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Curated category

African-American songwriters

  • Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson entered the world on the 29th of August 1958 inside a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana.
  • Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter entered the world on the 4th of December 1969 within Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. He grew up inside the Marcy Houses public…
  • Aretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin was born on the 25th of March 1942, at her family's home located at 406 Lucy Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman was born on the 5th of December 1932 in Macon, Georgia. He grew up as the third child among twelve siblings in a household where his…
  • James BrownJames Joseph Brown was born on the 3rd of May 1933, inside a small wooden shack in Barnwell, South Carolina. His mother Susie Behling was only sixteen years…
  • Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III arrived in the world on the 26th of May 1926, born into an affluent African-American family in Alton, Illinois.
  • Ralph EllisonRalph Waldo Ellison was born on the 1st of March 1913 in Oklahoma City. His father Lewis Alfred worked as a construction foreman and small-business owner…
  • Dallas AustinDallas Austin was born on the 29th of December 1970 in Columbus, Georgia. He grew up in a home where his parents owned The Party Club, a night club that…
  • LL Cool JJames Todd Smith was born on the 14th of January 1968 in Bay Shore, New York. His childhood home became a crime scene when his father shot his mother and…
  • Donald GloverDonald McKinley Glover Jr. arrived at Edwards Air Force Base in California on the 25th of September 1983. His father worked as a postal worker stationed…
  • Ice-TTracy Lauren Marrow arrived in the world on the 16th of February 1958. He was born in Newark, New Jersey to Solomon and Alice Marrow.
  • Sylvia RobinsonSylvia Vanterpool entered the world on the 29th of May 1935, within the vibrant streets of Harlem, New York. Her father Herbert worked for General Motors…
  • DJ Jazzy JeffJeffrey Allen Townes arrived in Philadelphia on the 22nd of January 1965. He grew up watching local block parties from a distance rather than dancing on the…