Yet another amazing woman has been added to the “Queen Sugar” roster. Meshell Ndegeocello will score the OWN series. Ava DuVernay, the co-creator of “Queen Sugar,” announced the news via Twitter, writing that she was “so proud to announce that this genius is [the]composer for [the series.]” The “Selma” director’s co-creators on the project are Oprah Winfrey and Melissa Carter. The trio will executive produce.
Ndegeocello is a singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist who has received 10 Grammy nominations over the span of her career. She made her debut in 1993 with the album “Plantation Lullabies.” Her music encompasses a number of genres including jazz, hip hop, soul, and rock.
Every episode of “Queen Sugar’s” first season is directed by a woman. Helmers include Tina Mabry (“Mississippi Damned”), So Yong Kim (“Lovesong”), and, of course, DuVernay, who directed the first two episodes. According to research from the DGA, women directed only 17.1 percent of television episodes during the 2015–16 season, so “Queen Sugar’s” 100-percent women-helmed freshman season is both welcome and radical.
The series, inspired by Natalie Baszile’s 2014 novel of the same name, centers on siblings who are reunited after a family tragedy. The family runs a sugarcane farm in rural Louisiana. Rutina Wesley (“True Blood”), Dawn-Lyen Gardner (“The Mysteries of Laura”), and Kofi Siriboe (“Awkward”) star.
“Queen Sugar” debuts September 6 on OWN.
Listen to a song from Ndegeocello’s newest album, “Comet, Come To Me,” below.
