theory & essay
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On Kid Cudi And Trying To Save Your Own Life
I’m a Kid Cudi fan. In fact, to know me and speak to me about music, you will likely hear me say, at some point during our musical relationship, that Kid Cudi is the best accessory artist in music. In fact, I contend that ALL songs are made better by the addition of Kid Cudi or…
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I Use Exclamation Points In Emails With Women. I Do Not Do This With Men. Is This Sexist?
As is the case with many others who write for a living, I don’t have a very traditional work day. I work roughly 16 hours a day. But I’m not working for 16 hours straight. I’m just in “work mode” — where if I’m compelled to write/edit something, I do — from 9am to around 1am.…
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How Being Ashy In Public Is Actually Underrated, Explained
Public Ashiness might be the only thing in the Black community with a 0% approval rating. Even cottage cheese has fans, even Donald Trump has Omarosa, and even Kappas have mirrors. It’s the bane of Black existence; a plague we collectively wish to be eradicated. I’m actually shocked we haven’t had any “End Ash Forever”…
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The Wash, Rinse, and Repeat of Being Black In America Today
My daily morning routine (unfortunately) currently feels a lot like Groundhog Day. I wake up and peruse Facebook and without fail, nearly every day I’m met with another story of some Black person meeting their demise at the hands of law enforcement. I’m then generally moved to saying some sort of muffled profanity as to…
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In Defense of Aspiring Rappers Everywhere
On last night’s episode of FX’s awesomely awesome new show, the Donald Glover-helmed, Atlanta, there’s a scene towards the end where Earn’s kinda-sorta girlfriend but definitely baby mama, Vanessa, is doing that thing that people do when you tell them that you do “music”, she lets him know that being an aspiring rapper – or…
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Why Patrice Brown (AKA #TeacherBae) Is The Subject Of A Dumb-Ass "Debate," Explained
Who is Patrice Brown? Patrice Brown is an elementary school teacher in Atlanta. She is also the muse for a verse about “Nicey from Atlanta” from a song that Drake hasn’t produced yet. And in it Drake will lament about that one time he was in a Panera Bread in Buckhead and he met this teacher he wanted…
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The President And The First Lady Are Totally, Definitely Fucking Everywhere In The White House
Of course, its extremely presumptuous of me — or anyone, rather — to speculate on the Obamas’ sex life. Who knows what’s happening privately between them? For all we know, they could have one of those arrangements like Claire and Frank Underwood where they both kinda do their own thing (and occasionally include secret service…
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Some Lessons For Aspiring Writers Everywhere
Last week, I set my momma up for the fall. Not on purpose, of course, but the end result was the same nonetheless. I took an assumption – my mother MIGHT vote for Trump – and couched it in two stories that without context (and for some people, even with context) painted my mother in…