Please understand that before there was crunk there was The Chronicle; before there was Bone Crusher there was Lyrical Giants; before there was India Arie there was Donnie and Joi, before Janelle Monae there was Edith’s Wish. Atlanta was bursting with musical creativity and at the center of the live music scene was a band […]
Category: Music
happy and ‘blackful’: a mini playlist
I dusted up my Keds something terrible Monday night. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly opened the 2011 season of Brooklyn’s Martin Luther King Jr. concert series and I two stepped until my calves cramped. I arrived early enough to get beat down by the late afternoon sun and ate up by the bugs attracted by my […]
Hateration, Holleration
I’m not trying to be the grammar police, but I really think some words just need to be retired. Take, for instance, “swagger,” or simply “swag.” I mean, once a word becomes connected to a scent that your grandfather used back in the day, it might be best to let that go. (Sorry, PawPaw). “Hater” […]
“And You Even Licked My Balls: A Black Feminist Note on Nate Dogg”
***Note: This piece is from the blog vault of CF ReninaJ, who maintains her own spot at newmodelminority.com. As the 24 hr news cycle goes, it’s easy to miss great commentary on popular culture. Occasionally, then, we’ll share with you pieces that we think you should read, which you might’ve missed. We hope you enjoy […]
On Kreayshawn and the Utility of Black Women
“De nigger woman is de mule uh de world…”- Zora Neale Hurston I grew up in a white suburban/rural community where I was one of a few black kids and the only one in my classes and social circle. In high school, we had this habit of waxing nostalgic for our not so distant youth […]
Man Down: On Rihanna, Rape, and Violence
Earlier this week, Rihanna released the video for her song “Man Down” in which her character struggles with the choice to kill her rapist. In Hip Hop and pop culture where rape is glorified and celebrated, this is a welcome intervention. The video reinforces a very basic point: the choice to be sexual and sensual […]
Crunk Mic Check (Elle Vie)
We’ve been focusing on self-care a lot over here at the Crunk Feminst Collective and one of the ways I practice self-care is by listening to music that makes me feel good. One of my favorite new artists to bump is Elle Vie. She’s coming out of Canada and she is spitting hot fire! Her […]
On Ashley Judd and the Politics of Citation
A couple of folks were asking for a crunk response to Ashley Judd’s memoir passages and the resulting controversy. Judd is being called to task for singling out rap music as the “contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.” You can read her words here. There are lots of responses that you can check out but I want […]
How Chris Brown is Effing Up My Sex Life: A B-Side to Dating While Feminist
For the last month or so, I have been entertaining a new Friend. This brother is cute, sensitive, ambitious, educated, knowledgeable, adventurous and funny. For these reasons and others, he could most definitely get it. Sounds great, right? Yes. And then Chris Brown happened. The day after the recent shamtabulousness occurred, I told Friend of […]
The Zen of Young Money: Being Present to the Genius of Black Youth
Guest post by Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, friend of CFC, Wonder Twin of me 🙂 I fly with the stars in the skies, I am no longer trying to survive, I believe that life is a prize, But to live doesn’t mean you’re alive. Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and […]