Reiland Rabaka's Earth, Wind & Fire NPR Interview

From “Keep Your Head to the Sky,” “Shining Star,” and “September" to a catalog that helped serve as a soundtrack for several generations, Earth, Wind & Fire transformed popular music through soul, funk, spirituality, imagination, and joy. Their music invites us to dance, but it also invites us to dream. The CAAAS Director, Professor Reiland Rabaka, was recently interviewed on NPR about the new documentary, “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight of The World),” directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The conversation explores the band's enduring legacy, Maurice White’s visionary leadership, and what Earth, Wind & Fire’s remarkable popularity reveals about culture, community, hope, and the human desire to reach beyond the ordinary toward something transcendent. 

 

To listen to the interview, which features funk music scholars Rickey Vincent and Marcus J. Moore, click here: