“Hey,” I whispered to Cameron, excited, conspiratorial. “Don’t tell anyone, not yet, but that’s the Memphian of the Year.”
Boo Mitchell, record producer, owner of Royal Studios, and ambassador of all things Memphis music, had strolled onto the stage at Mempho Music Festival one crisp October evening to introduce Wu-Tang Clan. We’d rushed out to Shelby Farms after dropping off my stepson at a friend’s house in East Memphis for a backyard movie night. Invited to stay a while, we told the friend’s parents no, thank you, we were on a Wu-Tang mission. Priorities!
Mitchell, standing with the legendary David Porter, introducing Wu-Tang: The assembled crowd erupted into joy and pride at this confluence of wonders. All the gathering eagerness for RZA, GZA, and Ghostface Killah was displaced, at least temporarily, by the sight of two hometown musical giants. (Don’t get me wrong: This crowd knew, and chanted, all the words to songs the group first rapped when I was in elementary school. And they were not afraid to, as Wu-Tang exhorts, “Bring Da Ruckus.”)
Anna Traverse Fogle
Wu Tang Clan at Memphofest 2019
Wu-Tang has recorded at Mitchell’s Royal Studios, and has sampled Memphis music in its work for years, weaving tunes like Syl Johnson’s 1974 “Could I Be Falling in Love” — recorded at Royal Studios by Boo Mitchell’s father, Willie Mitchell — into hip-hop joints. Hi Records tunes, as well as Stax/Volt creations, are all over Wu-Tang’s oeuvre.
Living in Memphis, we forget sometimes how deeply our city and its sounds continue to resonate in the wider world. Tell anyone you meet elsewhere in the world that you’re from Memphis, and she’ll respond, almost invariably, “Ah, Elvis!” But it’s not just Elvis, of course: Memphis music, from the blues to hip-hop, has long been at the heart and — maybe more aptly — the soul of American music and culture.
The creativity and audacity of this city are two of our greatest attributes, and our greatest exports, too. When we see those exports on stage, or hear them on a record, we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the light we might wish to be seen: full of grit, and full of grace.
The December issue of Memphis marks our 7th annual Memphian of the Year selection, and, somehow, our first time honoring a local from our music industry. We’ve featured, as Memphians of the Year, a rabbi, a ballet visionary, and two basketball heroes, among others — but no musicians, or music producers, until now. We might be a little late, but I’m glad we’re here. The soundtrack to this city is the mightiest of all mixed tapes, and Mr. Mitchell has played a key role in bringing it forth.
Stepping back a moment, I believe it’s worth stating that in a city of this size, with as much change and creation happening all the time here, with as many remarkable humans as call Memphis home — dubbing one individual Memphian of the Year is bound to feel just a little arbitrary. It’s not that Mr. Mitchell is not deserving of his Royal crown: Read Alex Greene’s article in this magazine to be convinced that he is, eminently. But others have earned crowns of their own.
I’d like to invite you, then, to send me your own nominations for Memphian of the Year, even Memphian of the Decade. We’ll share some of your suggestions in an upcoming issue and online, provided you send them (email: anna@memphismagazine.com). The qualifications are whatever you think the qualifications ought to be for this honor. Do, please, explain how you arrived at your nomination. These need not be the most headline-grabbing Memphians, although they can be newsmakers and earth-shakers. They certainly need not be wealthy, or prominent, or powerfully connected.
This season of celebration, let’s focus on the people around us who make our Memphis lovable, inspiring, and whole — the people who make your world glow even, or especially, on these short, solstice days when light is scarce. Happy holidays.
— Anna Traverse Fogle, CEO
