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Losing the VIBE
In September 1993, VIBE Magazine, founded by music legend Quincy Jones one month prior, published its very first issue, which featured Snoop Dogg on the cover. Captions by Tabitha Peyton Wood In April 1995, VIBE ran an interview with rap legend Tupac Shakur, in which the artist famously anticipated his death before being killed the following…
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VIBE Magazine Folds
From Gawker: “Vibe Magazine—one of the biggest music magazines in America—is folding. The entire music magazine landscape is full of the dead and dying. Wikipedia sums up Vibe unexpectedly well: The magazine owes its success to having a broader range of interests than its closest competitors The Source and XXL which focus more narrowly on…
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A Complex(ion) Issue
From Adam Serwer over on The Atlantic: “Ya’ll can’t get mad at me, because I haven’t done a Michael Jackson post yet. This will be my only one, barring unforseen developments. On the bus yesterday, I was reading Newsweek and found this article from David Gates on Michael Jackson: Why did he feel so deeply…
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Reading List: The Music Edition
There’s nothing like the marriage between literature and music. For that reason, this Reading List edition highlights titles that combine the best of both worlds. Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne By James Gavin Although she led a fairly illustrious career, Lena Horne’s behind-the-scenes world was a tumultuous one marked by racism, failed marriages,…
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Clueless Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson on the red carpet at the BET Awards. The show became a tribute to his late son, Michael Jackson. While the world was mourning his son, Joe Jackson was on the red carpet at the BET Awards peddling his new music production company. Did Joe Jackson forget that he’s 80 and supposed to be in mourning?…
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The King of Debt
With respect to my namesake, Michael Jackson was both a hero to business savvy music artists and a nightmare to creditors. The New York Times, along with many other outlets have started playing the speculation game about the financial mess the now deceased legend has left behind. It’s been estimated that Jackson has earned as…
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New Haven Firefighters: Are They Really Wrong?
The ruling yesterday to support the white firefighters in New Haven is certainly a win for whites. Particularly, it’s a win for whites that have been trying to articulate reverse racism and discrimination for years. Although I do believe reverse discrimination is possible, it remains an imbalanced issue. Why, you ask a brother? It’s what…
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Obama on Gay Rights: 'I'll Get to It, I Swear'
Remarks from the LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House, courtesy of the LA Times: “It’s good to see so many friends and familiar faces, and I deeply appreciate the support I’ve received from so many of you. Michelle appreciates it and I want you to know that you have our support as well. …
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Shameless Joe Jackson
On the red carpet at the BET Awards, as CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed him, Joe Jackson was contemptuous and put-off, willing to give only terse, perfunctory answers to complicated questions. Jackson, resembling a baked potato in a pair of cheap sunglasses, came off more as a gold miner eager to stake a claim than the…
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Why Shelby Steele Is Right
I can’t believe I am writing this. But I am. Shelby Steele is right. Not in the conclusions expressed in his recent article in the Wall Street Journal about Judge Sonia Sotomayor and what her nomination reveals about President Obama’s supposed contradictions. That is the stuff of fantasy. But Steele is right about one thing:…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
