On this episode of LaunchLeft, Rain welcomes Melanie Charles to talk about her new reimagined album, Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women. Melanie wanted to pay homage to known songs, and modernize and reimagine them in her own way to share. Learn more about Melanie’s background, working on her album during the pandemic, and her take on community involvement and activism. Also, stay tuned to hear Melanie’s reimagination of Marlena Shaw’s song, “Woman of the Ghetto.” Follow Melanie on Twitter and Instagram.

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LAUNCHLEFT OFFICIAL WEBSITE https://www.launchleft.com 

LAUNCHLEFT PATREON https://www.patreon.com/LaunchLeft 

TWITTER https://twitter.com/LaunchLeft 

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/launchleft/ 

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LaunchLeft 

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LaunchLeft is an alliance of left-of-center artists, a label, a podcast, a curation engine. LaunchLeft Podcast hosted by Rain Phoenix is an intentional space for Art and Activism that enlists famed creatives to launch emerging bands. LaunchLeft begins with music, but ultimately aims to launch left-of-center artists in all creative fields.

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IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [00:53] Melanie tells Rain all about her newest project developed
• [02:45] How music found Melanie at a young age, including piano, dance, and band classes as she grew up
• [07:30] Melanie’s reflection on past and current events, and her take on community involvement and activism 
• [12:36] Listen to Melanie’s reimagination of Marlena Shaw’s song, “Woman of the Ghetto”

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Melanie was inspired to create this album by wanting songs everyone knew, but reimagined in fresh new ways. The help of talented musicians and mixers helped Melanie create the sound she was looking for.
• To create her versions of the songs she chose, Melanie faced the challenge of working on her songs during the Pandemic lock-down. She had to pivot to create these songs at home instead of in a studio, truly putting blood, sweat and tears into the project. 
• As an artist, she feels the need to reflect on experiences and share them with others, and Melanie sees her album as a way of connecting with her community about past and current struggles with racial tension.

ARTIST LINKS:

https://www.melaniecharles.comhttps://www.instagram.com/melaniecharlesisdflowerhttps://twitter.com/melaniecharleshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFV1KSWQHnFHEiZjt35j3Fwhttps://soundcloud.com/melaniecharlesisdflowerhttps://melaniecharles.bandcamp.com

Melanie Charles:

There are very few artists whose sound can capture the sentiments of a generation. The Brooklyn born and raised, Melanie Charles, is one of these artists. Over the past few decades, she has made a name for herself through dynamic engagements with jazz, soul and R&B. Her bold genre-bending style has been embraced by a range of artists including Wynton Marsalis, SZA, Mach-Hommy, Gorillaz and The Roots. In 2021, she appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk and stunned with her eclectic style. Through it all, she has remained committed to making music that pushes listeners to consider new possibilities—both socially and politically. “Make Jazz Trill Again,” a project that she launched in 2016, demonstrates her allegiance to everyday people, especially the youth and is focused on taking jazz from the museum to the streets. “I love jazz, I really fell in love with it deeply. But I was interested in young people interacting with it,” Charles says. The album Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women is reflective of Charles’ tremendous versatility and imagination as an artist but of also her deep care for community.

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