Stories from Slate

This Video of Draymond Green, LeBron James, and 2 Chainz Is the Barbershop Experience Personified

Derreck Johnson — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 18:18:33 GMT

As we creep closer to what seems likely to be a Golden State Warriors sweep of the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers—a feat that would fully suture the wound of squandering a 3-1 series lead in the 2016 NBA Finals—it’s nice to reminisce about a simpler, less dramatic time. I’m talking about NBA All-Star Weekend. This past February, the NBA thought it would be a good idea to host the league’s biggest three-day showcase in New Orleans during the full swing of Mardi Gras. This was not a time to be caught without a fresh cut.

During that frenzied period, LeBron James and Draymond Green were able to take some time off to link up with some clippers, get cleaned up, and take part in the time-honored tradition of opinion sharing and talking shit in a barber shop. In the midst of yet another furious, high-stakes on-court battle between the two 23s, the ESPN-produced clip of this session is highly entertaining.

Steve Stoute—a former record executive and current CEO of marketing powerhouse Translation—is tasked with stealthily moderating a slew of topics including basketball, the music business, the idea of “success,” and… more basketball.

Other appearances include Atlanta rapper and Hawks superfan 2 Chainz, LeBron’s business manager Maverick Carter, activist and Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, and former New York Knick great Charles Oakley (as the resident old man). What ensues is a fantastic, candid peek into what an all-star gathering in one of the most cherished safe spaces in the black community— where you can speak freely and share feelings without judgment—looks like. It should also offer a full tank of gas for those who will visit their local shops to play armchair analyst on the morning of June 10, the day after Game Four.

Can You Tell the Difference Between These Two Inauguration Photos?

Jeremy Stahl — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:40:00 GMT

That One Time Michael Jackson Told James Brown to Invite Prince Onstage

Derreck Johnson — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 20:58:00 GMT

Little is known about this clip except for the fact that the year was 1983. James Brown, in all of his sleeveless and soulful glory, is putting on another one of his awe-inspiring performances. At some point, he invites Michael Jackson, who was enjoying the show in the audience just like everyone else, to join him on stage. (At the time, Michael Jackson was on top of the world after just releasing his magnum opus Thriller in November of 1982.)

Michael jumps at the chance to share the same air as the man who influenced his career the most. After singing a few notes and busting a couple of moves, Michael graciously returns control to James but not before insisting that the Godfather of Soul invite another special attendee up. That attendee was Prince.

Materializing out of the shadows, atop the back of his infamous bodyguard Big Chick, Prince removes both of his gloves with his teeth, throws them into the audience, borrows a guitar from a band member (as my favorite YouTube comment goes: “When Prince f--ks your guitar, it’s not your guitar anymore … ”), and proceeds to take control of the entire set. Prince finally waves a shirtless goodbye after a solid couple of minutes of stage calisthenics and makes an exit—but not before destroying a stage prop in the process.

Little did we know that the Purple One was only barely scratching the surface of what he would show himself capable of in the years to come. Game: blouses.

Read more from Slate on Prince.

Martin’s Tommy Ain’t Got No Job ... Until Now

Derreck Johnson — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 01:44:01 GMT

Television history was rewritten this week as the funniest, longest running gag of the five-season history of ‘90s Fox sitcom Martin has been blown wide open. Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford), as fans of the show well remember, ain’t got no job. But Tisha Campbell-Martin, who played Martin Payne’s wife Gina on the show, recently appeared on the 50^th episode of Bossip’s Don’t Be Scared podcast and revealed a key fact about old Tommy.

The mystery is solved, beginning at the 26:33 mark:

Yes, that’s right. Tommy was something of an equivalent to a counselor at a Boys & Girls Club. Tisha Campbell makes reference to an early episode from 1992 called “I Saw Gina Kissing Santa Claus” in which Martin dresses up as a low-budget Santa Claus (complete with unfortunate cotton-ball beard) to talk to a group of ill-behaved kids about the magic of the holidays by request of Tommy (only to get jumped by the entire assembly at the end).

The answer was right there all along. Tommy was gainfully employed. It wasn’t until Thomas Mikal Ford started pestering the writers about the further development of his character that they decided to have fun and keep his profession ambiguous as a wide-open launch pad for easy jokes.

It’s sort of a bummer that we now know the true source of Tommy’s income. But it doesn’t make the Tommy Ain’t Got No Job interactions any less funny.

The New Google Logo Is Perfect for Google

Derreck Johnson — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:46:47 GMT

Tuesday morning, Google rolled out of bed and stepped out the door with a fresh new look and a new attitude. Gone are the logo’s familiar sharp turns, hard edges, and slightly medieval look. Say hello to something a little more fun, bold, and, most importantly, “now.”

It’s amazing what clipping off a few serifs can do. Introducing a new font family called Product Sans, Google has chosen to go with a strong-yet-sleek look that will look equally as pretty on small, handheld devices as it will on large-scale displays. From a design aspect, that’s where the sauce lies: legibility and adaptability. The “less is more” mantra is on full blast here. Meanwhile their trademark rainbow color palette remains:

The majority of the knee-jerk takes on Twitter Tuesday all revolve around the complaint that the new logo has a childish feel. And I’m sure the Google Doodle depicting a hand drawing the new logo with sidewalk chalk only reinforces those reactions. But that’s not what I see.

I see six letters that represent a youthful, dynamic creativity—a notion that this company was built on. Without that playful spirit, Google isn’t really Google. But of course, we’re talking about a massive media conglomerate here, so they couldn't get too crazy. How does Google show us that they aren’t that stiff? A slightly tilted E.

Charge It to My Room!

Derreck Johnson — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 09:56:00 GMT

Hotel bars and restaurants are wonderful parts of the lodging experience. There’s nothing better than knowing that if you overdo it (whether accidentally or intentionally), you can politely stumble to the elevator and be in your bed, half-comatose and still fully clothed, within minutes. But not before you’re able to utter five powerful words: “Charge it to my room.” The room charge is clearly a convenient custom, but how is it kept secure? After all, a hotel bar can be brimming with activity at any given time, and presumably anyone could claim your number as their own. How do hotels keep the room charge system free from abuse?

With the help of technology and by watching you a lot more closely than you might think. Most hotel bars and restaurants use operating systems like Micros when taking orders and making sales, and the room charge function is part of that system. When you ask to bill to a certain room number, the system pulls up the associated reservation along with the name. Servers are then expected to check, as casually as possible, that your name matches the file. This is usually handled by the server simply asking you, the guest, what name is associated to the room when it comes time to pay. ID checks aren’t common, but they aren’t out of the question. As with most establishments that serve alcohol, a sharp server can also request proof of age before sliding that refreshing cocktail in your direction.

In general, bartenders are obliged to be the first line of defense against those trying to game the system. They are trained to be alert and to check names when they sense something fishy. There’s no general rule of thumb for noticing shady patrons, but security is always in place and a phone call away if the situation escalates. Bartenders are also expected to settle the bill as soon as you give your alleged name and room number, in order to catch any discrepancies before you leave.

And what happens if you find a charge on your room bill for a drink that you actually didn’t enjoy? Assuming the bill is on the smaller side, most hotels will readily remove it when you complain. From their point of view, a disputed $20 cocktail charge is not nearly as valuable as a repeat customer.

Explainer thanks Michele Mayo, a former front-office manager at the Hampton Inn Manhattan-SoHo and the Hotel on Rivington in New York City, and Megan Pattison, a former VIP insider and PBX agent for the W San Francisco.

Take the grand tour of the rest of our Travel Explainers here.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” Video Is a Moving Portrait of Perseverance

Derreck Johnson — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 20:45:19 GMT

The song was already a force to be reckoned with—a declaration of triumph over tragedy. But when Kendrick Lamar put it in the hands of director Colin Tilley (of Nicki Minaj “Anaconda” fame) for a visual treatment, it got a brand new set of wings.

“Alright,” the fourth single from the critically lauded and certified gold To Pimp A Butterfly, is an anthem that details the daily rigors of living as a young black man in modern-day America. It’s about facing the seemingly never-ending stresses of poverty, racism, police brutality, and unjust death and banding together as a community to rise above it all.

The track has the momentum of a runaway locomotive, and Tilley chose to complement that with a gritty, gray-scale collage of imagery that evokes strength in numbers amid a harsh reality. We see cops killing black kids, desolate streets, and all-around despair. All the while, Kendrick literally floats above it all, a motivating call-to-action for others to rise up in their own way. At a time when the all-too-familiar tropes of expensive vehicles, scantily clad women, and drug glorification remain prevalent in rap lyrics and music videos, it’s refreshing to find a song that can capture our ear and hearts and still be socially conscious.

Amid all the chaos, Kendrick still finds time to pay homage to his predecessors. There’s an interlude starting at 2:11 where Kendrick and his TDE cohorts ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul bounce along to a snippet of a different song as they ride in a jalopy carried by four police officers:

This is a clear homage to Busta Rhymes’ 1996 single “Woo-Hah (Got You All In Check),” for which Busta used the first minute of the music video to tease “Everything Remains Raw,” furiously reciting his bars while gliding through Times Square in a Toyota 4Runner with the rest of the Flipmode Squad.

If Taboo Says You Can’t Say “Sing,” Can You Say “Song”?

Derreck Johnson — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:02:00 GMT

Last week, my wife and I settled down for a Friday night game of Taboo with my brother and his girlfriend. We decided on an arbitrary end score of 65. Guys versus girls. After each round of enthusiastic shouting and (totally illegal) pantomiming, we would grab a refill of Black Box Malbec. The guys held a commanding lead but the girls ramped a strong comeback. Trash talk was plentiful.

But it was all smiles and laughter until we got to the card that would change the game. The guess word was lullaby. The Taboo words were baby, sleep, cradle, sing, and rock. My wife was giving clues. And then, in the midst of her loud stream of consciousness, she blurted out the word song.

“BZZZZZZT! “ I pressed the buzzer as hard as I could mere inches from her ear. I pressed it so hard it started to warble.

“What did I say?” she scoffed.

“You said ‘song,’ the word ‘sing’ is right there” I replied.

Needless to say, my wife vehemently defended why she thought that it was fine to use the word. My brother’s girlfriend backed her up.

It turns out there may be more at stake here than we even knew. There’s an entire Reddit thread that details a very similar conundrum: the clue “sing” given in response to the Taboo word “song.” So is there a bigger discussion to be had here? Does the key to a central mystery of this classic party game—perhaps even to the English language—lie in my marital dispute?

My argument mainly relied on the written rules of Taboo, which state: “No form or part of ANY word printed on the card may be given as a clue. Examples: If the Guess word is PAYMENT, ‘pay’ cannot be given as a clue. If DRINK is a Taboo word, ‘drunk’ cannot be given as a clue. If SPACESHIP is the Guess word, you can’t use ‘space’ or ‘ship” as a clue. ...You cannot say the Guess word ‘sounds like’ or ‘rhymes with’ another word.”

This seems pretty clear to me. But on Reddit, many say that my wife has a very strong case. What constitutes “form” as read in the rules? Dictionary.com defines the word song as “the art or act of singing” or “something that is sung.” And yet, as my colleague Chris Kirk points out, the word song doesn’t appear in the Related Form section of the definition of sing on the same site.

My wife’s stern and eloquent rebuttal:

“The rules of Taboo state that no form or any part of the word may be given as a clue. I’m correct because song and sing are two completely different words. Song is a noun and not a form nor tense of the verb sing. Bottom line: You can’t song a sing, song a sang or song a sung. But you can sing a song, and could say ‘sang a song’ or ‘sung a song.’ ”

My next step is a heartfelt letter to Hasbro asking them to refine their rules. The future of Taboo—and the fate of my marriage—may be at stake.

Last Night’s Empire Catfight Felt Like a Callback to This Classic Soap Opera Scene

Derreck Johnson — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:15:54 GMT

The season finale of Empire was an attaché case of emotion. Lucious doesn't really have ALS. Vernon is dead. Andre found religion. These were only a few of the batshit dips and loops of the Lyon rollercoaster. But none of those come close to the pièce de résistance of the entire two hours: the inevitable cat fight between the scrappy Cookie Lyon and the debutante Anika Gibbons.

In its entirety, I’d have to give the tussle a strong 8 out of 10. Anika tried her absolute best to hold her own against Cookie. We all saw those solid rib shots. But when the fight started with a punch that Anika didn't see coming in the first place followed by a face full of neat liquor, she was destined to lose. Reminder: Cookie did 17 years in the pen. And the pearls. Those poor pearls.

However, let’s take a trip back in time. Back to the NBC daytime soap opera Generations. Very short-lived (March 1989 to January 1991) but groundbreaking in its own right, Generations was the first soap to feature a black American family. Displaying a tried-and-true formula of deceit, foul play, and all-around drama, Generations had everything you’d expect from a soap opera. Including a catfight.

Bear witness as Doreen Jackson (played by Jonelle Allen) and Maya Reubens (played by a young Vivica A. Fox) exchange an expert barrage of tough talk, strategically remove any accessories that may impede their progress, and proceed to rearrange an entire living room for a full minute until Maya’s boyfriend Adam (Kristoff St. John) comes in to end the carnage before any more furniture can be harmed.

Why does the one in red always get it the worst?

I Still Use an AOL Email Account

Derreck Johnson — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:56:00 GMT

I’m a nostalgic at heart. I have a hard time letting go of things. My wife would probably describe it as low-level hoarding. That may be true. Stashed throughout our apartment are an impressive array of retro sneakers, old hip-hop magazines, comic books, CDs, and stickers. It all harkens back to a simpler time—my youth.

Earlier this year, I discovered that one of my favorite knick-knacks from yesteryear was celebrating a milestone birthday. According to my account info, my AOL.com email address gasped for its first breath of air on Sept. 24, 1994—the beginning of my senior year of high school and two days before my 16^th birthday. Two decades later, it remains my primary means of email communication.

You should see the reactions I get when I give someone my email address here in the 21^st century. Most of the time it’s simple incredulity. Sometimes it’s laughter coupled with a “… no, seriously?” Then there’s always the follow-up query: “Don’t you have a Gmail account?” Yeah, I do. But I also have this AOL address that works perfectly fine. I swear, it does.

As was the case with many people, America Online was my introduction to the Internet, in the early 1990s. Complementary installation CDs touting hours of free trial access were ubiquitous back then. They magically appeared in the mail. They were neatly displayed at the register at the drug store. Once you had that colorful, shrink-wrapped CD, all you needed was a working phone line, a modem, and a credit card. A few obnoxious clicks, beeps, and whirrs later, you were good to go. I kept my modem on top of a throw pillow to muffle the noise and not wake up the entire house during late hours—prime time for usage, because no one would call the house and interrupt the connection. Mine was a proud AOL family.

At first, being online was a fairly limited experience; there were some message boards, some chat rooms, a few rudimentary games, and, of course, those quirky .WAV notifications. Most of my time was spent bouncing around chat rooms, discussing hip-hop, superheroes, video games, and living on Long Island. But as cyberspace began expanding at breakneck speed in the early to mid-‘90s, AOL rolled out features that offered gateways to life outside of its yellow mascot–guarded garden (most notably, Usenet access in September 1993). Shortly afterward, in 1994, your screen name was mashed together and given its all-important AOL.com suffix. And just like that, you officially had an email address where anyone in the world could drop you a line. It was amazing. Most of the time, I used email to initiate more personal conversations with friends I had made on the rec.music.hip-hop Usenet board (trading 90-minute Maxell cassettes via traditional mail soon followed), subscribing to email lists of forward-thinking event promoters and DJs (I enjoyed a party or two), and communicating with girls who had access to photo scanners.

By the fall of 1995, America Online boasted 4 million subscribers. In 1998, a horribly sappy rom-com, You’ve Got Mail, centered on finding love through AOL email. No, I did not go see it.

Soon, however, the lightning-fast growth of the Web left AOL in the dust. As broadband connections became more common, fewer and fewer people relied on the AOL portal to get them onto the Web; meanwhile, other companies stepped up and started offering email addresses for free, including Yahoo, Earthlink, and Hotmail. By around 2002 (maybe earlier, depending on whom you ask), an AOL email address was already an antique, marking its owner less as a sophisticated early-adopter than as someone clinging to an obsolete technology.

But I wasn’t swayed by the new Web-based email services. The late ’90s and early ’00s coincided for me with the end of adolescence and the intimidating first years out in the real world. My email address was an early incubator of my social life. I wasn’t the chattiest kid in high school. I kept mostly to myself and focused on my schoolwork. I was the kid who packed his backpack with three classes worth of books so I didn’t have to stop at my locker in between each class. Ironically, crafting emails to people I didn’t really know all that well prepared me for real, in-person conversations with the people I did know. Plus my Blackplanet page—an early social media site geared toward young black Americans—was linked to my AOL address, and I was very active on it. Why in the world would a young, single, and ready-to-mingle gentleman want to abandon that? Having a functional email address known to all my friends and contacts was very valuable to me. I thought that if I got rid of it, it would be like starting from scratch. People don’t change their phone numbers for fun. Why should I change my email?

Let’s be clear: I wasn’t using dial-up during the George W. Bush presidency. My modem was in a box in the garage with a bunch of 8-track tapes; the throw pillow was back on the couch where it belonged. But AOL.com, with its simple, clean Web interface was still my preferred method of email retrieval. Yes, I grabbed a Gmail account like everyone else, but it was just to say that I had one. When I wanted to communicate with friends and acquaintances, I wrote them from my AOL account. I still do.

I am fully aware that my loyalty to my AOL account comes with a stigma attached. The address evokes a unique brand of digital prejudice. When people get an email from me, they wonder if I’m not equipped to handle the rigors of the present-day Internet. People think I’m a “suburban senior,” not a 30-something resident of the media capital of the world, or a Web designer with a robust social media presence. As it happens, I’ve always been fortunate enough to have a computer nearby, ever since I was a kid (the first being an Apple IIc in 1988). Digital literacy was important in my family. It was the wave of the future, and my parents knew it. But thanks to my AOL address, I have to prove to people that I’m not a Luddite. Sometimes I have to explain to people that I don’t actually use America Online to check my email. In certain professional and business contexts, like when I’m applying for a job or selling something on eBay, I rely on an email account from a more socially acceptable provider, lest I be judged by my account, not my character.

That iconic prewelcome screen depicting the little yellow man in those three boxes documenting the progress of your connection clearly left an indelible mark in people’s brains. Periodically, I’ll have to actually show someone the mail.aol.com client to illustrate that I can check my email just like normal people. Yes, there are ads (and plenty of them), but there are ads on Gmail, too. The AOL spam filter is strong (sometimes too strong), the client works beautifully on mobile, and I can receive attachments as large as 25 MB (but please, don’t ever do that). And if I really want to get crazy, I can toggle my settings to say “you’ve got mail” when I log in. I have yet to get such an urge.

Some people contend that an AOL address is actually something of a status symbol; as recently as 2011, some members of the media and political elite, like Tina Brown and David Axelrod, reportedly used AOL email accounts. I don’t really buy it. Sure, some powerful people from an older generation haven’t bothered to switch over, maybe because, like me, they’re used to the good old AOL interface. But no one’s ever treated me like an elite thought-leader when I reveal my AOL address.

Am I holding out for some throwback craze, in which people are going to inundate AOL’s servers trying to get their hands on addresses that sport that quaint three-letter domain? Am I hoping to brag that I never let go of my original one? Highly unlikely and absolutely not. Is my commitment to my AOL address based on some subconscious loyalty to a brand that helped shape my teen and young adult years and carved the beginnings of a personal and professional path that I still walk today? Do I hold onto it for the same reason I hold onto my Air Huaraches and my seemingly endless back issues of The Source? Possibly. Shout out to Steve Case. But mostly I just haven’t switched because I haven’t needed to. My AOL account is still purring like a kitten.

* clicks Sign Off *

The Best Slate Covers of 2014

Holly Allen — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 21:05:13 GMT

“The United Steaks of America”
If every state had an official meat, what would it be?

“The Case for Separate Beds”
I love my husband, but I want my own bed.

“Take Me Out to the Ballpark—All of Them”
How to visit all 30 major-league stadiums in 30 days.

“Did America Get Fat by Drinking Diet Soda?”
A high-profile study points the finger at artificial sweeteners.

“The United States of Dunkin’ Donuts”
What America would look like if our state borders were based on fast-food density.

“Haida’s Story”
A folktale from Haruki Murakami’s new novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.

“Gnarly Birthday, High Times!”
Forty years in, can an outlaw magazine survive the mainstreaming of pot?

“Down and Out”
The single fact that powerfully explains why black Americans have such a hard time climbing the economic ladder.

“Labels for Less”
Faking a pricey bottle of wine is a lot easier than you’d think.

“Off the Market”
We have stacks of research to explain why stocks rise and fall—but most of it is all wrong.

“ ‘Hang In There!’ – Arthur Schopenhauer”
Quotation websites and the outsourcing of erudition.

“Teatopia”
What would actually happen if Tea Partiers controlled Congress and Rand Paul was president?

“Is It Time to Kill Autocorrect?”
What happens when you get a bunch of people to turn off autocorrect for a week.

“Beyond Energy Efficiency”
We’re not just reducing demand for electricity—we’re destroying it.

“Hard Knocks”
I was hit by a teacher in an East Texas public school. It taught me nothing.

Ronald Reagan Is Kobe Bryant

Eric Betts — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 04:52:00 GMT

In a recent New York magazine interview with Frank Rich, Chris Rock had this to say about President Obama: “Everybody wanted Michael Jordan, right? We got Shaq. That’s not a disappointment. You know what I mean? We got Charles Barkley. It’s still a Hall of Fame career.”

Rock is right on one count—Obama is no Michael Jordan. But Charles Barkley? Shaq? Those guys don’t have much in common with the 44^th president either. Which NBA player is a better match for Obama? Who’s George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Rutherford B. Hayes? You’ll find all of those answers and more in our full list of presidents and their NBA analogues. If you disagree, let us know in the comments where we went wrong.

Action Bronson’s “Easy Rider” Might Be the Rap Video of the Year

Derreck Johnson — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 19:27:57 GMT

You’d be hard-pressed to find a rap video in 2014 with as much attention to detail, keen-eyed location scouting, and cinematic sweep as Action Bronson’s new video for “Easy Rider.” A tip of the hat, then, to director Tom Gould for taking Action Bronson’s guitar-fueled single, the first from his forthcoming album Mr. Wonderful, and giving it the wonderfully ridiculous video it both needs and deserves.

Inspired by the movie of the same name, “Easy Rider” imagines the Queens rapper as a desert rebel on a quest to rescue his missing guitar, and unfolds complete with a Road House-esque bar brawl, a benevolent Native American on a horse, and an acid trip thrown in for good measure. And in case riffing on Easy Rider wasn’t enough, the video (like the song) finds time to pay homage to Guns N' Roses’ classic “November Rain,” too:

We can only pray that Slash is proud of his efforts.

Watch a 19-Year-Old Kanye West Freestyle in a Record Store

Derreck Johnson — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:58:46 GMT

In August 1996, independent hip-hop shop Fat Beats outgrew its original digs in a modest 9^th Street basement and moved up to a much more spacious and naturally day-lit location above 6^th Avenue near West 8^th Street. They had a lot to celebrate. Sales were strong and the store was becoming the cultural hub for hip-hop in the city. So why not throw a grand opening party?

As with many underground rap festivities at the time, budding emcees flocked to Fat Beats on this historic day to join the housewarming. Eventually a DJ got on, needles were put to wax and a cipher broke out. Fledgling rappers got to flex their skills for whoever would listen. Luckily, former Fat Beats employee and hip-hop purist DJ Eclipse was on hand and videotaped it all for posterity.

The mic was passed around amicably and eventually landed in the palm of an unknown, fresh-faced, 19-year old from Chicago. The young, confident Kanye West proceeded to kick a very solid verse—and, from the looks of it, captivated the onlookers for a solid minute and a half.

The Fat Beats store shut its doors in 2010 but the company still operates as a digital record label. And Mr. West, as you may have heard, has continued his career as well.

(Via Complex.)

What I Thought of When I Heard That Ruby Dee Had Died

Derreck Johnson — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:48:25 GMT

Legend of stage and screen Ruby Dee passed away Wednesday evening at the age of 91. Cleveland–born and New York–raised, Dee broke down walls and made a name for herself at a time where there weren’t many opportunities for black women on stage or on the screen.

Her body of work is bountiful and varied. She inaugurated the role of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, opposite Sidney Poitier, and later played the part on screen as well. She was Mother Sister in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. She wrote or co-wrote several books. She was an activist. She was nominated for eight Emmy Awards. She was nominated for an Oscar in 2007 for her role in American Gangster.

But when I heard that she had died, the first thing that came to mind was a 1995 production she starred in with her husband, Ossie Davis, called Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy. (Davis died in 2005.) One of the most poignant moments in the production is a monologue titled “When I’m Gone.” The couple shares the stage, bathed in soft light, and Dee instructs her partner how to react when she returns to the essence. “Beg God to bring me back,” she says, chuckling, “and give you another chance.” Sounds about right.

You Should Be Listening to Vic Mensa

Derreck Johnson — Sun, 18 May 2014 13:49:31 GMT

“Down On My Luck” marks the first official single from Chicago’s Vic Mensa since he signed a record deal. Mensa got wide notice with his independently released INNANETAPE last year, and for good reason: His off-kilter style and stream-of-consciousness rhymes set him apart as a unique voice in hip-hop.

Those who are already fans of Mensa may be thrown by this new track: Vic opts to flex his vocal chords and shows off some real singing ability over a bouncy, synthy dance track. That he can experiment this successfully with his sound suggests that his range is even broader than his early work suggested.

The video, meanwhile, is something of a Groundhog Day homage. If only we all had infinite re-dos when we hit the club.

More Free Music From De La Soul

Derreck Johnson — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 23:57:22 GMT

Rap nerds rejoiced today. The veteran hip-hop trio De La Soul released their second gift to listeners in as many months. Back in February, the group made its entire discography available for free download on Valentine’s Day. Today, a visit to their official website revealed a download link to a “new” mixtape, Smell the Da.I.S.Y., a collection of vintage De La verses re-recorded over production by the late, great producer James “J Dilla” Yancey.

De La fans immediately recognized lyrics from such classic tracks as “Potholes In My Lawn,” “Oodles of O’s,” “Ego Trippin’,” and “The Bizness,” though layered over familiar (for Dilla heads) and unfamiliar beats. Listening to the mixtape is like taking a scenic road trip in a beloved old car with a brand new V-8.

This afternoon, I talked with Dave Jolicoeur, one of De La’s two MCs, and asked him about the project. It’s been ten long years since the last original De La Soul album (The Grind Date, 2004), and its left fans eager for new material. I asked Jolicoeur why the group chose to use existing lyrics for this release. “The songs sound fresh. They sound brand new,” he said. “We believe there’s life in our music. It never sounds old. We were a little bit ahead of ourselves in regards to lyrics back then.” There’s no denying that. The group’s 1989 debut, 3 Feet High and Rising ushered in a bold, if offbeat new sound, one that was in stark contrast to many of the group’s peers.

I was also curious why the group chose to lay the old material over J Dilla beats. It’s not a novel idea. Back in 2007, Busta Rhymes (another emcee who benefitted greatly from Dilla’s production) teamed up with Mick Boogie to release Dillagence, which was chock-full of previously unreleased Yancey production.

That said, Dilla played an outsized role in De La’s evolution as a group (though Prince Paul gets the majority of the credit for his work on their first three releases). After being passed a tape of songs by Slum Village (J Dilla’s group, which had long admired De La, and like-minded outfits like A Tribe Called Quest), the group instantly recognized a talent they wanted to work with.

“From the very beginning, it was like … who, who are these people? These guys are doing stuff that we wish we were doing,” Jolicoeur said. “We wanted to be a part of that sound, work with that sound or have that sound in some way, shape or form weave into what we were doing." Dilla would go on to build a professional and personal bond with his idols and produce one of the group’s greatest singles, 1996’s “Stakes Is High,” the title track off their fourth album.

Jolicoeur credited Dilla with injecting new life into the group. Smell the Da.I.S.Y, in turn, seems to be an attempt to jumpstart the group’s engine once again. “We just wanted to be creative. And I think Dilla was always the muse for that. He was always that springboard, that person, that individual, that sound, that kind of … generated creation, generated inspiration.”

Indeed, this new release is just one of several projects the group has in the works. Before year’s end, they plan to release a six-song EP called Premium Soul On the Rocks, half produced by DJ Premier and half by Pete Rock. And if all goes according to plan, the year will culminate with group’s first new studio album in a decade, entitled You’re Welcome. For now, fans probably won’t mind kicking back in our rocking chairs for a little bit longer and reminiscing over these old tracks mixed over beats by a departed talent, especially if it’s just the first act of a reinvigorated De La Soul.

“We’re feeling alive, we’re feeling good, we’re feeling happy to create again,” says Jolicoeur. “Even without his physical being here, [Dilla’s] left us enough jewels, enough gifts, enough artillery to get that done.”

Before Woody Harrelson Was a True Detective, He Was Manly Moondog

Derreck Johnson — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:06:00 GMT

If you’re like me, you’re one of the many people who are pleasantly entangled in all of the twist and turns of the HBO crime drama True Detective. Raspy, morose, and Southern-braised monologues are delivered in large quantities hour after hour. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a respite and let the sun shine in?

Fear not. Take a gander at some footage of Manly Moondog (much better known as Emmy-Award winning actor Woody Harrelson) and the Three Kool Kats. Not much information is available about Woody’s old jam band, and we’re still in the dark about the origins of this footage. What we do know is that it existed some time near the end of the Cheers era and that he sometimes used it as a platform to lightly coax activism and awareness from young people (much to the surprise of some concertgoers, evidenced in this 1991 LA Times article).

However, the one thing that can’t be denied are those dulcet falsetto tones. I only wonder what Rust Cohle would think of it. (HT @natashavc for flagging.)

Previously
Proof That Time Really Is a Flat Circle

Who Is Hiding the Dirtiest Secrets on Scandal?

Aisha Harris — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 19:16:00 GMT

This Thursday marks the winter finale of Scandal, the addictive show that dominates social media (and which you might be able to “watch” just by reading Twitter). The show’s 2½ seasons have already included more scandals than an ordinary fan could possibly keep track of—it’s hard to say, at this point, whether there’s anyone left on the show that can still don a white hat, to borrow the show's favorite metaphor.

So we’ve decided to settle the matter. For now.

We’ve given the main characters their own hats, and dirtied each one up the appropriate amount. We left out two characters, Harrison Wright (Columbus Short) and Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield), who are mostly clean (so far).

Spoilers follow.

* Shot down a plane as part of Operation Remington, the details of which are still unclear.

* Has an on-again off-again affair with Olivia Pope, his former campaign manager.

* Had an affair with White House intern Amanda Tanner (Liza Weill).

* Killed Supreme Court justice Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney) after she threatened to reveal the election fraud that got him to the White House.

* Helped orchestrate the election fraud that put Grant in the White House.

* Has a hit man (Charlie, played by George Newbern) on speed dial; ordered the killing of White House intern Amanda Tanner.

* With co-conspirator Mellie, diverted rumors of the Olivia Pope-President Grant relationship by leaking a fake tip that the president was actually sleeping with White House staffer Jeannine Locke (Samantha Sloyan).

* May be keeping her child’s true paternity a secret from her husband.

* Faked a miscarriage during the president’s election campaign in order to sway female voters’ support.

* Helped orchestrate the election fraud that got Grant to the White House.

* Pretended that her husband was awake while he was still in a coma after an assassination attempt, forging his signature and acting as president.

* With Cyrus, leaked fake tip to the media that the president was sleeping with White House staffer Jeannine Locke.

* Ordered a plane shot down as part of Operation Remington.

* Faked his wife’s death.

* As the leader of B-613, has ordered the assassinations of an untold number of people.

* Keeps her daughter’s abortion as a teenager a secret from the public, for fear of retaliation from her religious conservative fan base.

* Killed her husband in last week's episode after Cyrus attempted to blackmail her with photos of her husband and James being intimate.

* Accidentally killed a security guard with an injection she thought would only knock him out for a bit. Is blackmailed into joining B-613 as a result.

* Has an on-again, off-again affair with the president.

* Helped orchestrate the election fraud that got Grant to the White House.

* Has used questionable means to cover up an untold number of other people’s scandals.

* Is addicted to killing. Attends AA meetings to secretly treat his bloodlust.

* Involved in various levels of the election fraud cover-up.

* Did many horrible things for B-613.

* Didn’t report on the election fraud in exchange for Cyrus’ reluctant agreement to adopt a baby.

* Slept with the closeted husband of Vice President Sally Langston (Kate Burton).

* Got his job back as Assistant U.S. Attorney (after having been fired for losing an important case) by agreeing not to reveal his election fraud findings.

Exclusive Poster for the Upcoming Spike Lee-Tyler Perry Movie

Aisha Harris — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 18:27:30 GMT

Once upon a time, Spike Lee and Tyler Perry didn’t care much for one another. Or perhaps that’s putting it lightly; said Lee a few years ago of Perry’s cable shows House of Payne and Meet the Browns, “We got a black president, and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?” Perry’s response: “Spike Lee can go straight to hell!”

But the two are cool now, and Lee has even visited Perry at his home, as he told Oprah Winfrey on an episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter. They’re so cool, in fact, that the once unfathomable may come to pass: “One day we might work together,” says Lee.

Mark your calendar.

Banksy’s New York Project Took a Very Brooklyn Turn Today

Derreck Johnson — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:06:07 GMT

The pseudonymous artist Banksy is currently doing a monthlong “residency” in New York City, which he has titled “Better Out Than In.” The project took an interesting turn today.

His latest installation centers around a street sign snapped at the base, its pole helplessly on the ground with its concrete and dirt foundation piled neatly below it. The culprit? An adorable beaver, thanks to Banksy’s off-kilter imagination.

But this Beaver’s neighborhood isn’t so adorable. It’s the East New York section of Brooklyn. And when local residents caught wind of their newest neighbor—drawn, presumably, by the droves of strangers getting off the train to stare at a wall—they saw an opportunity for a come-up.

Want a peek? Dig in your pockets. The irony is beautiful. And so is Brooklyn.