Atlantafi.com is bringing you the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, which has the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta under a state of emergency.
-
Atlanta must be caught up in the Rapture of one of R&B’s most sultry voices. Anita Baker’s farewell tour swings into Atlanta next month, but after popular demand a third show has been added.
The Fox Theatre trumpeted the news Monday, signifying the popularity of one of the 1980s most prominent singers.
Third Anita Baker show goes on sale in Atlanta
“Due to overwhelming demand, a third Anita Baker show has been added to our Special Mother’s Day Weekend Celebration on Thursday, May 10th! Tickets go on-sale Tuesday 4/10 at 10AM!”
Atlanta is officially in its concert season. Festivities kick off outside with the Dogwood Festival, which features Shawn Mullins as headliner on April 13-15, 2018 in Midtown’s Piedmont Park.
In addition to Piedmont Park, another big venue this year is the Chastain Park Amphitheatre, which has released its concert series.
-
Marvel fans woke up Friday to a delight of the senses: The new trailer for “Avengers: Infinity War” was released by Marvel. In all of their glory, you get to see the franchise’s newest super villian, Thanos, take on the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and the whole gang.
Fans of Black Panther will feel right at home as Thanos is seen in the clip laying waste to Wakanda. (Let’s hope it survives, it’s been slated for a part 2.) Along with Chadwick Boseman, we see his on-screen sister Shuri, who figures to play an important role, especially because she is the one who constructs Captain America’s shield out of Vibranium.
This latest movie in the Avengers franchise centers on Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his quest for the Infinity Stones, which has been hinted at (artfully in the post-credit scenes) since the first movie more than six years ago.
Because of fan anticipation, Marvel has moved up the release date of “Infinity War” to April 27.
-
Thursday night’s third episode of “Atlanta” featured nods to the city’s recent past, including former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. The show also weaved some Gucci Mane fodder into the dialogue.
Earn comes into some money, hoping to show Van a good time, only there’s no good time to be had in the city this night.
Michael Vick appears in AtlantaFX episode
The ending scene showing Vick pays homage to the football star’s time in the A and also what he meant to the fans. Down on his luck, he has resorted to racing people for money. Earn has been finessed out of money all night, why not again, this time on his terms?
Meanwhile, this is Van’s “Robbin’ Season” debut, with the first two episodes devoted wholly to the fellas. After the opening scene, she’s in pretty much the rest of the show, bouncing lines off Earn, who is trying to show her a good time on his dime for once.
Read more: Check out the Robbin’ Season soundtrack
“Money Bag Shawty” touches on a number of hot-button topics, including institutionalized racism, strip club commerce and VIP culture, but mostly it does what AtlantaFX has always done, and that is show you the truth through that ATL lens.
-
Will Smith is currently in Georgia filming his latest film, “Gemini Man.” The producers are looking for some fresh faces for background roles as well.
As we previously reported the film will be directed by Ang Lee and has been around Hollywood for more than a decade in various versions. It is about an assassin who finally meets his match, actually a younger clone of himself.
Casting directors are now casting actors, models, and talent to work on scenes filming on March 5th and/or March 12 in Savannah, Georgia.
Producers are seeking the following types:
Seeking those with some acting skills.
VERY good chance of upgrade.
Men and Women / 35 and older / Any EthnicityDate: Monday March 12th
Rate: 250/12 + 25 Gas Bump
Location: Savannah GA
Please look up location.If you are available and interested please email headshot and resume to GMan@RoseLockeCasting.com
Include current Selfie and contact info.Subject: BOAT OWNER
-
The future is bright for Janelle Monae, the Kansas City-born part cyborg, part human siren of a woman.
After three studio albums and a handful of EPs, some big screen praise and newfound Hollywood clout at her command, the 31-year-old is on the cusp of being a megastar. It comes just in time too. Monae’s new musical project, Dirty Computer. Is about to change the game.
The album’s first two singles, “Django Jane” and “Make Me Feel,” have fans in a frenzy for the full project, which is set to be released on April 27, 2018. For those of us who’ve been checking for Monae for minute, her first EP, “Metropolis: A Suite (The Chase),” showed that she has long been married to afrofuturism.
But the record-buying public, especially her audience, was not ready. Even with 2010’s “The ArchAndroid,” there was the sense that the imagination of music lovers hadn’t quite evolved for what Monae was doing.
But with “Electric Lady” in 2015, her vision — along with the audience’s resistance — began to meld. So here we are in 2018, about to enjoy some legendary joints.
She recently hosted a fierce power brunch for her grassroots organization Fem the Future, which featured a who’s who from the entertainment industry. Stars like “Black Panther’s” Danai Gurira and Tessa Thompson served looks and drank mimosas.
https://twitter.com/tessthompsonorg/status/969716507973488640
For those not invited to the VIP soiree, Monae streamed part of it on Instagram Live, giving her fans a dose of hopeful wokeness in these troubling times.
Monae’s unique brand of afrofuturism, R&B and pop interwoven with social commentary puts her on the vanguard not only in music, but in entertainment as a whole.
Afrofuturism has come a long way since being popularized by author Octavia E. Butler. widely regarded as the fairy godmother of sci-fi literature. But in music, acts like Sun Ra and George Clinton infused funk and Africa’s tribal beats to pop culture.
Still, none of them had the technology to see their visions come to fruition — but Monae is living it.
After starturns in Oscar-winning films like “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures,” the sky seems like the limit for Monae. She is, by every definition, winning.
As for the music, Monae is now more confident in her sonic space than ever before, in large part to her fallen mentor, Prince.
“It’s difficult for me to even speak about this because Prince was helping me with the album, before he passed on to another frequency,” she told The Guardian in February.
She said that the Purple One helped her to shed any inhibitions that crimped her creativity — and for that, she is forever grateful. “I wouldn’t be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label Wondaland would not exist without Paisley Park coming before us.”
The city of Atlanta figures prominently in Monae’s life, especially in developing her into the woman she is.
“Atlanta is home to me,” she told Atlanta Magazine last year. “I’m originally from Kansas, and I like to say that Kansas raised me but Atlanta turned me into a young woman. This is where I started my career. This is where my roots are as an artist.”
And this is also where her future — an afrofuture — is as well.
Listen to #DjangoJane & #MakeMeFeel on @applemusic! #WondalandRecordshttps://JanelleMonae.lnk.to/dirtycomputer/applemusic
-
Clark Atlanta University graduate Amy Sherald became the first black artist to create an official, Smithsonian-commissioned portrait when she created one of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
That one, as well as one of former President Barack Obama, was unveiled Monday as part of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
The former president’s portrait was painted by Kehinde Wiley, an artist known for black art. After getting her undergrad in ATL, Sherald left for Baltimore, where she got her master’s degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
She’s been doing art for more than 10 years but just recently got critical acclaim. She won first place in the Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.
The portraits were be available to be viewed by the public beginning next week.
-
The East Atlanta Santa is promising to gift the city with another one of his contributions. Local Rapper Gucci Mane says that he is bringing a feature-length film on his life to the big screen.
“#TheAutoBiographyOfGuccimane is coming to a theatre near you #DirectorGuccimane #1017Films,” he tweeted recently. The movie will be based on the book of the same name.
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane chronicles the rapper’s rise from local artist to mainstream phenom. The book goes into detail about the rapper’s struggle with drug abuse, especially lean (codeine). Here’s an excerpt:
“My own habits with the stuff had gotten bad. Over the years, there had been times when I’d gone too hard with the X pills, but that had always felt recreational. With the lean, I’d developed a dependence. It became something I needed. My life was moving fast, and this drink helped me slow everything down. I was now on the road nearly every weekend, which meant long bus rides of smoking weed and sipping lean to pass the time. I just wasn’t as outward with my usage as a lot of other rappers were with the Styrofoam cups because I was still on probation.
In the beginning, lean had been something special, a vice I enjoyed. An indulgence. Now it was something I required to operate. My fame was at an all-time high, and these pints helped me calm down and relax in situations where I would otherwise feel anxious, like a big performance or a radio interview where I knew I’d get asked about some shit I didn’t want to talk about.
Is that not the stuff of movie or what? Gucci will no doubt have to confront his demons in the film, such as his time in prison and checkered relationship with fellow rapper Waka Flaka Flame. But all of that should make the flick a bestseller, just like the book.