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‘Mafia III’ Is Probably the Blackest Video Game Ever Made
If you’re rocking pearls, the disclaimer at the very beginning of “Mafia III” (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, MacOS) might make you clutch ’em tightly: Mafia III takes place in a fictionalized version of the American South in 1968. We sought to create an authentic and immersive experience that captures this very turbulent time and…
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Don’t Throw Your Vote Away on Jill Stein
Cornel West recently continued down his long, winding road to breaking my heart. He returned to his recurring role as a panelist on Real Time With Bill Maher, where he was even more overbearing than usual. He battled with Barney Frank and barely let my future second wife, Alex Wagner, get a word in edgewise;…
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What’s Really Going On With Chicago’s Gun Violence, From Someone Who Actually Lives There
I have a friend moving to Chicago this fall to start a master’s program at the University of Chicago. As she prepares to leave from her Washington, D.C.-area home, many people in her life have expressed some degree of fear for her safety following her move. As if the moment she steps out into clear…
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Hip-Hop’s Best Year Ever Just Turned 20
It should come as no surprise to most of you that I wasn’t the most popular kid in high school. During my 1995-1996 freshman year, I endured an awkward, postpubescent, pre-growth-spurt phase that had me looking like the love child of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Associate Bob from Demolition Man. Making matters worse,…
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Why I Don’t Steal Music Anymore (for the Most Part)
In a recent VladTV interview, living rap god Bow Wow (formerly of the “Lil’” variety) discussed his entire career. He referenced Ray J and Lil’ Kim’s “Wait a Minute,” a joint that I’d forgotten made me nod my head around the turn of the century (and the only worthwhile thing Ray J ever did that…
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Hip-Hop Has a Woman Problem
Let’s go down memory lane for a bit. Twenty-eight years ago marked the release of MC Lyte’s seminal debut album, Lyte as a Rock. It was hip-hop’s first meaningful album from a female emcee. Twenty years ago marked the release of Bahamadia’s Kollage, the best hip-hop album ever from a female rapper. With the help…
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Is It Cultural Appropriation? I’ll Be the Judge of That
Much as it pains me to admit aloud, maybe there’s something to all those stupid-ass memes that your “woke” Facebook friends like to share that compare real-life “ignored” atrocities to the asinine s—t that makes BuzzFeed headlines. That Blake Lively’s delusional Instagram post dominated an entire Wednesday lends credence to their gripes. Even I couldn’t…
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Hey Parents, Let Your Kids Be Free. Just Not Too Free
Last week, NBC News ran an op-ed from Danielle Moodie-Mills, a very smart sista whose stuff you should be reading, titled “Does the Revolution Begin With a Free Black Child?” In the piece, she identifies the sartorial and behavioral eccentricities of young black celebrities—including Jaden Smith, Willow Smith and Zendaya Coleman—as indicators of a growing…
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Beyond the Black Panther: 7 More Great Black Comic Book Characters You Should Know
If you’ve already seen Captain America: Civil War and have even a passing familiarity with King T’Challa of Wakanda, aka the Black Panther, you know that the director and writers didn’t s—t the bed with the character’s introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the first meaningful black character in the MCU (Anthony Mackie is…
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Showing Up Late for Concerts Isn’t a Lauryn Hill Thing
I’ve been to more concerts in my lifetime than I can remember. But I can tell you which were distinctly the best and worst that I’ve attended. The best was in early 1999, during my senior year of high school. I went to see the Roots at the State Theatre (now the Fillmore) in Detroit.…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
