Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Maya Angelou's Poem 'Harlem Hopscotch' Springs Into Life in New Video

Maya Angelou was indeed a phenomenal woman — creating bodies of art with dancing, singing, poetry and, yes, hip-hop. The late author was a fan of music and before she passed away earlier this year, she was planning to release a project where some of her famous poets would be fused with hip-hop.

Released in November, the album, ‘Caged Bird Songs,’ was produced by Shawn Rivera and RoccStarr. The project features 13 songs and one of them, ‘Harlem Hopscotch,’ is now a joyous music video.

Some familiar celebrities star in the Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo-directed clip, including Alfonso Ribeiro (unfortunately, he’s not doing the Carlton dance), Nia Peeples, Zendaya, choreographer Derek Hough and Quest Crew from ‘America’s Best Dance Crew.’

“She loved everything, from pop to country and, of course, hip-hop” said Colin Johnson, Dr. Angelou’s grandson. “With her dedication to social activism and how she illuminated the struggles and injustices of the urban experience through prose, there’s a direct correlation to hip-hop today. She was really excited about her street-wise commentary being presented in this way.”

From New York to Los Angeles and even on the moon, people of all backgrounds and walks of life are dancing to Dr. Angelou’s beautiful words. After all, she said it herself, “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.”

See Stars We Lost in 2014


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