...Mos Def, and continues to release albums that paint vivid pictures of the black American experience; helped nurture the early careers of Kanye West and J. Cole; marched and protested in Ferguson; and created music for Game of Thrones. In conversation, Kweli uses terms like white supremacy and compassion in the same breath. His activism is in the vein of Angela Davis, his perspective similar to that of literary giant James Baldwin....
Race, Class, and Compassion: Talib Kweli Straddles the Worlds of Music and Activism | Music | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly
...roundbreaking hip-hop duo Black Star along with Mos Def, and continues to release albums that paint vivid pictures of the black American experience; helped nurture the early careers of Kanye West and J. Cole; marched and protested in Ferguson; and created music for Game of Thrones. In conversation, Kweli uses terms like white supremacy and compassion in the same breath. His activism is in the vein of Ange...
Race, Class, and Compassion: Talib Kweli Straddles the Worlds of Music and Activism | Music | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly
J. Cole has paid homage to Kweli on his Born Sinner track, “She Knows”:
A black star, Mos Def, Kweli
Good so them bad hoes try me, they try me
M: Nas was our first investor; we kick it with him all the time. He was the first verified artist on Rap Genius. The first time he saw it, we didn’t even explain anything to him, and he said, “This sh–t’s gonna be bigger than Twitter.” Our co-founder Illan kicked it the whole day with Jay Z. Jay Z basically told us, I will get a verified account and explain my own lyrics if y...
Annotating Human Culture: An interview with the creators of Rap Genius | Yale Entrepreneur
…And this was when everything on Rap Genius was based on “explaining” shit; way back when, before they were called “annotations” on-site, they were called “explanations”.
T: Worse is better. A lot of people think, “Oh I’ve got to come out this perfect jewel. I have to protect it until it’s perfect and then release it. Otherwise, I’ll be embarrassed.” If you’re not embarrassed, you waited...
Annotating Human Culture: An interview with the creators of Rap Genius | Yale Entrepreneur
9 years
...n kicked it the whole day with Jay Z. Jay Z basically told us, I will get a verified account and explain my own lyrics if you give me 50% of the company. I was like, “get … out of here.” He’s a goon. He thinks money will make him happy, but he doesn’t realize what he really wants is to be handsome.
Annotating Human Culture: An interview with the creators of Rap Genius | Yale Entrepreneur
And that, my friends, is the difference between NAS and Jay-Z…
9 years
RD: Well, for one, I’m white (and you’re white). And even as committed as I am, I’m not outside of anything that I’m talking about here. If I went around saying white people this and white people that, it would be a distancing move. I don’t want to reinforce the idea that there are some whites who are done, and others that still need work. There’s no being finished.
Why White People Freak Out When They're Called Out About Race | Alternet
...bjective eyes. There’s been a lot of research in this area. Cross-racially, we do not see with objective eyes. Now you add that he’s a black man. It’s not a fluke that she picked the word "harassed." In doing that, she’s reinforcing a really classic, racist paradigm: White women and black men. White women’s frailty and black men’s aggressiveness and danger.
Why White People Freak Out When They're Called Out About Race | Alternet
This refers to the Black Brute caricature, which has been perpetuated in society for generations… if not centuries. Some notable examples include a scene in the infamous Birth of a Nation) and Vogue’s picture of LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen.
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