hip hop
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Without Question, 1997 Was (Maybe, Possibly) the Best Year in Black Music
1997 was the best year in black music. Let me rephrase: 1997 was probably the best year in black music. I know. You think I’m crazy. Hear me out—but first, a caveat. I admit that, as a child of the ’90s, my musical tastes are deeply influenced by my proclivity for hip-hop and ’90s…
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Master P Biopic King of the South to Begin Filming This Summer
Filming for King of the South, a film based on the life of rapper and No Limit Records founder Percy “Master P” Miller, is scheduled to begin in New Orleans this summer. The story will go through Master P’s life, from his beginnings in one of the “toughest neighborhoods in the country, the Calliope Projects,”…
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Almost a Month After ‘shETHER,’ Nicki Minaj Seems to Be Doing Just Fine-Fine-Fine-Fine-Fine (Whew)
Nearly a month after the release of “shETHER,” Nicki Minaj has two of the most added songs on radio, while Remy Ma still tends to struggle with rapping on beat and finding a fan base who will support her beyond seven minutes. Already, one imagines select readers will scream that I am a Minaj fan,…
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Watch: In Focus With Director Justin Tipping, Whose Film Kicks Challenges Our Perception of Manhood
Editor’s note: In Focus is a The Root TV series showcasing the new wave of black filmmakers. Justin Tipping is the writer and director of Kicks, a story set in Oakland, Calif., about a young teenager whose dream is to own a pair of fresh Air Jordans. Soon after he gets his hands on them,…
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Stop Pretending to Be Shocked at Homophobia in the Black Community
Do you remember how shocked white people acted a couple of years ago when a video surfaced of a group of Sigma Alpha Epsilon members at the University of Oklahoma chanting about how they’d never let a “nigger” into their fraternity? Can you recollect how Caucasians publicly caught the vapors when they heard the audio…