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On The Helplessness of Watching Your Parents Get Old
Gospel artist Damon Little has a song out right now called, “I Won’t Be Defeated.” It’s a great song. Do you know who heard that song and was like, “n-word, please?” Time. Time is undefeated. Time ain’t lost a ‘bout yet. In the never-before-mentioned last level of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, after Tyson whips your…
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My Daughter Is In A Hip-Hop Dance Class. I Want Her Blackness To Make Her Better Than Everybody Else.
I’m a dance dad. While I’m not standing outside the studio yelling at my daughter to get in formation or tighten up those pirouettes, I do find myself at dance class at least once a week and, on special occasions, twice a week. See, my daughter has been taking dance lessons since, I believe, she…
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My Daughter Is Not the Best Dancer in Hip-Hop Class and I Feel a Way About It
I’m a dance dad. While I’m not standing outside the studio yelling at my daughter to get in formation or tighten up those pirouettes, I do find myself at dance class at least once a week and, on special occasions, twice a week. See, my daughter has been taking dance lessons since, I believe, she…
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A Prayer For Parents Who Let Their Kids Wear Shorts To School When It’s Cold Outside
Congregation of St. Panama Jackson the United Methodist Baptist Pentecostal AME Church of God in Christ Episcopal Primitive Missionary Baptist Down By The Riverside Holiness Church, please bow your heads: Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, I…
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A Quick Analysis of Tributes To The Dead Homies
Noted poet laureate and Tennessee philosopher king Indo G, of short-lived affiliation with Three 6 Mafia, once quipped, eloquently over a sample from Curtis Mayfield’s “Give Me Your Love”: “when I die, die, if I die, remember me, ballin/when I die, mama, don’t you cry, remember me ballin”. His words resonate as sharply today as…
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Michel'le Survived Compton, Dre, and Suge And Got A Chance To Tell Her Story
On Saturday evening, Lifetime aired Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge, and Michel’le, which as the title suggests, is the story of Michel’le, the first lady of Ruthless Records with the tiny speaking voice but huge singing voice who both dated and bore children by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. That sentence alone makes her story worth…
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An Interview With Dr. Kinitra Brooks, Who Teaches A Class On Beyoncé
A few weeks ago, I saw on Facebook that somebody was teaching a class on Beyoncé and specifically Lemonade at the University of Texas-San Antonio. I thought to myself, that’s pretty cool. Well, as luck would have it, a friend of hers who reads VSB reached out and said that the professor was both an…
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Panama and Shamira Discuss Solange's "A Seat At The Table"
Panama: So, Solange dropped an album recently that has the internet’s buzzing: A Seat At The Table. Let Facebook tell it, it’s the best, Blackest album that’s been released in quite some time. I’m not sure I’m in that camp, though I can understand why folks love it so much. But I don’t think it’s nearly…
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If Mos Def’s Black On Both Sides Came Out Today, It Might Be Considered The Blackest Album of All Time
On September 30, Solange released her third album, A Seat At The Table, to remarkably favorable reviews. Social media lit up like the Empire State Building at Christmas with folks proclaiming how woke and Black the album is. Interspersed with interludes speaking to the Black experience from her mother, father, and Master P, the album…
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On Kid Cudi And Trying To Save Your Own Life
I’m a Kid Cudi fan. In fact, to know me and speak to me about music, you will likely hear me say, at some point during our musical relationship, that Kid Cudi is the best accessory artist in music. In fact, I contend that ALL songs are made better by the addition of Kid Cudi or…
