-
The Teddy Riley Jokes Were Fun but Let's Remember to Put Some Respect on His Name, Please
A few years back, I wrote an article about Raphael Saadiq being the most underappreciated R&B artist of all time. I still believe this to be true. We’ve been stuck in the house for weeks now watching IG Live battles of artists going back and forth with their catalogs, and when people are proposing matchups,…
-
The Root Jams Weekly Playlist (4/17/2020): 'A Lovely Day'
One thing we have a lot of here at The Root is music enthusiasts. We even have a Grammy-nominated artist (The Glow Up Managing Editor Maisyha Kai) amongst our ranks. The musical appreciation runs deep. Once upon a time not long ago, The Root created weekly music playlists, curated by the staff and upped onto…
-
I Told My Child That Batman and Black Panther Wouldn't Hang Out. There Were Tears
In retrospect, I realize I was being kind of petty. Not on purpose, but being a stickler for contrived rules can make you petty, it turns out. Hell, I don’t even like it when I see my kids wearing Adidas shoes with Nike sweatshirts or sweatpants. It happens, and nobody is in the wrong, but…
-
My 3-Year-Old Tried to Set Me Up. He Is Clearly Cracking Under the Pressure of This Global Pandemic
I love my kids. I really do. They’re a riot when they’re not trying to end me. Or when they’re not forcing me to listen to songs I’ve learned to hate over and over again. They’re a complete hoot when I don’t step on their shit in the middle of the night. This global pandemic…
-
5 More 'Verzuz' Music Battles I'd Love to See Happen
While the promise of a Teddy Riley versus Babyface song-off battle royale may really just be a pipe dream—I’m still working on my own thoughts regarding Teddy Riley’s reasoning for wanting to hold off— on the heels of last weekend’s epic Lil Jon vs T-Pain joyfest, we did get news of a hip-hop lover’s dream…
-
The Coronavirus Has Turned Me Into a Handyman. Temporarily, at Least
You know what sound you don’t want to hear when you’re holed up in your house and you’re trying to avoid close contact with friends (humanity, really—and don’t even mention a whole-ass stranger in your house to fix shit because that’s entirely off the table)? No idea? Cool, I’ll tell you. You don’t want to…
-
9 Reasons The T-Pain Versus Lil Jon 'Verzuz' Battle Was the Saturday Night Show We Didn't Even Know We Needed
For every melanated individual over the age of 35, Sunday night was slated to be the music version of boxing’s “Rumble In The Jungle,” the spectacular fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in Kinshasha, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in October 1974—arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century. (Ali…
-
Let's Argue! Teddy Riley Versus Babyface Is Happening. Here Are the 20 Songs I'd Choose for Each
The one really fun and entertaining thing about this COVID-19 shut-in situation is the emergence of beat/song/hit “battles” between so many of our faves. While somebody has to lose in these instances (Mannie Fresh, I see you whoadie), the legacies of the artists are set in stone, so it’s more fun and games than true…
-
Netflix's Uncorked Reminded Me of a Fun Story About Unconventional Support From My Father
Since we’re all stuck (or should be) inside the house for the foreseeable future (despite various projected goals for peak contagion and flattening curves—shoutouts to the homies Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, y’all some real ones), the amount of movies and television shows being watched is about to put Netflix on par with Earth, Wind…
