The Halle Bailey, DDG Drama Just Took a Scary Turn
Is This The Real Reason Why Joy-Ann Reid’s Show Was Canceled on MSNBC? We Finally Have a Clue
Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo’s New Role As Jesus Has Conservatives Fighting Mad
A Peek Inside Will Smith’s Insane 2-Story Film Trailer
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 22: Mark Morrison, ‘Return of the Mack’
Today is the 22nd day of June, in the year of our Lord, 2019. Since the year of our Lord 1996 I’ve been preaching the same (debatably controversial) gospel: Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” is one of the greatest songs ever created. I stand firm and pat on this statement. Mark Morrison “Return Of…
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A New Toni Morrison Documentary Gives the World’s Greatest Living Writer Her Flowers, and Plants New Seeds
Toni Morrison had to figure out a way to talk to Muhammad Ali. It was the mid-’70s and at the time, she was his editor, tasked with bringing his autobiography to the world. But Ali wouldn’t speak to her—deferring instead to whatever man was in the room. Her longtime friend, author and activist Angela Davis,…
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Top 8 Iconic BET Awards Moments
We’ve been blessed to see another June and with this month comes the blackest night in television. Yup, that’s right, it’s time we gather around as a family and tune into the BET Awards! Since 2001 (yes it has been 18 whole entire years), BET has been celebrating the best in our industry, because we…
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Seth Meyers and Rihanna Went Day Drinking. When Can We RSVP to the Next One, Though?
On the night of June 20, 2019, the clouds parted and we were all treated to one of the greatest things known to man: A visual of what it’s like to day drink with Rihanna. The artist and business mogul appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers Thursday night and shenanigans did, indeed, ensue. Let’s…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 21: Nicole Bus, 'You'
Almost nine years ago now, I was listening to the radio, back when that was a thing, and I heard a song that sounded so much like a Lauryn Hill song, or one that should have been a Lauryn Hill song, that I absolutely yelled out the window, “LAURYN BACK LAURYN BACK GOT ALL THESE…
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco Remembers the Heart of the City
Reading the script for The Last Black Man in San Francisco was like experiencing an earthquake, actor Johnathan Majors says. Strange at first, even surreal. “The whole ground is shifting. If you look at it…it actually seems impossible,” Majors tells me over the phone. “At the end of the script. It was like, things have…
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First Look: Behind the Scenes and on the Run With Queen & Slim
Y’all. Meet Queen & Slim. And instantly fall in lust, love and lure. Penned by Lena Waithe (from an original idea by A Million Little Pieces author James Frey, who approached her about it at an industry party) and helmed by Melina Matsoukas, at first glance, Queen & Slim looks to bolt its way into…
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Lil Nas X Drops New Single, ‘Panini,’ in Advance of New Album Release, 7
Lil Nas X apparently has no plans to ride off into the sunset anytime soon. Fresh off the chart-topping, if controversial success of “Old Town Road,” the viral sensation on Thursday released a new single, “Panini.”: “Panini” is from Lil Nas X’s new album, 7, set to drop Friday, and no, as one can see…
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ABFF 2019: How Beats Tackles Chicago Crime and the Curious Case of Anthony Anderson's Forehead Acting
Chicago is a city that has been thrust into the abyss of exploitation, as national media has been lured by the city’s crime-ridden headlines. But what of the people who make up the city? What of their stories? What makes them tick? After all, the people are the heart of any city, in my opinion.…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 20: Phyllis Hyman, 'Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)'
There’s almost no way I could do a series like this without at least one nod to my second-favorite singer of forever, Phyllis Hyman. Turns out, almost four years ago, before VSB became part of The Root and before we started writing full time, I wrote everything I was going to write today in a…