hollywood came out to support Haiti and to raise money for the people there. Soon after the earthquake hit on January 12th, George Clooney spoke with the MTV Networks president to try to pull together a star-studded telethon.
Since that first phone call, over 100 actors and musicians signed on to join the “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief” which aired on Friday on over 60 networks and online. Such stars included Beyonce, Madonna, Will Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Former President Clinton, actors Brad Pitt and Chris Rock and many others.
MTV explained that it was the most widely distributed telethon ever. The event was aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT. It was also aired on CNN International and across the MTV Networks Worldwide which reaches millions and millions of people.
For more information, see the following articles:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-telethon22-2010jan22,0,5891457.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-telethon23-2010jan23,0,2144422.story