Music
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This Clip Of Zara Larsson Covering Beyonce Is Peak Mayonnaise, And Harper's Bazaar Is Petty For Sharing It
Surprisingly, the worse part about this video isn’t actually Zara Larsson’s attempt to cover Beyonce. It was bad, of course. It looks and sounds like a professionally edited clip from karaoke night at Mayonnaise Caribana. But although I was tempted to coin her “Darth Mediocre” after first watching it, that would be unfair because she…
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Atlanta Episode 10 (Season Finale): "The Jacket" Recap
I mistakenly walked into the season finale of Atlanta with the idea that we more or less knew what was to be expected of this episode. A couple of hat-tips to the quirkier aspects of Black American culture, some behind the scenes insight to the struggles of the rap game, a moment of tenderness between…
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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…
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Is 2016 The Beginning Of The End For Drake?
Its at best counterinituive and at worst gotdamn fucking insane to suggest that Drake may be at the precipice of becoming less popular. Especially since he’s never been more famous and more singular. At the moment he stands as the undisputed king of the hip-hop hill, the only other contenders either too old (Jay Z), too “eh, I…
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Atlanta Episode 8: "The Club" Recap
When FX first announced their partnership with NBC workhorse Donald Glover for their new show about the inner-workings of an up and coming rapper and his manager, I assumed scenes like the ones that take place in Atlanta’s “The Club” would be par for the course. Club appearances and popped bottles are, after all, much…
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Michel'le Survived Compton, Dre, and Suge And Got A Chance To Tell Her Story
On Saturday evening, Lifetime aired Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge, and Michel’le, which as the title suggests, is the story of Michel’le, the first lady of Ruthless Records with the tiny speaking voice but huge singing voice who both dated and bore children by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. That sentence alone makes her story worth…
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An Interview With Dr. Kinitra Brooks, Who Teaches A Class On Beyoncé
A few weeks ago, I saw on Facebook that somebody was teaching a class on Beyoncé and specifically Lemonade at the University of Texas-San Antonio. I thought to myself, that’s pretty cool. Well, as luck would have it, a friend of hers who reads VSB reached out and said that the professor was both an…
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Panama and Shamira Discuss Solange's "A Seat At The Table"
Panama: So, Solange dropped an album recently that has the internet’s buzzing: A Seat At The Table. Let Facebook tell it, it’s the best, Blackest album that’s been released in quite some time. I’m not sure I’m in that camp, though I can understand why folks love it so much. But I don’t think it’s nearly…