Giving Credit Where It's Due

Todd Boyd in his theroot.com article discussed the demise of Vibe magazine. He called the hip-hop culture publication "the brainchild of Quincy Jones." I have no problem with that but he completely overlooked music journalist Scott Poulson-Bryant, a founding editor of the magazine. Poulson-Bryant, an openly gay man, stated in his book Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America (Doubleday, 2005) that "I named Vibe magazine Vibe." Hip-hop culture is notoriously homophobic and it would have been a good idea to acknowledge that a major publication devoted to it was named by a member of a much-maligned but influential group. Let's give credit where it's due.

A Humorous Prediction?

Is this a humorous prediction for Sean "P. Diddy" Combs? His 2014 honorary doctorate from Howard University in Washington, D.C., was taken back because of what the administrators called behavior that they considered  "fundamentally incompatible with [the university's] core values and beliefs." In addition, they returned his one-million-dollar contribution.

Combs had been caught on a 2016 hotel surveillance video brutally assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

It has also been alleged that he was involved in sex trafficking.

Dr. Dre's Mom's Long Road Out Of Compton

It was about twelve years ago when I came across a copy of Verna Griffin's memoir, Long Road Outta Compton: Dr. Dre's Mom on Family, Fame, and Terrible Tragedy (Da Capo Press, 2008). Browsing through the book in the library, I learned she was born in the same year as me (she's three months older) and attended the same high school, Centennial, in Compton, California. I'm sure we were classmates in some of the classes but I don't remember her. I looked for her picture in a yearbook, but I was unable to find it. She may have dropped out due to giving birth to Dr. Dre at age 16 in 1965.

Now I want to track that book down, probably at New York's famous Strand Bookstore. They are sure to have copies in stock. When I get it, I want to read it from cover to cover. Perhaps I can gain some insights into how she managed to rise above the gangs and street violence of Compton and successfully raise a son who is rich and famous and who has helped put the city on the map as well as raise ten million dollars to build a performing arts high school in Compton.

Rap Vs. Jazz

May 18, 2006

To the Editor:

You never hear that young jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, or Roy Hargrove have had a run in with the law, been involved in a shootout, or started a verbal feud with a colleague. It makes me wonder what it is about rap music that brings out the worst in its practitioners and followers.

Sincerely yours,

Charles Michael Smith

Note: This is from a handwritten draft. I'm not sure which publication I had intended to send it to. Perhaps I had the New York Daily News in mind. I remember posting something similar on my Facebook page.

Illiteracy Chic

"yall sum thirsty bitches leavin yo # and email thinkin he gonna see this and dick you down wit all that meat."--a commenter on gay porn site Thugmart re: porn model Rogue.

It looks like being illiterate or appearing to be illiterate has become chic among the young black and Latino followers of hip-hop and thug porn.