Hot Grrrls Cool Music – NYC 2014!
It’s International Women’s Day and I’m so excited to announce the re-launch of HOT GRRRLS COOL MUSIC!!! We debuted a lil’ more than 10 years ago with Santigold, Jeni Fujita and Imani Uzuri and now, just in time for Women’s History Month, I’m so amped to share that I’ve partnered with some fresh, music lovin’ visionaries and we are back!
Setting off HGCM 2014 is one of the original Hot Grrrls—IMANI UZURI on Thursday, (3.20) and then RES will close us out on Saturday (3/22) at Red Rooster’s Ginny’s Lounge in Harlem, NYC. HGCM is a celebration of women like Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kelis, & Janelle Monae who defy categorization and produce music that can only be labeled as, “So damn good!” I created Hot Grrrls Cool Music for many of the same reasons I created theHotness.com– I was surrounded by all these fly, crazy talented women that weren’t getting put-on and I wanted to help put them on. Simple as that!
Even Cree Summer, my artist at The Work Group where I had worked the year before I launched theHotness, and who had one of the freshest albums I’d had ever heard, had gotten dropped only a month after her CD dropped as a result of the entire record label shuttering. Even if you had a record deal there were no guarantees. There were, however, plenty of pressures to conform to be mainstream, to be radio-friendly, and to be a sex-kitten. While working at Sony both Alicia Keys and Dionne Farris were dropped for not making certain concessions. And I remember Jill Scott and Amel Larrieux were coming out with their debut CDs and there was finally a little bit of buzz around them, but there were so many other artists that I knew that were killing it on the streets like Tamar-kali, Mystic, Sophia Ramos, Joi, Sandra St. Victor, Helga Davis, Jean Grae, Queen Esther, Carol C, and Felice Rosser and they weren’t getting nearly the kind of love they deserved on a national scale. There was (and still is) no easy path for women who musically and artistically broke the mold. So in September 2002 I launched Hot Grrrls Cool Music— an online and offline platform that would not only help to get them more exposure, but one that I hoped would also create a community of women artists– both signed and unsigned, that were committed to supporting each other and engaged in creating music that is authentic and unapologetically their own versions of beautiful.
If you are in the NYC area please check out the Hot Grrrls Cool Music series featuring Imani Uzuri and Res on March 20th and 22nd respectively! There are only 100 tickets available for each show so hurry and get your tickets before they sell out! The links are below with details about each show and how to buy tickets. Hope to see you in the house!
http://www.ginnyssupperclub.com/event/499405-thehotnesscom-hot-grrrls-new-york/
http://www.ginnyssupperclub.com/event/499393-thehotnesscom-hot-grrrls-new-york/
* Please note: If you’d also like to reserve a table and have dinner, you have to make reservations with the restaurant as well as purchase tix for performance. *
** Oh yeah, please check out theHotness Facebook page today! We are celebrating International Women’s Day by highlighting 15 women who inspire and move the crowd– a nod to our massively popular #Fascinating15. Every hour for 15 hours we will be spotlighting a different woman who’s work encourages us to shine like a diamond. **