Using the power of music to honor the past and pave the way for the future, the artists behind the innovative album “Fire in Little Africa” ​​(FILA) hope to bring stories of tragedy and Greenwood triumph at the GRAMMY Awards show.

In 2020, 99 years after a jealous white mob torched and slaughtered America’s richest black business district, performers from across Oklahoma, including descendants of survivors and massacre victims of the Tulsa race in 1921, gathered in the mansion of a former Klan leader to produce the iconic 21-track album in commemoration.

Igniting Tulsa’s Juneteenth 2021 festival with poetic, visceral rhymes that effortlessly cascade over moving beats, the album rose to No.6 on the iTunes charts this summer. Now, the artists are calling on their supporters to help bring the album to the 64th Grammy Awards on Jan.31, 2021.

“Tulsa, I feel like we deserve a Grammy Nod for at least 1 of them. What are you thinking?” Steph Simon recently posted on facebook. He asked fans to select the album, along with the songs and artists on the album, for several categories as nominations for the 64th GRAMMY Awards which will open on November 23.

Beyond lighting the airwaves and social media with hip hop collaborations that tell the story of Greenwood’s unprecedented success, FILA artists have succeeded in creating an educational program that mixes their music with historical facts about the triumphant community.

Moderator Greg Robinson II (right) moderates a chat with artists from the album Fire in Little Africa. (Deon Osborne / The Black Wall Street Times)

Additionally, artists participated in a community discussion at the centenary of the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. During the discussion, artist, educator and producer Stevie Dr. View Johnson explained the collaborative process .

“It has become a movement. It’s a situation where 60 artists, designers, graphic designers, poets, musicians, rappers and stagehands have all come together, ”said Dr. View. “Hip-hop is one of the filthiest genres of music we have. Lots of ego. So the fact that we have individuals like ‘yo put our egos aside and unite’ ”was something Dr. View said he didn’t expect.

Dr. View DJ’s from Motown Records / Black Forum, over 20,000 spectators in Tulsa Juneteenth | Photo by Christopher Creese, with the Black Wall Street Times

Bringing together dozens of artists for a movement in Oklahoma even caught the attention of Motown Records, which released the album under their label. To add to the finesse of the album, legendary artist Charlie Wilson, former singer of the GAP Band (“You dropped a bomb on me”), also collaborated with artists on several tracks on the album. Wilson himself hails from the streets of Greenwood, for which his band was named (GAP: Greenwood, Archer and Pine).

Now, the artists are hoping fans will help give Oklahoma a spotlight at next year’s 64th GRAMMY Awards by naming “Fire in Little Africa.”

“This is the solution for black America. The tone of the album is like a manual for black America. rapper Dialtone said during this summer’s community chat. He said it’s not something he thinks he’s ever done in hip-hop before FILA.

Nominations for the 64th GRAMMY Awards will open on Tuesday, November 23, 2021. The GRAMMY Awards 2022 will take place on Monday, January 31, 2022 from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. ET / 5 to 8:30 p.m. PT.

For more information on FILA, visit fireinlittleafrica.com

To submit nominations, visit GRAMMY website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnwh-pjYkbg