Black Music Month – Memphis Flyer

Fans of KitKat bars might spy a touch of Memphis style on their candy wrappers soon. The Hershey-owned brand recently partnered with Black illustrators to design wrappers that “depict Black Music in six cities across the U.S.” In addition, they have also decided to partner with a nonprofit in each of those cities to celebrate Black Music Month.

The nonprofit chosen for the city of Memphis is the Memphis Music Initiative, and for the month of June, customers will be able to buy KitKats with artwork inspired by the city of Memphis, created by Memphis artist Mia Saine. Saine also designed the wrappers for New York City and New Orleans.

In an Instagram post, Saine explained that as a Memphis native, they grew up loving legends such as Carla Thomas, Ann Peebles, and Ruby Wilson, and that the design is “heavily inspired by its historic rock’n’roll and soul era.”

According to KitKat, these cities “bring positive change and opportunities for Black youth through music.” This is the second time that the company has partnered with the Memphis Music Initiative.

Last year, the wrappers were only available in Target stores. But this year, Brianna Harrington, program manager for Memphis Music Initiative’s Institute for Nonprofit Excellence, explained the candy will be in places like Walmart, Kroger, and Dollar General.

Harrington said Hershey was looking to find a way to connect more with their Black audiences, and to elevate and engage that audience in a way that was authentic.

“It wasn’t something for Black History Month. Everyone does some sort of campaign around Black History Month,” she said. “That’s not necessarily what they wanted to do. They wanted very authentic, true engagement, so they decided to focus on Black Music Month to elevate the contributions of Black music throughout history.”

Harrington explained that Hershey is very intentional about the way they engage Black artists through their partnership. The campaign released a “Sounds of Soul In Memphis” video that not only showcased the work of Memphis Music Initiative, but also featured Memphis artists Kirby, Tyke T, and Evvie McKinney. Honoring current artists, in addition to musical legends, was another big focus.

“That’s really what helps us in terms of making sure the partnership is aligned with what we do,” said Harrington. Along with “very bold” grant making practices that elevate the network of Black artists in the city, the Memphis Music Initiative hosts an in-school program that allows artists to work as fellows in schools. The organization also runs an internship program focused on helping young people confidently step into careers in artistry.

“We teach them how to negotiate compensation, understand contracts. That’s what’s really unique with us, because you don’t really see that,” added Harrington. “We make sure that these young people are really set up for success in terms of having a fruitful career. We don’t want the adage of being a starving artist to be the expected experience, because it doesn’t have to be.”

Through the partnership with KitKat, Memphis Music Initiative has been able to expand its mission nationally. Harrington explained that they have been able to partner with Urban Word in New York, DC Strings Workshop in Washington, D.C., the Trombone Shorty Foundation in New Orleans, We Are Culture Creators in Detroit, and the Harmony Project in Los Angeles.

“It has been truly wonderful to see how much amazing work has taken place all over the country in the work of elevating and bolstering creative youth development, especially Black and brown youth,” said Harrington. “Each of these organizations also has a focus on workforce development. It’s really important for us to prepare young people who are interested in being successful in any realm of the entertainment industry. That’s something we share with all of these organizations.”

During the mid-20th century, Memphis became influential in the music industry, being dubbed the Birthplace of Rock-and-Roll and the Home of the Blues, pushed along by then-up-and-coming blues, soul, and rock-and-roll innovators like Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Sam Phillips, and others.

Memphis continued to gain steam in these genres through the 1960s, but when the 1970s spurred a revolution of dance music and electronic means of instrumentation, Memphis artists caught on and joined a musical movement that would affect music throughout the world and in Memphis to this day.

Artists Anita Ward (singer known for her disco hit “Ring My Bell”), Dexter Haygood (frontman of glam rock/soul band Xavion, known for MTV video hit “Eat Your Heart Out”), Perry Michael Allen (songwriter and producer who was influential in synthesized soul as member of Kilo), and Larry Dodson (vocalist in The Bar-Kays and the Temprees) are just a few Memphis artists who were involved in this era of Memphis music, which has often been overlooked or under-recognized by fans and critics alike.

Just in time for Black Music Month, We Are Memphis celebrates these artists’ and others’ contributions to this time in musical history by hosting “The Lost Generation,” an online panel discussion led by local hip-hop musician and journalist Jared “Jay B” Boyd.

“These artists have done so much good work, and I want to honor them,” says Boyd. “I thought this was the best way to tell their stories and that this would be a cool way to connect with them and show them that I care about their story and that I’m very much interested in who they are and what they’ve done.”

Boyd’s interest in Memphis music started in college when he began collecting and spinning records after the death of his cousin Andrew Love, saxophone player for The Memphis Horns.

“I started collecting records to find all the records he played on,” says Boyd. “I built up quite the collection of Memphis records.”

This became the impetus for Boyd’s disc jockeying career, and since then, he has continued to regularly honor Memphis music during his DJ sets at venues like Eight & Sand at Central Station Hotel.

“My DJing starts with Memphis music and pretty much ends with Memphis music,” says Boyd. “I think I’ll probably continue to collect music from all other places, but at the end of the day, Memphis music is what fuels my interest in records.”

According to Boyd, much of the uniqueness of what we hear and see in Memphis music and culture is passed down by generations of different heritages and brought together in the melting pot of our city.

“I definitely think that there’s something about the confluence of energies and expectations and ideals that flow through this town, maybe particularly because of the river and where we are geographically,” says Boyd. “There’s just the right mix of people and their ideas and their cultures. Being that many of them fit together in this puzzle so seamlessly, we can kind of learn from one another and pick up on cues from one another. And I really think that it’s important to note that during Black Music Month, because a lot of that comes from the black music heritage.”

Boyd adds that it’s important to honor all genres Memphis musicians of all backgrounds have been a part of, whether that be soul, funk, punk, metal, or glam rock.

“When we talk about Memphis music, we always sort of go back to this era of soul of the ’60s and early ’70s, when that’s just not necessarily the only important era of music,” he says. “What we’re doing right now matters to someone 20, 30, 40 years from now. And so we have to make sure that we cover all these histories.”

Telling stories of unsung heroes who have had lasting impacts on musical history is important to Boyd, and he says that he is thankful to be able to do so in his own way.

“I’m grateful that We Are Memphis reached out for this particular project,” says Boyd. “I think I’m celebrating black music all year ’round, every day when I wake up. So whether or not they would have reached out, I’d still be celebrating black music and celebrating these artists.”

The Lost Generation: Panel Conversation with Jared ‘Jay B’ Boyd, follow We Are Memphis on Facebook to view the live video, Thursday, June 18th, 7-8 p.m., free.