New album Black to the Future by Pierce Freelon pays homage to a Star Trek favorite with track “LeVar Burton”

Pierce Freelon pays homage to “uncle” LeVar Burton in the video for “LeVar Burton” from his album Black to the Future

JUNE 13, 2021 - If you’ve spent time around any Star Trek fans, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the question “What does Star Trek mean to you?”. Often, answers will turn to ideas of unity, strength, tolerance, perseverance, and hope for a brighter future. These are just some of the ideas at the core of hip-hop musician Pierce Freelon’s latest album Black to the Future, which happens to feature an homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton.

Coming of age in a very creative household, Freelon was raised by a village of artists and activists. Black to the Future is the result of that influence. The family-friendly album is inspired by Afrofuturism and shares elements of hip-hop, funk, soul, and more! In the track “LeVar Burton”, Freelon highlights Burton’s career through his social justice activism, his work on Reading Rainbow and literary advocacy, and empowering roles as Geordi LaForge on TNG and Kunta Kinte in the television miniseries Roots. Freelon’s song also includes a special mention of Nichelle Nichols and her character Lieutenant Uhura’s groundbreaking impact for women and the Black community.

Black to the Future is truly multigenerational. Each track on the album includes audio, both spoken and sung, across four generations of Freelon’s family. Also included is archival audio of his father, the late, preeminent architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Phil Freelon.

On top of being a musician, Pierce Freelon is an Emmy Award-winning producer and director, and a member of the Durham City Council in Durham, North Carolina. When he isn’t laying down tracks for an album, Freelon is often on the road, teaching music production and hip hop to youth in community centers. He is the co-founder of the successful PBS web-series Beat Making Lab, and taught in the African American Studies department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Pierce is also the founder of Blackspace, a digital maker space where he has mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film.

Black to the Future was written, recorded and produced by Freelon and is available through Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music and more. Visit piercefreelon.com for music, videos and more information. To see the music video for his song “LeVar Burton”, visit the Pierce Freelon channel on YouTube.

Black to the Future Album track list:

1. No One Exactly Like You feat. Nnenna Freelon

2. Wonderful Long Braids (Interlude)  

3. Braid My Hair feat. Stella Freelon

4. First Day of School

5. Cootie Shot feat. Divinity Roxx

6. Miss Ella Jenkins (Interlude)

7. ZOMBI feat. Stella Freelon

8. Attitude of Gratitude feat. Kelly Kale

9. No Is A Love Word feat. Shana Tucker 

10. Alpine 

11. LeVar Burton

12. Solar Skate 

13. Count Kiswahili

14. You Messed It Up (Interlude)

15. Heart 

16. Vulnerable

17. Black To The Future

18. You Are Exactly Like No One