Kenya Barris and Pharrell Williams are in the developmental stages of a full-fledged Juneteenth musical, which will have a home on Netflix.
Per Deadline, the collaboration is hush-hush for now, however, the site’s sources say that this Juneteenth musical is different from the one they initially announced back in 2018.
“Williams will produce this project with partner Mimi Valdes alongside Barris, who will produce through his production company Khalabo Ink Society,” continues the site.
Last week, Williams took part in a press conference in his home state of Virginia, where he voiced his support regarding making Juneteenth a national holiday.
“Every year, as a nation, we mark the Fourth of July, Independence Day...But that freedom we celebrate did not include everyone,” he says. “It’s time we elevate [Juneteenth], not just a celebration by and for some Virginians, but one acknowledged and celebrated by all of us because that’s how important this event is.”
Barris, who created the show Black-ish and its spinoffs, has also been vocal about the importance of Juneteenth, often interweaving the holiday into storylines on his shows. To kick off the fourth season of Black-ish, there was an entire musical episode about Juneteenth, and for his latest series, Netflix’s BlackAF, the characters took part in a Juneteenth party.
We’re interested in seeing where this goes.
DISCUSSION
1. What’s it gonna be called, Happy-ish?
2. If you can’t top Negrotown, don’t bother.