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“Stay In, Come Out, Let’s Talk” Highlights LGBTQ+ %E2%80%9Cstay-come-out-let%E2%80%99s-talk%E2%80%9D-live-panel-highlights-lgbtq-experiences-music-industry

“Stay In, Come Out, Let’s Talk” Live Panel Highlights LGBTQ+ Experiences In The Music Industry

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The Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter's Facebook Live event featured LeAnn Rimes, Troye Sivan, DJ Tracy Young and others in conversations on coming out, acceptance, allyship and more
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Jul 2, 2020 - 5:22 pm

On Tuesday, June 30, the Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter hosted its “Stay In, Come Out, Let’s Talk” Facebook live panel event. In celebration of Pride, the livestream conversation featured musicians and music industry leaders who shared their journeys of coming out and self-acceptance and discussed the specific struggles faced by queer artists and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The livestream was split into a series of 15-minute panelist-led short conversations on various topics; each discussion additionally focused in large part on ways that the Recording Academy can help better serve LGBTQ+ artistic communities.

Panelists featured in the virtual conversation were GRAMMY-winning artist LeAnn Rimes, and singers, songwriters and producers Troye Sivan, Leland, Gizzle and Alex Ritchie, as well as LA Chapter trustee Darrell Brown, GRAMMY-winning producer and Florida Chapter Governor DJ Tracy Young and Executive Director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s chorus and San Francisco Chapter Governor Chris Verdugo. Welcoming and closing remarks were offered by LA chapter Membership Manager Brittany Presley and LA chapter Executive Director Qiana Conley. The panel was moderated by producer, engineer and newly elected LA chapter Vice President, Lynne Earls.

In the first conversation, friends and frequent collaborators Rimes and Brown talked about their 18-year journey writing songs and sharing records together and the importance of finding a community to connect with.

“To have someone on my side who supports that honesty and truth is so beautiful because that’s what we’re here to do, right? We’re here to tell the truth even when it’s really hard and really polarizing,” said Rimes speaking of her longtime friend in Brown. The artist detailed that her late uncle’s death from AIDS and his lifelong battle with acceptance regarding his sexuality were some of her earliest realizations that speaking out via her platform to support the queer community was an imperative way to carry on his legacy. “From very early on I wanted to give him a voice,” she stated. “It’s been so incredibly gratifying to stand up for people who have not been able to stand up for themselves in a lot of ways, and it’s really close to my heart.”

Even though some progress has been made, according to Rimes, there’s a necessary push for addressing inequities when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community and its relationship to the music industry. “I think the more that we can uplift our artists and our own truth, the more we can really celebrate our differences and allow those to speak,” she said. “With the LGBTQ community having such a specific point of view, we need that! There are so many people who need their own voices heard and expressed through music. We don’t need to be so cookie cutter.”

Beyond panels and conversations like this one, Brown suggests that, within dominating genres like country or hip-hop, efforts such as artistic opportunities, showcases, real allyship and mentorship, among others, are how we can create new support structures and move towards a more inclusive and accepting industry on all fronts.

Next, the stream was joined by singer/songwriters Troye Sivan and Leland, who, similarly to Brown and Rimes, are close friends before collaborators. The pair have been songwriting partners going on six years and have worked together on numerous tracks.

“When you find that creative soulmate, you grow and learn together, and you can communicate without saying anything. You know each other’s instincts, when to push, when not to push... that is so intricate and so so special when you find it,” he said of Leland.

On navigating the industry as gay men, both guests mentioned that being unapologetic in their identities has only led to a renewed purpose and drive when it comes to creativity.  After working with various artists for nearly four years in LA, Leland mentions that while at first hesitant, connecting with Sivan, who only wrote songs with “he” pronouns was the first time he felt secure enough in a collaborative partnership to do so in his own writing. “As collaborators, Troye has helped to bring out a fearlessness in me of just standing unapologetically in the truth of who I am and what I want to say,” he said.

For Sivan, it’s focusing on the positives like the excitement of each new release, interacting with and impacting fans or looking out at the diversity of the crowd during his performances that encompass the beauty of his queer experience in the music industry, he says. “I attribute so much to the work of many LGTBQ artists who came before me. I’m conscious of that, and I’m going to now try to share that and amplify the voices of others and be grateful that I can do that.”

https://twitter.com/RecordingAcad/status/1278109210228559873

We're now LIVE! 🌈 🎵

Join our #FacebookLive conversation––Stay In, Come Out, Let’s Talk! We're talking with @Troyesivan and @Leland on how to navigate the music industry as a member of the #LGBTQ+ community and more.

WATCH 📲 https://t.co/xrvXZAK4xJ pic.twitter.com/Bg3G794LGY

— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 30, 2020

Following up, the stream was joined by Verdugo and Young, who spoke not only on the importance of establishing a community in the current world moment but also on the freedom that avoiding labels creates by allowing people to connect through music. “Being in the music community, there should be no judgment here. We go into the world, and we know it’s a completely different experience,” stated Young. “When I was in DC, it was the Black community who accepted me when nobody would give me the opportunity to DJ, and I think that we need to have more conversations around Black Lives Matter. It needs to be even more of our LGBTQ conversation.”

As artist and songwriter Gizzle put it after joining the event’s final conversation with Ritchie, existing in both the LGBTQ+ and Black communities presents great challenges, but it's more important now than ever to stand up and call attention to the ways that communities are marginalized and even more so, how we can work to change those conditions.

“When you think about it, there’s all these labels, but it really should be the last thing we’re thinking about. We should really be thinking about contribution and what people bring to the table, from an intellectual, creative and spiritual standpoint,” she said. “I think representation is so important.”

Ritchie agreed, reporting her experiences of being left out of certain rooms and situations during her career's rise over the past decade. She mentioned, especially as an independent artist, receiving the respect and opportunities she deserves and finding her crew has been a challenge based on how gatekeepers perceive her as a person of color and a front-facing LGBTQ+ person. "That was not what a star looked like," Ritchie said about how she was treated at first sight, while also addressing how it feels to experience change. "For me, it's been a really weird thing to see all of the things that I think [are] made [to be] strikes [against you].... they're being celebrated in 2020. It's a wild thing to watch. I'm super grateful. But also, it's really weird."

Corroborating these sentiments on intersectionality, Verdugo, in his segment, added that despite age, race or sexuality, now is the time to cultivate community in any facet. “We all need to come together as underserved communities. Therein lies our strength, to be able to conquer this pandemic, to really do what’s right in our country and stand up for one another,” he added.

More from the Los Angeles Chapter: “Care For The Culture” Live Stream Panel Offers New Solutions For Wellness + Community In Rap, R&B + Reggae

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"Care For The Culture"
 

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“Care For The Culture” Panel Discusses Wellness %E2%80%9Ccare-culture%E2%80%9D-livestream-panel-offers-new-solutions-wellness-community-rap-rb-and

“Care For The Culture” Livestream Panel Offers New Solutions For Wellness + Community in Rap, R&B and Reggae

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The Facebook Live Event featuring John Legend, Ledisi and others highlighted discussions on the affects that COVID-19 and the fight against racial injustice have on music communities today
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Jun 29, 2020 - 1:17 pm

Amidst the current pandemic and the fight against racial injustice, creative communities and their key stakeholders are largely and directly affected. Artists are faced not only with the daunting news cycle of world events and an industry on pause, but also the subsequent impacts on their financial hardship and mental health.

Considering, on Thursday, June 25, the Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter’s Rap, R&B and Reggae Leadership Collective hosted its “Care For The Culture” Facebook live conversation, bringing leaders and advocates within the Academy’s membership and beyond together to center national calls-to-action for labels, publishers, managers and the wider industry in addressing these issues. The event featured musicians, wellness experts, politicians and executives for a discussion on cultivating music cultures and communities through advocacy for the mental health and wellness of music creators and professionals within the genres.

WATCH: "Care For The Culture" Wellness Livestream

Panelists included in the virtual conversation were California State Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, Author, Lifestylist and Branding Coach Harriette Cole and Licensed MFT and healer Thea Monyeé alongside GRAMMY-nominees and winners John Legend, MAJOR., Ledisi, Melanie Fiona, Ivan Barias and KOSINE. Rounding out the guests were "Rhythm & Flow" winner, artist and songwriter D Smoke industry executives Tunde Balogun, Co-Founder of Atlanta based label LVRN and Priority Records/Capital Music Group General Manager William “Fuzzy” West. The panel was moderated by Los Angeles Chapter Executive Director Qiana Conley and Washington D.C. Chapter Executive Director Jeriel Johnson.

According to the panel’s consensus, future equity means employing new and tangible wellness practices for creators that sustain personal health and careers. There is an urgent demand for this standard as a top priority across the industry in order to curve the music community’s repeated loss to suicide and addiction. The discussion allowed viewers and panelists to consider tools that can be used to help care for the health and craft of musicians and the greater industry.

“The most creative beings are often the ones who can be emotionally fragile, because it takes accessing that core space in order to bring forth their art,” said Cole, pointing out that after three months sequestered at home, people everywhere are going through a lot both mentally and spiritually. She continued, explaining that figuring out what’s important to us and how to pivot following COVID-19 can cause unsettled emotion when remaining centered and grounded is already a difficult task. For our own sake, she says we have to be willing to reevaluate and improve mindfulness and habits of self care altogether in order to have the capacity to offer support in implementing change.

“There probably will be a whole lot created during this time, but we will also probably lose people," she added. "Our job is to support, protect and nurture people in one way or another at this time.”

With this fact in mind, the group was able to offer material solutions for support including therapy and healthcare afforded by labels, practices in mindful breathing and meditation for artists, or even simpler gestures like finding the time to workout or cook as a form of respite within social distancing and quarantining measures.

For labelhead Balogun, caring for his artists in this way is not just lip service, but further a commitment to the wellbeing of his roster and a necessity in its overarching success. After R&B star Summer Walker’s public struggle with mental health and social anxiety following her ascension last year, Balogun and his label quickly began making changes in order to fully support the artist, including hiring a dedicated stone reader for her tour and launching a mental health division within the company. Additionally, Balogun added that his label will soon launch a pilot program for artists that helps them to begin building retirement and emergency funds.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint… by no means do we know everything but as leaders we have to push through. The best way to learn is to try it out and fail,” he said.

https://twitter.com/RecordingAcad/status/1275561250542325761

This Thursday 🗓 join us for a #FacebookLive conversation with our leadership, wellness experts, community thought leaders, and industry innovators around wellness and the needs of rap, R&B, and Reggae genre music creators and professionals.

More info ➡️ https://t.co/mcEsGDMoaD pic.twitter.com/o1UWB5L4WE

— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 23, 2020

GRAMMY-winner Fiona spoke of her own battles with mental health as an artist and how the stress of the industry has nearly jeopardized her career and wellbeing before. She explained that it wasn’t until she was lead to alternative healing methods like acupuncture and therapy that she was able to clear her strained vocal cords and get back to creating.

“I had to really realize that the suppressed trauma, the anxiety, the disappointment, expectations, demands, stress; I was holding it all in,” she said. “That’s why this conversation of wellness is so important. My gift being traumatized directly affects my ability to live and make a living. It’s all interconnected, the legislation, the contracts, the emotional effects and the psyche.”

Further, Sen. Mitchell fielded questions on supporting legislation and representatives as it pertains to artistry and creative ownership. While historically Black and brown artists have contributed by leaps and bounds to the social and cultural infrastructure of music, the return of recognition and fair pay is often compromised, especially within rap, R&B and reggae. Similarly, Mitchell was also able to gauge how government can more successfully connect with the music industry to implement equitable policy.

“As I listen to you all, it resonates with what we’re experiencing. Recognizing that the status quo will never be the same again if we don’t want it to be. This is an opportunity to take the kind of culture, business environments and the kinds of policy and law that we know meets the needs of our community. It’s on us,” said Sen. Mitchell.

“What will we do with that going forward and permanently? From the policy perspective, I see that we are doing that. I see the crack in the door and I am running full steam ahead,” she added, noting movement on the Senate floor related to new bills for education, police accountability and reparations.

Drawing back to her conversations with Prince from her year-long stint traveling the country on the legendary artist's Welcome 2 America Tour beginning in 2010, Cole offered her insight and implored everyone to continue the dialogue started within “Care For The Culture,” and to always be intentional about the ways that we can foster music and community. “What I think we all can do is to find what brings us together, and then be willing to stand up for what it is because [Prince] did it again and again and again,” she said.

Addressing creators and executives on the event and their power and responsibility to lead change in shaping the current moment, she continued saying, “You are in the room when many of us are not, and when you’re in the room you cannot be a bystander. You have to stand up and share the vision and be willing to hold their feet to the fire… when you’re fighting the fight, you know you’re not alone. That’s something that I learned from him.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above, and be sure to follow the Recording Academy and keep up with GRAMMY.com for information about future live events and panels, including this week’s upcoming Stay In, Come Out, Let’s Talk Facebook Live conversation on Tuesday, June 30 at 4 PM PT.  The discussion will focus on navigating the music industry as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

https://twitter.com/RecordingAcad/status/1277681194524540928

TOMORROW 🗓 Join us for a #FacebookLive conversation with @DJTracyYoung, @LeAnnRimes, @TroyeSivan, and more. Topics will range from navigating the industry as a member of the #LGBTQIAplus community to how we can better serve this music community.

Info ➡️ https://t.co/ktbqcH6E0A pic.twitter.com/Kfr1iBpSW1

— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 29, 2020

Want to Support Protestors + Black Lives Matter Groups? Here’s How

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Hear From Manila Luzon, Alex Ritchie & More During "Let Our Story Be Heard: A Conversation With AAPI Creators And Professionals"

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Five Pilipino-Americans share their stories of pride, prejudice, perseverance, and embracing their culture more fully along the way—watch the conversation now
Jess Pickett
Membership
Jul 2, 2021 - 11:45 am

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, the Recording Academy’s Los Angeles Chapter and SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) hosted "Let Our Story Be Heard: A Conversation with AAPI Creators and Professionals." Part one of the two-part program was a panel discussion moderated by Apple Music Radio Technical Producer, Manny Streetz, featuring Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, Marisa Pizarro, Frankie Yaptinchay, who is a Senior Voice Creative for Amazon Music, and artist/songwriter/producer Alex Ritchie. The group discussed how Asian stereotypes in America shaped their upbringings, whether imposter syndrome affects the ability to embrace heritage, combatting unsafe situations in the workplace and beyond, and the importance of community involvement and pride.

https://www.facebook.com/RecordingAcademy/videos/209594624349204

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Part two was a fireside chat with Ritchie and drag queen, recording artist, comedian, and "RuPaul’s Drag Race" star Manila Luzon.

When asked about embracing her Pilipino-American heritage in her career, Luzon replied, "Just doing what you do will get its own attention if you put enough passion and time and energy and money behind it. You know what I mean? So yes, I’m proud to be able to do what I do but ultimately, when I decided to be a drag queen, I always knew that I wanted my Asian heritage to play a part in in."

"My mother is Pilipino, she's from Manila, and so when I named myself, I did it in honor of my mother and my family and their birthplace and their hometown. And so that is one of the big things that has allowed me to embrace my Asian-American heritage and use that to separate myself from just any other drag queen."

https://www.facebook.com/RecordingAcademy/videos/4374652372566842

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Content Not Available

Watch both parts of "Let Our Story Be Heard" above to learn more about the Asian-American experience in today’s entertainment industry and how you can be more inclusive.

MRSHLL On "Show Me What You Got," Lack Of LGBTQ+ Representation In South Korea & Being Inspired By Drag Culture

Artwork for 2021 NEXT Class
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Recording Academy Celebrates NEXT 2021 Class recording-academy-los-angeles-chapter-next-2021-class-participants

The Recording Academy's Los Angeles Chapter Celebrates The NEXT 2021 Class

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The NEXT program aims to identify and empower the next generation of music industry leaders to become an active voice in the Recording Academy's mission of recognizing musical excellence and advocating for the advancement and well-being of music-makers
Membership
Jun 23, 2021 - 4:06 pm

For more than six decades, the Recording Academy has remained  committed to highlighting and fostering the success of the next generation in music. Via its NEXT program, launched in 2014 by the organization's Los Angeles chapter, the Recording Academy aims to identify and empower the next generation of music industry leaders to become an active voice in the Academy's mission of recognizing musical excellence and advocating for the advancement and well-being of music-makers.

This past January, the Los Angeles Chapter's Professional Development Committee, chaired by GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Marcus "MarcLo" Lomax, selected the NEXT 2021 class, which comprises 35 participants.

Once selected, the NEXT 2021 class participated in one of several  mentor circles across multiple areas in the music industry, including Music Business, Music Licensing & Music Supervision, Music Marketing & Technology, Production & Engineering, and Songwriting, to gain deeper insight into their respective fields while also connecting with Recording Academy leaders.

Mentors for the NEXT 2021 class, which ran from January to June, included: VP A&R/Creative of Atlas Music Publishing Latoya Lee for the Music Business Mentor Circle; Triller Global Head of Partnerships Mary Rahmani for the Music Marketing & Technology Mentor Circle; Republic Records Executive Vice President of Film & Television Dana Sano for the Music Licensing & Music Supervision Mentor Circle; GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jeff Gitelman for the Production & Engineering Mentor Circle; and GRAMMY-nominated songwriter MarcLo for the Songwriting Mentor Circle.

Artist/Songwriter/Producer Alex Ritchie Is :NEXT

Learn more about NEXT from some of the program's leaders and 2021 participants:

"Our Recording Academy NEXT program is a great opportunity for buzzing music creators and professionals to connect with their peers and those they aspire to mirror in their careers that are GRAMMY-nominated and GRAMMY-winning. The brilliant thing about the Los Angeles Chapter's revamp of our acclaimed NEXT program is the Mentor Circles and the introduction of the NEXT class as now featured on GRAMMY.com. The 2021 experience offers one-on-one engagement with top creators and professionals in our market, while creating an exclusive shared space that really cultivates the next generation of professional leaders and dynamic creators. Our track record has proven that intimate settings amongst established visionaries and tomorrow's innovators exponentially shape the latter's professional landscape and grow key music industry relationships. The trajectory of this program from membership outreach and recruitment to coveted participation and recognition has successfully evolved within the dedication of staff and elected leadership. Our goals are being achieved: to showcase an amazing group of established talented individuals that are ones to watch within our GRAMMY family. We honor and congratulate our NEXT 2021 class on their participation and announcement and look forward to attracting even more stellar talent in the future."  —Qiana Conley, Executive Director, Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter

"What I was telling the mentees is that, for your own mental health, you really have to find a balance, and you have to figure out a way to go very hard and just work as much and as smart and as hard as you can to accomplish your goals and your career. But you have to make time for yourself if you don't put gas in your own tank, how are you going to drive anywhere? How are you going to take anyone else anywhere?

"Stability is really just finding things that you enjoy in life, and within those things. you'll find inspiration to pour back into your music and it'll just be natural and just like a human place. I think it'll be even better, for the way the music comes out, if you live your life and you find your balance.

"Between the work side of things and the enjoyment side of things, I think it's really important. That was one of the things that we hit in our mentor circles." —Marcus "MarcLo" Lomax, Songwriting Mentor Circle Leader, 2021 Professional Development Committee Chair, 2021-2022 Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter Board Vice-President

"The vision to attract and cultivate leadership from our 21-to-35-year-old demographic led to the launch of the NEXT program in Los Angeles seven years ago. We're now seeing the benefits of creating a program that not only cultivates the next generation of Academy voices, but also gives veteran members the opportunity to give back in a meaningful way. The beauty of mentorship is the learning and exchange of ideas across generations, where both the mentee and mentor relationship is mutually beneficial." —Nicole Brown, Senior Manager, Chapter Administrative Operations, Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter

"I had a great experience in this year's NEXT program. Despite the limitations of not being able to meet in-person, I still felt like I got to know my mentor and the other participants in a meaningful way. I learned a lot about the value of always showing up and saying yes to new opportunities, and how new creative partnerships and creative work is usually born out of normal conversation. I also learned how to lean more into the servant's mindset as a producer, in that everything we do is to bring out the best in the artist to create the best possible version of the song. Our goal is to capture magic with our production, and we're guiding the artist towards greatness." —Alvin Addo, NEXT 2021 Participant, Production & Engineering Mentor Circle

Music Marketer Sierra Lever Is :NEXT

"I found the NEXT program extremely educational and helpful. Dana Sano, our mentor, taught us everything from music licensing and clearance to supervision and pitching. She also brought in featured guests that all had unique stories and career paths. We really covered all the bases, and I appreciate Dana taking her time and being an amazing role model." —Tess Castro, NEXT 2021 Participant, Music Licensing & Supervision mentor circle

"My Mentor Circle was pretty informative. My biggest takeaway was learning about how marketing teams process developing campaigns for releases, day-to-day content and events for artists. I also enjoyed analyzing the emerging tech that can be leveraged to strengthen an artist's fan base and community. My mentor, Mary Rahmani, brought in other guests that amplified the value and insight. Cassie Petrey, the founder of Crowd Surf, shared vital resources that keep her informed about how music marketing tools are transforming, which keeps me at the forefront of trends that impact my strategy." —EmmoLei Sankofa, NEXT 2021 Participant, Music Marketing & Technology Mentor Circle

"It was such a blessing to have constructive critical feedback from someone so accomplished. A lot of times, people won't want to say the hard stuff. I have really taken on the feedback and have been in the studio developing a new GEM project, blending genres ever since. When you are a producer, you work a lot in a solitary mode, so to have access and regular inspiration was really motivating for me.

I really connected with a few of the participants who I would now call friends. I moved to L.A. from a rural community in Australia to follow this dream. I had never met other female producers and other LGBTI-friendly artists, and to have that network here is everything." —Gem RPM, NEXT 2021 Participant, Production & Engineering Mentor Circle

Producer/Mixer Scott Michael Smith Is :NEXT

The Recording Academy congratulates all of the Los Angeles Chapter NEXT 2021 participants and mentors!

Meet the NEXT 2021 Participants:

  • Alvin Addo
  • Kris Angelis
  • Vanessa Angiuli
  • Benjamin Bruce
  • Lorenzo Carrano
  • Tess Castro
  • Raul Cubina
  • Josh Cumbee
  • Juan Carlos Enriquez
  • Marco Flores
  • Drew Fulk
  • Justin Hergett
  • Chris Hires
  • Brittany Holloway
  • Flaviya Kaklyugina
  • Carlos King
  • Clara "AZRA" Lee
  • Samantha Morgenstern
  • Cindy Nguyen
  • Jaimie Pangan
  • Amy Patton
  • Colin Ramsay
  • William Robillard Cole
  • Jonathon Rook
  • Gem RPM
  • EmmoLei Sankofa
  • Davetta Selma
  • Shari Short
  • Taylor Sparks
  • Brandon Stansell
  • Summer Swee-Singh
  • Sidney Swift
  • Elena Takmakova
  • Ryland Talamo
  • Dara Taylor

Applications for the 2022 term of NEXT will open to Los Angeles Chapter Voting and Professional members aged 21-35 this fall. The Los Angeles Chapter's Professional Development committee will announce selected participants in January 2022.

The Recording Academy Names Valeisha Butterfield Jones And Panos A. Panay As Co-Presidents

Donnie Simpson

Donnie Simpson

Photo: Aaron Davidson/Getty Images

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Radio Legend Donnie Simpson On His Historic Career donnie-simpson-interview-radio-hall-fame

Radio And TV Legend Donnie Simpson On The Key To His Decades-Long Career: "I Don't Have To Be Great––I Just Have To Be Me"

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In honor of his recent induction into the Radio Hall Of Fame, GRAMMY.com highlights the broadcasting icon's celebrated career, his impact on media and culture, and his ongoing advocacy for Black representation in radio and TV
Eliza Berkon
GRAMMYs
Jan 6, 2021 - 3:43 pm

About five years ago, Washington, D.C., DJ Donnie Simpson emerged from retirement after a little coaxing from his wife, Pam.

"She framed it really [nicely]. She said, 'Donnie, everywhere you go, all you hear is how much people love you and they wish you'd do something else. And God has given you a gift that you should be sharing with people,'" Simpson tells GRAMMY.com over a Zoom interview. "That's what she said, but what I heard was, 'Get out.'"

The affable radio and television icon ultimately returned to the airwaves in 2015. Five years later, he received one of the highest accolades in the radio industry: Last October, he was inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame, an honor recognizing his contributions to the radio medium over the last half-century. 

The honor is the culmination of the legend's celebrated, decades-long career in radio, which launched in the '70s when a teenaged Simpson got his start on the Detroit airwaves. At the time, he looked to a handful of local DJs as mentors, including the high-spirited Ernie Durham. 

"I did not adopt his on-air style, but I try very much to adopt his off-air style. He always carried it with class," Simpson said of Durham. "And that was the example to me: to always be kind to people, to look people in the eye, no matter who they were."

It wasn't until Simpson left Detroit, in 1977, and logged his first few years at WKYS 93.9 in D.C.––a station he would reformat and lead to No. 1 as program director––that he found his stride on air, he says. 

"It's something I always say, and it's so true: I don't have to be great––I just have to be me," Simpson says. "Being you always works because that's the spirit that connects us. That's the thing that makes you real to people; they feel you when you are you. When you're trying to be something else, they know that, too."

Simpson says he's long avoided listening to recordings of himself for fear that the inevitable analysis would disrupt the "magic" of what he'd helped create. That approach also extended to his TV career, which started—not counting a role he now laughs about on a short-lived dance show in Detroit—when he served as backup sports anchor for WRC-TV in the early '80s. Not long after, he began hosting a relatively new show on the then-burgeoning BET network. Simpson had concerns about whether the show was the right fit for him.

"BET, in its infancy, wasn't a very pretty baby. The quality wasn't there. I've always been protective of image, because that's all I have," Simpson says. "But after thinking about it for two days, I decided this: This is our first Black television network. If you have something to offer it, you have to do it."

The two-hour show, "Video Soul," which spotlighted Black artists at a time when MTV was almost exclusively focused on white musicians, became BET's highest-rated program at one point.

Jeriel Johnson, executive director of the Recording Academy's Washington, D.C., chapter, remembers watching "Video Soul" as a teen in his Cincinnati home. Simpson, he says, was a "steady presence of Black excellence."

"He was the face of BET," Johnson says. "He was just a staple, and he had such a calming voice and he was super smooth. I just looked up to him as a young, Black kid who loved music ... And I remember seeing him and being like, 'Wow, I could be on TV, too. If he can, I can.'"

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On the program, Simpson interviewed artists who were already riding the waves of success or were well on their way: Jodeci, SWV, New Edition, En Vogue, Mariah Carey, Take 6, Whitney Houston. Regardless of the star who graced the couch each night, Simpson took the same approach.

"For every guest I ever had on 'Video Soul,' they would bring me a bio with all this information on the artist … I wouldn't even read it," Simpson remembers. "That's the point of the interview, for me to get to know you."

Elise Perry, a producer and the president of the Recording Academy's Washington, D.C., chapter, worked behind the scenes on "Video Soul" in the '90s, a pivotal decade for both R&B and hip-hop, she notes.

"All of these different subgenres of R&B really started to have an uptick in the '90s, and the fact that BET was present visually at that time, representing Black music in that way—it was a very special time," Perry says. "There were a lot of Black folk there, and it was just like a party. It was where I got my 'master's degree,' I call it. Everybody was family … It was just like a mecca."

Read: Meet The Recording Academy D.C. Chapter's First Black Female President, Elise Perry

Simpson treated the crew like family and has continued to provide unparalleled support for the D.C. community over the years, Perry, a D.C. native, says.

"He's our family. He's our brother. He's our uncle. He's that dude next door. He's our neighbor. He's our friend," she says.

"Family" is also how GRAMMY-nominated producer Chucky Thompson describes Simpson, who had a big impact on him when he was growing up in D.C.

"I've learned so much about people from him, just the way that he's been excited about their careers," he says of Simpson. "It transcends to you. It's like, 'Wait a minute, Donnie's excited? Now I'm excited.'"

For Thompson, who helped craft hits for Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige in the '90s, "Video Soul" was formative.

"It was almost like another version of what 'Soul Train' meant," Thompson says. "But [Simpson] got even more personal with you because he was able to talk to the artists and give you a little bit of insight on what their journeys were … He gave me a lot of information on how to make it in this business."

"Donnie Simpson is the standard," Joe Clair, comedian, radio personality, on-air veteran and host of "The Joe Clair Morning Show" on WPGC 95.5 FM in Washington, D.C., adds. "My mom and dad loved him, my siblings love him and people from a generation after me love him. That is a testament to who he is as a broadcaster and what he means to us as a voice for our community. I've worked with him throughout  the years, and he's given me valuable advice both for career moves and for negotiating my worth. He is a shining example for a life in radio and television on your own terms."

Yet becoming successful in the business, including achieving financial success, wasn't an easy journey for Simpson. The DJ has been vocal about the need for equitable pay for Black DJs. In recalling his own path to multimillion-dollar contracts, Simpson turns to a lyric from Elton John's "I've Seen That Movie Too": "It's a habit I have / I don't get pushed around."

"I've walked out [on deals], because you're not going to get me for half [the] price because I'm Black; those days are over," Simpson says, adding that in Detroit, he made one-fifth of what white DJs were making. "That was a very significant part of my career, to be able to be a part of changing that narrative, to letting them know you have to pay Black talent."

Simpson has also advocated for stations to put more of the DJ back into DJing. In the past few decades, he notes, many DJs have watched their curated playlists and airtime drift away due to technological advances and the consolidation of station ownership.

"So much of its personality has been stripped from it," Simpson says of the art of DJing. "I play whatever I want to play every day, but that's the magic of it to me … I don't want a computer programming music for me, because every day feels different. And I like to be tapped into that feeling."

In 1974, Simpson played Elton John's "Bennie And The Jets" on his show in Detroit, a decision he says he fretted about because "Black folks didn't know Elton John." He played the song twice that evening and got an overwhelming response from callers. John himself was soon on the phone with Simpson to discuss the record's success in Detroit; he handed Simpson a gold record for the single six months later.

"It's music that you wouldn't traditionally associate with Black radio; it's Elton. But that was a lesson to me," Simpson says. "It's all music to me; I don't care who made it. I just care what it sounds like [and] if it fits what I'm doing."

The fact that most DJs no longer have the latitude to craft their own playlists is a big loss for radio, Simpson says.

"You have young people out here with great ears that will never get the chance to express themselves musically because it's all programmed for them," he says. "I used to love it when wheels would touch down in Atlanta or New Orleans [or] L.A.—wherever it was. I couldn't wait to pull out my little transistor radio and hear what they were doing in that city, because it was always different."

After Simpson learned he'd be inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame this year, he took a look at its roster of honorees over the past three decades. When he didn't see New York DJ and “Chief Rocker" Frankie Crocker and other Black radio icons on the list, the announcement gave him pause.

"These are voices that you should know about, some great talents through the years ... legends that have gone largely ignored," he says. "But I also, in my acceptance speech, acknowledged that the [Radio Hall Of Fame] is trying to correct that. You look at the list of inductees this year, with Angie Martinez, The Breakfast Club, Sway Calloway and me––man, it's like #OscarsTooBlack. It's a lot of people of color that went in this year. So they have recognized that, and I applaud them for that."

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At a time when systemic racism and police brutality against Black people have come to the forefront of the national dialogue, Simpson says he feels compelled to speak out.

"If I were not on the radio, if I didn't have a microphone, I think I would still feel that responsibility to whatever people I encounter that I could talk to, to tell them how important this moment in history is for us," Simpson says. "I am so honored that I have had a platform for, now, 51 years to allow these voices to come on the radio or on TV and talk about these matters that make a difference to our community."

In 2010, Simpson retired from WPGC, where he'd hosted a morning show for nearly two decades, after contending with a "toxic" environment. But five years later, he was back at the other end of the dial on D.C.'s WMMJ Majic 102.3. Now, another retirement seems like the furthest thing from his mind.

"What's there not to love about it? I sit there kicking it with people I love. We have all the fun we can stand," Simpson says.

As praise continues to roll in from industry A-listers for his Radio Hall Of Fame induction, Simpson has advice for the many artists and listeners who now look to him for guidance as he once looked to his own mentors: "Be kind."

Each morning, Simpson takes a walk or run beside the Potomac River. While he says there's a health benefit to the ritual, he's got an additional reason to step out of his door.

"What I'm really doing is collecting smiles," Simpson says. "That's kind of my purpose: to bring warmth and joy."

Tune in for a special Up Close & Personal conversation discussing Donnie Simpson's career and life in broadcasting. Moderated by Jimmy Jam, the event premieres Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m. PST/7:30 p.m. EST via the Recording Academy's official Facebook page.

Beyond The Beltway: A Closer Look At Washington D.C.'s Vibrant Music Community

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