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samanthamurk's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
This is such a great book. One I think i will have to reread. I would love a list of every song mentioned but i couldn’t find one, i did find a playlist made by the author: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZB4NiEucrrz45WpFDGO2x?si=Ou78RDZbSK-JAyoZbiQXAw
This whole book is beautifully written, inspiring and important! I did find the timeline difficult to follow at times, but i don’t think that took away from the book.
This whole book is beautifully written, inspiring and important! I did find the timeline difficult to follow at times, but i don’t think that took away from the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: Domestic abuse
akhcreates's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
In Shine Bright, Danyel Smith highlights Black women in pop who had a strong effect on her life, and the many contributions those women made to the genre. She links the artists and specific songs to the life experiences that shaped her and the parallels between her experience and theirs.
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I am not a huge music person, which feels like a weird thing to say. I of course enjoy music, and there are songs that I distinctly associate with certain times of my life. But I rarely put on music when I could be listening to a podcast, and I almost never sit and listen to music without doing anything else. Despite all this, I was swept up by this book and the way Smith wrote about these artists and their songs and the way they came to be. Though that’s actually not all that surprising, since I love a ‘behind-the-scenes’ moment. I love knowing the who, what, when, where, and why of all kinds of art, and Smith really delivered on those details in a way that felt like getting the inside scoop without leaning into scandals, especially ‘scandalous’ or controversial details that had more to do with the men in these women’s lives than with their own lives and creations.
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Even if you think you are uninterested in the subject matter, I would give this one a try. Danyel Smith’s writing is fantastic, and this book plays a part in giving these Black women artists the credit they’re due.
misosoupp31's review
Without knowing all the songs and albums that she name drops, the narrative is hard to follow. It’s also more memoir than I expected. I’d like to pick this up again some time i can devote more attention to it
slytherinwa's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
melanie_reads's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
What an amazing read! I often think about how racism in American culture has kept music separated to the detriment of all but also how blind I am as a white person to influential Black women in music. This book had me looking up songs and singers left and right and I'm all the more fulfilled because of it. We need more of this for healing and to more fully understand how dominant white culture has taken from Black women without paying its proper due.
leahtherockjohnson's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.25
loved. will probably be a foundational text for me