Music
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How Lil Wayne Became Hip-Hop's Most Underappreciated Legend
17 years ago, Juvenile released “Back That Azz Up.” (“Back That Thang Up” if you were a baby trying to make babies on the dance floor of a high school gymnasium.) The descending chords in the intro cause an immediate pavlovian response. Men crane their necks like a gazelle hearing a rustle in the tall…
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Nine Thoughts On Rihanna's "Work" Vid From Someone Actually Qualified To Share Thoughts On It
A few weeks after the clusterfuck that was the Anti release (shout out the newly-unemployed Tidal team member who tripped and hit the big red button hours before he or she was supposed to), Rih Rih decided to bless us with some choice visuals for her first single “Work” and did not disappoint in delivering…
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Exclusive: A Leaked Email Exchange Between Drake And Kanye West From This Afternoon
Months ago, our sources were able to find multiple leaked email conversations between celebrities such as Drake, Kanye, Meek Mill, and President Obama. After taking an extended break, our sources were able to find another exchange. This time, between Drake and Kanye after the “Work” video was released today. A condensed version of the conversation is…
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An Ode To SWV
I grew up in Frankfurt, Germany, as a military brat in the mid-’80s and early ’90s. Those of us who grew up overseas had one channel to watch on television: AFN, which stands for the Armed Forces Network. We all watched the same cartoons, the same soap operas (General Hospital was followed by Guiding Light), and the…
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"The Life Of Pablo," Reviewed, By Someone Who Cannot Be Objective About Kanye West
So, let’s get three things out of the way first: 1. The Life of Pablo was made available to stream on Tidal early Sunday morning. It, apparently, will not officially be for sale for another week. By the time you read this, it will be (at the earliest) Monday afternoon. Between then and now, I’ve listened…
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Underrated Moment in Black History: When Bobby & Whitney Set The Bar for Black Love
After “who made the potato salad” and “what had happened was”, Black love is one of the most ubiquitous topics of discussion within 21st century Negronia. Over the years, there have been many couples that come to mind that have embodied the concept – Cliff and Claire Huxtable, Denzel and Pauletta, Cam and Juju, Oscar…
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5 Reasons Maurice White Stayed Winnin'
By now you’ve heard that musical impresario Maurice White, 74, has gone on to the great “Boogie Wonderland” in the sky. Damn, damn, damn—I’ve been breaking crystal punch bowls all week! White was the iconic co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, the premier live funk band for, like, 89 summers. And if you’re over 30,…
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If Beyoncé Has Gone Full Black, I'm Here For It.
Based on the events of the past weekend related to Beyoncé, it’s entirely possible that she’s trolling America, all of it. Beyoncé dropped the video for the song “Formation” on Saturday, converting (my) Facebook into a de facto Beyoncé fan site. “Formation” is an unapologetically black- and Southern-ass song and video. The words to the…
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Beyonce Is The New Black: The 10 Blackest Moments In Beyonce's "Formation" Video
In 2014, Surrey NanoSystems, a tech company in England, debuted VantaBlack — a substance they claim is the Blackest Black ever seen. “The coating reflects so little light, three dimensions seem to disappear.” said Ben Jensen, founder of Surrey NanoSystems, in an interview with the New York Times. “When you look at Vantablack on some wrinkled aluminum foil,…