Mary J. Blige, Jon Batiste among inclusions on Time 100 list
Oprah Winfrey, Questlove, and Issa Rae are also included on Time Magazine's annual list of the world's most influential people.
Mary J. Blige and Jon Batiste made the list. So did Oprah Winfrey, Issa Rae, and Questlove.
Along with 95 others, they are named on the Time 100. The annual list recognizes the magazine’s selection of the year’s most influential people in the world.
The list is divided into six categories: artists, innovators, titans, leaders, icons, and pioneers. It was released on Monday on Time‘s website.
Blige is listed in the icons section and is one of five honorees to grace separate covers of the print edition. The others are Zendaya (innovators), Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley (leaders), Simu Liu (artists), and Tim Cook (titans). There is not a cover person for the pioneers section.
“She carved out a lane for herself, and now she can feed the people more than just music,” rapper Nas said in his profile of Blige, a nine-time Grammy-Award winner. Each profile was written by another prominent figure in the honoree’s field.
Nas praises Blige’s versatility in several areas. “She has a lot more to offer from her incredible acting career to her wine brand to the Strength of a Woman festival she just launched in Atlanta. And I feel like she’s just getting started.”
Batiste is also listed in the icons category. “What I love most about Jon as an artist and human being, though, is that he has handled his success with grace, and his creativity with humility,” famed producer Quincy Jones writes in his profile of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader, who is fresh off the heels of winning five Grammys. “It is all of these attributes that will allow him to continue to grow and accomplish all that he sets out to.”
Others included in the icons section include actress/writer Issa Rae and activist/journalist Nadine Smith. Zoe Kravitz, Michael R. Jackson, Jazmine Sullivan, and Quinta Brunson are in the artists section. Besides Zendaya, Derek Palmer and Chris Smalls are in the innovators section.
Winfrey is listed in the titans section, and in the leaders section are Ketjani Brown Jackson and Letitia James. The pioneers section includes Candace Parker, Questlove, and Gregory L. Robinson.
The Time 100 list will be released in print form on May 27.
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