Category: Arts & Entertainment

DENVER — From wax to bronze, Ed Dwight brings sculptures to life in his Denver studio. Miles Davis, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass are among the African American greats he’s memorialized in art. But before he started welding metal, Dwight made history himself.

“I entered the military back in 1953,” Dwight, now 90 years old, said. He moved up the ranks as an Air Force pilot.

“I had a wonderful career going in 1961 when I got a letter,” he said. The John F. Kennedy White House asked him to go from flying military jets to preparing for space.

Courtesy George Brich, Valley Times Collection, Los Angeles Public Library

“I thought it was craziest thing I’ve ever heard. I had absolutely zero interest in being an astronaut,” he said. “But my mother got into the mix… In her mind, it was, ‘Well, look what you could do for the race,’ and all that kind of stuff.”

It was the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and others in the Black community also expected Dwight to stand up for his people.

“I wasn’t there to save the race. I was there to go into space,” Dwight said.

He headed to the Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California, to train alongside NASA astronauts, as part of a new military space program.

Courtesy George Brich, Valley Times Collection, Los Angeles Public Library

“I’m busy with the books and my flying,” Dwight said. But between the Space Race and the Civil Rights Movement, “I was in the middle of all of this tug of war… the Black community was upset with me because I wasn’t talking about Black struggle,” he said. “I couldn’t do that because it’s against Air Force regulations.

“I finished the space program thing, and then everything was fine until the president got assassinated,” he said.

After Kennedy’s death, Dwight never went to space. The story of his thwarted mission to go to the Moon will be featured in a National Geographic documentary, “The Space Race,” airing later this month.

After Lyndon B. Johnson became president, Dwight said the government no longer wanted to support him as an astronaut.

“They wanted to erase me out of history,” he said. “So I left the military and moved to Denver.”

He started real estate and construction businesses and opened restaurants serving ribs inspired by his upbringing in Kansas City. Then, construction led to art.

Cameron Duckworth, Denver7

“I would go to all of my construction sites and pick up all the metal off the ground — pipes, pieces of metal… and I taught myself how to weld,” he said.

Then Colorado’s first Black Lieutenant Governor George Brown bought one of Dwight’s small sculptures and asked him if he could make a life-size bust for the State Capitol.

“I laughed at him and said, ‘Go find somebody that does that because that’s not what I do. I weld nails together, man.’ And he told me to go get a book,” Dwight said.

Dwight read up on sculpture making and Black U.S. history.

“I had no idea what the Black community was going through, and then when I started reading all this history, my God, it was so much,” Dwight said.

He started making memorials honoring figures of Black history. The U.S. Park Service helped display the art across the country, and told him, “You’re the first Black sculptor that makes people look like themselves,” Dwight said.

Cameron Duckworth, Denver7

“My engineering background jumped right into the middle of this thing, and I did a thing called facial mapping,” he said. When he sculpted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, he said he gathered about 100 photos with different angles of their faces. He used calipers and a technique he calls “facial engineering.”

Now 90 years old, Dwight said he’s proud of helping make Denver a Black art hub, even as some told him, “You ain’t gonna get anything good coming out of Colorado.”

“I twisted the standard on its head,” Dwight said. “This guy from Colorado has a statement to make.”

How the first Black astronaut candidate became a prolific Denver sculptor

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Highlighting the achievements and societal contributions of diverse peoples is important year-round, and occasions like Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May and Native American Heritage Month in November serve to uplift the voices in these groups.  

In February, the national spotlight is put on African Americans with the celebration of Black History Month.  

From innovators to artists to White House staff, there’s plenty to celebrate when it comes to Black culture in the United States. If you need a refresher on why Black History Month was created and what it means, here’s what you need to know.  

When is Black History month? 

Black History Month is celebrated annually in February. 

This year is a leap year, so Black History Month gets an extra day of celebration from Feb. 1 to Feb. 29.  

What is Black History Month? 

Black History Month celebrates the history and achievements of Black people in the U.S. from any period of national history.  

From the enslaved people first brought to America on slave ships in the early 17th century to modern descendants of those very same ancestors, Black History Month shines a light on Black culture in America and reminds society of the many ways this community has contributed to and enriched the nation, according to National Geographic Kids.

Notable figure often highlighted during Black History Month include Mae Jemison, who became the first female African American astronaut to travel in space in 1992 (and who also delivered the commencement address for the University of Delaware’s graduating class of 2023!); Barack Obama, who was elected as the first Black president of the U.S. in 2008; Thurgood Marshall, who was the first Black justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1967; and Martin Luther King Jr., who advocated for equal rights for Black people during the Civil Rights Movement. 

And that’s just to name a few. 

When was Black History Month created? Black history month facts

Black History Month has been around for decades, but the first iteration of how the month is now celebrated began nearly a century ago.  

Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian, wanted to raise awareness about African Americans’ contributions to society and, along with the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Negro History Week was created in 1925, according to Black History Month.

The first Negro History Week was celebrated during a week in February in 1926 that honored the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The result was an overwhelming amount of support in the form of Black history clubs forming, teachers requesting materials to teach their students about Black history and progressive white Americans endorsing the effort, too.  

By Woodson’s death in 1950, Negro History Week became a staple for Black culture, with more Americans joining the celebration and mayors of cities across the nation issuing proclamations for the observation of Negro History Week. The Black Awakening and the Civil Rights Movement further propelled the recognition of Black contributions, and in 1976, Negro History Week was expanded to a monthlong occasion. 

President Gerald R. Ford emphasized the importance of highlighting Black Americans past and present during Black History Month, and since then, each American president has issued Black History Month proclamations, with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History continuing to promote the study of Black history all year, according to History.  

Black History Month theme 2024 

Since 1976, every U.S. president has endorsed a specific theme for Black History Month along with their proclamation.  

In 2023, the theme for Black History Month was “Black Resistance,” an exploration of how African Americans have addressed historic and ongoing disadvantage and oppression, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  

This year, the Black History Month theme is “African Americans and the Arts,” which explores the key influence African American have had in the fields of music, film, fashion, visual and performing arts, folklore, literature, language, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, according to History.  

The Harlem Renaissance, the New Negro Movement, Afrofuturism, the birth of hip-hop and the Black Arts Movement are a few eras reflecting the plentiful contributions from Black culture.  

Celebrating Black History Month 

In honor of this year’s Black History Month theme, a great way to celebrate this year is to dive into Black art of all kinds.  

Like to read? Check out the work of Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Nikki Giovanni, just to name a few artists who were popular during the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s.  

Love to jam? There’s no better way to do so than tracing the birth of hip-hop back to that tiny apartment in the Bronx with DJ Kool Herc back in 1973, which blossomed to include five foundational elements still alive today: emceeing, break dancing, DJing, graffiti and beat boxing, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Want to learn something new? Dig into Afrofuturism, an effort to define cultural and artistic productions that imagine a society for Black people that exists without oppressive systems and examines the intersection of technology, science and Black history and knowledge, according to the National Museum for African American History & Culture.

Afrofuturism can be found in the music of Janelle Monáe and Jimi Hendrix, the art of Lina Iris and Wangechi Mutu, the literature of Octavia Butler and the film Black Panther, among many others.  

Aside from this year’s theme, you also can celebrate Black History Month by visiting local landmarks related to Black history, like the Harriet Tubman Byway that runs through Delaware and the Mitchell Center for African American Heritage in Wilmington, and supporting Black-owned businesses across Delaware, like Cookie’s Paper Petals in Milford and Green Box Kitchen in Wilmington. 

Do you have a tip or story to share about Black history in Delaware? Contact Krys’tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com. 

Black History Month events:Looking to engage with history? Here’s your guide to Black History Month events in Delaware

A piece of Black history in Delaware:‘A lovely place to go’: Zoar Church comes alive again in Odessa with restoration plans

Don’t miss out:Dave Chappelle buddy Talib Kweli is part of Delaware Black History Month celebration

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February marks Black History Month—a time to recognize the contributions and achievements of Black Americans. The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “African Americans in the Arts,” which will highlight the achievements of Black artists, including visual and performing artists.

Legendary hip-hop artist Jay-Z is known worldwide for his many accolades, his discography spanning decades, and his trailblazing career in the music industry. After releasing his debut album in 1996, all 13 of his studio albums have been certified platinum, and he’s estimated to have sold more than 33 million records, per Business Insider.

The rapper’s life is a focus of an undergraduate class at SIS, “Jay-Z and Historical Biography,” taught by SIS professor Omekongo Dibinga. In honor of this year’s Black History Month theme celebrating artists, we sat down with Dibinga to learn more about the inspiration for his undergraduate class and get a taste of what students learn.  

Inspired by Artistry

Dibinga dove headfirst into Jay-Z’s world when writing his dissertation, “The Life & Rhymes of Jay-Z: An Historical Biography.” His decision to write about the 24-time Grammy award-winner came after a change of heart.

“I’m also a rapper, a poet, and a motivational speaker, and I was not a big fan of Jay-Z at all, because I felt like when I would be going into schools, and I would be going into prisons, and I’d be talking to kids in different places, I felt like I was telling them not to do the things that Jay-Z was rapping about,” Dibinga explained. “Like, I’d say, ‘Don’t get caught up in the sex and the drugs,’ and ‘stay in school, don’t be a drop-out.’”

“I felt like [Jay-Z’s] message was a problem for my community,” Dibinga added. “I appreciated his ability to put lyrics together, but I felt like he was part of the problem.”

It wasn’t until Dibinga contemplated Jay-Z’s lyrics in the song “Moment of Clarity” that his opinion of the rapper began to shift:

I dumb down for my audience and double my dollars

They criticize me for it, yet they all yell “Holla”

If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli

Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense

But I did 5 mill’ — I ain’t been rhyming like Common since

“Talib Kweli and Common Sense are political rappers, so, basically what he was saying in that verse was like, ‘I would love to rap about politics and Black empowerment, but you all are not going to buy it. And I want to help people, and I also want to be rich. So, I gave you all what you wanted, I got rich, and now I’m able to help people the way I want’,” Dibinga explained.

This realization led Dibinga to jump deeper into Jay-Z’s music catalog, where he found “snippets of Black empowerment” throughout his lyrics.

“That’s when I realized that we shouldn’t judge people prematurely,” Dibinga said. “We should do the work beyond the superficial and get to know them, and that everybody’s story is worthy of study. So, that experience turned [Jay-Z] from one of my most hated rappers to one of my favorites of all time.”

Jay-Z in the Classroom

In his undergraduate class, Dibinga teaches students the process he used to write a historical biography of Jay-Z. Instead of starting at Jay-Z’s birth, Dibinga takes a longer lens and walks students through the period of history leading up to the rapper’s birth.

“When you look at Jay-Z, he obviously has his rap accolades, but he’s also directly tied to the civil rights movement in a particular sense in that he was born on the same day that Black Panther leader Fred Hampton was assassinated—December 4, 1969,” Dibinga explained. “So, with that class, what we do is we put somebody’s life in context. We talk about what they inherit, what’s going on in the world before they even get here that will determine their life chances and their life story.”

As part of the curriculum, students in the class choose a person to profile in a historical biography. Dibinga said there is an array of interesting figures that his students have chosen to profile in the past, ranging from political figures, like AOC and Winston Churchill, to personal influences, like favorite schoolteachers.

The course encourages students to understand their research subjects on a “deeper level” by examining how their personal experiences and the time period in which they lived contributed to their life story, Dibinga explained.

“SIS students are reading the books about Churchill, Thatcher, and Mandela, but what went behind the decisions that they made? What were the experiences in their lives that would lead them to sign this treaty or start this war or lead in a particular way? SIS students need to continue to get into the minds of the people they’re studying, because in doing that at a deeper level, it better helps them understand themselves as future practitioners,” Dibinga said.

The class also explores different challenges in writing a historical biography, including the differences in writing about a man versus a woman and how to approach writing about someone who is a different race from the author.

At the end of the semester, students submit a research paper on their chosen person and present their historical biography to the class.

Celebrating Artists During Black History Month

There are many ways to celebrate Black History Month this year and recognize the contributions of African Americans in the arts. The Smithsonian is hosting an array of events this month to highlight the contributions of African Americans in visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more.

When recognizing artists during Black History Month and beyond, Dibinga encourages people to look deeper.

“What I would encourage people to do for Black History Month and beyond is go beyond the artists,” Dibinga said. “Ask yourself, ‘Why did they write that song? What was happening in our society at the time that they created that song?’ If you can go to that deeper level, like I had to do with Jay-Z, you develop a greater appreciation for the artists beyond, ‘Oh, I love how they hit that note,’ or ‘I love how they put that rhyme together.’”

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More than 30 years later, Afrofuturism continues to make a global impact in its unique, thought-provoking blend of Black culture, science fiction, technology, liberation and imagination through the perspective of the African diaspora. From blockbuster films such as “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” to aspects of literature, music, poetry, theater, visual arts and more, Afrofuturism and its imagery has taken Black pride and Black thought to greater heights of collective consciousness, particularly within mainstream pop culture.

The Dayton region can lay claim to the historical development and contemporary practice of Afrofuturism thanks to an array of artists with local ties whose work has been inspired by the genre, and in some instances, helped formulate its aesthetic.

Academy Award-winning production designer Hannah Beachler, a Centerville High School and Wright State University film graduate, filled the “Black Panther” films with striking images of Afrofuturism. In a 2022 interview with the Dayton Daily News, she credited director Ryan Coogler for his forward-thinking vision that addresses a primary aspect of Afrofuturism: creating imagined worlds.

“He braided all these elements together in a very eloquent, beautiful way that catches the imagination of young people while helping older generations imagine a better way, a better future, a better world,” Beachler said. “‘Black Panther’ contains a truth that is not often found in fantasy films, a truth rooted in a resilience of a culture in a country deep beneath the fantasy of the Marvel comic universe.”

Beachler is also using Afrofuturism in her relatively new career transition to the stage. In 2022, she designed sets for the new musical “Mandela,” directed by Dayton native Schele Williams in London’s West End, and she’s currently responsible for colorful designs grounded in an African sensibility for the highly entertaining, Black-emboldened Broadway revival of “The Wiz,” which opens in April and is also directed by Williams.

“I’m really excited about ‘Mandela,’” Beachler said as the London premiere approached. “We’re bringing a sense of Afrofuturism into the story and not letting the audience off the hook with what apartheid has done. We’re all culpable.”

Afrofuturism in funk

Dayton has always been proud of its funk music heritage thanks to legendary groups such as Ohio Players, Lakeside, Faze-O, Slave and Zapp. The message and music that poured out of these bands as well as others including Parliament-Funkadelic featuring Cincinnati native Bootsy Collins paved the way for a movement toward Afrofuturism decades before the term existed.

In his keynote lecture at the 2021 Dayton Funk Symposium at the University of Dayton, Rickey Vincent, lecturer in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and author of “Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of The One,” discussed the artistic marriage of Afrofuturism and funk.

“(It’s) the combining of the ancient and the future, the past memories and the ‘exaltation of Black liberation unbounded’ expressed in 1970s popular music,” Vincent said. “The 1970s was perhaps the only moment in Black history when dreams of a better future were not simply revealed, but (momentarily) brought into reality.”

One of the most definitive examples of this indelible marriage stems from the groundbreaking artistry of the late Roger Troutman, founder of Zapp. The multi-instrumentalist changed the future by placing the future in his voice. Incorporating a vocoder “talk box” to create computerized vocals, Troutman’s memorable 1986 ballad “Computer Love” revolutionized how R&B could be interpreted while leaning into a futuristic soundscape that would inspire the hip-hop generation.

“When Roger Troutman of Zapp mastered the ‘talk box’ — actually a vocoder —he pushed the boundaries of the dance floor party sound,” Vincent says. “Everyone was trying to sound futuristic, and Roger’s ‘talk box’ involved placing a tube in his mouth, in which he would talk and sing into his keyboard and produce electrified human vocal sounds. The impact was exhilarating, creating hit after hit, and reached the hip-hop world through his collaboration with Dr. Dre and Tupac on ‘California Love’ in 1995. Zapp and Roger would become one of the most sampled acts in hip-hop history.”

Afrofuturism in liberation, literature and legacy

Vincent’s keynote also noted how Afrofuturism redefines ideas of Black liberation.

“Afrofuturism is a response to rigid definitions of Black liberation,” he said. “It is the ‘rise of the Black geek.’ Through cosplay (re-enactments), costumes, comics, games, and various forms of participatory activities and identifications, definitions of Black heroism, leadership and possibility are constantly challenged.”

And it is through this “Black geek” lens, often bolstered by the power of the written word, that Afrofuturism expands its reach and race.

“‘Black Panther’ was a comic book from the 1960s,” said Chicago-based collage artist, poet and educator Krista Franklin, a Xenia native who grew up in Trotwood. “We think about ‘Black Panther’ as a cinematic and Marvel phenomenon, but this (story) was going on for a while and was niche. How many adults are reading comic books? I do but that’s not something you would typically associate with the mainstream. There is also a lot of Black politics involved in ‘Black Panther.’ The movies did a good job of expressing the tensions that were happening in the comic book series.”

Franklin’s acclaimed work has been inspired by science fiction, the Black Arts Movement and Afrofuturism. She’s also the author of “Solo(s),” “Too Much Midnight,” the artist book “Under the Knife,” and the chapbook “Study of Love & Black Body.” Her visual art has been exhibited at DePaul Art Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Chicago Cultural Center, National Museum of Mexican Art, and the set of Fox’s Emmy-nominated drama “Empire.”

In 2023 she blended poetics, pop culture and histories of the African diaspora for an exhibit titled “Solo(s): Krista Franklin,” which was presented from July through December by the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. She’s also immersed in an ongoing project titled “… to take root among stars.”

“It is an archival project in handmade paper that strives to capture evidence of Afrofuturist and Afrosurrealist thought in the 20th and 21st centuries,” Franklin said. “It’s exhibited widely, including the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati a few years ago.”

She studied Afrofuturism for many years and still uses it as a framework, but it wasn’t until she attended graduate school at Columbia College Chicago that she began to apply it to her craft. She found her artistic spark in the compelling works of the late Black science fiction author Octavia E. Butler (“Kindred”).

“I had long wanted Octavia Butler’s works to have cinematic interpretation — to see her novels on the big screen,” Franklin said. “I did not see that happening so I decided to create images in response to the novels. I started creating collages that were inspired by each of her novels. I used the structures and concepts of Afrofuturism to think through my making. Octavia Butler never considered herself an Afrofuturist — she considered herself to be a writer. She was more concerned about her work dealing with futuristic ideas such as notion of the alien and the fantastic.”

She also praises Troutman and Dayton native Greg Tate, the late activist, critic and musician who was deemed an early architect of Afrofuturism for his advocation for surrealism and science fiction within the context of race.

“Dayton has some incredible contributors and contributions to the concept of Afrofuturism,” Franklin said. “First being the late brilliant writer and cultural critic Greg Tate who is one of the forefathers of the concept and was born in Dayton. Roger Troutman and Zapp (innovated) the fusion of technology and funk. I mean, ‘Computer Love.’ You can’t get any more Afrofuturist than that.”

In a 2015 interview with CapitalBop, a Washington D.C.-based organization dedicated to promoting, presenting and preserving jazz, Tate addressed the essence of Afrofuturism and his involvement.

“It’s like a beautiful compendium of the cats who were obsessed with what I call the ‘imagineering’ of ideas — putting Black folks in a science fiction setting, in the future, or in the retro-future, listening back to ancient African kingdoms as a kind of science fiction fodder. The thing is, even before anybody came up with the term, there was already a history. When Mark Dery came up with the term, it was already a historical subject.”

In the 1960s, iconic Dayton artist Willis “Bing” Davis, longtime arts educator and owner and curator of the Willis “Bing” Davis Art Studio and EbonNia Gallery in the Wright Dunbar district, discovered how life-changing Afrofuturism could be.

“In 1965 it led me to change my teaching focus and my art,” Davis said. “I stopped teaching art and began to teach people. I (saw) the utilization of African imagery in art as a way of understanding self and appreciating others. My work, which has a look and a feel of an Africanist, is consciously intended to show that reflection.”

However, he acknowledges the Afrofuturism terminology back then as “African Continuum,” which incorporated similar traits, adhering to Black aesthetics that could be traced back to the African diaspora.

“African Continuum used the elements of African structure and African life that could still be found in African American life today in regards to where they are in the diaspora, (including), the influence on music, dress and speech patterns or slang,” Davis said.

Afrofuturism in photography and dance

Multidisciplinary artist Shon Curtis, a portrait and commercial photographer born and raised in Dayton, has also recently pursued Afrofuturism in a series of work.

“I have to maintain a thread of truth while also being open enough to explore what’s beyond,” Curtis said of his photography. “And what lies beyond is Afrofuturism. I’m creating photos of people who are not done with their journey. They have to see themselves further so they want their photos to (compel) the viewer to lean into the direction they’re going. So, I articulated the future self while maintaining the present self that was in front of me. The work that I create needs to have an impact. My goal is to have a footprint to document the time we’re in, the space people are in and what they are trying to say to the future.”

He also views Afrofuturism as a significant cultural touchstone that speaks to representation while particularly growing the mindset of Black children.

“We have to continue to write, work or create our way into the future,” said Curtis, who grew up a fan of Bill Cosby’s futuristic comedy “Leonard Part 6″ and also respects the classic works of the aforementioned Butler. “We want our kids to aspire and our kids need to see themselves in the Afrofuturism space. You are what you see. We have a huge populace of children who aspire to be basketball players or entertainers but the reality is we have to keep seeing ourselves as everything in order to become everything.”

Professional dancer, teaching artist and choreographer Countess V. Winfrey, a Dayton Contemporary Dance Company member since 2014, has embraced Afrofuturism in recent years as she and her colleagues create pieces rooted in the African American experience. She says her artistic instincts are refreshed by the thought of Black people, Black culture, existing in a time unknown, especially from a social justice perspective.

“We haven’t seen the future so Afrofuturism presents a space for imagining that’s a little bit different than making a piece about the civil rights movement or the George Floyd protests, those things we can see right in front of us that have a very clear blueprint.”

In addition to presenting “Under the Sun: An Improvisational Arts Experience” at the Dayton Arcade in 2023, the Nashville native created a site-specific work for the Cincinnati Art Museum in 2022 titled “Homage: What was, Is, To Come,” which spotlighted the Black experience of the past and present, and the dream of a Black future in the now.

“I’m a firm believer that we can’t truly imagine a future if we don’t really know what our past looked like and what our present looks like in order to know how we want our future to look,” she said. “For many obvious reasons, it’s been hard to come out from under the thumb of the oppression that African Americans have experienced over the course of centuries. I think Afrofuturism starts as a mindset that then transforms us — the way we show up, the way we feel unapologetic about who we are. Afrofuturism is freedom in the mind and spirit.”

As Winfrey contemplates different facets of Afrofuturism, she excitedly applies the term to entrepreneurship. As Black-owned businesses continue to open in downtown Dayton such as CULTURE, After5 and The Reserve on Third, she views the trend as an encouraging sign of a positive Black future encompassing the natural evolution of Afrofuturism.

“Reclaiming, renewing and reinvigorating older spaces in Dayton and making them new is an example of Afrofuturism,” Winfrey said. “This is something African Americans have always done over generations — making something out of nothing. To see a space and imagine the way you want it to look through your lens is a concrete example of Afrofuturism we can see today.”

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Usher is sharing more details about how and why he’s giving R&B music the spotlight during his highly anticipated Super Bowl LVIII I halftime show performance later this month.

In an interview that aired on Good Morning America on Friday, he told reporter Kelley Carter that he considered struggles that past Black artists had to endure so that, at 45 years old, he could be the musician headlining the live entertainment during football’s biggest night.

Usher said that when planning his show, he thought about artists of the past “having to at some point, go through kitchens to even be able to perform for an audience.”

“They had to leave back through that same door, you know, fearing for their lives as they went to the next state to do the same thing,” he continued.

“So, I’m coming through the front door with this one,” Usher added with a smile.

The “My Boo” singer had three decades worth of music to choose from for his halftime show set, and he told Carter that he also thought about his friends and mentors in the industry when planning the upcoming performance.

“I didn’t start where I am now, and I didn’t get there by myself,” he said. “So, everybody that has been a part of it, I’m carrying them with me. All of my fans, my loved ones — the people who may have felt like they have been forgotten, they haven’t. I’m carrying you right with me when I walk on that stage that night.”

Usher also told Carter that the initial adrenaline rush that he got when he learned he was confirmed to headline the show wore off when he saw how much work it was, but, “I’m ready,” he said.

The “OMG” singer didn’t tease any specific details or surprises to expect from the performance, but he previously said in a digital cover interview with Vogue that he hopes people who only watch the Super Bowl for the football see his show and have a “healing” experience.

He also teased at least one costume change, rollerskating and some guest appearances along with choreography.

Usher will perform during the Super Bowl halftime show on 11 February.

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