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Men Don’t Get It: Why Iggy Azalea’s DM Exposure and Thirst Culture is Our (Men) Fault

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Photo: Larry Marano, REX, Shutterstock

When are men going to stop complaining about the current state of the sexual marketplace, accept accountability, and do what needs to be done to change things?

The manosphere erupted with criticism towards hip-hop star Iggy Azalea when she put her high-profile DMs on blast, exposing how far men will go to get her attention on social media. Men generally have a problem with the current state of the sexual marketplace and the advent of things like OnlyFans and Instagram, but what we as men need to understand is that this dynamic is one that has been proliferated due to our actions and behaviors. If we want it to stop, we’re going to need to change our behavior.

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YFN Lucci’s Legal Troubles Represent a Larger Cultural Problem with Our Actions, Decisions, and Role Models

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Photo: Getty Images

YFN Lucci’s recent run-in with the law serves as a lens through which we can view our continued commitment to bad decisions and the need for us to become more culturally multi-faceted, and not be so tethered to hip-hop imagery and tropes.

Hip-hop star YFN Lucci is now in legal trouble after being arrested for his alleged participation in a shooting in Atlanta that left one man dead. The question isn’t whether he is innocent or not, but why he willfully made the decision to involve himself in this type of situation. This represents a greater societal issue with people of color making similar decisions and clinging to certain aspects of what we perceive to be our culture; decisions that lead to incarceration, and in more serious cases, death. We discuss that aspect of our culture, as well as our thoughts on how to incorporate more balance into our culture so that more of us can lead productive lives, make better decisions AND embrace who we are through cultural pride.

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VIDEO: Tyler, the Creator Criticizes the Grammys – Our Thoughts

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Photo: Amanda Edwards, Getty Images

Tyler, the Creator speaks on the Grammys’ dismissiveness of hip-hop while accepting his award for Best Rap Album. Does he have a point?

When reflecting on his win for Best Rap Album, Tyler, the Creator commented on what he feels is a dismissive attitude towards black music and black artists at the Grammys, criticizing the ‘urban’ category distinction. Diddy also shared similar sentiments when he remarked that hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. We discuss the validity and possible counterpoints to those claims.

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VIDEO: Cam’ron & Mase, and Believing Hip-Hop Hype

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Photo: XXL

Cam’ron and Mase’s Beef Reminds Us that Hip-Hop is Entertainment. Love the Music. Don’t Believe Everything You Hear.

Two past-their-prime rappers in Mase and Cam’ron engaged in an entertaining beef stemming from old wounds and an overdue bid for New York hip-hop superiority. While nice while it lasted, it served as a reminder that hip-hop is an entertainment art-form that should be regarded as such.

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VIDEO: Friday on Elm Street Review

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Photo: Instagram/@karlfergusonjr

Our thoughts on Fabolous and Jadakiss’s long-awaited joint album, Friday on Elm Street.

After years of anticipation, heavyweights Fabolous and Jadakiss finally released their long-awaited joint album, Friday on Elm Street. What did we think of the project? Press play to find out!

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VIDEO: How the Meek Mill #FreeMeek Campaign Displays Black Victimhood

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Photo: James Dimmock, Unheard Voices

The Legal Woes of Meek Mill and How We Cry Victim

In episode 2 of the Conscious Approach podcast, Dogon and I discuss Meek Mill’s legal troubles, his sentencing, and whether the outcry for justice on his behalf is representative of our habit to resort to victimhood and throw accountability out the window during times when it is needed most.

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VIDEO: What the Tyrese Meltdowns Say About Us

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Photo: World Star Hip-Hop

The Tyrese Rants and Our Craving for Wild Behavior

In the first-ever Conscious Approach video, fellow content creator and my friend Mario “Dogon” Milligan joins me to discuss how the recent bizarre behavior of Tyrese on social media displays the nature of people to crave sensational behavior. We also discuss whether that craving is natural, or forced on us by media agendas.

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Group-Think: The Overrated Eminem Cypher

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Photo: BET Networks

By Javis Ogden

When it comes to live music shows, I don’t watch the initial airing and instead tune in during subsequent re-airs. I do this to eliminate my view on the program from being influenced by the heavy social media presence that is cultivated around the program in real-time. Having said that, I didn’t watch the Eminem freestyle during the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards as it happened (generally speaking, I don’t watch award shows period).

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