kennedy center
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A Reminder To Me and You, Your Mama and Your Cousin, Too, That You Miss 100 Percent of The Shots You Don't Take
I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts, especially those that feature Black artists. My favorite (and one I’ve written about before) is Questlove Supreme because it’s a show where they somehow book many of my favorite artists and I also feel like I could be part of the team. Questlove and the rest…
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It Turns Out, Hip-Hop Will Probably Always Be the Love of My Life
A few weeks back, I attended an album talk for noted hip-hop lyricist and producer Pharoahe Monch’s 1999 album, Internal Affairs (released on seminal label, Rawkus Records), at The REACH, the new arts and culture center that’s part of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The talk, part of…
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Game, Blouses: Dave Chappelle to Receive Kennedy Center's 2019 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
He ain’t just rich, bitch … He’s a winner. This year, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be presenting its 22nd Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the honoree is none other than: Dave Chappelle. Per the announcement press release: The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognizes individuals who…
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Kennedy Center Rescinds Bill Cosby’s Honors, Mark Twain Award
Bill Cosby no longer has two honors bestowed upon him by the Kennedy Center. Just two weeks after he was found guilty of aggravated indecent assault, Cosby’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor received in 2009 and a Kennedy Center Honors received in 1998 were rescinded. According to the Washington Post, the Kennedy Center board…
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Kamilah Forbes’ Beautiful Struggle: Bringing Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me to the Stage
We are not crazy. We know all is not well. Despite what they say. We know that the “greatest country in the world” has never been. That our skin bears the mark that easily presages death. That our kin are in danger. We know that our bodies can be snatched at will, that our children…
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Classic Hip-Hop: Nas Performs Illmatic With the National Symphony Orchestra
Nas’ first full-length feature, Illmatic, was the very first hip-hop album to get The Source magazine’s coveted five-mic rating. It was sonic and lyrical perfection; it remains an undisputed hip-hop classic. A progenitor to soaring street lullabies like Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City or even Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, Illmatic vividly captured the life…