theory & essay
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Teairra Mari Should Be A Superstar
To know me is to know that I love all things entertaining. All things entertaining includes VH1’s Monday night lineup, ‘pacifically, Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. This is not news. I remember when I heard that Ray J was going to be a centerpiece of the show and the joy that arose in my heart.…
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I See What Dave Chappelle Saw
As you all are aware, a few weeks back, Damon and I had the opportunity to sit down and do some VSB-style interviewing of Key & Peele (see here and here). This is not something that we sought out, but rather the reverse; we were asked specifically to come out to Los Angeles, meet the…
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African-ish: Can You Pass Citizenry Down Through Generations?
When I was watching the first episode of Black-ish, I felt a certain level of understanding of Anthony Anderson’s worry of his kids retaining their culture/identity/hood pass, as I’m sure most of us did. For me though, it extends beyond the “black in America” experience. As a first generation child of East Africans, what becomes…
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Ebola Is In America Now. So Yeah. Fuck This, I'm Moving To Canada
The more you hear about Ebola, the more it sounds like something conjured in a Guillermo Del Toro adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel. It’s so antagonistic and the effect it has on the body is so grotesque that it’s almost cinematic. It, to be plain, fucks people the fuck up worse than the most fucked up fucked…
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The One Great Thing About Moving? Getting Rid Of Old Shit
There are few things that inspire the type of unanimous hate that moving does. Sure, living in a new space can be fun and exciting. But the process of transporting each of your earthly possessions from your old place to you new place is a fucking drag. Gathering boxes sucks. Collecting your items together sucks. Packing…
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When Did Miles Per Gallon Become So Sexy?
This past weekend I was in Atlanta, Georgia. Unlike 90 percent of visitors to Atlanta, I was not there for the #ATLast Outkast show. I was there to attend the funeral of a cousin of mine who passed away unexpectedly at age 45. Do not cry for me Argentina. The service was beautiful and I…
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I Bought A Mountain Dew. Here's How It Happened. Don't Buy Mountain Dew.
You know how some people make bad decisions constantly? I’m one of those people. Sometimes I get away scott free with my middle finger to the law, nigga grippin’ my balls. Other times I pay tremendously. Like, tremendously tremendously. And you know I mean it because I wrote tremendously twice and italicized the first one.…
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Skinny Jeans And Jordans And…A Gray Hair? Wait…Am I Having A Mid-Life Crisis?
I first noticed the gray hair in my beard a couple months ago. It’s on the left side of my face, attached to my jawbone, a barely-detectable dot of silver amid a sea of black. People don’t see it unless I alert them to it. Even then, I’ve had it mistaken for a speck of salt.…
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More Famous People Are Naked On The Internet. What Does It All Mean?
Unless you sleep with the fishes, there’s a better than 100 percent chance that you heard about the return of The Fappening. Over the course of the weekend, the likes of Meagan Good, Gabrielle Union, Vanessa Hudgens, Hope Solo’s aggression, Selena Gomez, Kim K, and even motherfucking Omarion caught the tail end of a leaky…