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  • The Best Hip-Hop Tracks of 2016

    A month or so ago, Panama suggested I listen to “We Did It,” a track from Lil’ Yachty’s Lil Boat “mixtape.” He said it was worth peeping because it might be the single worst rap song of all time. Because Panama is one of, like, three or four niggas I know with whom I can…

    By

    Dustin J. Seibert

    Published

  • Yasiin Bey, Formerly Known as Mos Def, Says Goodbye at the Apollo

    He came onstage dropping rose petals and left it dropping tears. The artist yasiin bey (yes, all lowercase), formerly known as Mos Def, spent two evenings in December at the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem saying goodbye. After his final U.S. performances (he has three upcoming dates at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.), he…

    By

    Damaso

    Published

  • Unique Views Podcast, Episode 19: Doug E. Fresh and Prince, BFFs 

    I never wanted to host a podcast. I also never wanted to host a podcast with my nemesis Danielle Young—aka Young Work Release, aka Ms. Patti Patti, aka The Root’s social-content producer—but God doesn’t care about my wants. As such, I have been blessed, but not with Ms. Patti Patti. She is my penance. I…

    By

    Stephen A. Crockett Jr.

    Published

  • The Best Rap Beefs Ever

    It’s interesting—and somewhat sad—that this decade’s only two meaningful rap beefs have involved attempts to sink the same floating dead body. It started in 2015, when everyone’s favorite manila-folder-complected, suburban Torontonian, Drake, traded “bars” with the somewhat less-meaningful Philly maestro of shout raps, Meek Mill. Though Meek exposed Drizzy for employing ghostwriters—a damning accusation in the world of…

    By

    Dustin J. Seibert

    Published

  • What Conservatives Really Mean When They Talk About Rap

    What you say about somebody else reveals you. What I think of you as being is dictated by my own necessities, my own psychology, my own fears and desires. I’m not describing you when I talk about you; I’m describing me. —James Baldwin Donald Trump supporters have continually found new, improbable ways to rationalize the…

    By

    The Root Staff

    Published

  • An Ode To DeVante Swing On His Birthday

    Today is Donald Earle “DeVante Swing” Degrate Jr.’s birthday. According to Wikipedia – the world’s most reliable source of information – he is now 47 years old. Based on the series of unfortunate sightings of Jodeci in both its parts and its formation, I think I speak for everybody in saying that it’s an amazing…

    By

    Panama Jackson

    Published

  • FX’s Atlanta Is Fucking Awesome. Signed, An ATLien.

    I couldn’t wait for FX’s new series, Atlanta, to hit the screen. Ninety percent of my excitement is that it’s named after a city I like to call home. ZONE 4 ADAMSVILLE. WHAT! The other ten percent is because of all the press and promotion done on behalf of the show. If you watch television…

    By

    Panama Jackson

    Published

  • The Hip Hop "Other Guy" Hall Of Fame

    If you’re a fan of hip hop, you know what I’m talking about.  In most rap groups, there’s a stand out emcee who is the face of the franchise, the leader of the team and the straw that stirs the drink. But we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about the other guy in the…

    By

    Corey Richardson

    Published

  • 10 Reasons To Get Down With "The Get Down"

    On Friday, Netflix dropped the first half of their latest original series, “The Get Down,” Baz Luhrmann’s creation about the inception of hip-hop in the South Bronx in the summer of 1977. The story centers around a young fellow named Ezekial “Zeke/Books” Figuero and Mylene Cruz, two kids trying to find their way: Zeke in…

    By

    Panama Jackson

    Published

  • Kidz Bop Is the Best Hustle Ever

    For a vast many people who haven’t put birth control to the test (and failed), Kidz Bop isn’t a thing. If you don’t have children, there’s literally zero reason to know of its existence. But for a lot of us with kids old enough to comprehend, process and regurgitate what they hear, the music struggle…

    By

    Panama Jackson

    Published