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Diddy, L.A. Reid and Trey Songz: #MeToo Is Coming for Hip-Hop!
Allegations of rape, assault and sex trafficking against Combs could cause a much-needed trickle-down effect for the industry.
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The Root 100 2023: Why Fani Willis Deserves the Top Spot
Fulton County’s district attorney means business, and she could protect the entire country.
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Keke Palmer and a Basic Understanding of Domestic Abuse
The new allegations against Darius Jackson bring the Las Vegas “Usher incident” into context.
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What to Make of Kanye West?
This piece started off quite differently. You see, after years of skating around the margins of the sentiment, I’d finally leaned into full-on “F—k Kanye West” mode. It followed years of annoyance at his trend of constantly obnoxious and solipsistic behavior. Even his admission during a recent concert that he didn’t vote at all Nov. 8…
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The Best Rap Beefs of All Time
It’s interesting—and somewhat sad—that this decade’s only two meaningful rap beefs have involved attempts to sink the same floating dead body. It started in 2015, when everyone’s favorite manila-folder-complected, suburban Torontonian, Drake, traded “bars” with the somewhat less-meaningful Philly maestro of shout raps, Meek Mill. Though Meek exposed Drizzy for employing ghostwriters—a damning accusation in…
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‘Mafia III’ Is Probably the Blackest Video Game Ever Made
If you’re rocking pearls, the disclaimer at the very beginning of “Mafia III” (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, MacOS) might make you clutch ’em tightly: Mafia III takes place in a fictionalized version of the American South in 1968. We sought to create an authentic and immersive experience that captures this very turbulent time and…
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Don’t Throw Your Vote Away on Jill Stein
Cornel West recently continued down his long, winding road to breaking my heart. He returned to his recurring role as a panelist on Real Time With Bill Maher, where he was even more overbearing than usual. He battled with Barney Frank and barely let my future second wife, Alex Wagner, get a word in edgewise;…
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What’s Really Going On With Chicago’s Gun Violence, From Someone Who Actually Lives There
I have a friend moving to Chicago this fall to start a master’s program at the University of Chicago. As she prepares to leave from her Washington, D.C.-area home, many people in her life have expressed some degree of fear for her safety following her move. As if the moment she steps out into clear…
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Hip-Hop’s Best Year Ever Just Turned 20
It should come as no surprise to most of you that I wasn’t the most popular kid in high school. During my 1995-1996 freshman year, I endured an awkward, postpubescent, pre-growth-spurt phase that had me looking like the love child of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Associate Bob from Demolition Man. Making matters worse,…
