Samora Pinderhughes unveils highly anticipated new mixtape 'Black Spring' today in collaboration with The Healing Project

 SAMORA PINDERHUGHES UNVEILS
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW MIXTAPE BLACK SPRING IN COLLABORATION WITH THE HEALING PROJECTCELEBRATING JAMES BALDWINS’ 100TH BIRTHYEAR, MIXTAPE CHALLENGES CAPITALISM, POLICE VIOLENCE,MASS INCARCERATIONSamora Pinderhughes. Photo credit: Ragan Henderson DOWNLOADJuly 18, 2025—Award winning pianist, composer, vocalist, and multidisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes today unveils his highly anticipated new mixtape,  Black Spring , made in collaboration with The Healing Project—listen/share  here .Black Spring, formed around new songs inspired by Pinderhughes’ sold-out performance in February at Harlem's legendary The Apollo, celebrates the 100th birthyear of seminal author and activist James Baldwin. The 10 tracks blend emotive and poetic piano ballads with modern electronics and R&B production, fusing a cohesive, genre spanning sound that brings a refreshing take to the neo-soul canon. The tracklist features members of Pinderhughes’ tight knit New York community including Elliott Skinner, Jamila Woods, Dani Murcia, Jehbreal Jackson, Marcus Gilmore and more.Rooted in the tradition of Black radical music and collective organizing, the songs challenge racial capitalism, police violence, mass incarceration, and systems of domination both in the U.S. and globally, providing a clear message of resistance. On the mixtape, Pinderhughes shares, "In a time when so many are overwhelmed, numbed, or uncertain in how to respond to the rise of authoritarianism and state violence, Black Spring offers a necessary jolt—an invitation to feel, to remember, and to move. It meets people where they are—be it in grief, in rage, or in quiet despair—and channels those emotions into momentum."The mixtape comes amidst a slew of new awards and community work for Pinderhughes; most recently, he has been named the Adobe Creative Resident at MOMA, a Pioneer Works Visual Art & Music Resident, and has given a TED Talk/Performance that will be released publicly on August 1—he’s also currently getting his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he teaches an undergraduate class titled “Music in Social Practice: Sounding the Chorus of Community.’On February 22nd at The Apollo, in celebration of Baldwin’s legacy, Pinderhughes performed The James Baldwin Essays: As Much Truth As One Can Bear, an immersive multimedia experience that wove together songcraft, poetry, film, and inspiration from Baldwin’s own plays & essays like The Amen Corner and The Cross of Redemption. Originally commissioned by Harlem Stage in 2015, Pinderhughes refreshed the original score with new songs and new voices. Rounding the mixtape out with recently released single “Am I Human,” with features poetry from artist Keith LaMar who is currently on death row, Pinderhughes pulls from overlooked previous EPs and singles to rework a cohesive body of work that confronts structural violence and reckons with America’s history. The tracklist blends live and studio performances, imagining a new future for the nation that replaces systems of harm with systems of care—find the full tracklist below.About Samora PinderhughesSamora Pinderhughes is a composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist known for examining sociopolitical issues and fighting for change through his art. Lauded as “one of the most affecting singer-songwriters today, in any genre” by The New York Times and “a magical being” by Forbes, Pinderhughes is shaping new worlds through his art, his honesty, and his vulnerability. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Pinderhughes began playing music at two years old and went on to study music at Juilliard where he met his primary artistic mentor, MacArthur-winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith. Pinderhughes has collaborated and performed with a number of artists including Common, Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins, Kyle Abraham, Sara Bareilles, Daveed Diggs and Herbie Hancock, and his works have been commissioned by institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Sundance Film Festival, The Kitchen, Yerba Buena Center for The Arts, and the Kennedy Center. In addition to the aforementioned awards and appointments, Pinderhughes also recently won an Emmy for his work as the composer, pianist and vocalist on Michéle Stephenson and Joe Brewster’s documentary, “Going to Mars: the Nikki Giovanni Project,” which also earned a place on the Oscars shortlist on top of IDA and Cinema Eye Honors nominations for Best Music Score.Pinderhughes’ third full length LP  Venus Smiles Not in The House of Tears  saw critical acclaim from WNYC All Of It, who welcomed him on for an on air segment, and Questlove praised, “Man..... @samorapinderhughes' music spoke to me tonight. […] For those doing the work & are on the path of improvement (& coming from a former self loather——it's so easy to get caught in that funk)—— I highly recommend seeing his show when it comes to your town. His band His singers at al—— superb gut punching performance tonight—— I felt understood tonight. Kudos."Mixtape cover TRACK LIST
BLACK SPRING 1. Hold Fast (feat. The Healing Project Choir)2. Kill War3. Hold That Weight4. Am I Human (feat Jamila Woods, Elliot Skinner, Bobby Gonz & Keith Lamar)5. No Plce (feat. Marcus Gilmore & Phil Agnew)6. For those lost, For those taken(feat. Nio Levon, Taj Sapp, Dani Murcia & Jehbreal Muhammad Jackson)7. Blood (feat. Lhasa de Sela)8. Star Blooded Work Song9. Black is the color / Comfort (Live, feat. Jules Latimer)10. I Know I’ve Been Changed