EVERYONE WHO ENTERED AND WANT TO WISH ALL THE DADS OUT THERE HAPPY FATHER’S DAY. HE IS A
DETROITER, WHO IS IN NEW YORK
THIS WEEK WHERE HE’S PLAYING AT
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART MOMA.
HE’S ALSO PLAYED WITH THE LIKES
OF JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, RIHANNA,
JOHN MAYER, DEMI LOVATO, HE
CALLS HIS STYLE OF MUSIC,
NEOCLASSICAL, TAKE A LISTEN TO
BLACK BOX. MM HMM. HMM. MM HMM.
CHARLES WILSON, THE THIRD KNOWN
PROFESSIONALLY AS BLACK BOX,
JOINS US NOW AHEAD OF THE
RELEASE OF HIS ALBUM, BLACK BOOK
, WHICH IS OUT ON FRIDAY. GOOD
MORNING. GOOD MORNING. HOW ARE
YOU DOING? WELL NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH BLACK BOX THE
EARLY NINETIES TECHNO GROUP. NO
NOT TO BE CONFUSED. TALK TO US
ABOUT FINDING YOUR MUSICAL VOICE
ON YOUR NEW ALBUM. UM IT’S
PRETTY SIMPLE. JUST EVERYTHING
FOR ME HAS BEEN AN EXPERIMENT. I
INITIALLY HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED
AS A PIANO AS A CLASSICAL
PIANIST AND COLLEGE OR AS A
COMPOSER. SO ALL OF THIS THAT
YOU’RE HEARING IS ONE BIG
EXPERIMENT TO SEE IF I WAS ABLE
TO WRITE CLASSICAL MUSIC AND, UM
, THIS IS WHAT WE GOT THIS THESE
ARE THE RESULTS ABOUT WORKING
WITH SOME OF THOSE GRAMMY
WINNERS THAT I MENTIONED JUST
NOW. OH WORKING WITH THOSE
GRAMMY MEMBERS ARE AMAZING. I
MEAN, WHAT AN AMAZING GROUP OF
TALENT AND PERFORMERS THEY
DEFINITELY SHOWED ME HOW TO
PERFORM LIKE HOW TO COMMAND THE
STAGE. I LEARNED A LOT FROM HIM
. WELL LET’S GET INTO YOUR NEW
ALBUM, BLACK BOOK. WHAT EMOTIONS
DO YOU HOPE THAT WE FEEL AS
LISTENERS WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE
TRACKS? UM MY HOPE IS THAT
PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO THIS
ALBUM. FEEL SOMETHING DEEPER. UM
BUT AS WELL BE ABLE TO SEE THE
WORLD AS I IMAGINE IT THROUGH
THE EYES OF A BLACK MAN IN 2022
, JUST BEING ABLE TO TOUCH ON
CERTAIN CULTURAL AND SOCIAL
ISSUES. UM AND THAT WE ALL ABLE
TO HAVE A CONVERSATION AND OPEN
UP A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE
THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON AROUND
US. SO BEING THE DETROIT IS YOUR
HOMETOWN. DID YOU GROW UP
LISTENING TO THE CLASSICAL JAZZ
STATION? I THINK IT IS IT R J C
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? DID YOU
LISTEN TO IT? UM NO, I DON’T
THINK SO. MY MOM WAS MORE OF A W
N I C UH, IN THE MORNING. I
THINK SO. IT WAS MORE LIKE POP
RADIO GROWING UP IN THE YEAH. SO
YOU DID SOMETHING SPECIAL WITH
THE TIGERS TO HONOR MIGUEL
CABRERA. YES SO I WROTE A CUSTOM
PIECE FOR HIS 3/1000 HIT, WHICH
WAS, UM, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
BUT IT WAS JUST AN AMAZING
EXPERIENCE TO COME TO DETROIT
COLLABORATE WITH THE DETROIT
TIGERS. DO SOMETHING AT THE FOX
THEATER. UM AND JUST TO HONOR
HIM IN A WAY THAT I THOUGHT THAT
WAS REALLY COOL. SO HOW DOES
GROWING UP IN MOTOWN CONTINUE TO
INFLUENCE YOU AS A MUSICIAN? OH
TREMENDOUSLY. I WAS A PRODUCT OF
THE MOTOWN MUSICIANS. I STUDY
WITH TEDDY HARRIS AND WITH
MARCUS BELGRAVE AND, UH, WITH
BEANS, BOWLS AND SO MANY OTHERS
THAT WERE A PART OF THAT. ERA OF
DETROIT, SO I’M A LITTLE BIT OF
A CHILD OF THE MOTOWN ERA.
ALRIGHT YOU HAVE WORKED WITH AND
PLAYED WITH ALL OVER THE PLACE
DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENT
MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS. IS THERE
A CERTAIN CRED THAT COMES FROM
BEING FROM DETROIT? ABSOLUTELY
ABSOLUTELY. DETROITERS WE YOU
KNOW, WHEN WE GO AROUND THE
WORLD, PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK. SO
WHERE ARE YOU FROM? YOU SAY
DETROIT. OH LIKE, OH, YOU’RE
GOOD LIKE THERE’S A CERTAIN AH,
STATUS THAT COMES WITH BEING
FROM DETROIT BECAUSE WE ARE A
MUSIC TOWN. YOU KNOW, WE
REPRESENT OURSELVES VERY WELL AS
FAR AS MUSICIANS AND
MUSICIANSHIP. HIS NAME IS BLACK
BOX. HIS ALBUM IS BLACK BOOK OUT
THIS FRIDAY. WHERE CAN WE FIND
YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR EMAIL OR
ONLINE SO WE CAN FIND THE MUSIC
AND FIND YOU? YEAH WELL, MY
WEBSITE WEBSITE IS BLACK BOX.
THAT’S BLK B OKAY DOT COM. ALSO
ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA, JUST SAME
THING. BLACK BARK. THE ALBUM IS
OUT ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS.
UM AND I HOPE PEOPLE LISTEN TO
IT. ENJOY IT. EXCELLENT,
CHARLES. THANKS. THANK YOU FOR