RAP 101 meets Real Love No Drama, Artist Talk about women, music, and Mary J. Blige with Author Danny Alexander

Thursday May 26, 2016. Wicker Park Chicago
Guild Literary Complex Presents: Where Margins Meet
5:30 – 7:30 PM Artist Talk with Danny Alexander, Volumes Bookcafe
7:30 Door, 8:00 – 9:45 PM RAP 101, Iridium Clothing

Danny Alexander, the author of Real Love, No Drama: The Music of Mary J. Blige will be sitting in with RAP 101 on May 26th. A longtime editor of the music and politics press Rock & Rap Confidential, Alexander is coming to Chicago to host a conversation sponsored by Guild Literary Complex, Iron Heart Productions, and Volumes Bookcafe about music in general, Blige in particular, race and the role of women in the artistic markets, and what all that has to do with the work of Chicago area writers, musicians and revolutionary thinkers. In a political season that’s come to stand for bullying and divisiveness, Alexander believes its important for writers and artists to come together around the healing and unifying vision offered by the art we make and the art that inspires us. This will be a freewheeling event beginning with a reading and conversation, then moving to a night of performances both announced and spontaneous. We’re out to have fun, share deep, and dream big.

Join the discussion. RSVP on Facebook.

RAP 101 will feature host Yung Assata and:

HUEY Gang ( Headstrong Urban Educated Youth) is a rap collective started by Stark of HUEY and The Law of HUEY back in 2009 with the goal of making unique music while catering to the community. We help to create and assist with opportunities for youth to express themselves such as the various open mics we host. Our main goal is to make it to the top with our artform and help others to achieve the same goal; with,

Claire Smith (born 1996, Baltimore, MD) an African American-Dutch queer artist that is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Fine Arts with an Emphasis in Writing from the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is award winning and has been published in literary magazines in Maryland and Illinois. Her work circles around the concepts of maternal, romantic, and platonic relationships, existential epiphanies, and sexual and racial identity.

RSVP to RAP 101 here.
Danny Alexander, the author of Real Love, No Drama: The Music of Mary J. Blige will be sitting in with RAP 101 on May 26th. A longtime editor of the music and politics press Rock & Rap Confidential, Alexander is coming to Chicago to host a conversation sponsored by Guild Literary Complex, Iron Heart Productions, and Volumes Bookcafe about music in general, Blige in particular, race and the role of women in the artistic markets, and what all that has to do with the work of Chicago area writers, musicians and revolutionary thinkers. In a political season that’s come to stand for bullying and divisiveness, Alexander believes its important for writers and artists to come together around the healing and unifying vision offered by the art we make and the art that inspires us. This will be a freewheeling event beginning with a reading and conversation, then moving to a night of performances both announced and spontaneous. We’re out to have fun, share deep, and dream big.

About the book:
Tracing the whole sweep of Mary J. Blige’s career through the critically acclaimed 2014 album, The London Sessions, this is the first serious look at the music and cultural impact of one of the most important musical artists to emerge in the past quarter century

Mary J. Blige is an icon who represents the political consciousness of hip hop and the historical promise of soul. She is an everywoman, celebrated by Oprah Winfrey and beloved by pop mu-sic fans of all ages and races. Blige has sold over fifty million albums, won numerous Grammys, and even played at multiple White House events, as well as the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Displaying astonishing range and versatility, she has recorded everything from Broadway standards to Led Zeppelin anthems and worked with some of popular music’s greatest artists—Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Whitney Houston, Sting, U2, and Beyoncé, among them. Real Love, No Drama: The Music of Mary J. Blige tells the story of one of the most important artists in pop music history. Danny Alexander follows the whole arc of Blige’s career, from her first al-bum, which heralded the birth of “hip hop soul,” to her critically praised 2014 album, The London Sessions. He highlights the fact that Blige was part of the historically unprecedented movement of black women onto pop radio and explores how she and other women took control of their careers and used their music to give voice to women’s (and men’s) everyday struggles and dreams. This book adds immensely to the story of both black women artists and artists root-ed in hip hop and pays tribute to a musician who, by expanding her reach and asking tough questions about how music can and should evolve, has proven herself an artistic visionary.

About Danny Alexander
Beginning his career about the same time Mary J. Blige signed her first record deal, music journalist Danny Alexander has worked as an associate editor for Dave Marsh’s music newsletter Rock & Rap Con-fidential and covered rock, hip hop, and soul for various publications. He is the author of Liner Notes: Soul Asylum.