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Bobby Shmurda and the Threat of a Black Man with Options

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Photo: Bennett Raglin, BET:Getty Images for BET

What’s with the animosity for black men who choose to explore their options?

The second that hip-hop star Bobby Shmurda became associated with a white woman, it was open season on his character and why it’s a crime against humanity for him as a black man to choose to date out. What’s the real issue with black men who choose to date out? Is it about foregoing our moral obligation to help uplift the race, or is this just an examination of how women need to lighten up and gain a better understanding of modern dating and where they fall in the pecking order with respect to men who have options? Women need to accept that they’re going to have to compete!

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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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Let’s Get to the BOTTOM of Cardi B’s Woman of the Year Award

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Photo: Xavier Collin, Image Press Agency, Splash News

Don’t get mad at Cardi B for becoming Billboard’s 2020 Woman of the Year. Instead, take issue with the people because it is the people who glorify the behavior and make her so influential.

Cardi B was bestowed Billboard’s 2020 Woman of the Year honor, and people had issues with it. While questions over the validity of the appointment are fine, if you have a problem with Cardi B winning this award, then you probably have a problem with a deeper issue in our culture. Let’s talk about that deeper issue.

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Kyle Larson’s N-Word Incident

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Photo: Sean Gardner, Getty Images

What are the potential root causes for the frequent “n-word” slips of the tongue?

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson let the n-word slip during a live stream of a virtual racing broadcast. We discuss the fallout, our opinions on the reasons why this happens, and possible ways to help promote understanding.

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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: Jesus is King: The Commentary of Kanye West

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Kanye West

Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV

Kanye West’s latest album release shows that we are still anti-Kanye, but what are the lessons that can be learned from him?

Kanye West has become a lighting rod in recent memory, both for his artistic inclinations as well as for his views on societal issues. Although he continues to march to the beat of his own drum, the combination of his musical choices and his opinions has often sparked debate and created controversy, with everyone weighing in on everything from his blackness to his sanity.

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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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