hip hop

My Life by Mary J. Blige was the Lemonade of the mid-to-late 90s. Image: Uptown/MCA Records.

Before Lemonade There Was My Life

[CN: mention of suicide] How did we get through love before Lemonade? We examined our lives through Mary’s shamelessly honest storytelling on My Life.

Read...

Put Nicki Minaj On The 10 Dollar Bill

There has been a lot of discussion about the who of this ten dollar bill. We have until 2020, but there are already some popular suggestions: Harriet Tubman. Rosa Parks. Eleanor Roosevelt.

Read...

Alayah Hodges: Student, Sales Associate

Spotted in: The Haight, SF

Read...

Yes, I'm A Black Jew: Why Do People Always Want To Talk To Me About It?

I know that in a lot of ways I am a cultural and ethnic enigma. But discussing my identity all the time can get old. Like, real old, real fast.

Read...

Darling Bonnie: Hip Hop Artist

Spotted at: Alameda Antiques Fair

Read...
Credit: Flickr/U.S. Embassy New Delhi

All Hail The Great Women Of Gospel

The loss of gospel history has meant forgetting how important black women have been to American performance styles.

Read...
OMG, TSwift crawled under our legs! (Credit: Taylor Swift's YouTube channel)

Behind the Scenes of Taylor Swift's New Music Video, "Shake It Off"

A dancer/fan from TSwift's new video provides the inside scoop on an unusually gracious star.

Read...