QUICK HITS – Lion King, Snoop Dogg, Janelle Monae, and…Country Music?!?

This week was another busy week in news and accomplishments for many creators for The Culture so here are some quick hits highlighting some of the things you might’ve missed.

During Thanksgiving night’s Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys game, Disney released the trailer for the much anticipated live-action The Lion King remake. This version is led by Donald Glover and Beyonce voicing Simba and Nala. Other stars lending their voice talents include James Earl Jones as Mufasa (reprising his role), Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, John Kani as Rafiki, Eric Andre as Azizi, Florence Kasumba as Shenzi, JD McCrary as Young Simba, Shahadi Wright-Joseph as Young Nala and Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari. The film drops July 19, 2019 and you can check out the trailer below:

Snoop Dogg is the newest creator for The Culture to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The legendary MC unveiled his star in front of the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in front of fans and quest that included Quincy Jones, Dr. Dre, Pharrell, and Warren G. Snoop’s cultural impact cannot be overstated and neither can his spot in hip-hop history so there is no question that his Hollywood star is well deserved. And the timing was perfect as the honor comes during the week of the 25th anniversary of the release of his classic debut album Doggystyle.

Singer and actress Janelle Monae is continuing to put her mark and bring her unique vision of The Culture to the masses as this week she signed a first look production deal for her company with Universal Pictures. Her company, Wondaland Pictures, and Universal will develop content spanning various genres with the specific goal of amplifying marginalized voices and underrepresented perspectives. Monae’s creativity is off the charts just listen to her music and watch her visuals so getting into the film production game is a natural evolution and should produce some truly original pieces of art.

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunite! This week Nickelodeon aired a special hour-long celebrity edition of Double Dare, featuring the two OG Nickelodeon stars battling head to head for charity. Mitchell and Thompson first got their start on All That (the kid version of Saturday Night Live) as part of the inaugural cast in 1994 before quickly becoming the show’s breakout comedic duo. The two went on to star in their own spinoff, Kenan & Kel, which ran for four seasons in the late 90’s – early 2000’s. Thompson is now the Emmy nominated and longest-running castmember on SNL and Mitchell is currently hosting Nickelodeon’s game show Game Shakers. This was a dope surprise for all the 80’s and 90’s babies out there.

Two black creators for The Culture made some history this week in the world of country music. Jimmie Allen‘s debut single “Best Shot” debuted at no. 1 this week at country radio making him only the second black country artist (the first being Darius Rucker, the former lead singer of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish) to hit No. 1 with their debut singles.

And not to be outdone, singer Kane Brown‘s sophomore album, Experiment debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and accumulated the most first-day streams for a country album in the U.S. ever on Apple Music. #FunFact both are teaming up to go on tour in early 2019! One week, two potential genre game changers. #RunTheCulture