Exclusive: Maya Angelou Remembered on Birthday With Lyric Video, Grandson Recalls Her Anticipation for Hip-Hop Album
The late acclaimed author and poet Dr. Maya Angelou would have turned 87 on Saturday, April 4. But the iconic figure, who died last May, surely has not been forgotten.
In memory of her life, Smooch Music has released a lyric video for “Human Family,” a song from Angelou’s posthumous album Caged Bird Songs that features the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings author reciting her poems over hip-hop and R&B music.
Yahoo Music is honored to premiere the video.
The Caged Bird Songs project was the brainchild of Shawn Rivera, the lead singer of the R&B group Az Yet, who began mixing Angelou’s recitations with music. “We felt compelled in joining him and his passion,” Smooch’s President Van Jewell says about working with Rivera.
Jewell adds that “Human Family,” a poem with the message that we are more alike than unalike, displays Angelou’s love for people. “We are delighted that we could be blessed enough to help her deliver this message to all people,” he says.
Below, Angelou’s grandson, Colin A. Johnson, shares fond memories of Angelou’s love for music, her favorite rap artist, and her excitement about the Caged Bird Songs project that was released in November.
YAHOO MUSIC: Did you and your grandmother talk about music a lot?
COLIN A. JOHNSON: We definitely talked about the various different generations and iterations and forms of music and how it’s evolved. She loved the arts and loved music. She had eclectic tastes herself. A lot of people don’t know that she was a huge country and western fan. So much so that she has been to the country music awards and video awards. They’ve asked her to come to present an award within the country music [community]. Grandma never separated herself to say, ‘That’s different from me.’ She appreciated the artistic form and how it manifested itself from whatever generation it came from. Now, obviously she took issue with maybe some of the language, but not as an art form as a whole.
Was there a hip-hop artist or song she especially liked?
For me, I would definitely say it would be Common. Towards the later years of her life there were other people that were definitely involved with grandma that my grandmother definitely appreciated. Common’s spirit, his music, his general attitude towards music, and his spirit of his role as a citizen of the world really resonated with my grandmother. They did joint speaking engagements and other projects. She invited him to her home many times because of the kind of spirit he is.
I know how much he respected your grandmother. There was some controversy, though, when she appeared on his song “The Dreamer” in which he used some profanity in his lyrics. Were they able to resolve this?
Right after that thing happened, I saw Common at a BET event in D.C. and I talked to him. Obviously, he’s an artist that needs to say what he needs to say on his album and his music. But people have referred to my grandma as America’s grandma. When grandma doesn’t like something that you do it’s not like she loses love for you. It’s not that she throws you out and never wants to talk to you again. She really wants to bring you in and talk to you about why she’s disappointed in that. And they did get a chance to speak, but they did have to agree to disagree. But that didn’t change the respect or love that they had for each other.
How did your grandmother feel about her poems being layered over hip-hop beats?
She was really tickled by the project because she knew it was something different for her. But she liked it. I think that’s one of the things she enjoyed about it. The conversation we had was about how to make it happen, never about anything but how to make it happen. But not just to make it happen, but how to make it great.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
I think “Still I Rise” is just a powerful song. Her words on there, Az Yet’s chorus and vocals on there. Just really powerful and really just speaks to grandma’s career and life. Through all the different hardships coming from where she came from to rise the way she did throughout herself. Just powerful. When we played that as the end of the New York memorial, it really hit home. And we played it at the end. And grandma got the last word.
Tell me a great grandmother/grandson memory.
I had the best of both worlds. I had Maya Angelou in my life, and I had Marguerite Annie Johnson, my grandmother. She was every bit of that traditional grandmother. My favorite meal of hers was this curry goat meal that she did. She would make this dish and then have 10 or 15 other toppings and sides that you could pick and chose from. For 20-plus years, it has been the favorite meal. Whenever I hit town, I knew it was going to be on the table or in the refrigerator waiting for me. My grandmother really was a third parent for me. When I was younger and maybe could not communicate very well with my mother or father, she would send for me. She would say, “Come meet me in Dallas” or where ever she was in the world. “Come spend the weekend with me. Get away from that and let’s talk.” She was an amazing grandmother. She really brought me to this point. I can’t say enough how appreciative I am to have her in my life and the role that she played for me.
