Black Music Action Coalition Hosts Act II Of ‘Three Chords & The Actual Truth’
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) and Billboard partnered to kick off Stagecoach weekend with Act II: A Conversation Around “Three Chords and the Actual Truth” at Live Nation in L.A.
Mickey Guyton, INK, Shawn Holiday, Damien Smith, Caron Veazey, Shawn Gee, David Zedeck, BMAC CEO & President Willie “Prophet” Stiggers and more came together for a discussion about Black origins in country music and the exclusion of Black artists in the genre.
The event featured an impactful one-on-one conversation between Guyton and Stiggers, followed by an all-female panel discussion featuring speakers INK, a Grammy-winning artist and songwriter, and Dr. Jada Watson, the Director of Musicology at the University of Ottawa, co-moderated by Billboard‘s Gail Mitchell and Melinda Newman.
Highlights from the event included INK speaking on her transformative experience working as a songwriter on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Carmen Dianne (BMAC x ACM OnRamp Program Awardee) performing Guyton’s “Black Like Me” and her original song “Sober,” Caron Veazey (Co-founder of BMAC) shedding light on BMAC’s mission and their call to action for the music industry, and more.
BMAC’s Act II builds on Act I, which took place in New York City in March and was BMAC’s first iteration of this truthful conversation. BMAC will host its upcoming conversation around “Three Chords and the Actual Truth” with Act III, taking place in Nashville in May.