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Each of the Grammy-Nominated Albums Since 2007 That Should Have Won Album of the Year
The Grammys rarely get it right. I was done with them when I discovered that neither the Notorious B.I.G. nor Tupac won one for their work while alive or after their deaths. And it is not lost on me that when given a choice between the two, the Recording Academy loves to reward music that…
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The 10 Best Worst Black Videos of All Time, Ranked
I love a good bad movie. You know them: Meteor Man, Iām Gonna Git You Sucka, Undercover Brother [Editorās note: Undercover Brother is a brilliant movie, making it good good. āP.J.], Pootie Tang, Crash. Films that are laughably absurd, either on purpose or by accident, but still manage to entertain. Feature films and documentaries have…
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Top 5 Black Movies and TV Shows of 2017 and No,Ā Sheās Gotta Have ItĀ Didnāt Make the Cut
2017 was a great year for black movies and TV shows, but one would not know it if one looked only at most criticsā year-end top 10 lists. Thatās why The Root presents to you the best black films and TV shows of 2017ābut first, a few caveats: 1) Power is not on the list…
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Christmas Aināt Christmas Without My Grandma
The last time I saw my grandmother alive was at my uncle Bobbyās funeral. She looked tired. Grandma breathlessly said, āHello,ā almost unable to get out of her chair. We did our usual routine. I told her how much I missed her. How I wished I had more time to stay but had to hit…
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Snow Aināt the Only Thing White During Christmas, so I Give You the Top 10 Blackest Holiday TV Shows and Movies
My son Quinn loves Christmas. Likeāhe loves it in a watch-How the Grinch Stole Christmas-on-the-Fourth of July kind of way. Every year he bombards me with endless Christmas movies and TV specials during the month of December, and that experience has taught me one thing: Snow and eggnog arenāt the only things white during the…
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The 10 Best Brown-Liquor Christmas Songs, Ranked
The best Christmas songs are ones that can be played while sipping brown liquor. I know, I know: the birth of Christ. I love Jesus, too; still, the holiday season overlaps with cuffing season, and with all that cold weather and love in the air, you are likely to spend your time either drinking eggnog…
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10 Best Christmas Hip-Hop Songs, Ranked
From the Temptationsā āRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeerā and Donny Hathawayās āThis Christmasā to John Coltraneās āMy Favorite Thingsā to Oscar Petersonās āWhite Christmas,ā black folks have contributed to the sonic landscape of the Christmas holiday in unforgettable fashion. Since Christmas parties are a universal part of the season and because hip-hop is the music of…
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Spike Leeās 25 Best Movies, Ranked
The man from New York Cityās Brooklyn borough is having a good year. Spike Lee, black Americaās most prolific and celebrated filmmaker, turned 60 years old back in March. Then, this past Saturday, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of Malcolm X. Whatās more, his TV show, Sheās Gotta Have It, inspired by…
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My Cousin Was Lynched. Hereās How It Changed My Life
I first learned of my cousinās lynching when I was 10 years old. During the summer, I often spent time at my uncle Johnnyās house, but that summer, my great-grandmother, a wizened old black woman whose face spoke of years of enduring the weight of patriarchy and white supremacy, was often there, too. Well into…
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Jodeciās Forever My Lady Was Revolutionary for Me, a Church Boy From Okla.
This week at VSB, weāre running a series called Albums That Changed My Life in which different writers let you in on the music that helped shape and mold them into the people they are today. Weāre kicking things off with Lawrence Ware, for whom Jodeciās Forever My Lady album changed the game. Let my…
