The nineteenth anniversary of the slaying of Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace led me to reflect on my relationship with the genre that has lionized him in death.
Tag Archives: hip-hop
January
24
30-Day Challenge Day Six: A Fascinating Individual
posted by ExiledMind
30 Day Writing Challenge Day Six: Someone Who Fascinates You (and why) An individual who fascinates me is Vida Starr, a young sista on the come up whose work is changing the perception of hip-hop heads and freethinkers of color. Vida is currently a producer/host with the site Reality Is Real, geared towards keeping those […]
September
24
Just Like Music: “Still Not A Player” 1998
posted by ExiledMind
The incident with too much rum on New Year’s Eve aside, I entered 1998, the year I would graduate high school,well. And once my last semester of school started at the end of January it was smooth sailing. I had more than enough credits to graduate, so I only took two classes. My first was […]
September
15
Just Like Music: “I’ll Do for You”, 1991
posted by ExiledMind
As a child growing up in the 1980s I looked forward to watching ‘Soul Train’ every week. Simultaneously watching the moves of the dancers on the screen and the joy on my mama’s face as she sang along was my special treat. When she married my stepfather, a fellow sailor five years her junior, in […]
August
10
Straight Outta Solidarity: Hypocrisy and the New NWA Film
posted by ExiledMind
By the end of this week I believe that a magical transformation is going to take place. Certain African-Americans, who speak of improving our situation and claim to be in favor of respect and dignity for the women in our community, are going to support “Straight Outta Compton” when it is released on Friday August 14th, […]
Time To Rise: Dark-Skinned Women, Self-Esteem and Media Images
posted by ExiledMind
Yesterday the eclectic and controversial MC Azealia Banks took to Twitter and vented her frustrations on Colorism, stating that she feels men hate dark-skinned Black women. Unlike others I will not dismiss her anger and pain outright. For too long the experiences of dark-skinned African-American women have been erased. When we speak of how we […]
An Unheeded Alarm
posted by ExiledMind
In my last blog series I journeyed back to my adolescence and reviewed my complicated relationship with hip-hop. The rise of ‘gangsta rap’-and the explicit nature of the songs of the genre-would lead to intense debates during the 90s. I was reminded of the acrimony between critics and fans of the emerging genre a few […]
Toxic-The Aftermath
posted by ExiledMind
At the time my Mom and I had the frank discussion that I detailed in yesterday’s post hip-hop faced a serious questions as well. The East Coast-West Coast rivalry (which the media hyped up) would lead to the murders of Tupac and Biggie. The loss of these titans would make them legends. Their senseless, violent […]
