Media giants Kevin Hart and Charlamagne Tha God have announced an exclusive partnership with online platform Audible in an effort to bring forth more Black voices to the forefront of culturally-nuanced conversations, Forbes reports.
According to Audible, the global multi-year, multi-project development, production, and audio licensing deal is an innovative collaboration that joins both Kevin’s Hartbeat Productions and Charlamagne’s CTHAGOD World Productions, to achieve a common goal that aims to amplify rising Black creatives and their unique narratives.
“Kevin Hart and Charlamagne Tha God are two extremely talented forces who have captured the hearts, minds and ears of millions of fans around the world and whose distinct voices, vision and collective brand equity are uniquely positioned to inspire new listeners to engage with Audible,” said Rachel Ghiazza — Audible’s EVP, Head of US Content — in a statement. “Audiences everywhere are eager to hear more from them – to laugh with them, to learn from them.”
She added: “Charlamagne’s direct, no nonsense perspective and Kevin’s hustle, humor, and authenticity are a winning combination; Audible is incredibly excited to join forces with these masterminds to create groundbreaking new originals. Their collaborative and solo scripted audio originals will bring great new entertainment experiences to Audible’s robust pipeline of content.”
Audible shares that the slate of long-form Audible Originals episodes coming down the pipeline will feature fictional and non-fictional scripted series from both powerhouse talents spanning across all aspects of culture that they will each personally source, cultivate, and develop.
“This is a special collaboration. Kevin and I are committed to discovering and amplifying Black talent who will create content that entertains, informs, empowers and inspires,” Charlamagne said in a statement. “It’s critical for more Black people to unite in business to elevate and provide pathways for other creatives to shine, while providing platforms to shape culturally-nuanced storytelling for global audiences. The scripted audio movement is offering creative freedom and is future of storytelling so we’re thrilled to develop projects in this space.”
During a phone call with Forbes Entertainment, Hart shared that the goal of the collaboration is to “give people of color a better start. We’ve been starting at the bottom for quite some time and we’re just saying, ‘Let’s try to even out the playing field with a fair start out the gate.'”
Through this partnership, these two powerful entertainment figures will be able to enable more Black voices in the culture and nurture a space for Black storytelling to grow and expand on a mainstream level.
“The power of Black voices is palpable, and I feel a responsibility to help my community broadcast our stories, many that are rich in culture and heritage,” said Hart in a statement. “We want to create a space where everyone can access content that lifts, inspires and educates.”
More details on upcoming projects produced from this collaboration will be announced in the coming months.
