Jon Batiste Opens the TIME100 Summit with Reflections on the Power of Music
- 2 years ago
At the 2022 TIME100 Summit in New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, Batiste opened the morning with a powerful rendition of two songs, “Cry” and “Don’t Stop,” alongside a string quartet. His conversation with comedian, producer, writer, and host Amber Ruffin a little later in the morning solidified why Batiste is on the TIME100 list this year—and why he has become such a beloved, and necessary, member of the music and entertainment worlds in the U.S.
Ruffin opened the conversation by asking Batiste why, exactly, it’s been 14 years since a Black artist has won the Album of the Year Grammy, something that Batiste accomplished just this year. “Well, shucks. I think there’s a lot of things that happen that separate cultures, and unfortunately in this country we’ve had a severance of cultural understanding,” Batiste said. “The communities are just now starting to synthesize.”
Ruffin opened the conversation by asking Batiste why, exactly, it’s been 14 years since a Black artist has won the Album of the Year Grammy, something that Batiste accomplished just this year. “Well, shucks. I think there’s a lot of things that happen that separate cultures, and unfortunately in this country we’ve had a severance of cultural understanding,” Batiste said. “The communities are just now starting to synthesize.”