Black Space S2E4: TL Cross on his show "WOW TL Cross" and importance of Black Music

JCTC’S TALK SERIES “BLACK SPACE” WITH ASHLEY NICOLE BAPTISTE CONTINUES SEASON TWO WITH THE MUSICIAN,  HISTORIAN, PLATINUM PRODUCER/WRITER,  AND SINGER,  TL CROSS . THEY WILL HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT TL CROSS’ SHOW “ WOW TL CROSS”,  HIS INFLUENCE AS A MUSIC PRODUCER, AND HIS OBSERVATIONS ON HOW MUSIC HAS CHANGED IN 2022 ON SUNDAY APRIL 3RD @ 2pm EST STREAMING ON FB LIVE, ZOOM WEBINAR, and YOUTUBE.

Baptiste, an actor and a veteran youth theatre educator with the JCTC Youth Theatre and the Stories of Greenville initiative,  “I want to create a virtual space/archive where Black artists from around the world can come together and have a human-to-human exchange about art, race and life,” she says. “This series is about expansion, and pushing past preconceived notions of blackness.”Baptiste's next guest is TL Cross

The inextricability of music, spirituality, and Black culture is something that award-winning singer-songwriter-producer veteran TL Cross recognized early in his life growing up in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York. The historical communities served as hubs for jazz musicians like Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and John Coltrane and later became an incubator of the burgeoning hip hop scene of the 1980s which produced the legendary likes of LL Cool J, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and later, A Tribe Called Quest and Nas. This sample-heavy era of hip hop drew Cross to their musical origins which he would discover in the treasure trove that was his father’s eclectic and sizable record collection, secured in the basement of their home.

Cross produced for the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, which featured freestyles from rap stars Jidenna, DJ Khaled, Lecrae, Big Tigger, and Remy Ma, among others. Fit for a rendering from Otis Redding, with a sonically modern variation that speaks directly to the heart of an emcee. You can feel it in the quartet scream which has become signature to Cross as it was to Archie Brownlee of the 5 Blind Boys from Mississippi, and later artists like Ray Charles Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and “Little” Michael Jackson. You can testify to it on the opening of his buzzed about The World Soul EP, Vol. 1 abound with a preacher-style declaration of love, laced with organ and an amen corner of “Yeahs” and “Talk about its.” You can experience it at one of his Bridge to Cross events: an interactive, live series which is part performance, part Q&A, part jam session and curated as an intersection of VH1 Storytellers, MTV Unplugged, and Stevie Wonder on Soul Train circa 1972.

His show ‘Wow TL Cross’ is a show that covers all genres of music through the art of storytelling.

The conversation is taking place Sunday, April 3rd @ 2pm EST; FB Live,  Zoom webinar, and YouTube Live. 

Webinar Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87319760219?pwd=U3FVdlRjY2Q0UUFRV3haM216MGVVdz09

Meeting ID:  873 1976 0219  | Passcode:  973415

“As our city gentrifies while retaining its diversity, and indeed as the world is changing in fundamental ways, being right in the middle of these conversations is essential,” says JCTC’s artistic director, Olga Levina.