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I Tried It: Notes From a Silent PartyÂ
Confession: I was absolutely thinking about pulling out of my first silent party an hour before I was to leave for it. I was running on minimal sleep and nursing a dehydration headache all day; and it was one of those cold, rainy fall days for which God invented cuffing season, malbec and Showtime Anytime.…
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When Should Rappers Hang Up the Microphone?Â
When I was perusing the list of new-release albums from this past Oct. 13, it dawned on me after some time that three of the artistsâWu-Tang, Camp Lo and Krayzie Bone (with his group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony)âall released albums that I absolutely loved exactly 20 years ago. In 1997 I turned 16, obtained my driverâs license…
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Is Infidelity Inevitable?
In 2009 a family friend I hadnât seen since I was a kid came into Chicago for a work conference and took me out for drinks. I wasnât sure what to expect from the conversation of a woman who was a little under twice my age at the time, but certainly not what I received:…
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Rapsody and 8 Other Rap Cats You Should Be Listening ToÂ
North Carolina rapper Rapsody dropped her second full-length album, Lailaâs Wisdom, on Sept. 22. Itâs her first album under the Roc Nation imprint, and the first to feature a suite of top-tier guest stars, including Kendrick Lamar, Black Thought and Anderson .Paak. Itâs easy, and quotidian, to reduce Rapsody to a âdope female emcee.â But the…
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Online Dating Apps, Rated for Your Black Ass
When I broke up with my college sweetheart in 2005, I was living and working as a newspaper reporter in Godâs crustiest dingleberry, Rockford, Ill. Rockford is one of those cities where people get married and start families at an age when they still need a co-signer to rent an Enterprise vehicleânot exactly fertile dating…
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8 Hip-Hop 1-Hit Wonders You Flat-Out Forgot AboutÂ
Iâm calling it right now: âBodak Yellowâ will make Cardi B a one-hit wonder (Editorâs Note: I disagree with this wholeheartedlyâP.J.). Iâve tried to bump âBodak Yellowâ more than once, and Iâve determined that dragging a metal rake across a chalkboard in a classroom full of preschoolers who are all simultaneously screaming about a âboo-booâ…
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The âBest Rapper Aliveâ Title Is Some Overused Bullshit
As a writer and English teacher, Iâm forced to come to grips with the ever-(d)evolving way we approach our language. Weâve managed to squeeze zeitgeist-y words like âLOLâ and âYOLOâ into the dictionary and our vernacular. Words and phrases like âI could care lessâ and âirregardlessâ are no longer as subject to deserving scrutiny as…
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I Want Kids, but Iâm Absolutely Terrified of Having Them
When I look in the mirror or at pictures of myself these days, the first thing that catches my eye is the patch of gray hair taking residence on my chin in my beard. The patch is like the White Walker armyâslowly growing in follicle count until it surrounds the dark hairs in my beardâserving…
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I Understand Why The DETROIT Movie Was Made, But I Can't Recommend That You See It
Despite living away from my native Detroit for nearly a decade and a half, I stay connected to the city through frequent visits to my immediate family and through friends on social media. As of late, Iâve heard quite a few mixed-to-negative feelings about the upcoming DETROIT film from native Detroiters, so my first goal…
