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How the Book of Ryan Became My Therapy and Helped Me Understand Fatherhood
When I’m in the studio, I sometimes have these visions of conversations I’d like to have with my father. It leads me to think what it would be like if he and I could communicate on a higher level because there’s always been this barrier between us. Not even just us—everybody in our family. In…
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Fela Kuti Is the Artist Who Brought My Musical Journey Home
One of my biggest regrets in life is how late I discovered so much music that became immediately influential to me. While I grew up in a house where music was constantly present, there were various artists that my parents didn’t know, didn’t show or just didn’t care about. What that means is that many…
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I Invested a Whole Sunday Binge-Watching Everything Sucks! Only to Find Out It’s Been Canceled. Everything Sucks
I started watching the Netflix original show Everything Sucks! the way I end up watching everything, including stellar movies like My Sidepiece Hit the Lotto (potentially THE most ridiculous movie I’ve ever seen, and I own a physical copy of the movie N-Secure, which you should never see): I scrolled through the recommended movies and…
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The Quickest and Easiest Way to Effect Change? Be Famous
A few months back, I had the opportunity to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, about identity politics and public policy. I was asked at one point what I thought was the best way to make a difference in the world. It’s a pretty lofty question and is generally met with platitudes about being…
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The Washington Capitals’ Winning Washington, DC’s 1st Championship in Almost 30 Years Would Make Sense for Gentrified DC
The Washington Capitals, the Washington, D.C., region’s representative in the NHL, are one win away from being the 2017-2018 NHL champions. Obviously, this is an exciting time for the region because we haven’t had a championship win in any of the four major sports since 1992, when the Washington Racistnames won the Super Bowl, and…
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Ain’t No Way a Diss Record That Important Doesn’t See the Light of Day in 2018—Unless It Doesn’t Exist
Allegedly, Drake has a diss record in the can that would ruin Kanye West’s career. At least according to J. Prince. I find that a little bit hard to believe, considering I don’t know what Drake could say about Kanye that would do more damage than he seems to be doing himself. He’s got white…
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An Ode to My Big Sister, Who Might Not Know That She Put Me On to Hip-Hop
Since June is Black Music Month (or, more formally, African-American Music Appreciation Month), I figure that one of the best ways to celebrate is to talk about my own love for black music. There’s no talking about my love for black music without discussing hip-hop because it is now and has been the most prominent…
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10 Thoughts About Kanye West’s New Album, Ye
Last night in Wyoming (a four-word sequence I never thought I’d type), in what is probably the most bona fide imagining of “I never thought that hip-hop would take us this far,” Kanye West had a listening session full of celebrities and created the cover art for his remarkably-devoid-of-Trump, eighth solo album, ye. The album…
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Dear UPS: You Ain’t Got to Lie, Craig
One of my least favorite scams is the one that fast-food restaurants do at drive-thrus to make it look like orders are being made and provided to customers in a timely fashion. You know the one: You order and get to the pay window, only to be told to stay there until they tell you…
