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Macklemore's Straight, White Position on Bias
This isn’t the first time LGBT issues have been addressed in hip-hop. But it might just be the first time a straight white artist has championed gay rights so fiercely in the genre. Rapper Macklemore’s song “Same Love” tackles injustice with the best of intentions, but is he on the wrong road when he puts…
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Baby 'Hypnotized' by Biggie Smalls
(The Root)— “Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can’t you see? Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.” Almost every hip-hop fan in the world can respect those lyrics from ‘Hypnotize’ on the Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 album, Life After Death. Apparently that includes pint-size hip-hop fans, too. This video of a baby entranced by the song has gone viral…
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'The Jackson 5ive' Has Arrived on DVD
(The Root) — Children of the ’70s and in the decades that followed certainly remember the music of the immensely popular family singing group known as the Jackson Five: Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and, of course, Michael. The brothers are perhaps lesser known for having their own cartoon series, Jackson 5ive. On Jan. 15, DreamWorks…
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New App Banks on Sex
In an age when casual sex is increasingly more common and riskier, a new iPhone app promises to keep you safe. MedXSafe allows users to wirelessly transfer their contact information and confirmed health status to other users. According to Clutch magazine: Sexually Active Youngs have developed a new smartphone feature called “safe bumping” to help…
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The 151 Victims of Mass Shootings This Year
Though 2012 marked victories and milestones for public figures such as President Obama, Gabby Douglas and Jay-Z and Beyoncé, it has also proved tragic beyond words for Sikh worshippers at a temple in Oak Creek, Wis.; the families of elementary school children and educators in Newtown, Conn.; and Batman fans in Aurora, Colo. Mother Jones profiles some…
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Classic Images of West Coast Hip-Hop
(The Root) — From Snoop Dogg and Ice-T to Tupac and Eazy-E, West Coast rappers have made an undeniable impact on hip-hop. Photographer Michael Miller was there during their heyday in the 1990s to capture the genre’s rising stars and inevitable hip-hop icons. His West Coast Hip Hop: A History In Pictures is a 200-page…
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Black TV Watch: Kenya and Porsha Battle on 'Real Housewives'
(The Root) — Some women are divas, some women are divas in the making and some women are just wannabes. It’s all a matter of perspective. Real Housewives of Atlanta (Sunday, 9 p.m. EST; Bravo) “I’m still fabulous — Gone With the Wind fabulous.” —Kenya “Kenya just went all sorts of cuckoo. I mean, really…
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Submit Creative Works for Artstrike
(The Root) — Artstrike, a project that encourages artists and art collectors to submit and share protest pieces on the subject of the fiscal cliff, is planning a day of action on Dec. 17. Led by civil rights activist and Rebuild the Dream co-founder Van Jones, organizers from Artstrike claim that the fiscal cliff (or…
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Black TV Watch: 'Scandal' Season Finale
(The Root) — Not much can lighten up a Thursday when viewers of Scandal watched as Olivia Pope looked for who shot her boo, the POTUS. But Jamie Foxx and Wyatt Cenac come close. Check out our wrap-up of the juicy drama and where the jokes were on late-night TV. Scandal (Thursday, 10 p.m. ET;…
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Black TV Watch: Say Hello to Kanye West's Leather Kilt
(The Root) — The Concert for Sandy Relief Wednesday night in New York’s Madison Square Garden was a touching example of solidarity in the wake of the hurricane that devastated the East Coast several weeks ago. Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, with a cameo from Michael Stipe, all put in…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
