Three Black Musicians Every Teen Should Know

There are many huge black musicians that are well known today. Such as Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, Whitney Houston, and many more. Every musician is unique in their own way and are known for different things. Every each one of them had to work extremely hard to get to where they are now and it wasn’t all happy and exciting, they had there down moments as well. The remainder of this paper will analyze each of the three musicians that were mentioned earlier and demonstrate a summary of their life.

Everyone has their own interests in music and it makes them feel a specific way. Although, others like what the song or what the musician has to say in their music.

“Personally as a musician myself, my favorite black musicians today would be biggie smalls, Aretha Franklin, and Tupac because not only do they sing or rap yet they all can use their voices for so much more than just art yet to share issues about society that aren’t really brought up as much as they should be. Whether it is race, religion, or even mental health they all have a spark not any regular musician can show.” says Eastside Drama Student Vanessa Klein.

Michael Jackson

“If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, then make that change.”

Michael Jackson was an american singer, writer, and dancer. He was known as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century and one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Michael lived in multiple places such as Los Angeles, Bahrain, Gary, and Neverland Ranch. He influenced Mariah Carey, an american singer. His song “Billie Jean” has earned the tag of being the first song by a black artist to be aired on MTV and In 1983, his album- Thriller proved to be a worldwide hit by selling around 65 million copies.

Aaliyah

“Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want.”

Aaliyah was an american singer, actress, and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York but grew up in Detroit. She is best known for her debut album ‘Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number’ That album sold three million copies in the united states. She was just 14 when that record was recorded. She influenced the one and only Ciara, Drake, and more. Aaliyah unfortunately died at the age of 22 in a plane crash. Throughout her short career, Aaliyah won more than 30 awards, including Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2002 American Music Awards, Best Actress for ‘Queen of the Damned’ at the 2002 BET Awards and Top Hip-Hop/R&B Artist of the Year at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards.

Whitney Houston

“I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe.”

Whitney Houston was an american singer and actress. She was born in Newark and passed in Beverly Hills, CA. She has only lived in Newark and East Orange. Whitney Houston had many achievements such as winning around 60 awards including 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, and 6 Grammy Awards. She was known for having one of the most beautiful voices of all time. Whitney also influenced Aretha Franklin and Madonna. Her best-known hits include “I will Always Love You,” “Saving All my Love for You” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and she has sold more than 170 million albums worldwide and her debut album is currently listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine and is on The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s Definitive 200 list.