APR 5, 2019

About this commission

Soundtrack of America opens The Shed with a five-night concert series celebrating the unrivaled impact of African American music on contemporary culture with performances by today’s most exciting emerging musicians. Conceived and directed by Turner Prize-winning artist and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen, and developed with music visionaries and academic experts, Soundtrack traces a musical “family tree” of spirituals and blues, jazz and gospel, R&B, rock and roll, house, hip hop, and trap that has inspired a new generation of artists who continue to develop that legacy.

Special guest Natasha Diggs will play a DJ set for an hour before the concert begins.

Artists

Portrait of PJ Morton
Photo: Alex Smith.
PJ Morton
Portrait of Rapsody
Rapsody
Portrai of Sheléa
Sheléa
Portrait of Victory
Photo: Angel Boyd.
Victory
Portrait of Jon Batiste
Special Guest: Jon Batiste
A portrait of Soundtrack of America artist Natasha Diggs
Special Guest: Natasha Diggs
A portrait of Soundtrack of America artist Michela Marino Lerman
Spotlight Artist: Michela Marino Lerman
PJ Morton
Grammy Award- and Dove Award-winner PJ Morton has worked with Maroon 5 and collaborated with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Solange, and Erykah Badu. 2017’s Gumbo garnered two Grammy nominations, and 2018’s Gumbo Unplugged garnered three Grammy nominations and won for Traditional R&B Performance. In 2018, Morton appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts series, and released the orchestral live album Gumbo Unplugged. In November 2018, Morton released Christmas With PJ Morton.
Rapsody
Rapsody is a Grammy-nominated North Carolina emcee signed with super producer 9th Wonder for Jamla Records and most recently with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. With The Idea of Beautiful, her critically acclaimed 2012 debut album and the lone guest rap feature on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 To Pimp A Butterfly, she is quickly establishing herself as one of the best emcees of this generation. She has worked with some of the biggest legends and newcomers in the business, ranging from the likes of Erykah Badu, Raekwon, Big Daddy Kane, and Marsha Ambrosius to Estelle, Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and Big K.R.I.T. In 2013, Rapsody released her highly anticipated mixtape She Got Game, hosted by DJ Drama, featuring Jay Electronica, Common, Ab-Soul, DJ Premier, and others. The project received rave reviews and was featured as one of Pepsi’s Mixtapes of the Month. In 2016, Rapsody garnered a Grammy nomination for her contribution to Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Sheléa
Bakersfield-born singer-songwriter/keyboardist Sheléa has plumbed the full range of her emotions to become a song interpreter beyond categories within the international pop music spectrum, with appearances at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Emmy Awards. In 2013, Sheléa released her debut CD, Love Fell On Me (Breath of Life Records); the title track accompanied the end credits of the film Jumping the Broom, and the lead single, “I’ll Never Let You Go,” peaked at number 22 on the Billboard R&B chart. Her video tribute to Whitney Houston became a viral YouTube sensation receiving over a million views to date. Sheléa created a similar memorial tribute video at Capitol Studios in Hollywood for the “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin. After working with a who’s who of music world icons including Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, David Foster, Narada Michael Walden, Ricky Minor, and Dave Koz, Sheléa (pronounced shuh-lay-yuh) is about to release her eagerly awaited third album, Pretty World: A Tribute to Alan and Marilyn Bergman, set to be launched with a star-studded PBS television special.
Victory
Victory’s music is a fusion between soul music and folk music. Whether Victory is performing classics or original compositions, she has a way of tailoring each song with her voice and guitar to fit her unique style. Victory brings an entirely new youthful element to the music world, an indescribable spiritual depth mixed with her youthful interpretation of sound influencing her artistic expressions. Moreover, Victory colors a lot of her musical arrangements with rich jazz chords as she is rooted and grounded in jazz tradition.
The 369th Experience
Brooklyn United
Howard University Showtime Marching Band
Special Guest: Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste is an internationally acclaimed musician, bandleader, and composer. As an educator and television personality, he spreads his unbridled optimism coupled with a profound understanding of the arts. Born into a long lineage of New Orleans musicians, Batiste is a graduate of The Juilliard School with a master’s degree. After graduating, he toured globally with his band Stay Human and currently appears nightly on national television as the bandleader and musical director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Batiste is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, musical director for the Atlantic, and creative director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Batiste is also a coveted brand ambassador; he is featured in campaigns for Chase, Apple, Lincoln Motor Company, and numerous fashion brands including Bonobos, Ralph Lauren, Barney’s, and Nordstrom. He has worked with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, among many others, and his personal style has been profiled in various fashion publications including GQ, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. Batiste’s mission is to share his faith, hope, and love with the world around him.
Special Guest: Natasha Diggs

Natasha Diggs is one of the most versatile and well respected DJs in the world, playing to crowds across the globe in cities such as New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Prague, Sydney, and Beijing. From amassing a huge record collection in her teenage days to being dubbed The 45 Queen known for rocking crowds with her signature all 7” vinyl sets at downtown New York City parties including her weekly Mobile Mondays event, Diggs has gone on tour with Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill, has held an residency with hip hop luminary Q-Tip at New York City’s famed Output Club, DJ’d for Damien Marley’s inaugural Welcome to Jamrock cruise, and has shared the stage with countless notable artists, such as Erykah Badu, Bruno Mars, Maxwell, Questlove, Santigold, Hiatus Kaiyote, Rakim, Dam-Funk, Kenny Dope, Kamasi Washington, Anderson. Paak, and others.

Her broad taste in music allows her to be equally comfortable playing underground loft parties as massive events like Central Park Summerstage for thousands, earning her respect in the world of music and a solid reputation amongst her clientele. Diggs has been called on as a trusted party-starter for numerous celebrity, club, and corporate clientele including Pharrell, Spike Lee, Jay-Z, Google, L’Oréal, Samsung, Adidas, Grey Goose, Nickelodeon, Vanity Fair, Lincoln Center, and MoMA. In addition to her success as a DJ, Diggs has been recognized by the fashion world for her iconic style and has collaborated with global brands such as Fendi, Net-A-Porter, and Levi’s on everything from music supervision to being featured herself in major campaigns.

When not traversing the globe, Diggs can be found holding down the decks at her weekly New York City residency, Soul in the Horn, the city’s premiere dance party and live music showcase celebrating horn-infused music from around the globe while bringing together the best New York City talent in one room. She has also appeared on Fuse TV’s Crate Diggers, MixMag Lab, and Boiler Room. Diggs is featured worldwide on Apple’s Beats1 station playing alongside Q-tip for the weekly Abstract Radio show.

Spotlight Artist: Michela Marino Lerman
Michela Marino Lerman is a globally renowned tap dance artist, performer, choreographer, and educator. The Huffington Post has called her a “hurricane of rhythm;” the New York Times has called her a “prodigy” and described her dancing as “flashes of brilliance.” She is a proud student of Buster Brown, Gregory Hines, Leroy Myers, and Marion Coles. Lerman has performed, choreographed, produced, and directed many projects throughout her career, but she holds closest to her heart the shows she has led as a bandleader. She regularly performs around her hometown New York City, often at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Her current music project is called Love Movement. In 2017, Lerman conceived, co-created, choreographed, and starred in This Joint Is Jumpin’, which debuted in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new London West End theater, The Other Palace. Lerman is a proud member of the band Michael Mwenso and the Shakes and can be seen performing and touring with them regularly. She also has had the honor of performing at many of the world’s best jazz festivals, including Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, and Marciac Jazz Festival, as well as with masters, such as Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Roy Hargrove, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Benny Golson, Barry Harris, Marcus Roberts, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Savion Glover, and many more.

Location and dates

This event takes place in The McCourt.
8:00 pm

Details

  • Running time: 120 minutes
  • No intermission
  • All ages welcome
  • Please note that each night of Soundtrack of America is a unique show with a different line-up
  • Membership does not guarantee ticket availability, so we encourage you to book early
  • All tickets sales are final; times and performers are subject to change
Seat Map
Tux, the Linux mascot

Thank you to our partners

Major support for Soundtrack of America is provided by
The Founding Bank of The Shed is
The Shed is connected by

The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and The Shed Commissioners.

Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund.

In The Works