April is uniquely situated to celebrate music’s history and future, due to the overlapping timing of Jazz Appreciation Month and Record Store Day. With this year marking the 100-year birthday of jazz greats like Miles Davis, John Contrane and Melba Liston, DJ and producer Angelika Beener highlighted the coupled nature of “jazz and vinyl culture,” and how jazz continues to evolve as “the most democratic artform we have.”
“John Edward Hasse, who is the curator emeritus for the Smithsonian, created Jazz Appreciation Month,” said Beener, who hosts the podcast “Milestones: Celebrating the Culture.” “He wrote a beautiful essay for the 25th anniversary, talking about how we can use this time to spread the word that jazz is not this dated, strictly historic music, but that it’s a living, breathing art form. It’s truly America’s art form.”
As America continues to embrace global sounds, Latin pop took center stage at Coachella, with Karol G’s recent performance serving as the festival’s first-ever Latina headliner. While Beener pointed to the importance of this “empowerment,” she also called out major arenas, such as the Super Bowl Halftime Show, that have been historically slow to welcoming people of color.
Angelika Beener talks about a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub
Another institution that has long faced criticism over its shunning of genre diversity is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This year, alongside metal and Britpop, the museum’s 2026 inductees feature a larger emphasis on important Black contributors to R&B and hip-hop, such as Sade, Queen Latifah, Luther Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.
“[Wu-Tang] created a cinematic sound that a lot of other groups and artists have tried to emulate but really haven’t come close to,” said Michael Jeffries, professor of American studies at Wellesley College. “They’re also really significant from a music business history perspective, because when that group came out, it became clear pretty quickly that… the individual artists were going to have their own appeal as solo artists.”
Wu-Tang emerged from Staten Island and became one of the most successful rap collectives of its era, launching members like RZA, Method Man and Raekwon to stardom. However, one hour away in the Bronx, a far more complicated segment of hip-hop history has returned to the spotlight, centering on the death and legacy of DJing pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.
Bambaataa, who founded the influential hip-hop collective Universal Zulu Nation, faced many accusations of child sexual abuse during his lifetime, and lost a civil case in 2025 stemming from an abuse allegation.
“This is someone who had a great journey of personal transformation from someone who was involved in violent gang culture toward his public image to someone who promoted peace and nonviolence and togetherness,” Jeffries said. “The challenge, though, is that we can’t really compartmentalize the abuser, assuming the allegations are correct. Many of them have already been substantiated.”
All of this, plus the new Michael Jackson biopic and the return of BTS, on this week’s pop culture news roundtable!
Guests
- Michael Jeffries, dean of academic affairs, the Class of 1949 Professor in Ethics, professor of American Studies at Wellesley College.
- Angelika Beener, award-winning journalist, DJ, producer, host of the podcast, “Milestones: Celebrating the Culture,” from New Jersey’s WBGO
Stories featured in this week’s roundtable
- Downbeat Magazine: Jazz Appreciation Month at 25
- People: Karol G Makes History as First-Ever Latina to Headline Coachella: 'We Want Everyone to Feel Welcome’
- New York Times: BTS Fans Revisit Howard University History From 1896
- New York Times: Afrika Bambaataa, Often Called the ‘Godfather of Hip-Hop,’ Dies at 68
- Cinema Blend: The Michael Jackson Movie Has Screened, And The First Reactions Are Hyping The Movie Up: 'Genuinely Uncanny’
- Entertainment Weekly: When does Michael come out? All about the Michael Jackson biopic (and its controversies)
