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The Root Jams Weekly (9/11/2020): 'Auntie Jams'
This Sunday, the good folks at Verzuz are bringing a “battle” most of us didn’t even know we needed: Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. The stories alone should be amazing, but the jams, oh the jams! These two women have been present at cookouts, graduations, breakups (to makeups) to church and back. In honor (and…
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I Almost Walked Into A Fight: An Accidental Product Review of Apple's AirPods Pro's Noise-Cancellation Technology
Hey, you. Are you in the market for noise-cancelling earbuds? If you are, have I got a product review for you. Let’s start at the beginning though. As most of you know, we’re in the midst of a pandemic. That’s not really central to this story but I feel like it’s irresponsible to not say…
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How Would You Spend $900,000 a Month on Entertainment (If You Had It)?
Over the weekend, TMZ waded into messy-boots territory—who am I kidding? They own beachfront property there—and provided alleged details of the temporary spousal support request from Nicole Young, soon-to-be ex-wife of hip-hop super-producer and mogul, Andre “Dr. Dre” Young. Before TMZ dropped the deets, all we knew was that she was requesting $2 million a…
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The Root Jams Weekly (9/4/2020): 'The Teenage Years'
Monday evening, we were treated to the Verzuz folks have been talking about since the idea came to be: Monica versus Brandy. It featured all of the shade and entertainment we expected, but what it mostly did was take everybody back to the the early-to-mid 90s. For many of us, those were our teen years…
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Dear Taco Bell, You're Getting Rid of the Mexican Pizza? Really? Not Cool, Bro. Not Cool at All
Dear Taco Bell, you a rude motherfucker, yo. How you gonna just go and drop the Mexican Pizza from your menu? HOW, SWAY? For why? According to CNN, which I’m pretty sure also enjoys a solid Mexican Pizza, here are the facts: Taco Bell is eliminating five more menu items, marking the second time in…
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In Ghana, I Experienced an Interaction With the Police Unlike Any I'd Expect in America
All I could say after “it” concluded—and after I picked my face and bowels up off the floor of the car—was, “it is amazing what is possible when racism isn’t central to interactions with the authorities.” I may have fainted after that; I’ll ask my wife. The “it” in question was an interaction with police…
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The Root Jams Weekly (8/28/2020): 'Walkout'
It’s been a week in America. After another shooting of a Black person at the hands of police—7 times in the back, no less—everybody reached a new level of over it. Athletes in several of the major sports either postponed, cancelled or walked out of games or contests. It’s the kind of week when the…
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I Took My Kids to Visit Theodore Roosevelt Island Outside of Washington, D.C. I Had No Idea It Was a Former Plantation
I live in Washington, D.C., and much like most of the parents in the area—the whole country, really—my wife and I have looked for mostly outdoor activities to do with our kids since the beginning of the pandemic. Washington, D.C., and its surrounding suburbs, are home to tons of museums and monuments; there’s always somewhere…
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8 Reasons Why The Five Heartbeats Are the Best Fictional Black Movie Music Group of All Time
The Five Heartbeats, the 1991 movie written and directed by—and also starring—Robert Townsend (Keenan Ivory Wayans was a co-writer) is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. For my money, The Five Heartbeats is the greatest fictional Black music group of all time, and that is indisputable. Sure, there are other fictional groups…
