Peace. Art is subjective and that’s a good thing. There is no formula for creative magic, so trying to prescribe it is impossible—and wack! I think where a lot of Hip Hop heads go off the rails is when they try to set themselves up as the lords of the genre: “Who deserves five mics,… Continue reading Vol 4: What Does it Mean to be an Emcee?
Results for "Hip Hop"
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Vol 3: Think Happy Thoughts While Catching Hell
Peace. Black folks have been catching hell since we’ve been in this country, and we keep catching hell today. There’s a perpetual pressure and need for black folks to find a way to balance our mental anguish and rage—born of micro-aggressions, aggressions, and disrespect—with positivity in order to function. Thank God (love) black folks have… Continue reading Vol 3: Think Happy Thoughts While Catching Hell
Music for the Rest of Us: Welcome
Peace. Welcome to the “Music for the Rest of Us.” It would be logical to ask, “Just who exactly comprises us?” There’s my general definition, which is anyone who loves great music that was created with artistic integrity. Like most people, I have a wide range of musical interests that span several genres, and I… Continue reading Music for the Rest of Us: Welcome
I Don’t Blame You For Not Wanting To Vote… But You Should Vote Anyway
Let’s be perfectly honest and keep it 100: The 2016 election cycle is a shit show. It’d be a shit show if it existed in a vacuum. It’s an even bigger debacle on the heels of our nation’s first black president who ran a near flawless campaign in 2008 and made lightning strike twice in… Continue reading I Don’t Blame You For Not Wanting To Vote… But You Should Vote Anyway
Rachel Dolezal and Defining Blackness
Outside of adoptions, “transracial” isn’t a thing, and race is not a social construct. Let me explain… By now, we’ve all heard of Rachel Dolezal. Yes, she is president of her local NAACP branch. Yes, she was recently outed by her white parents. Yes, she has been deceptive about her racial heritage. But transraciality doesn’t… Continue reading Rachel Dolezal and Defining Blackness
State of Emergency
“Strictly spiritual, no thugs and criminals. Our voice gonna resound like old hymnals.” Many of you know me for being the outspoken protester that confronted Geraldo Rivera during the protests in Baltimore sparked by the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. At that moment, and for a week and a half before that, I… Continue reading State of Emergency
Foundational Love
Back in the days of cassette tapes, my love for underground and varied hip hop sounds crossed paths with a song titled “The Foundation” by one of my favorite artists of the time: Xzibit. The word foundation has two primary definitions: the first being the lowest load bearing part of a structure; the second, an underlying… Continue reading Foundational Love
On Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar didn’t make an album. Or at least not in the traditional sense. To Pimp a Butterfly isn’t an album you’re going to want to just throw on. Its shuffle play value is low. This is an album you revisit. It’s an album you sit with. It’s an album you study. Kendrick didn’t make… Continue reading On Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly
On Selma, the Movie
So. I finally saw Selma. I sat there in Cinema Café with my mother and that $839 popcorn and watched Martin and The Gang knuckle up with change history by helping those dusty ass, shitborne, unsavory, old timey White people get their motherfucking minds right. Hella Patient Black Excellence in motion and such. … Continue reading On Selma, the Movie
Views from the Mecca: A History of Student Takeovers at Howard University
“You gotta to conform to the society in which you live. You got to live within it or outside of it. You can’t straddle the fence. Now are you going to live outside of the American culture or are you going to live within it? As long as you stay in America, you got to… Continue reading Views from the Mecca: A History of Student Takeovers at Howard University