Hip-hop has globalized "nigga," morphing its role into much more than the casual conversational term that it served as for decades exclusively within black America. So should blacks in America be mad at this harsh reality?
Both Kanye and J. Cole's albums were met with immense hype, huge sales, and passionate discussions amongst the artists' fans and detractors about each album's merits. But if you look just below the surface, another important similarity, beyond release date and mentions of Jay-Z, appears.
It's too early to tell whether Yeezus will be remembered for setting the trend or merely bucking it, but for now, it's safe to say that Mr. West is less a God -- whatever that means -- than our highest avatar of guilty pleasure.
North West is pretty out there in terms of names but I'm sure there is probably no other child with that name in the world and therefore, in that sense, I'd say Kim and Kanye have done their job right in giving their child a unique identifier for a name.
The point is, while preeclampsia, might be relatively unknown, it isn't choosy; any pregnant woman is at risk. It is the leading cause of maternal and infant death and near-miss globally and in the U.S.A.
As a God, as Yeezus, West reminds us that who God is, is contingent upon who we are and how we see the world. Divinity doesn't always automatically elevate us to where we should be but shows us very plainly where we are and how much further we need to go.
As Kanye's latest album, Yeezus, invades our eardrums, it's a good time to reflect on his many, many head-scratching quotes. Yet buried under the rapper's bravado and considerable megalomania are genuine bits of career wisdom.
Like the majority of our generation, knowing that we feed into our own misery by engaging in the grown-up high school cafeteria known as Twitter and emptying our increasingly scant bank-accounts on a smorgasbord of Apple products, this man has an uncanny comfort with being a complete and total hypocrite, a quality that my mom, admirably if aberrantly, does not possess. So yes, Kanye West is perhaps morally reprehensible. But he is also the most perfectly polished mirror we have.
Black history deserves to be regarded highly as well as we would anything else sacred in our society... let's please start treating it as such.
Why do I get the feeling Kanye West is going to take his World's Greatest Dad mug way too seriously? Today, if you're lucky enough to have a loving dad who's still around, then I say play your Old Man play whatever the hell he wants. Let's gather a playlist for all the dads out there.
The music of Venice spans rock, pop, rap and hip hop punctuated by anthemic ballads.
After years of rap music struggling in the muck and mire of misogyny and money, one of the greatest rappers ever has had it up to here with the 'New Slavery' of commercialism, materialism and hedonism.
Five of the most over-the-top, kid-friendly hotel amenities that celebrity (and royal) moms will definitely approve of. If Kimbryo will love these kid-friendly amenities, so will you!
If you're cool with Madonna and Jay-Z (or U-God from Wu-Tang Clan, Lord Finesse, etc. etc. etc.) playing holier-than-you but have Kanye issues serious enough to compel you to take to the internet and voice your concerns, it's time for a long, hard look in the mirror.
I see a lot of people doing what seems to be no-brainer tasks... and they make lots of money. It drives me crazy that people become rich doing things that are so simple -- that I could do. Here are 10 things on my list. (What's on your list?)
Our overincarceration epidemic has a massive and disproportionate impact on people of color. While communities of color suffer, the for-profit prison companies benefit.