Before arriving at GPB, Sonia Murray was also Digital Content Manager a few blocks down 14th Street at CBS Radio. A professional journey that began as a general assignment writer, business reporter and pop music critic for the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). And to end this with one more acronym, she's also a proud HU (Howard University) graduate!
It's been nearly 10 years since Andre and his partner in Atlanta rap act OutKast, Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, headlined a sold-out, three-night stand at Centennial Olympic Park — and two decades since the duo released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, now the best-selling rap album of all time.
R&B superstar Usher compressed 30 years of hits into a mere 12 minutes in last night's Super Bowl halftime show. And in doing so, he brought a little bit of Atlanta to an enormous audience. GPB’s Sonia Murray has been covering Usher for years, and she joins All Things Considered host, Peter Biello, to break down last night's performance.
Hip-hop may have originated in New York, but the genre now finds many of its current hitmakers in Georgia. And there are at least 50 important moments in hip-hop involving the state's artists, record labels or just events that happened here.
Ahead of Beyoncé's three concerts at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this weekend, a producer of her Renaissance album gives the inside story on some of her biggest hits.
"I remember these grape vine things that would hang, and we would swing over the creek on them. My mom would have died if she'd seen that. I inherited that [adventurousness] from dad. I get it honest."
"Great dance song that got me going so hard one night I fell on my backside!" (Spoiler alert: Sharon doesn't go into more graphic detail here, but we can share that it DID involve wine.)
This expansive, must-see take on hip hop at the half century mark, told in four, one-hour parts never squarely turns its cameras to southern artists and their contributions to the genre. Here's why.
The news that It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown won't be airing on PBS this year may thud like a rock in your trick or treat bag, but in the spirt of the ever-hopeful Linus we still bring you good television. And radio. (And of course, tidings.)
"This was meant to identify communities that have been totally underrepresented. Haven't had a seat at the table...or even more specifically, on the stage."