Blue Ivy Carter, the child of Beyonce and Jay-Z, will narrate the audiobook for “Hair Love,” based on Matthew A. Cherry’s Oscar-winning short film.
Cherry announced the news on social media, posting a clip that samples the four-minute long audiobook.
The touching tale, which follows an African American dad attempting to do his daughter’s hair for the first time, took home an Academy Award in 2020 for best animated short film. Last May, it was released as a children’s book with illustrations by Vashti Harrison. Cherry’s short film — which he wrote, directed and co-produced with Karen Rupert Toliver — will also be developed into an animated TV show at HBO Max called “Young Love,” based on the characters from “Hair Love.”
Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge praised “Hair Love” when it was released earlier this year, calling it “a way of boosting pride and understanding alike.”
“Cherry imagines an instantly engaging […] way to untangle and potentially reshape a number of African American stereotypes,” he wrote.
Dreamscape Media produced and published the audio edition of “Hair Love,” which is available now in the U.S. and Canada.
The 8-year-old Carter already has numerous accolades under her belt. She won the BET Her Award in 2020 for the song “Brown Skin Girl,” making her the youngest recipient of a BET Award. She also nabbed an NAACP Image Award for the same single, which is a collaboration with Beyonce, WizKid and Saint Jhn. Carter also appeared in Beyonce’s visual album “Black Is King,” which debuted on Disney Plus in July. With Carter’s audiobook performance, there’s a chance she could contend for a Grammy nomination for spoken word. Her mother has 24 Grammy Awards and her father has 22.
Article by: Rebecca Rubinfor Variety
Comments