essays
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Over a decade ago, I watched Jay Electronica perform twice within a couple days. First, during Mos Def’s MLK Day show at the Highline Ballroom in January 2010, he was a surprise guest, introduced by Puffy. Then, he came out again during Phife Dawg’s diabetes benefit at the Knitting Factory, which doubled as a reunion […]
Vince Carter checked into Tuesday’s game between the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter to an exceedingly warm welcome. The eight-time All-Star started receiving ovations from Raptors fans (again) beginning five years ago—the team’s 20th anniversary—when he represented the Memphis Grizzlies. That moment brought him to tears as he gazed […]
Reports that Netflix would be adopting Dennis the Beeper King’s aphorism—“technology is cyclical”—have been greatly exaggerated. Netflix, the standard bearer in innovating and upending TV (and movies) as we know it, is *not* regressing to weekly installments, a format they all but made fun of when they entered the original programming arena. This is a […]
On September 5, Nicki Minaj surprised fans by announcing her retirement from rap. “I’ve decided to retire and have my family,” she tweeted to 20 million followers. “To my fans, keep reppin’ me, do it til da death of me…” Her message was immediately met with questions about if she’s really serious about retiring. Is […]
Basketball will always be the sexiest sport. Football will grant you eternal glory in exchange for non-guaranteed contracts. But baseball’s forever the place to be if you really, really, really want to get paid. The national pastime shocked us again Thursday when news broke that All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper was reportedly close to inking his […]
In December 2018, Ariana Grande laid out her goals for Thank U, Next, which would be dropping mere months after the release of her critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning fourth studio album, Sweetener. In particular, she noted that female pop artists such as herself are beholden to strict rollout guidelines: teaser, single, preorder, radio, album. “I just want […]
