In a blog entry at Loop21, Rob Fields reflects on the scandal over Jackie magazine’s use of the n-word in referring to Rihanna. He says that African Americans have misused the pejorative expression for so long that it has been co-opted by other cultures. We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for its misuse. Poor Eva…

Buzz can sometimes be misleading. But in the case of writer-director Ava DuVernay’s first feature-length narrative, I Will Follow, the buzz, both online and off, is well-deserved. The beautifully done film is an assured and compelling meditation on love, death, loss and, ultimately, life. As was the case with Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy and…

Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-a-Fella) Slick production does not automatically equal great art. Such is the challenge faced by Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (MBDTF). To be fair, this is an album in which an artist’s vision and his ability to execute seemingly came together. There’s a sense of grandeur…

Gary Golio (writer), Javaka Steptoe (illustrator) Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Author Gary Golio and Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe have created a lyrically and visually rich book that explores the future guitar god’s vivid imagination as a child. Steptoe’s work is all…

Shad TSOL (Black Box Recordings/Decon) Many lament the fact that hip-hop’s BS-to-substance ratio is still relatively high. But here’s some good news: Shad — short for Shadrach Kabango, born in Kenya but raised in London, Ontario, Canada — is a great example of what’s good in hip-hop these days. Add him to a short, but…

Lightspeed Champion Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (Domino) Lightspeed Champion, born Devonte Hynes in Houston, Texas, before his family moved to Essex, England, when he was 2, is on heavy rotation on my iPod these days. His album, Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You — a recent discovery despite the fact that…

It’s blazing down on the field at Central Park Summerstage. On this hot June day, there’s partial shade in the bleachers, but those aren’t at all close to the stage, and who really wants to be that far from the action? The growing crowd gladly suffers through the heat. On this day, they’re celebrating the…

Know what the problem is with black folks? No imagination. Sounds crazy, I know, but consider black music.Every significant moment in America’s history has been accompanied by its own soundtrack. And black musicians have often written the music and the lyrics. But what’s our soundtrack now? The music industry has imposed the same low expectations…