The Undefeated

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The Undefeated
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Tyler, The Creator’s ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ The rapper’s lyrical ability mirrors that of a literary memoir, further proving the beauty of rap

David Dennis Jr.
I’ve spent most of the last two years reading through as many memoirs as I can while working on a book. Many of the best feel like conversations. They’re revelatory without feeling intrusive. Welcoming without being voyeuristic. And they feel honest. There’s a comfort in the uneasiness of the issues the writer processes on the page. A great memoir can feel like love.
Addded Dec 14, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Leon Bridges’ ‘Gold-Diggers Sound’ The singer is evolving from soul man to R&B artist, but will Black audiences join him?

Naima Cochrane
Leon Bridges is over the “vintage soul” label. The singer’s first two outings, 2015’s Coming Home and 2018’s Good Thing, were critically praised, Grammy-nominated (Grammy-winning for Good Thing) and cemented him as a formidable talent. But they also placed him in a niche category — a retro soul artist channeling crooners of the ’50s and ’60s like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.
Addded Dec 14, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ The emerging rapper re-imagines the revenge narrative

David Dennis Jr.
A desire for revenge is one of the most universal emotions. In our darkest moments, in our most honest times, we’ve felt the pull to exact revenge on people who’ve wronged us. And sometimes those feelings of wanting retribution, reckoning or even the satisfaction of seeing the wrongdoers suffer, can consume us, becoming one of the only things we think about.
Addded Dec 14, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Jazmine Sullivan’s ‘Heaux Tales’ The album is the musical equivalent of a therapeutic group chat

Justin Tinsley
Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales could’ve easily been drowned out. For one, it dropped 48 hours after the U.S. Capitol insurrection in Washington, and quite frankly, that’s where much of the discussion in and around America lived in the moment. The world wasn’t purposely conspiring against the Philadelphia native. But it damn sure wasn’t doing her any favors, either.
Addded Dec 14, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Isaiah Rashad’s ‘The House Is Burning’ The rapper depicts an all-too-familiar love-hate relationship with the South

David Dennis Jr.
I love the South. Particularly the Black South that is full of liberation, fire, Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, fried catfish and people who crumble cornbread over their greens. I’ve lived and felt my truest self in the South for my entire life. Even after knowing how this place tried to kill my daddy in the ’60s and steal land from my grandaddies before then.
Addded Dec 14, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Nas’ ‘King’s Disease II’ The album provides a road map for seasoned emcees who want to remain relevant

Shanita Hubbard
There is always the implied question of what we do with our seasoned hip-hop artists. Unlike other genres, in hip-hop, older artists don’t typically get a residency in Las Vegas or widespread invitations to perform their latest hits. In fact, the closer they get to turning 40, the more likely they are to rock the scarlet W. And once a rapper is labeled “washed,” those invites completely dry up.
Addded Dec 13, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: Arlo Parks’ ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ The album exemplifies the spectrum of emotions in a COVID-19 and grief-stricken world

Jewel Wicker
In the months leading up to my grandmother’s death in late August, I was only allowed to visit her once every other week, peeking at her frail body through a window screen just outside the rehab facility. When I was finally able to go inside and embrace her, it was after she’d already died.
Addded Dec 13, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Best albums of 2021: ‘Vince Staples’ The California native delivered a brutally honest masterpiece

Justin Tinsley
The concept of home is a complex narrative in hip-hop. Home is a source of immense pride and oftentimes the very foundation of an artist’s music. But home is also a source of immense grief. Following the slaying of Young Dolph in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, in November, revisiting Vince Staples’ self-titled project becomes even more of a harrowing and intimate experience.
Addded Dec 13, 2021
music
The Undefeated

Why ‘Squid Game’ resonates with Black folks

David Dennis Jr.
It took less than a month for Squid Game, the South Korean survival series about systemic inequality and capitalism, to become the most-watched show in Netflix history. The show, in which an international elite coerces downtrodden people to play childhood games to the death with the hope of winning generational wealth, has had such a global appeal because of its universal themes of inequality, greed and oppression.
Addded Oct 27, 2021
media
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