Game Review: The Warriors

Publisher: Rockstar GamesThe Warriors, the quintessential Hip-Hop flick with no actual Hip-Hop in it, save for a graffiti tagging character named Rembrandt. When word of its getting the video game treatment initially spread, a mixture of excitement and dread hit most aficionados of the classic B-movie. Thankfully, Rockstar Games spared no detail in bringing the […]

Dr. Ian Smith: Spice Of Life

  Dr. Ian Smith’s middle name might as well be multi-task. While millions of people know the young doctor as the intensely polite nutrition expert on VH-1’s Celebrity Fit Club, he is also a scholar (Harvard, Columbia University, Dartmouth and Chicago University’s Pritzker School of medicine), author (five books and contributing editor for Men’s Health […]

Ne-Yo: Because Of You

While Def Jam MCs are complaining left and right about slow release schedules and lackluster marketing, the label’s R&B artists don’t seem to be having any problems. Like labelmate Rihanna, singer/songwriter Ne-Yo is quickly following up his successful debut with Because of You (Def Jam), a focused and mature look at the artist that puts […]

Lost On Jason Whitlock

Not Tavis, Not Reverends Al or Jesse, but a sports reporter out of Kansas City will lead Black folk to the promised land. Or, at the very least, save us from rap music. At face value, Jason Whitlock appears to be a very intelligent, thoughtful, and charismatic individual genuinely concerned with the Black American crisis. […]

Invisible Women? A Black Woman’s Response to Don Imus’ Sexist-Racist Remarks

The recent media frenzy around national radio and talk show host Don Imus’ sexist-racist comments about the women’s basketball team at Rutgers University (New Brunswick) is one more item in the evidence column of how women are regarded by men. With a natural fluidity, Imus casually referred to the Rutgers players as nappy-headed hos. Two […]

Movie Review: Grindhouse

By the mid 1990s, Mayor Giuliani had already begun his mission to clean up Times Square. A few p### theaters and peep shows remained (Show World Center hadn’t yet been turned into a comedy club), but the remnants of the world depicted in Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver were swept away. Grindhouse (Dimension Films), the new […]

Marques Houston: Veteran

  If ever it were possible to use the words “underrated” and “overexposed” to describe the same person, Marques “MH” Houston would be the strongest example. MH has been entertaining us since he was 12, and still his level of skill as a singer and songwriter remains in question. Veteran (Universal Motown) is his attempt […]

Hip-Hop Owes Women An Apology

APOLOGY: a·pol·o·gy (_-p_l’_-j_) pronunciation 1. An acknowledgment expressing regret or asking pardon for a fault or offense. An apology can mean so many different things for people, both the giver and recipient(s). So, I’ve been thinking a bit. I believe it’s high time that Hip-Hop offered an apology to its women, in particular the females […]