Kenya Vaughn

Whenever it is announced that a rap artist is performing with a symphony orchestra – whether its Wu Tang, Nas or St. Louis’ own Nelly – a line from Notorious B.I.G.’s breakthrough hit “Juicy” comes to mind. “Remember Rappin’ Duke, ‘duh-ha, duh-ha,’” the rapper said over the Mtume sample that shares the name with the […]

Those fortunate enough to have seen characters grace the stage conceived by the imagination of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage over the past two decades are well aware of her storytelling ingenuity. What the audience seated in Edison Theatre learned Wednesday afternoon as she was presented with the Washington University International Humanities Prize is […]

As a bestselling author, producer and entertainment industry renaissance woman, Lyah Beth LeFlore certainly has her own level of cultural influence. But she has made part of her life’s work making sure the light provided to this region by her mother – St. Louis Poet Laureate Emeritus Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore – is an eternal […]

Early in the first episode of “Iyanu: Child of Wonder,” the title character jumps with excitement upon learning what she will be having for dinner. “Pounded yam and goat meat,” Iyanu exclaims upon receiving her bowl.  Most of the viewers expected to tune in Saturday morning (April 5th) for the premiere of the animated series […]

Within the field of R&B music, singer/songwriter Angie Stone was both an innovator and a legacy keeper.  Her career started as a hip-hop pioneer and continued in R&B with a career that paid homage to women R&B singers of the 70s and 80s.  Stone died in a car crash in Montgomery, Alabama early Saturday morning […]

Roberta Flack’s voice was more than a musical instrument. It was a translator of human emotion. Every range of it – love, loss, longing, heartbreak, sensuality and more – was reflected with a purity and clarity that transcended genre.  And while it didn’t possess the trills and runs often associated with soul singers, her sound […]

Diadie Bathily’s Afriky Lolo Dance Company this weekend at COCA By Kenya Vaughn Of the St. Louis American “African Dance is like therapy,” said Diadie Bathily, founder and artistic director of the Afriky Lolo Dance Company. “Its being able to study yourself, understand yourself and appreciate yourself for who you are – not for who […]

Beyoncé was all of us – with surprise written all over her face – when she made history as the first Black woman to win “Best Country Album” at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles. But by then it was already established that the Black Girl Magic would be dialed up to […]

When he was mapping out the shows of the Black Rep’s 48th season, he decided to follow up the fall musical with a comedy, because he “figured audiences might need one.”  He couldn’t have known how right he would be.  “I felt like with what we are getting ready to go through in the next […]

Because of its subject matter, my Christmas wish for “The Six Triple Eight” was to lead the review with “Tyler Perry having an Oscar-worthy film was not on this critic’s 2024 bingo card.” The wish didn’t come true, but Perry still made a good enough movie that celebrates the legacy of unsung heroes within American […]