‘Black Girl Songbook’ Celebrates the Undeniable Impact of Black Women in Music
“I want every Black woman to receive the confirmation of resilience and brilliance she rightfully deserves,” wrote Danyel Smith in her stunning opening essay for the ZORA Music Canon last year. This isn’t just a desire. Smith put this into action.
Today, the seasoned and highly-decorated music and culture journalist launched Black Girl Songbook, a Spotify Original show celebrating Black women in the music industry, produced by The Ringer. Each episode will deliver deep-dive discussions with artists, songwriters, and producers paired with personal anecdotes from Smith, who has attended more than 1,000 concerts and covered many of our faves for Vibe, Billboard, and ESPN (she’s got stories for days).
For the inaugural episode, Smith focuses on Whitney Houston’s magnificent 1991 Star-Spangled Banner performance at Super Bowl XXV. It’s a story she wrote about in 2016, in detail, right down to the recording — “Yes, Whitney Houston’s version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ was pre-recorded” (get over it) — and the request that it be…
