Month: May 2022

When you talk “classic rap duos,” Black Star — the one-two punch of Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli — is sure to come up early and often. While both artists have had rich solo careers, together their distinct vocals and duet-style approach to rapping led to one of hip-hop’s most beloved records ever, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. And that Rawkus Records classic created a hell of a lot of demand for more.

Well, it’s been almost a full quarter of a century since Kweli and Bey disrupted the scene, and for a while there it looked like they’d never return as a group. So when the duo finally announced a follow-up, No Fear of Time, it provoked as much hope as it did fear in the hearts of real heads. Did these legends still have it? Had hip-hop changed too much? Would Madlib doing solo duty on the production spiral out into weirdness or could we expect some actual bangers?

Let’s put that last worry to rest immediately — there are bangers all over this album. Tracks like “o.G.” and “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” absolutely slap… in that Madlib fuzzed up kind of way. And the lyrics? They’re both on point and a departure, in the sense that Kweli and Bey are different people now living vastly different lives. With that said, insights and hard bars abound.

So let’s get into some of the coldest lyrical moments on No Fear of Time.

No Fear of Time is out now on Luminary.

o.G

As early as track one hits you, it’s clear that Black Star is back. “o.G.” sounds like it could be some lost MF DOOM beat. Dirty drums paired with a sinister bassline and hypnotic high hats grab at your ears immediately.

Yasin Bey jumps right into the track like a kid doin’ double dutch:

Atmosphere above that, you can’t touch that
Rеal, forever real, thеy can hate it or love that
It’s bigger than hip-hop hypes, and wicked government
Brooklyn award-winning, a not give a fuck in this
You in it for the most sucker-ish, dummiest
No getting love in this, some real riders up in this be-yotch!

Talib slides right in behind him with deft lyrical skill. As a Black Star fan, it’s almost chill-inducing. The mics sound tweaked like they might be in Madlib’s basement just having fun [in truth, they were often in hotel rooms and backstage with Dave Chappelle. — ed].

My songs is knowledge to heroes that need honoring
A promise: we demolishing all confederate monuments
I’m noticing how these Nazis become Congressmen
It’s softer than some Moccasins and way faker than collagen
It doesn’t matter if these scholars have got doctorates
They’re hiding behind fake names like Tommy Robinson
I’m bombing ’em
Plus the sleeve is monogram — if I die and come back I’ll perform as a hologram
Can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl, get a sonogram!

My Favorite Band

Everyone is working at the top of their game on “My Favorite Band.” Madlib chose a sample that sounds like something Adrian Younge would loop late in the night. Laidback group harmonies, cymbals, and Indian sitars put you on a mushroom cloud from ’70s. The sounds are layered perfectly and set the stage for Yasin to do his thing once more:

If you pray don’t worry, if you worry don’t pray
My Umi told it to me just the other day

From the tall castle walls to the mean teeth streets
I hope you get what you want
And that you want what you need.

If you’re looking for some philosophy from your rap, that’s a good one to hold tight.

The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing

Madlib creates a sinister track here, rich with dope drums and a haunting smoked-out bassline. This one feels like a legit post-show cipher session. Both MCs drop bars, but Talib hits the beat with intentional ferocity:

Tryna conquer us with the pestilence, huh?
This is common as black excellence, huh?
They rewarded for mediocrity, huh?
Huh, I ain’t begging for my equality
No, I’m too big to fail
Grab the bull by the horn then wag the dog by the tail
The OGs is in jail, the millennials is for sale
Am I dreaming or do our demons have tentacles and scales, huh?
Automatic, automatic, the cause of static
This a trust exercise like falling backwards
Gotta trust we your guys and we gon’ catch ya.

“This as common as Black excellence” right after a bar that might or might not be about how the pandemic disproportionately affected people of color? What true lover of hip-hop doesn’t eat that with a spoon?

Yonders

On “Yonders,” Madlib brings an intoxicating beat loop with crispy snares and horn stabs. Kweli crushes the track lyrically, connecting the listener to graff writing bombers, Star Wars, and the Fresh Prince in just a few lines. :

At the hardware store, a buck fifty wеnt a long way
Fat cash for the Krylon paint
Wait, you’re feeling froggy then leap like amphibians
Evolutionary, this apeshit you see me in
Revolutionary and flier than Cloud City and
Superman the man wearing capes like Calrissian
Toxic, see how they marketing carcinogens
Got them African dancing like Aunt Vivian

Deep cut references. Plus everyone loves Lando and Aunt Viv.

No fear of time w/ Yummy Bingham

This track is pure old-school boom-bap. It opens with NOI leader Louis Farrakhan speaking Biblical wisdom. The tone reminds you of a classic Poor Righteous Teachers beat even Tony D would envy. Talib reminds us that his name means “truth-seeker” by spitting truth to power.

They say because she black that it’s impossible
To be racist but they assume that racism is logical
We know better, we know metals, no rose petals
Hiding in the shadows like Wesley Snipes in Mo’ Better
They play Oppression Olympics, looking for gold medals
We don’t settle.

Yasiin Bey found the pocket and seemed to be in the zone on this one:

We done survived and thrived in where others have died in
Bed-Stuy, do or die, so, do is what I did
Get it on, get her done, another one, another one
Banging mad lyrics um, you can feel a different run
Where they get their rhythm from? The tipping point, T.O.P!
Black Star reconvened, the boulevard of Anne Greene
That Kings County keep creating kings
Who make amazing and creative things — so give thanks!

Supreme Alchemy

Here we find Talib rocking bars over a laid-back groove. A Sunday brunch kinda breakbeat. Line for line he proves that his crew is still above the bars of so many.

At the crib, we listen to Madlib
Hi-Tek, Dilla beat tapes and that’s it —

Supreme alchemy, refined chemistry, divine energy
We defined by our memories
On them days that I wish they took me instead of Beverly
I remember Rhapsody reminded mе that life’s ahead of me
I drop thеm non sequiturs to bomb executives
You’ll always be the winner if you decide what the metric is.

We’re calling it right now, that last couplet might be the definitive bar of 2022.

Frequency w/ Black Thought

This entire record is dripping with soul from front to back. The boom and the baps are all on point. But this track here stands alone. The tension builds with Black Thought opening over a half-naked bassline with feint high hats. The drums never drop but that mood feeds your desire to listen. BT — a next level “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper” — opens hard:

They’ll try to beat us, they will never defeat us
Attack thought leaders, as black warriors
Descend into darkness like black Orpheus

The stars of the story is back, y’all see us (Word)
We touchin’ everything that move
It’s like you gettin’ bombed on,’ at the show and prove
From an era before the views but came confused
Comes an American gangster slash Langston Hughes

And when I step into a place, it creates the mood
When I give a dissertation, we make the news
All my team do is win ’cause we hate to lose.

Talib comes in with a flawless entry for the alley-oop!

I shine like, silhouettes, when they dancing in the limelight
In hindsight, your songs is nursery rhymes like Three Blind Mice
You a klondike, looking brown but take a bite, you probably fine white
You want the reals to provide you with the highlights
You’ll never be prepared for what we facin’ if you scared of confrontation
So never hear what you sayin’ if you bring fear to the conversation
These abominations’ll bomb a nation and murder entire populations.

Yasiin closes just as hard as the other MC’s, with his words embedded deep into the mood of the track.

Nobody makes it out alive, wow
Nobody ever really dies
Ain’t it crazy how the contrast coincide
Ain’t it strange how I’m amazed, but I’m not surprised?
They say that they don’t understand it but it’s not a lie
And indeed the understanding is not required
‘Cause as long as the soul is born and you feel a vibe
Don’t trouble your mind, it’s quite alright
More will be revealed in time
Thanks for being with us, ciao for now
High-end frequency champion sound.

Check out Black Star’s No Fear of Time only on Luminary.

The Philadelphia 76ers face a must-win situation in Game 3 on Friday night when they host the Miami Heat, who won both games in Florida without too much issue. The Sixers were hoping that Joel Embiid would be able to return for Game 3 after staying home in Philly with an orbital fracture and a concussion, but when the 5 p.m. injury report deadline arrived, Embiid was still listed as OUT.

That isn’t good news, obviously, as it indicates he’s yet to clear concussion protocols, but the Sixers are still holding out feint hope that he can clear protocols on Friday and possibly get back in the lineup.

As to why he’d be listed as out and not doubtful if there’s still a chance he plays, that’s apparently an NBA rule regarding players in concussion protocols — because many had questions considering the Suns just got fined for Devin Booker playing in a game the day after he was listed as out.

It goes without saying that the Sixers need Embiid in the lineup to have a chance in this series, as through two games it’s been clear that they simply don’t have enough for the Heat without him. That said, it’s not impossible to think they could steal a home game with him sidelined, but they’d have to do so from an underdog position. Things could change between now and tipoff on Friday, but the sun certainly seems to be getting low on the Sixers season with Embiid still recovering.

When initial news of Dave Chappelle being attacked (while onstage at the Hollywood Bowl) surfaced, details of the aftermath quickly followed. That includes word that Jamie Foxx was on hand and helped to put an end to the attack with Chappelle later declaring, “Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff’s hat.”

In the aftermath, Chris Rock told a fine joke for the ages, and Chappelle issued a statement to the effect of him not wanting the “incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment” for the Netflix Is A Joke festival. Now, Jamie Foxx has finally spoken, and he’s not exactly speaking in his voice. Not at all, actually. Rather, he’s delivering what he feels would be the way that Chappelle would speak his mind while describing what happened. Here’s what Foxx declared in part:

“Damn man, he ran up onstage. I was incensed! … Jamie Foxx showed up as sheriff. All the other comedians, they stood there, waiting on me to die! So they can take over. I see you, Chris Rock.”

Words don’t do the inflection justice, of course. This righteous performance must be watched with the volume cranked up to eleven:

What a week it’s been, and it ain’t over yet. The Netflix Is A Joke festival dates continue with John Mulaney, Jane Fonda, and Aziz Ansari headlining sets and carrying the comedy torch. You can see the full calendar of dates here.

It’s time to order the printed shirt, bellbottoms, and gold medallion necklace that you’ve been thinking about for months. HBO Max has finally renewed the 70s-set comedy Minx, starring a delicious and hairy Jake Johnson as a skeezy publisher of porn mags with a big heart and a belief in feminism.

The Wrap reported the news of the series pick-up on Thursday, a few (painful I might add) weeks after its finale dropped on HBO Max. While there may not be any more Minx for a while, this announcement is filled with statements about the show from people who make the show, so maybe those can keep you occupied until Jake Johnson‘s chest hair makes its triumphant return in tight bellbottom trousers in season two.

“All of us at Minx have been blown away by the passionate response from audiences across the world, who have mashed-up, TikTok-ed and fanfic-ed us into a renewal. We are so grateful to our partners at HBO Max and Lionsgate for being true champions of the show, and for the opportunity to continue on this journey. Here’s to more chest hair, pussy bow blouses and tasteful nudes in Season 2,” executive producer Ellen Rapoport said in a statement per The Wrap.

“We are thrilled that the world of Minx has resonated in the way that it has. Showrunner and creator Ellen Rapoport, alongside the rest of our gifted creative team, masterfully deliver nuanced humor, with the cast executing her vision seamlessly. We can’t wait for fans to see what medicine Doug and Joyce hide in peanut butter for season two!” added Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max.

There was no confirmation on when to expect season two of Minx, but it will likely (and hopefully) make its return in 2023.

During a recent Q&A segment of “The Daily Show,” host Trevor Noah was asked what the difference was between racism in South Africa, and racism in the U.S. His answer is honest and to the point, if not just a little disturbingly accurate.

At first he answered with that classic brand of charming Trevor Noah humor, jokingly complimenting the audience member for “asking such a deep question in a bubbly manner.”

“I thought you were gonna ask the difference between spring and summer,” he quipped before giving his candid take.

For Noah, it all comes down to directness.

“I think the biggest difference is that I find that South African racism is and was a lot more blatant,” he shared, adding that having racism out in the open was the “greatest gift” the apartheid government bestowed upon the country.

“It was there, it was happening to you. It wasn’t hidden,” he continued. “So you would just [say] ‘we don’t want this.’ People would fight. ‘Stop this apartheid. It’s racism!’ and then the government would be like, ‘yes of course it is racism. That’s what we’re doing to you.’”

Racism in America, on the other hand, is much more insidious.

Noah told the audience, “but then what happened in America is…you hit that period where they started changing things…and they were like, ‘oh we gotta be silent about this.’ And then it wasn’t blatant anymore…I’ve always thought that’s a terrible thing to do to people. Because now people have to be detectives of their own racism.”

He gave an clear example: “so in South Africa, the government would just say ‘Blacks cannot live in these areas.You’re Black, you don’t live here. Now you know, ‘I’m Black, I don’t live here.’ But then in America, you’d be like “can I get a home loan?” and they’d be like “mmm, no.’”

Noah is of course alluding to lending discrimination. According to an investigation from The Markup, loan applicants of color were 40%-80% more likely to be denied than white applicants with similar financial profiles. Many times, these applicants of color get denied despite having less debt and earning higher income.

But why stop there? There’s also redlining, implicit bias in healthcare (made all the more evident by the COVID-19 pandemic.) Even the technology we use on a daily basis is embedded with subtle, yet distinct racism–from facial recognition, to beauty filters that favor lighter skin, to a lack of diverse emojis. Though we are beginning to have more discussions on these disparities, on the whole they remain. And yet, in contrast in South Africa, the bias is often denied.

Which version of racism is worse…the unabashed kind, or the kind that hides just far enough below the surface of awareness that many can deny its existence entirely? For Noah, the answer is obvious:

“I know it’s strange to say, but I think there’s something liberating about fighting an obvious enemy as opposed to one you have to prove exists.”

You can watch the full video here:

It’s hard to fully explain what it feels like to lose a dog. It can be harder than the passing of a close family member. But because a dog is a different species, those who don’t understand will underestimate the pain because it’s “just a dog.”

How wrong they are.

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt did an incredible job at explaining this indescribable feeling in a moving tribute to his beloved dog Otis on “Sports Center.” Van Pelt admits he didn’t understand the pain that others went through after losing a dog until he got Otis after being married later in life.

“I’ve read countless moving tributes through the years about what your bonds meant and what made your dogs unique,” he admitted. ”I always felt badly for you but I had no idea honestly and I wish I didn’t know now.”

Now he feels it’s his turn to explain the pain to those who don’t understand and to comfort those who do. In the segment, Van Pelt did a wonderful job at expressing the purity of a dog’s love.

“Simply by his presence,” Van Pelt said, “he has been a joyous and loving constant every single day of our lives.” He explained that the pain that comes after the loss is the natural “cost of the transaction for being on the receiving end of a mighty love.”

Van Pelt had an understandably hard time explaining the loss to his children, but he did so with honesty.

“The simplest explanation I suppose, for any of this, is the truest,” he said. “That the best part of this life is loving anything and you do it even knowing the hardest part which is that, somewhere in the equation, inevitably there will be loss, and the weight of this one is immense. Because he was the corner puzzle piece so much of what mattered to our family.”

At the end of the segment, he shared the final promise he made to Otis as he took his final breaths. “I stared into the eyes of Otis the dog and into his soul and I promised him again and again, ‘Yours is going to forever live in mine,’” Van Pelt said.

Crushed to share that we had to say goodbye to Otis The Dog. Truly the most special friendship and bond of my entire lifetime. nnHe was an absolute King. nnLove on your good boys and good girls with all your might – every day that you can. There arenu2019t ever enough of them.pic.twitter.com/uzSPjnLEtV

— Scott Van Pelt (@Scott Van Pelt)
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Something was wrong with our daughter.

We’d seen the signs brewing for a while, but couldn’t pinpoint their exact nature. She’d always been an easy-going kid, but sometimes she’d flat-out refuse to do certain things or go certain places, and she would panic if we tried to coax her. She had frequent dizzy spells and stomachaches with no apparent physical cause. If she heard someone we knew was sick, she’d immediately ask with a worried tone, “What kind of sick?”

Those last two things should have been bigger clues, but we didn’t have the clarity of hindsight. And as adolescence approached, she started experiencing more anxiety in general. She would back out of plans with friends more frequently. She spent more and more time in her bedroom. When I took her to orchestra practice—something she enjoyed—she couldn’t make herself get out of the car to go in. We could see her trying to do things, but more and more she was paralyzed by fear she couldn’t name.

It was clear she was struggling with anxiety, and we tried a couple of different therapists. They each helped a little, at least to keep the spiral from getting worse. But we seemed to be something missing.

It began dawning on me how often she talked about feeling nauseous. I took note of how many times she’d ask us if food was okay to eat and how frequently she’d refuse to eat certain things. She obsessively checked every bite of meat to make sure it looked cooked enough, and if her stomach felt the slightest bit off, she wouldn’t eat at all. If a character in a movie or TV show gave any indication that they were about to vomit, she’d hop up and leave the room. If she found out someone had a stomach bug, she’d hole herself up in her bedroom. And so we started piecing it together.

“I’ve noticed that most of your anxiety seems to be centered around you worrying about throwing up,” I said to her one day. “Does that sound accurate?” She flinched when I said, “throwing up,” but nodded “yes.”

As a shot in the dark, I googled “intense fear of throwing up,” and found the clinical term that would change everything: emetophobia.

Emetophobia (also called Specific Phobia of Vomiting, or SPOV) is a pathological fear of throwing up. In scientific literature, it is often referred to as an “understudied” or “underresearched” disorder, but there is a growing consensus that it is surprisingly common. One study found that up to 3% of men and 7% of women are affected by it. No one loves throwing up, of course, but when it becomes an actual phobia it can be incredibly debilitating.

For our daughter and other emetophobes, throwing up is the most terrifying thing that could happen to them. My daughter has said if she were given the choice between throwing up and dying, she’s not sure which she’d choose. Totally irrational, but that’s what makes it a disorder. Sometimes emetophobia is a PTSD response to a traumatic vomiting episode, but often—as in our daughter’s case—there’s no clear cause. But the why is less important than the what and the how to treat it.

People with emetophobia are basically afraid of their own bodies. Many phobias are situational—people don’t generally freak out about heights or spiders or small spaces unless they’re in or around those situations—but a person can’t avoid or escape their own body. There are no breaks, no periods of relief from the fear. And the biggest triggers for emetophobia—food and other people—are also unavoidable, which makes it a particularly challenging disorder.

This literally sums up what itu2019s like having emetophobiapic.twitter.com/W9WMpscpTM

— kayles (@kayles)
1651614254

We all know that anything we eat has the possibility of giving us food poisoning—we know it’s rare, so we take reasonable precautions and don’t worry about it. Emetophobes do worry about it. All the time. They check expiration dates obsessively. They ask for reassurance that food is safe to eat. (I can’t count how many times our daughter has asked us to smell or taste something that is not the least bit old.) Obviously, they can’t not eat, but they often start limiting their diets to things they deem “safe.”

Additionally, in an emetophobe’s brain, pretty much every normal stomach sensation—hunger, digestion, gas—gets interpreted as nausea. And if they think they’re nauseous, they won’t eat. Such disordered eating can easily be misdiagnosed as Anorexia Nervosa, though it’s a totally different illness.

People are another big trigger. Any person we interact with could have a stomach bug and not know it yet, which they could pass along to us. Again, we all know this, but we understand the chance is small, so we don’t worry about it. Emetophobes do worry about it, incessantly, to the point of avoiding people and places where people will be, which is basically everywhere except their own personal living space. Hence the spiral into reclusiveness, which can easily be mistaken for agoraphobia.

The compulsive food checking, the frequent hand washing and the avoidance of certain things that go along with emetophobia also look a lot like OCD. (And indeed, as my daughter’s therapist explained, emetophobia is a form of obsession.) All of these things make diagnosis tricky, especially since emetophobes won’t usually walk into a therapist’s office and say, “Hey, I’m deathly afraid of throwing up.” They often avoid all words related to vomit and won’t talk about it, so they speak in vague terms about their fear, which can lead to an initial diagnosis of generalized anxiety.

Getting the correct diagnosis is vital, however, to getting the right kind of treatment.

Before we found a therapist who knew how to treat emetophobia, we utilized a website called emetophobiahelp.org. It’s run by therapist Anna Christie who suffered from emetophobia herself, and it’s an excellent starting place for self-help.

One of the first things the website suggested was to have my daughter look at this:

V * * * *

Not the word “vomit,” just the first letter with the rest of the letters as stars. That’s how avoidant many emetophobes are about anything involving the idea of throwing up. We added one letter at a time—just looking at them, not even saying the word–until she worked up to reading the whole word, then saying it out loud until she could do it with minimal discomfort, then saying synonyms—puke, barf, upchuck, etc. The day my daughter could say “vomit” and “puke” without hesitation was a huge milestone.

Incremental exposure like that, eventually leading up to watching videos of people vomiting and pretending to throw up yourself, is one part of treatment. (Successful treatment doesn’t require actually throwing up, by the way. Nor is vomiting a cure for the phobia. It’s common for people to think, “Oh, if they just throw up and see it’s not that bad, then they’ll get over it,” but that’s not how it works. Generally speaking, an emetophobe vomiting without undergoing the mental changes needed to process it will not resolve the phobia.)

The other part of treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT.) This is the retraining of the brain to manage the fearful thoughts. There are various elements of this part of treatment, including learning how the amygdala—the fear center in your brain—works and how to purposefully interact with it. Through various thought-feeling-behavior exercises, you learn how to diffuse the fear and stop inadvertently reinforcing it. (There’s some evidence that EMDR can also be helpful for people with emetophobia.)

As her parents, we had to learn how the behaviors we thought were helping our daughter actually weren’t. Telling her over and over again that food was fine seemed like the logical counter to her repeated requests for reassurance, really, we were reinforcing her need for reassurance, which then reinforced the anxiety. We had to learn to tell her once, and only once, that something smelled or tasted fine and then stop responding. We had become avoidant of talking about vomit in front of her because it seemed so traumatizing—that wasn’t helpful either.

So much of what we’ve learned in treating emetophobia is counterintuitive. That’s true of treating most anxiety disorders, but with emetophobia, the behaviors are so specific it’s important to find a therapist who understands how to treat it. It also can be hard to find a therapist who is familiar with it. Most we have called have never heard of it or never treated it.

Anna Christie’s website is a good place to start your search. It has a list of therapists who specialize in treating emetophobia. She also has recommendations for finding a therapist if there aren’t any on her list near you. We’re in a rough time for finding therapists right now, though, as so many are booked out for months and aren’t accepting new patients.

For self-help, an incredibly helpful book also came out last year. It has been a lifeline for my daughter, as her therapist moved out of state and we have struggled to find another to complete her treatment. “The Emetophobia Manual” by Ken Goodman, L.C.S.W. is basically a whole course of therapy in book form, complete with exercises and exposures. It’s so good, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The good news is, emetophobia is treatable and there are more and more resources available for people who suffer from it. But it starts with getting the correct diagnosis, which is often the hardest part of the process.

DaBaby has been facing a litany of legal troubles in the past few months (or years), but there’s at least one incident he won’t have to worry about. According to TMZ, the Charlotte rapper won’t be charged after shooting an intruder at his North Carolina home this past April. The initial report said that a 911 call was made to report a non-fatal shooting at DaBaby’s home in Iredell County. It was later revealed that it was DaBaby himself who pulled the trigger, hitting the intruder — who had scaled the fence and who DaBaby confronted on the property’s football field — in the leg.

The rapper claimed self-defense and District Attorney investigators agreed with him. The story was similar to another incident that took place in 2018, shortly before DaBaby gained national attention with his music video for “Walker Texas Ranger.” DaBaby had shot a man during a confrontation in a Walmart when the other man reached for a gun in his waistband. However, despite DaBaby avoiding charges — again due to reason of self-defense — a video of the incident was recently resurfaced, casting doubt on his recollection since it looked like he was the aggressor in the initial fight. However, both DaBaby and his lawyers maintain that the footage proves that he only pulled his own gun when it looked like the man he was fighting was about to do the same.

Still, he’s got plenty of other legal issues on his plate. He’s been charged with felony battery over an incident in 2021 in which DaBaby and his crew attacked a man whose property they used to shoot a music video. The property owner previously sued DaBaby, but a police investigation led to criminal charges. DaBaby also maintained that he was justified in that situation as well, posting a video of the man using racial slurs. However, in that case, the rapper’s defense may be a bit more flimsy.

One of the most difficult parts of making the transition from being a player to being a part of the media is that it requires you to, at times, critique people who are your friends — or risk bing seen as a shill for certain players.

Some players understand that’s part of the job, but some will still be hurt by criticisms of their play or their fit in a certain situation. Kendrick Perkins learned this the hard way this year, as the former teammate of Russell Westbrook went on ESPN’s First Take earlier this year and said that the Lakers should trade the star guard as it became apparent things were not working out. As Perkins told the Marchand and Ourand Podcast this week, that led to Nina Westbrook texting Perkins’ wife about how hurtful a suggestion that was, as Westbrook was finally reunited with his family in Los Angeles, which Perkins responded to with a lengthy response saying it was nothing personal but has yet to hear anything back from the Westbrooks.

It’s a tough spot to be in for Perkins, but as he notes, he’s just doing his job and answering the question asked of him on the show as honestly as he can. As the season wore on, it became clear that the criticism of Westbrook was wearing on Russ and his family, with him calling out fans for chanting “Westbrick” at games and Nina ripping Skip Bayless for commentary on Westbrook’s struggles. This particular situation has lived behind the scenes until now and Perkins notes he’s still trying to mend that fence, but it’s indicative of how tough it can be to offer your unfiltered opinion about people who you’re familiar with and, even if it’s just part of the job, might take it personally.

Drey Barrymore did what others simply could not do: she launched a talk show in the middle of a pandemic and managed to actually make it good, despite every other thing that was going on in the world. Maybe it’s because of her very famous friends, or maybe it’s because she actually has engaging conversations with her guests and audience. Which makes her the perfect candidate to interview Britney Spears!

The actress-turned-TV host has a new goal for this year: to get Spears on her show. As she told Variety, Barrymore lived a very similar experience to the pop star: she entered the industry as a child and grew up in and out of rehab before eventually becoming emancipated from her parents.

“We can have a unique conversation,” Barrymore says of Spears. “There’s not a ton of us out there who have publicly lost our freedom, had breakdowns in front of everyone, become punchlines, and fought our way back.”

Spears just emerged from a lengthy legal battle with her family and was finally freed from her conservatorship late last year. She has been vocally hesitant about appearing in the press, which is why Barrymore being her first interview could work out for her. Spears recently posted a photo of Barrymore on her Instagram (the post has since been deleted), praising the talk show host.

Barrymore also has explained that she is better at listening and engaging with her guests, which would work in Spears’ favor. “I learned to become a better listener. In the beginning, I over-talked to people, which I felt embarrassed about,” she added. “There’s an art figuring out how to navigate a conversation — and when to stop talking.”

The two can also bond over their various SNL impressions as talk show hosts, both by Chloe Fineman. Maybe the three of them could do an episode together???