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Boyz II Men: Back in Full Effect
The quartet that ushered in the era of ’90s R&B groups is back in effect with their newest album, Twenty, to commemorate the group’s 20th anniversary. The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling artists will release 10 new songs alongside 10 re-recorded and updated versions of breakthrough tracks, such as “I’ll Make Love to You,” “Bended Knee” and “End…
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The Root Recommends: Elle Vie
Log on to Elle Vie’s modest, monochromatic Web page, click on “Mixtape” and you’ll quickly find out why this up-and-coming rapper is churning waves across the Internet. In today’s rap game, where female rappers feel more compelled to emulate Nicki Minaj’s pink, Barbie brigade, Elle Vie represents the rawness of a 1990s Lauryn Hill doppelgänger.…
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Increased Unemployment Means Unhealthy Eats for Many Blacks
Growing unemployment rates are leading to an increase in unhealthy eating habits among Americans, according to the Huffington Post. Notably, black families are most affected by the trend. The long lines of kale-wielding, quinoa-devouring customers at Whole Foods may be a bit deceiving when it comes to gauging the country’s state of health-conscious eating. Notoriously…
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The Root Recommends: 'The GQ Candidate'
With sex scandals and sticky presidential campaigns, The GQ Candidate reads more like a RSS feed than a novel. This latest work from author and political analyst Keli Goff exposes the private life of Luke Cooper, an aspiring presidential hopeful whose good looks and selfless mentality bring him closer to the Oval Office. Luke’s historic…
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The Root Recommends: 'Life, Above All'
After the untimely departure of 12-year-old Chanda’s father, the young girl tries to uphold the roots of her family while confronted with an alcoholic stepfather, an ill mother and a hostile village. Life, Above All is an emotional, sorrowful film from South Africa teeming with eye-welting moments as Chanda tries to track down her AIDS-stricken…
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Giving Hip-Hop a Little 'Sissy Bounce'
At an inner-city Houston dance hall in an area of town where warehouses and empty lots dominate, a swift, revolving bassline drops. On cue, bodies bend nearly perpendicular, convulsing. “Toot, toot, toot it in the air,” roars through the speakers. Posteriors spiral, following the command to get lower, shake faster, show off. “Sissy bounce,” hip-hop’s…
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The Root Recommends: La Toya Jackson's 'Starting Over'
Two years after the sudden and untimely death of her brother Michael, La Toya Jackson recollects their intimate friendship and the many troubles that haunted Michael’s life and career in her newest book, Starting Over. La Toya, who was the first to arrive at Jackson’s bedside, unravels the death of Michael Jackson with new details…
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When Politics and Slavery Mix: A Slide Show
“[S]adly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President,” read a pledge in support of “traditional marriage” that GOP presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum…
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Bachmann-Family Clinic Reportedly Teaches Gays to Convert Through Prayer
ABC News showed footage Monday night of an undercover investigation by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) advocacy group Truth Wins Out that may confirm accusations that Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, has attempted to convert gay men through prayer and other tactics at their Minneapolis Christian therapy clinic. This is…
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The Root Recommends: 'Beats, Rhymes and Life'
Named after the group’s fourth album, Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest looks back at the storied history of one of hip-hop’s seminal acts. Directed by actor Michael Rapaport, Beats, Rhymes and Life chronicles the group’s four members from their childhood exploits to the tribulations of staying afloat amid the…
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