Sisters Alexis Jones and Arin Jackson’s desire for more diverse children’s music has been nominated for a Grammy Award.
The duo, known as The Magic Jones, contributed to 1Tribe Collective, where AllOneTribe won the Best Children’s Album. Neither Jackson nor Jones are new to the music industry.
JacksonwasamemberoftheGrammy-nominated R & B group Brownstone and Jones played as a member of the Sunday Service Choir at Kanye West.
She also acts on credits, including Tyler Perry’s “Made A Christmas.”
They told CNN that during the pandemic, they began to think about their musical expression and their desire to “be able to see themselves” by the children of color.
“I was looking for nursery rhymes and content that we could relate to,” Jackson said. “Something you can sing as a family to really escape what’s happening.”
A survey to find color artists in this genre did not give them what they were looking for, she said. So they decided to create what they felt was necessary. It wasn’t easy.
“I think the biggest challenge was pushing the boundaries and pushing the genre of music for kids,” Jackson said. “Because it is so dominated by white artists.”
But they pushed forward and began to make music that both parents and children could hear.
This is a perfect fit for the 1 Tribe Collective, which consists of 26 black artists and musicians, and will later become a Grammy-nominated project. Jackson said music was a “beautiful escape” during the pandemic.
“That’s one of the reasons we became child actors,” she said. “Turn on the radio or turn on your favorite playlists to move you anywhere.
This will help you get out of your current mood: The Grammy Awards will air on CBS on Sunday night.
