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G Herbo & Chance The Rapper Perform "PTSD" For Press Play

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G Herbo & Chance The Rapper Perform "PTSD" For Press Play

The Chicago rappers give an exclusive performance of the title track from Herbo's latest album, 'PTSD'

GRAMMYs/Sep 11, 2020 - 03:22 am

Thankfully, mental health is no longer such a taboo topic in the hip-hop world, thanks to brave work by artists like G Herbo. In the latest edition of Press Play, the Chicago rapper addresses "PTSD" head on with help from GRAMMY winner Chance the Rapper - take a look:

In the exclusive performance, Herbo and Chance perform the title track from Herbo's latest album and pay tribute to their late friend and collaborator, Juice WRLD, who is featured on the album version of the song and died tragically last September at age 21.

G Herbo's album and mission is aimed to de-stigmatize mental health and demystify the commonly misunderstood mental disorder clinically known as post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2020, Herbo launched Swervin’ Through Stress which offers free therapy and mental health resources for Black youth age 18-25.

For his remarkable efforts, PTSD debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Catch Herbo in the clip above for a moving performance of the album's title track, and read our exclusive interview with him here

G Herbo Talks 'PTSD' And The Importance Of Mental Health: "People Need To Treat Mental Health More Seriously"

How Lin-Manuel Miranda Bridged The Worlds Of Broadway & Hip-Hop
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Photo: Jason Mendez/Getty Images

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How Lin-Manuel Miranda Bridged The Worlds Of Broadway & Hip-Hop

"A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop" airs Sunday, Dec. 10. During the two-hour live concert special, Miranda will offer an inside look at how and when he fell in love with hip-hop.

GRAMMYs/Dec 6, 2023 - 07:58 pm

Lin-Manuel Miranda has consistently been between worlds. 

Whether it was growing up spending the school year in Manhattan and summers in Puerto Rico; spending the early 2000s teaching seventh grade English by day while refining "In the Heights" at night; or translating parts of one of the most beloved musicals of all time into the language half of its characters would have actually spoken, Miranda has constantly been navigating a cultural and sonic divide.

But his most consistent bridging of worlds has been between Broadway and hip-hop, most notably via the groundbreaking "Hamilton." As someone equally well-versed in Sondheim and Biggie, Miranda is uniquely positioned to bring rapping to the stage, and vice-versa. 

Miranda will expound on this best-of-both-worlds mindset during a special segment on the once-in-a-lifetime "A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop" live concert special in which he'll give both musical theater and rap fans an inside look at how and when he fell in love with hip-hop. Airing Sunday, Dec. 10, at 8:30 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+, "A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop" features exclusive performances from Public Enemy, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, T.I., Gunna, Tyga, Too $hort, Latto, E-40, Big Daddy Kane, GloRilla, Three 6 Mafia, a highly anticipated reunion from hip-hop pioneers DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and many more. The two-hour special celebrates the impactful history of hip-hop and showcases the genre's monumental cultural influence around the world.

Below are five of the ways Lin-Manuel Miranda has bridged Broadway and hip-hop culture.

Explore More Of "A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop"

Convincing Stephen Sondheim That Rap Is The Future Of Musical Theater

Yes, musical theater's Shakespeare was aware of rap before he met Miranda. His character of the Witch in "Into the Woods" — originally brought to life by Bernadette Peters — spits some rhymes (he respectfully called his efforts an "imitation" of the genre). 

But in his 2011 memoir/book of lyrics Look, I Made a Hat, Sondheim revealed that Miranda was the one musical theater composer who might show others how to incorporate rap into the art form.

"I was never able to find another appropriate use for the technique [after 'Into the Woods'], or perhaps I didn't have the imagination to," he wrote. "Miranda does. Rap is a natural language for him and he is a master of the form, but enough of a traditionalist to know the way he can utilize its theatrical potential: he is already experimenting with it in a piece about Alexander Hamilton. This strikes me as a classic example of the way art moves forward: the blending of two conventional styles into something wholly original… It's one pathway to the future."

Starting Freestyle Love Supreme

Back in the early 2000s, during "In the Heights" rehearsals, then-recent college grads Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Anthony Veneziale used to loosen up by freestyling.

"Anthony would come in and distract us, 'Let's rap about our day!' . . . And we would just freestyle," Miranda recalled years later on "The Tonight Show." Soon, Veneziale had a second idea: they should do that in front of people. Thus, Freestyle Love Supreme was born.

The idea was simple: it was a mash-up (again with the bridge-building) between an improv troupe and a rap cipher. The extended crew of regulars and special guests eventually grew to include talents like "Hamilton" standouts Daveed Diggs and Christopher Jackson, and even Wayne Brady. The idea became so successful that FLS had its own Broadway show and Vegas residency, with Miranda still popping up frequently as a special guest. 

Making The Hamilton Mixtape

Miranda teamed up with Questlove to make "Hamilton" even more hip-hop with The Hamilton Mixtape. The project features not just covers of "Hamilton" songs by well-known pop artists, which would have been noteworthy enough. 

But more importantly for our concerns, it has a number of hip-hop reinterpretations of numbers from the show. Check out, for example, "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)," by K'naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC, and Residente, which turns one line from the musical into an absolute banger. 

The project also features Nas, the Roots, Joell Ortiz, Busta Rhymes, Dave East, and many more. To make the whole thing even more hip-hop, it's mixed together by an actual mixtape DJ, J.Period. You can listen to him discuss his role here

Appearing On The Cover Of Complex With Chance The Rapper

By mid-2016, there were few rappers on the planet more perfectly positioned between success and innovation than Chance the Rapper. The Chicago emcee captured tastemakers with his exquisite 2013 mixtape Acid Rap, before jumping into the mainstream with the May 2016 release of Coloring Book. But before all that, he was just a kid who loved going to poetry open mics. 

So it made a certain kind of sense when Complex decided to pair him with Miranda for their June/July 2016 cover story. The two had a ton in common (and Chance, it turned out, was a huge "Hamilton fan" who would soon cover "Dear Theodosia" for The Hamilton Mixtape). But even more than their conversation, it was the mere fact of its public existence that ended up drawing Broadway and hip-hop a little bit closer together than they had been before that issue hit the stands.

Writing "Hamilton"

We saved the best — and most obvious — for last. Hamilton more than lived up to the potential to theatricalize rap that Sondheim saw in it. It showed that rapping could be a key, perhaps the key, part of a major musical, and that show could not only be great, but also be a giant, world-beating, Disney+-streaming hit. 

Its quotations and interpolations of classic rap songs served multiple purposes. They were in-jokes for the rap fans in the audience, an acknowledgement that this theater guy was one of us. They also provided Easter eggs for the Broadway set, a hope that maybe one day they would figure out that it wasn't originally Alexander Hamilton who described himself by saying, "I'm only 19, but my mind is old" or Thomas Jefferson who boasted, "If you don't know, now you know." 

Watch Backstage Interviews From "A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop" Featuring LL Cool J, Questlove, Warren G & E-40, And Many More

Press Play: Babygirl Deliver An Emotional Performance Of Their Honest Single, "Born With A Broken Heart"
Babygirl

Photo: Courtesy of Babygirl

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Press Play: Babygirl Deliver An Emotional Performance Of Their Honest Single, "Born With A Broken Heart"

With just their voices and a burning electric guitar, Toronto-based duo Babygirl bring out the melancholy of "Born With A Broken Heart," the lead single from their latest EP, "Be Still My Heart."

GRAMMYs/Dec 5, 2023 - 06:00 pm

Tainted by years of endless sadness, Babygirl frontwoman Kiki Frances fears she might be "Born with a Broken Heart." As she declares in the chorus, "It's almost like I'm built to fall apart."

In this episode of Press Play, Babygirl deliver an acoustic performance of their track, with bandmate Cameron Bright supporting Frances's vocals with a melancholy electric guitar.

"Born with a Broken Heart" is the lead single from Babygirl's latest EP, Be Still My Heart, released earlier this year via Sandlot Records.

"This is one of our favorite pieces of music we've ever made together," they revealed to Broadway World. "A lot of our writing is character-driven or based on some fantasy, and those are personal in a more subconscious way, but this one feels very directly personal."

Watch the video above to view Babygirl's tender performance of "Born with a Broken Heart," and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Press Play.

Press Play: Gus Dapperton & Amadelle Talk Through A Toxic Relationship In An Acoustic Performance Of "Don't Let Me Down"

Press Play: Marley Bleu Honors An "Unintentional" Love In This Intimate Performance
Marley Bleu (right) and her keyboardist.

Photo: Courtesy of Marley Bleu

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Press Play: Marley Bleu Honors An "Unintentional" Love In This Intimate Performance

R&B newcomer Marley Bleu offers a stripped-down performance of "Unintentional," her debut single with Republic Records.

GRAMMYs/Nov 7, 2023 - 08:38 pm

Sometimes love can catch you off guard — and in Marley Bleu's case, she may have found the perfect partner unintentionally.

"'Cause your love is so intentional/ Wrong time, I think I found the right one," the rising R&B star sings in her latest single, "Unintentional." "You're here, don't know where you came from/ What we got is so unintentional."

In this episode of Press Play, the Los Angeles native sings a stripped-down version of "Unintentional," supported by a keyboardist. The pair perform on her living room sofa, emphasizing the track's intimate nature.

"Unintentional," which originally features Pink Sweat$, is Bleu's major label debut under Republic Records. Her next single, "goodmorning," is slated to arrive later this year.

Bleu found her roots in performing from a musical family. Her great-great uncle is the late Chuck Berry, and her father, Al Berry, played bass guitar for industry titans like Nile Rodgers, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne.

Watch the video above to hear Marley Bleu's live performance of "Unintentional," and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Press Play.

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Press Play: Gavin Magnus Feels Like A "Psycho" In This Impassioned Performance of His Latest Single
Gavin Magnus

Photo: Courtesy of Gavin Magnus

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Press Play: Gavin Magnus Feels Like A "Psycho" In This Impassioned Performance of His Latest Single

Alternative singer and social media star Gavin Magnus performs "Psycho" from a music studio, accompanied by just an acoustic guitar.

GRAMMYs/Oct 31, 2023 - 06:06 pm

Gavin Magnus knows firsthand what it's like to love someone who only causes you pain — and he narrates the reality of toxic relationships in his swirling new single, "Psycho."

"You were never there for me when I needed you most/ But you would stick around and watch it all go up in smoke," Magnus sings on the second verse. "Burn my bridges down until there's only ashes left/ But the flames, they never rest at all."

In this episode of Press Play, Magnus delivers a performance of "Psycho" from a music studio, stripping down the song with just an acoustic guitar.

Released in September, "Psycho" marks Magnus' debut single under Big Noise Music Group. Earlier this year, he released two more solo tracks, "Exit" and "Lonely."

Along with his work as an artist, Magnus is a prolific content creator with over 6 million subscribers on YouTube and 2 million followers on TikTok. And on Nov. 10, he'll take his music career to the next level with the release of his debut project, Blurry Eyes.

Watch the video above to hear Gavin Magnus' cathartic, acoustic performance of "Psycho," and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of Press Play.

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