Month: March 2021

Julia Tinetti, 31, and Cassandra Madison, 32, first met in 2013 while working at The Russian Lady, a bar in New Haven, Connecticut, and the two immediately hit it off.

“We started hanging out together. We went out for drinks, dinner,” Julia told “Good Morning America.” “I thought she was cool. We hit it off right away,” added Cassandra

The two also shared a strong physical resemblance and matching tattoos of the flag of the Dominican Republic. They had a bond that was so unique, even their coworkers thought there must be something more happening.

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“I looked at both of them and I was like, ‘You two look alike, like are you guys, sisters?'” their former coworker Courtney Ritchotte told WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut.

Both of the women were adopted from the Dominican Republic so they checked their adoption papers to see if they may be related. After first looking at their papers, they learned they had different parents. But suspicions grew when Julia discovered there was an error on her adoption papers.

Even when Cassandra moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2015, she and Julia stayed in touch.

In 2018, Cassandra traveled to the Dominican Republic where she met her biological father who said that he and her mother gave her and a sister up for adoption so they could care for an older brother who was sick. The couple would go on to have seven more children.

Cassandra called Julia and they took a DNA test to see if it confirmed their suspicions.

On January 28, 2021, the results came back and they discovered they were, in fact, sisters. “It’s exciting. We’ve got one more sister,” Cassandra told ABC News. “Especially since Julia and I were already friends.”

“Still processing the magnitude of the situation,” Julia said. “This is the type of thing you see on TV. Finding my biological family just wasn’t a thing for me. I grew up with a great family, so I just kind of left it to what it was.”

“We started twinning, we wore the same clothes, we actually bought shirts one day that said ‘I’m the big sister/I’m the little sister,'” Julia explained in a TikTok video. “I’m her family, I’m her sister, same mom, same dad.”

The two are also overjoyed to learn they share seven biological siblings. Cassandra shared a video of the whole family on TikTok.

The story is amazing because the two just seemed to know they were related once they met each other. Was it because they had a physical resemblance? Was it their shared history of being adopted? Or was there a deeper understanding — like a sixth sense they shared — that only sisters would understand?

The story is also another example of what can happen when you follow your gut instincts. Sometimes they’re the best path to the truth.

Editor’s Note: This article contains imagery that some readers may find offensive.

News about Dr. Seuss today has people discussing history, racism, children’s literature, “cancel culture,” and what to do with problematic and harmful work from a beloved author.

After years of growing awareness of racist imagery in some of Dr. Seuss’s early work, the estate of the children’s author has announced that six of his titles will no longer be published or licensed.

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises wrote, adding “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”

Naturally, people have feelings about this.

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Dr. Seuss books are a beloved part of millions of Americans’ childhoods. Many of us learned to read with Dr. Seuss books and have fond memories of the rhyme and rhythms inherent in his silly stories. But that doesn’t mean that all of his works were benign.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, who wrote his kids’ books under the pseudonym “Dr. Seuss,” got his start as a political cartoonist. While his anti-Nazi cartoons are largely still palatable, his racist depictions of Japanese Americans during the war are not. Racial stereotypes such as Geisel depicted led to 120,000 Japanese Americans being cruelly placed in internment camps in the U.S. between 1942 and 1945. Geisel also drew horrible caricatures of people from Africa and the Middle East.

Geisel’s views evolved, and he expressed regret over some of his depictions. His book “Horton Hears a Who” was meant to be an indirect apology to the Japanese, and “The Sneetches” can be read as a moral story showing the pitfalls of prejudice. Debate over whether or not his racist work can be reconciled with his later anti-prejudice work has raged for years. Some try to defend his early work, saying he was a product of his time—but that ignores the fact that anti-racist people have existed alongside racists for all of history. Some say that his change of heart is enough to forgive his past, but others point out that he never formally apologized for his racist works nor did he do anything to change his portrayal of people of color.

Which brings us to the Dr. Seuss Enterprises announcement that they will stop publishing six of his children’s books.

Whether or not Geisel redeemed himself in his personal views later in life, his hurtful portrayals of people of color are still out there. In fact, a study on the racial implications in 50 of his children’s books titled “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books” found the following:

“In the fifty Dr. Seuss children’s books, 2,240 human characters are identified. Of the 2,240 characters, there are forty-five characters of color representing two percent of the total number of human characters. The eight books featuring characters of color include: The Cat’s Quizzer: Are YOU Smarter Than the Cat in the Hat?; Scrambled Eggs Super!; Oh, the Places You’ll Go!; On Beyond Zebra; Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo; If I Ran the Zoo; And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street; and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

“Of the forty-five characters of color, forty-three are identified as having characteristics aligning with the definition of Orientalism. Within the Orientalist definition, fourteen people are identified by stereotypical East Asian characteristics and twenty-nine characters are wearing turbans. Characters aligned with Orientalism are sometimes attributed an ethno-racial identity, but are generally situated within a colorblind lens, often from an unspecified nationality, race, or ethnicity. Only two of the forty-five characters are identified in the text as “African” and both align with the theme of anti-Blackness.

“White supremacy is seen through the centering of Whiteness and White characters, who comprise 98% (2,195 characters) of all characters. Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles. This also remains true in their relation to White characters. Most startling is the complete invisibility and absence of women and girls of color across Seuss’ entire children’s book collection.”

The following tweet contains two examples of racist imagery found in “If I Ran the Zoo”:

While there has been a predictable uproar about “canceling” or “banning” Dr. Seuss, this move to remove the problematic books came from the Dr. Seuss estate itself, not some amorphous “cancel culture” mob. It’s only six books out of 50 that will no longer be published so they don’t keep putting out hurtful images. Some parents and educators have decided there are other authors they prefer to use to help kids learn to read due to Geisel’s history—but that’s not the same as banning his books. Some libraries and school districts have stopped highlighting Dr. Seuss books, but they are still available on the shelves.

President Biden not mentioning Dr. Seuss during his Read Across America Day proclamation today is also not really “canceling.” The day has been around since 1998, and though it coincides with Geisel’s birthday, neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush mentioned Dr. Seuss in their proclamations, either. Presidents Obama and Trump did—both of them singing Dr. Seuss’s praises—but the day is not synonymous with Dr. Seuss.

Do we really want to call thoughtful criticism, personal discernment in book choices, and making changes when harmful things come to light “cancel culture”? Meh. What we’re seeing here is learning. It’s growth. It’s reckoning with the complexities of reality and wrestling with demons of the past. Uprooting racism is messy, but pretending it doesn’t exist, even in the works of beloved icons, will get us nowhere.

We’ll likely be debating Dr. Seuss’s legacy for many years to come, but it’s good to see his estate taking action to stop continuing to put out imagery that perpetuates stereotypes.

The Flash (CW, 8:00pm) — Season 7 begins with Barry attempting to save his speed through an experiment that does not go well. As a result, a dangerous plan launches on behalf of Nash Wells, who’s trying to save The Flash, all while Iris has a startling realization.

Young Rock (NBC, 8:00pm) — This week, Rocky’s early 1980s time in Hawaii leads to his career skyrocketing, but a rival promoter is causing difficulties. Dwayne Johnson’s gotten very real in interviews while discussing his difficult adolescence and young adulthood, but this show will take a comedic stance while focusing on how he hustled his way into wrestling superstardom (before his eventual presidential ambitions).

Kenan (NBC, 8:30pm) — The longest-tenured cast member on SNL (and he’s not leaving) now breaks into the family comedy business with co-star Don Johnson in tow. This week, Kenan’s wrestling with his work schedule after he adds another hour to his show, all while balancing home life.

Superman and Lois (CW, 9:00pm) — The world’s most famous superhero (Superman/Clark Kent) and the most famous journalist (Lois Lane) are leading a more ordinary existence than expected as working parents. This week, they’re attempting to make decisions about childrearing, and tensions are rising elsewhere.

Black-Ish (ABC, 9:00pm) — Dre finds himself feeling out-of-touch with his clients, all while he’s attempting to show Diane the ropes with the hip-hop business.

Mixed-Ish (ABC, 9:30pm) — Alicia and Denise are feeling the Black women stereotypes at their work palce while Harrison’s attempts to help the matter screws things up even more.

Prodigal Son (FOX, 9:00pm) — Martin gets a new job, and Malcolm is moving onto his next case, which involves the murder of a famous plastic surgeon.

New Amsterdam (NBC, 9:00pm) — Season 3 begins with a plane crash in the East River while the pandemic is ongoing, and the flight crew must be interrogated with all those fun precautions that we’re all used to in real life.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Charles Barkley, Mads Mikkelsen, Davido

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jon Batiste

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Nick Jonas, Rita Ora

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Stacey Abrams, JP Saxe, Maren Morris

Late Night With Seth Meyers –Regina King, Kathryn Hahn, and Chang-rae Lee

There were over 8,000 new cases of coronavirus in Texas on Monday. In related news, Greg Abbott, the governor of the second most populated state in the country with the sixth worst vaccine distribution percentage, announced today that he is ending the statewide mask mandate and will allow all businesses to open at full capacity beginning next Wednesday. “Too many Texans have been sidelined from employment opportunities,” he said. “Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills. This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent.”

The Associated Press reports that Abbott lifting the mask mandate comes after “governors across the U.S. have been easing coronavirus restrictions, despite warnings from health experts that the pandemic is far from over,” including over 1,400 deaths yesterday. “Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February.” But as Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently said on Meet the Press, “The cases are more than two-and-a-half-fold times what we saw over the summer. It’s encouraging to see these trends coming down, but they’re coming down from an extraordinarily high place.”

Abbott was recently criticized for falsely blaming the winter storm that left millions of Texans without electricity and running water on frozen turbines instead of the real issue: “Texas [putting] an emphasis on cheap prices over reliable service.”

Happy Texas Independence Day, everyone.

(Via the AP)

I co-founded Rawkus Records in the mid-90s, at the tail end of what is referred to as the “Golden Age of Hip-Hop.” Emcees were huge figures who were almost superhero-like. In fact, their names often sounded like superheroes (or supervillains) — think Method Man, Red Man, Big Punisher… Having a larger-than-life persona with a name that matched was a prerequisite for a record deal or to make a buzz in the industry.

It was in this climate that I met Talib Kweli, a Brooklyn rapper who used his given name and made music that echoed the Brooklyn he grew up in — full of literary references, big spiritual ideas, and Black revolutionary politics. Our relationship began with the single “Fortified Live” and grew to include albums from Black Star, Reflection Eternal, and Kweli as a solo artist. Every album a classic.

During that stretch, we had a lot of fun, but we also had serious arguments and disagreements — as an artist and label head often do. Through it all, we stayed friends — something far rarer. I am forever tied to the legacy of Rawkus and I thank my friend Talib Kweli for allowing me to see its meaning both through his People’s Party podcast, which we collaborate on, and now through his book Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story.

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Kweli, I want to tell you, dude, that your book is incredible. And I’ve been recommending it and sending it to friends and hip-hop fans. But beyond that, it reminds me of books that I love that really are guidebooks for how to live a curious and creative life. And in many ways, it’s a book about putting yourself in life situations that really open yourself up to your full potential. How much of that was your goal?

I did not realize that you could also put my book in the self-help section.

I mean I think you can put any — I recommend great books about musicians to anyone who’s trying to improve their lives because I think it’s about reaching your creative potential.

Yeah, I agree. I think that was a byproduct — an unintentional-but-great byproduct — of writing this book. That wasn’t my intention. I mean certainly, it’s my intention to inspire people to live their dreams and be their best selves. That’s every creative, optimistic person’s intention. But my intention really was more selfish than that. I wanted to tell my story. And I don’t know, maybe “selfish” is not the right word, because if it was just about telling my story, there wouldn’t be any other stuff except for “so this happened” then “that happened” and “next this happened.” It was very intentional for me to add social commentary, add context.

The most intentional thing I did was really get the backstories behind Park Slope, behind my parents and my grandparents, behind Dilla, Madlib, people like that. I was very intentional about making sure that my story was the story of everyone who helped me live this life.

I think when it comes to rap stories, we all know the story of the street-hustler-turned-rap-star — the Jay-Zs, the Biggies, 50 — but the story that you just described a moment ago, it’s your unique story, but I feel like you’re also making a case, just like Kanye had a new story to tell, that there’s room in hip-hop for multiple types of stories.

I think you nailed it. And that’s why I called it Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story. Because it’s definitely a story about hip-hop, it’s a story about rap, but it starts off talking about how nerdy I am, and that’s very much on purpose. It’s saying, “Look, hip-hop is so beautiful, rap is so beautiful and diverse and big that it has room for all of these stories.” And often there are so many hip-hop fans that are either voyeuristic or just academically understand a 50 cent or a Lil Durk. Either you’re voyeuristic and you’re fetishizing it or you understand that it’s pain and circumstance and poverty that creates artists that make that type of music. But either way, there are many, many rap fans who are black. Regardless of race, but particularly when you talk about how people fetishize the trauma of the hood, they’re talking about black kids, they’re not really talking about Eight Mile when they say that. And so when you’re talking about that, there’s a lot of black kids who are poor and live in the ‘hood but don’t have that experience.

There’s a lot of black kids who are not poor, don’t live in the hood, but still love hip-hop. And I’m definitely someone, I come from educators. I don’t come from rich people. One of the worst stereotypes out there is something that is often lobbed at me and my family is that somehow if your people are educated that you’re automatically rich. And so that’s something that I wanted to really … I didn’t address that directly, but I think it’s implied in the book that “Look, I come from educators. I come from people who are not thugs or tough guys or gangsters, but this is still a very black experience and this is still a very working-class experience of people who didn’t have nothing.”

You said it’s Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story, and I think the “rap story” part is really clear. But let’s talk about vibrating for a moment. The book is also a bit of an instructional guide and a definition of the vibe, the power of the vibe. So why is it important for a regular person — not a rap star, not a musician — for someone to understand the power of the vibe?

You said my story’s unique, right? Well, my unique rap story is the idea of raising up… it’s centered around raising consciousness. And without even realizing it, as I perused through the book myself, I say more often than I intended to how much hip-hop for me reminded me of the black liberation art movement, and how much I was connected to consciousness, and how it was such a focus. I didn’t realize until reading back in the book how much that was my focus. And then reading some of the reviews. Reading some of the reviews, people picked up on that. That’s what made me read back through the book, people picked up on the fact of “Okay, this has really been a singular focus.”

That’s really what I thought hip-hop was about. When I was at junior high school, at my most impressionable, the best rappers were KRS-One, Brother J, Rakim, and Chuck D. And so I was like, “Well, to be the best this is what you have to do. You have to raise the consciousness.” And that’s what “Vibrate Higher” is all about, raising the consciousness. As far as what we would call a regular person, because I don’t think anybody’s regular … Well, actually there have to be some regular people, but that’s not who we’re dealing with out here. We’re dealing with exceptional people. The thing that we all have to do is curate our own playlist and be conscious consumers. We can’t demand that artists be conscious when we are not living up to those same standards. I need to be as conscious as you are and you need to be as conscious as I am if we’re having this conversation about consciousness.

It’s rewarding — you feel it as a human being — when you touch some level of vibration. And you sense subconsciously when you’ve done something to raise it, I think.

Yeah, I mean you’re right in that there’s a reward to it. There are endorphins. Helping people out, and raising the consciousness, and adding to knowledge, and gaining knowledge, and all that stuff feels good. And I think whatever spirituality you believe in, whatever science you believe in, it makes sense that it would feel good. It makes sense that compassion would feel good. I am of the belief that the human being’s number one job in the world is to gain and spread knowledge, and we should spend our entire lives trying to do that. And that’s really why we’re here … because that’s how we elevate the whole consciousness of a people. And we come from this earth, so people are connected to the earth.

We raise the consciousness of people, we save the earth.

I’m going to skip to something that you just reminded me of that I think a sub-theme in the book is, and I’ve seen this firsthand: you have a close relationship with MCs who have a traditional religious practice. And I got a sense as a reader, it was interesting for me to reflect on your relationships and read about them, I sensed that there’s a part of you that might even be envious of how having a religious practice can help elevate that vibe and elevate that creativity. Is that something that you think about?

That question strikes at the heart of my spiritual journey of music. “Envious,” I think, would be the wrong word, but I definitely appreciate how having a spiritual discipline gives one focus, particularly Islam. That’s why I have so many Muslim friends, I think. Also, my parents giving me a Muslim name, so I tracked Muslims. But I’ve never been a Muslim. I was raised Christian and I gave that up, so I don’t consider myself ascribed to any particular religion. But a lot of the practices of Islam — the mechanics of it — are a great container for receiving information, I think. And I appreciate that. I really appreciate that discipline. I really appreciate the discipline, being in a group with Yasiin Bey, and seeing how attempting to be a good Muslim has made him a better person, to me has been awe-inspiring.

I really appreciate people that take that journey. I think everything isn’t for everybody, and I think that I can achieve a lot without ascribing to a certain religion. People — because I’m able to see what’s the good in certain practices — some people claim me sometimes. They’ll be like, “You Muslim. You Christian.” I don’t have a problem with that. It’s like the way I see the world online, I recognize the bad parts. I’m not taking on the dogma or any of the mythologies of the stories, all the parables, I’m not talking about any of that. I’m just talking about the compassion. That stuff, if any of that stuff aligns with your principles, then so be it.

I found the parts in the book when you talked about religious MCs to be really interesting. And it was interesting that your musical diet was from a lot of MCs who embraced a traditional religious practice and yet you did not. And then you also partnered with one.

Yasiin [Bey, formerly Mos Def] gave me a book. I can tell you… Oh, Jesus, I forgot the name of this book, but I’ve referenced it in my lyrics. What’s the name of the book? Anyway, there’s a lot about the way Muslim scholars and Islamic scholars break down certain things, I think it’s very beautiful and masterful. And I think the way that the people who I think really, really try to live with the principles, not the fringe, because the fringe of anything is always an issue. Extremists of any religion, it’s always… But the people in particularly amongst my Muslim friends, the ones who try to live according to however they swore to live, I’ve seen them do some fantastic and beautiful things.

I’m going to go from my really deep, thoughtful question about the book, to my less deep question about the book. So, I’ve heard Method Man talk about taking shrooms in the nineties, and you had a pretty lengthy shroom scene in your book. So, what we all want to know is: were shrooms a much bigger part of nineties hip-hop for artists than we think?

My guess would be that shrooms were a privilege. It was like how coke was before crack. I would guess that that’s true because my first shroom experiences were at boarding school. I went to boarding school with rich white kids. And then while I was on tour with rappers.

Were other rappers taking shrooms?

I don’t want to blow nobody up, but I got it from other… No. It wasn’t “most” people, it wasn’t most of the rappers I was around, just a select few. I think shrooms have got more popular over the years. I think shrooms, at this point, most people I know who smoke weed also at least microdose.

Yeah. In general, hip-hop has become more psychedelic over the years.

I agree.

But in the nineties, I feel like that level of psychedelia just wasn’t really present.

I feel like you had to be touring with rappers. Or you had to be either touring with rappers or around white kids, to be honest with you. I don’t recall anybody in Brooklyn at that point really being onto shrooms. Now everybody’s on shrooms.

That actually leads me to my next question. You mention touring with rappers and being around white kids — Your book reminds me a lot of the Beastie Boys book, which you actually did a segment of the audiobook for.

Yeah. I toured with the Beastie Boys and did the audiobook for the Beastie Boys, it all connects.

And I think the underlying part of the Beastie Boys book, to me, was they had this amazing ability to always put themselves in the right situation. It’s like they truly willed themselves by just always wanting to be out and finding “the cool thing.” I noticed in Vibrate Higher that you would refer often to amazing situations as divine inspiration. But how much do you actually attribute that to divine inspiration versus luck, or actually just the result of all the hard work that you put into putting yourself into the right situation?

Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Adelaide Miller, who owned the bookstore, Nkiru Books… She was a member of a church called the Unitarian Church, and above the door of the Nkiru, she had a sticker. It was like a little poster. I guess it would be a meme nowadays, but it was a little sticker and it said, I’m paraphrasing here but it said, “The only hands God has to work with are these.” And then it was a picture of some hands, some human hands. That always stuck with me, because it was like, “If you truly… I guess that he said the Bible is… I don’t know if this is from the Bible — “faith is nothing without works.” If you’re sitting there on your knees, praying like, “God, please help me, please help me,” that’s not how divine inspiration works. It works when you get up and get out and get involved and do the work. And then when you do that work, the universe… When you put that work out there, the universe returns the love and the favors.

And I want to be clear because I don’t want people to think I’m preaching like some old slave time religion, like, “Oh, you’re supposed to work all through today and then you get your just desserts in heaven.” No. We’re supposed to get our just desserts right now. You’ve still got to fight for every dollar you earn, and you’ve still got to fight for your respect and all that. But the way in which I make things happen is it all connects with everything. It all connects with me being influenced by the Five-Percent Nation, as well. The way that I make things happen is by making them happen. And it’s because God is the son of man. I mean, Christians say Jesus is the son of man and of God. That’s because they’re saying God is man, and man is God. It’s like the song from the twins, gospel singers, where they’re like, “I see the God in you.”

That’s what I tell people all the time. I see the God in you. It all comes from you. We all have the potential, the power, to do it. The first place you got to look for God is to look inside yourself. It’s all the same thing.

Making your own destiny. That’s the Beastie-Kweli connection, in my mind.

They were outside of the culture in ways that I could never imagine being. Back then, it was a lot more “down by law” culture. If you just were participating in hip-hop, hip-hop was always very welcoming. Hip-hop was always very welcoming to people of all races, creeds, and colors, and wherever you’re from. Just so long as you kept it real, and you were down, you were just pure about your interests.

And the Beastie Boys were definitely that. They were definitely respected and embraced by the community, but they definitely came from outside of the community. And me, coming from where I was coming from at the time, at the time hip-hop wasn’t as big as it is now. And it was largely an inner-city thing of people who were living in poorer neighborhoods. My proximity to hip-hop was, to me, in some ways, probably similar to the Beastie Boys’ proximity to hip-hop. I was an outsider, to a degree. And so the way in which I approached it was… it wasn’t about being a voyeur and it wasn’t about being a tourist. And it wasn’t about no Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness shit.

But it was definitely like “Yo, for me to participate in this culture and be authentic with it. Well, goddamn, I got to do all of it. I got to see everything. I got to read the back of every album cover. I got to go to every party off of every flyer in all of hip-hop.” I was the kid on the train that kids would get on the train and look at me like, “Yo, yo, you like hip-hop?” I’m like, “Yeah.” And then they would give me a mixtape or give me a flyer for something and I would listen or go to the show.

You talk a lot about privilege. One of the things in the book that I really love was the privilege of having great friends. And JuJu, Rubix and [John] Forté. And I had the privilege of knowing them. I had the privilege of knowing them. I mean, what they brought to your life is so incredible.

It really is. And it can’t be quantified. And I know they’re great friends because I wrote about them in that way. But just hearing you say it in that way, after having read the book and it’s all written down, it makes me even more like, “Wow, you’re right. I have some fucking great fucking friends.”

One of the moments that was special in both of our lives that you referred to as it seemed like divine inspiration was when Mos [Yasiin Bey] said, “Hey, I have a name for this group.” It was funny recalling that moment, because I remember it so well. And I suppose we could attribute a lot of things to that moment, but you both put so much work into developing your careers. I had put work into trying to build something, but I suppose it could have been divine.

Yeah, I think so. And if the stars align we’re in the right place at the right time, I think all that is divine. I think… I mean, is there a science that we can break down that could tell us why this happened?

I don’t know.

And I love science.

I mean, I suppose it’s all random in the scheme of the universe, but yeah.

It just sounds divine to me. It sounds divinely inspired.

I agree. So, speaking of Black Star, I think another theme that I really enjoyed in his book and that I paid a lot of attention to, was your view of collaboration, but not just collaboration, the art of compromise. I really enjoyed the parts where you talked about building an album with Hi-Tek and how you had different approaches, how Yasiin had different approaches to doing business. I even enjoyed the parts where you talked about navigating your life with execs and managers. I would say from a reader’s point of view, abstracting myself for a moment, that it seemed like you had a really positive experience when it came to collaboration and compromise. Do you feel that way?

I do. For me personally, I wouldn’t be who I am without that. I didn’t have the confidence or the sort of… maybe it’s just the confidence to even do things on my own, by myself. I was working with Hi-Tek and working with Yasiin and working… learning from and working… learning from them, working with them. It’s just to me, what makes me dope is the stew. The stew in which I participated in when I went to Washington Square Park. When I went to the Lyricist Lounge, rhyming alongside… the words were for Punchline and AI Skills and Jean Grae and Supernatural and John Forte and all that, without that, this doesn’t happen. When you look at the jazz cats, they were already releasing multiple albums a year — all just collaborating. And that was sort of the spirit in which we did Black Star.

But I will say as a reader Kweli, I would say as a reader of the book, it didn’t seem that it was obvious to you at first. It seemed that you had to learn to collaborate with Hi-Tek. You had to learn —

I didn’t have to learn that it was necessary to collaborate, I had to learn how to do it. I knew that it made sense to be in a group with Hi-Tek. I knew that that was the right thing to do. I knew it was the right thing to be in a group with Yasiin Bey. But in terms of how I created art, I had to learn and how I communicated as just as an adult human person, that’s what it’s more about. I think that goes for anything. Just working in a cubicle next to somebody you don’t agree with all the time. But I do want to stress, even on my solo albums, I enjoy making sure that people get credited properly. I enjoy saying this was… writing and talking about the people I collaborate with. I really… even when it’s just my name on the cover it’s still a huge collaboration.

I’ve always sensed that from you, a hundred percent. Let me ask you this question. One of the things that when people ask me for advice on how to be the next Talib Kweli or the next Yasiin Bey or the next Pharoahe Monch or whatever, I always say that really it’s about the right blend of audacity and execution. I really liked your Kanye chapter because I think you did a really good job of illustrating that concept, that he had incredible audacity, and yet he had all the execution in the world to back that up. For an artist to be successful, if you had to just pick one, either audacity or execution, what do you think is more important?

I think execution.

Didn’t think you were going to say that.

Really?

Yeah. I kind of thought based on how you were so impressed by Kanye’s audacity…

Well, I know a lot of audacious ass mother fuckers but they have terrible execution.

Right. Me too.

I find myself saying that a lot. The audacity.

Where do you place yourself when it comes to the balance of audacity and execution?

I think I place myself squarely in between Madlib and Jay-Z.

I love that answer. That’s a great answer. One of the things I got from the book too, was this… you mentioned the word blue-collar when we first started talking. And I think that really comes through — this sense that there’s a certain level of pride in being a blue-collar musician touring on the grind. It comes with things, it comes with some negatives and some things that were hard for you and maybe some life regrets, but a lot of pride in being a working-class MC. What do you want readers of your book to take away from the concept of being a working-class MC or blue-collar MC?

I want people to understand that me using my real name is deliberate and me… the way in which I carry myself, the way in which I dressed, the way in which… even the fact that, for better or for worse, the way I engage on social media. The fact that I’m one of the only people who is, I’m going to talk to you regardless. If you say something nice to me, I’m going to be nice. If you say something not nice to me, I’m going to not be nice. And whether or not people agree with that or not, it definitely comes from a real, in my mind, working class ethic.

That I am not separate from the people. I’m right here with you.

With the people.

And if we need to be on the front line, then I’m going to be on the front line. And it’s also just a shout-out to all the other MCs I see on the road, to Elder Sensei, to Jeru the Damaja, to Big Krit, to David Banner, you know what I’m saying? To people who are looked at as icons or people who have contributed greatly to the craft. And I’m out here on the road and I see these people working. And I know what it is, but it’s like, I know what life they’re living. And I know that because we have all at one point in our lives, been on television or been in a movie or been on something, that people think that once you walk through that door, that forever you have no bills. That you always going to have money. Just because you have to achieved a degree of celebrity. And it’s definitely not that. Just because you’ve seen me on TV a couple of times, just because Kanye or Jay Z said my name, does not mean all my bills are paid. And especially for someone who’s doing conscious music. I made a choice to do music that has been traditionally, not profitable.

I made this choice because making money was never “the thing.” I don’t make music to make money. But I do perform music to make a living. And as I get older and become a more man, I’ve learned how to diversify a bit. And to the point where I don’t depend on selling rap records to make money. If I had to depend on that, my kids would starve. But rap, hip-hop has been good to me, it’s been very good to me and the fans have been good to me. And so many people have related to what I said, supporting my vision, that I’m very blessed to live a life that’s a lot more comfortable than most people.

Just a moment ago, you were talking about different MCs that you want to show respect to. And I think the book, in so many ways, was a love letter to MCs. And a thank you to MCs. And when I think to the origins of People’s Party and the reason I knew it would be an instant success, is because of the passion that you have and the respect that you have for MCs.

It reminds me of how Seinfeld feels about comedians.

Wow, that’s heavy praise. I love and respect how Seinfeld feels about comedians.

Do you see that comparison?

I do. I think that’s very accurate and… Yeah, I think that’s very accurate. When I first did a song with The Roots, I was on “Double Trouble” and I was taken off. And a couple years later, I was asked to be on the same Roots album twice [“Phrenology,” 2002]. When I first developed a relationship with Black Thought, I already kind of knew Questlove a little bit. But I didn’t know Black Thought like that. And it was just me and him in a studio. And he told me, he was like, “Yeah, I heard that verse. I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know anything about Black Star. I was just like, “Yo, I don’t think that verse works for this song.” But then he was like, “Then I paid attention to you.” And he said, “All these other MCs have all this other stuff going on. Everyone wants to have an endorsement deal or movie or whatever it is and you were just focused on MCing.” And he said, “That’s why I want to do music with you. Because I only MC for other MCs.”

I’ll never forget him saying that. It struck me.

So besides the advice of, “Read my book” — but I really would advise people to read this — what are some words of wisdom that you have for aspiring creators, artists and entrepreneurs?

Write it down.

Their life story?

Write it down, tell your story. If you don’t want to write a book, do a podcast about your life. If you don’t want to do that, make a graphic novel or comic book. Do something, write it down.

And focus more on execution than audacity.

I’m not going to give that advice. You’re asking me if I had to choose. I don’t want to, I don’t think anyone has to choose.

Okay. Fair enough. So here’s my final question, so that we don’t have the longest print interview in history. So I want to say that there are accomplishments that are not even in your book. There are accomplishments that I know about. There are accomplishments that you’ve had recently. The accomplishments in your book are enough to be beyond impressive. And really adding it all up is very crazy. And you should be very proud of yourself. I’m very proud to be your friend.

Thank you, I’m proud to be your friend as well.

Thank you, man. With all of that, is there anything else that you want to do? And do any of those creative goals involve another Black Star album?

There’s plenty I want to do. I mean, if you notice, the last chapter of the book was called the beginning. That’s because I’m just getting started and there’s definitely a Black Star album, definitely produced by Madlib. It’s definitely closer to seeing the light of day than it’s ever been before. That’s where we’re at.

So you’re not just flying around on private jets with Madlib, you’re actually finishing this record?

I mean, we have to get around to get the album done right.

Does Madlib travel any other way besides private jet and Rolls Royce?

I’m not going to subject Madlib to airports during a lockdown, Jarret. Madlib is a national Goddamn treasure.

Melbourne-based artist Maple Glider, moniker of Tori Zietsch, is ready to share her music with the world. With a new label contract with Partisan Records under her belt, Maple Glider releases the single “Good Thing” this week, her first new track of the year.

“Good Thing” is a tender ballad which showcases Zietsch’s knack for reflective songwriting. Leaning on her powerful vocals, reminiscent of Weyes Blood’s towering lyrical delivery, Maple Glider underscores her lyrics with nostalgia-inducing instrumentation. The single’s accompanying video, directed by Bridgette Winten, leans on the wistful nature of the single. It’s shot on film and offers a snapshot into various intimate moments of Maple Glider’s life, from taking a stroll in the park to soaking up the the golden hour light her sun-filled living room.

Speaking about the single in a statement, Zietsch said, “I wrote this song out of a place of defeat. I was really heartbroken at this point, and very confused. I like the feeling of my independence and I think I was afraid of putting energy into the wrong people. Sometimes we make decisions out of fear and sometimes it’s because we know that it is the best decision to make. Those lines can get very blurry.”

Watch Maple Glider’s “Good Thing” video above.

When the NBA announced its plans for a condensed, one-day All-Star that would feature the Skills Competition and Three-Point Shootout on Sunday before the All-Star Game and the Dunk Contest at halftime, there was a wonder of whether that would entice more All-Stars to participate or if the empty arena festivities would push them away.

The answer seems to be the latter, at least as it relates to the Dunk Contest, where Obi Toppin, Cassius Stanley, and Anfernee Simons are the three reported participants as of now. There was hope that Zion Williamson, a first-time All-Star, would bring some added juice to the competition by entering his name in the ring after other top stars turned it down, but after being coy about his plans last week, the sophomore sensation has indeed turned down the invitation, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

The NBA may very well just go forward with the three participants, rather than four as is customary, given the strange circumstances of this year’s competition — and that it might help speed things up for a halftime show. Williamson, obviously, would have given the competition star power it desperately craved this year, but while there are some who worry this may be an indicator that Zion will never participate in the Dunk Contest, I wouldn’t be so sure, given he had no reason to participate in the McDonald’s All-American Dunk Contest as a senior star but did so and won with ease.

Billie Eilish‘s momentous rise to fame was chronicled through her recently released intimate documentary The World’s A Little Blurry, where the pop star reveals a lot of personal details about her life. It includes some insight into her love life, about which the singer is notoriously tight-lipped.

The reason why Eilish rarely discusses her relationships became clear following the release of the film. It features a few cameos from her ex-boyfriend, the rapper Brandon Quention Adams (who makes music under his moniker Q), and also discussed their break-up. Apparently, Eilish’s fans weren’t too happy with how things ended because Adams claimed fans “bashed” him in a recent post on social media explaining his side of the story:

“People fail to realize I’ve been dealing with my brothers death. Especially round that time when it was fresh. Sometime you have to be alone to cope. Sometimes people don’t disagree and don’t want the same things as one another. It’s on you to understand there’s several point of views to a situation. Anyone who knows me knows where my heart is. […] But I refuse to be bashed.”

Eilish ended up needing to step in to get her fans off his back. “remember to be nice to people no matter what,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “i love you guys thank you for protecting me but be nice.”

Eilish had addressed the difficult breakup throughout the documentary. “I just wasn’t happy,” she said at one point. “I didn’t want the same things he wanted and I don’t think that’s fair for him. I don’t think you should be in a relationship super excited about things that the other person couldn’t care less about.” Elsewhere in the film Eilish labeled Adams as “self-destructive” after he broke his hand by punching a wall.

Read Adams’ full statement about his breakup with Eilish above.

The Atlanta Hawks became the second team to part ways with its head coach this season on Monday, opting to fire Lloyd Pierce amid a 14-20 start to the year. Injuries had played a major role in that record, but Atlanta came into this year with postseason aspirations, and unfortunately for Pierce, those aspirations came with expectations that the squad just was not meeting.

Beyond that, there had been rumblings about friction between star guard Trae Young and Pierce for some time, and a coach bumping heads with their star player has been a pretty common way for that coach to lose their job. Thanks to a report on the circumstances that led to Pierce’s dismissal by Chris Kirschner, Sam Amick, and David Aldridge of The Athletic, we learned of one of the areas of disagreement between the two, which popped up in a rather unusual place.

Pierce, during a call with the NBA’s Competition Committee earlier this season, openly griped about Young’s ability to grift, saying that he greatly disliked how he was able to get officials to call fouls.

During a league office Competition Committee call on Dec. 30, Pierce was among a couple of members who spoke out about the way certain players are able to draw fouls and, at times, bait officials into making foul calls. Multiple sources said he spoke about how he “hates” the shots Young takes at times and the fouls he’s able to draw on them. It was perceived as an interesting comment for several people on the call because Pierce’s star player has seemingly taken advantage of drawing fouls and getting to the foul line. But it was made in the broader picture of how players are drawing fouls by manipulating their bodies.

As we’ve said in the past, Young is among the best players in the league at getting the referees to blow the whistle and send him to the free throw line, which isn’t always the most aesthetically pleasing approach — James Harden, for example, got hammered for this during his tenure in Houston, as he was outstanding at getting himself into a rhythm by shooting a billion free throws and seeing the ball go in. But of course, there is a big difference between the seemingly franchise-wide agreement that Harden should do that in Houston and the fact that Young’s now-former coach wasn’t on board with this style, even if it appeared to be part of a much-larger gripe about the prominence of this particular tactic.

Gay sex and relationships therapist Dr. Joe Kort is causing a stir on TikTok where he explains why straight men who have sex with men can still be considered straight. If a man has sex with a man doesn’t it ultimately make him gay or bisexual?

According to Kort, there can be a big chasm between our sexual and romantic orientations.

“Straight men can be attracted to the sex act, but not to the man. Straight men having sex with men doesn’t cancel somebody’s heterosexuality any more than a straight woman having sex with a woman cancels her [heterosexuality],” he says in the video.

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Kort says he isn’t erasing bisexuality, but that it’s an entirely different phenomenon from straight men who have sex with men. Bisexual men are attracted to both men and women romantically, but straight men who have sex with other men, are only into the sex, not the person.

“When straight men have sex with men, it’s not a gay thing. It’s a guy thing,” he explains in a later video.

For the man who has sex with other men and considers himself straight, it’s more about getting off than getting close.

The video has had a lot of negative comments, most saying that men who have sex with men are gay or bisexual, case-closed. “Can I eat steak and still be vegan?” one commenter asks.

Many also accused Kort of being mildly homophobic for giving straight men the option to have gay sex without having to confront the notion they may be gay or bisexual.

Kort’s videos point out the seldom-discussed idea that sexual and romantic attraction are not the same thing. Then, by adding the twist that someone can be into sex with a certain gender without feeling any romantic pull, makes things even more confusing.

The type of men that Kort describes could be aroused by another man sexually, but wouldn’t feel comfortable or have any interest in being emotionally intimate with them. In fact, the emotional intimacy with another man may make them uncomfortable. It’s just sex for sex’s sake and what’s wrong with that?

This same type of man may enjoy fantasizing about gay sex or watching gay pornography while having little interest in actually performing the act in real life.

Kort further explained his thoughts in a subsequent video.

“When I’m talking about straight men who sleep with men, I’m talking about a difference between who you’re attracted to and what fantasies you have in your head. You have a sexual orientation and an erotic orientation,” he says.

“And the things that are embedded in your erotic orientation that turn you on, that bring you to the finish line, can include other genders. You can imagine yourself being another gender,” he continues.

Kort does a great job at explaining the difference between romantic and sexual attraction and that, for some, it spans gender. It may also help some men who are only into guys sexually and are unsure why they have zero romantic interest in someone, feel a little less confused.