Living up to its reputation as “the loudest show in the industry,” the organizers of the 2023 AMP Awards for Music & Sound have lined up Senegalese-American singer/songwriter Marieme as the headline performer for the event.
Marieme’s work has influences of R&B, jazz and pop, in addition to reflecting her upbringing in her native Africa, and has been featured in a variety of TV programs and commercials, including the Apple TV series Truth Be Told.
Marieme’s music focuses on self-love and empowerment. After being uprooted by war in Senegal and moving to the United States, she adapted to life in New York and learned English by listening to what she loved most–music. Her passion and focus is to be a messenger of love using the term “consciousness as the new rock n roll” and spreading her message through music, fashion and tech. She recently performed with Trevor Hall at two sold out shows at Red Rocks and recorded the song “2 Oceans” with him.
Marieme has performed a residency at The Sun Rose in Los Angeles, along with a number of other venues including The Versace house in Miami, School Night in LA and The Summit in Palm Springs, among others. “Built For Greatness,” her new single, is available on all digital outlets and was featured on the Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey special The Light We Carry, which debuted on Netflix on April 25.
“We are beyond excited to have Marieme perform at the show this year,” said AMP Awards Committee member Al Risi of Groove Guild. “She is an incredibly talented artist who not only can sing and perform but truly has something to say to the world. In years past, we have gone to great lengths to find the right artist to perform but this year was different. This year, Marieme crossed my radar before the search for an artist even began and I knew immediately she was the one! She is an undeniable talent and we are lucky to have her as our featured artist for the 2023 show. Our community is in for a very special treat.”
Also performing will be Hang The DJ, which has performed at every AMP Awards event since 2016. Leading Hang The DJ are Charlie Davis and Francis Garcia. Davis is a Brooklyn-based musician and DJ who’s worked in the NYC music industry since 2006. He’s currently the VP of Creative Synch at BMG. Garcia is the CCO of Academy Fight Songs, a Brooklyn/Los Angeles/Nashville-based creative shop that merges the Rough Trade Publishing and Bank Robber Music roster with creative direction by Shout It Out Loud Music to create soundtracks for visual media and brands.
Tickets for the 2023 AMP Awards are now on sale and can be purchased here. The event takes place on Monday, May 22 at Sony Hall, with the doors opening at 6:45 pm and the presentation kicking off at 8 pm.
The AMP Awards is the only non-profit advertising contest to focus on the unique contributions made to the industry by creators and producers of music and sound. Judged by agency, label, publishing and music production professionals, the competition will present trophies in 13 unique categories.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More