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Jul 07, 2024

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Sexxy Red is hot right now, whether you like it or not. Recent high profile appearances have helped amplify this young artist’s visibility, not the least of which was last week’s BET Awards performance.

If you love Sexyy Red, you’d probably loved her performance. If you don’t love Sexyy Red, you probably didn’t. Which equals clickbait and comment engagement gold, so everybody and their collective mommas immediately posted clips.

The e-reaction from that second group of people — the ones not impressed — caught my attention.

My own feelings on Sexyy Red as an artist or her artistry aren’t — for this discussion anyway — important. But I did want to point out what this incident showed me about the culture around the culture.

My previous video essay, “Not Everything That Glitters is Hip Hop Gold,” reminded us that we shouldn’t always celebrate that in Hip Hop which looks extra glittery.

This much shorter commentary reminds us that we do often a really bad job of recognizing that the jewelry we say we want, we can actually have.

📺 IT’S WORTH A QUICK WATCH. I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments section. Please also subscribe, like, share if you want. 🙏

Now, on to some Hip Hop news and events that aren’t about dumb sh*t!

— Manny (www.patreon.com/mannyfaces)

📰 HIP HOP NEWS THAT ISN’T ABOUT DUMB SH*T

This section brought to you by our brand new Subreddit - r/HipHopCulture

⚖️ Rapper BG ordered to have all future songs approved by US government
Ruling leads to claims that BG’s right to free speech unfairly challenged in another case putting rap lyrics on trial
🐝 Wu-Tang Clan x Nike Dunks Are Releasing for the First Time Ever
The sought-after sneaker is expected to drop this fall.
🤖 DJ vs. Google's AI: Experimental MusicFX
DJ Paz joined CNET for our latest episode of Expert vs. AI to answer questions about how AI will affect DJing
🎶 Unpacking hip-hop’s sprawl in 2024’s most eclectic release date
“The winds are blowing in too many different directions to speak definitively of where the culture is heading; the best we can do right now to survey this wide, unmappable landscape is to train our attention on the artists determined to plant a flag in it anyway.”
📚 NEA's Read Across America and Little Free Library Celebrate Hip-Hop and Diverse Books
Delegates at the NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly explore artist-designed Little Free Library boxes featuring music icons.
🍑 The Booty-Shaking Anthem That Still Endures, 25 Years Later
Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” was a 1999 hit that brought twerking and New Orleans bounce into the mainstream. Here’s the story of how it became a sensation.

🙏 MANNY THANKS

❤️ Thank you so much to new supporters Tony P., Jaime F., Austin R. (from the Too Pretty band), Sarah R., Dr. Elliot Gann and AJ Woodson!! BIG shouts to the rest of the supporting fam: Silent Knight, Mark E., Jesse G., Toast, Nicholas S., Briana C., Stephie, Cath, Morgan, Andrew Wang, Raphael Travis, Patrick, Chris J, and Adam K!🙏🙏🙏

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📅 UPCOMING DOPE & INTERDISCIPLINARY HIP HOP EVENTS

July 7 [NYC]: Passing the Crown - Celebrating the Queens of Hip-Hop
July 8 - Aug. 8 [NYC]: “My Camera Is My Weapon” summer program. This program empowers youth by blending the art of photography with the vibrant culture of Hip Hop and social justice themes.
July 9 - Aug. 30 [NYC]: Kids Breaking League Summer Break Intensive
July 11 [D.C.]: Know Your Power - Art Workshop Series: Street Art
July 11-13 [L.A.]: “The Rise of Dark Man X” Experience a chronological biography of unreleased material recounting the humble beginnings of DMX. Film screening + performances.
July 15 [ATL]: Oddisee & Good Company at City Winery (I don’t usually list artists in here but thought this cat should be on folks radar. Full tour schedule here.)
July 20 [L.A.]: Kids Bboy Summit | Solo break battle
July 21 [D.C.]: Nas with the National Symphony Orchestra
July 25 [D.C.]: Know Your Power - Art Workshop Series: Rap/Emcee
Aug. 10 [Newark, NJ]: Hip Hop 50/Olympic Breakdancing Watch Party
Aug. 19-22 [D.C.]: Podcast Movement (Not Hip Hop related per se, but I’ll be there presenting an “Expert Talks” session, so if you’re there, or in D.C. and want to say hi or book me for something or interview me or whatever, let me know!)
Aug. 23-24 [Newark, NJ] - 24 Hours of Peace
Through Sept. 4 [L.A.] The GRAMMY Museum: Hip Hop America - The Mixtape Exhibit
Opens Sept. 8 [NYC]: FUTURA 2000: BREAKING OUT is a retrospective of this singular artist’s evolution from early graffiti art styles to his current practice of contemporary abstraction.
Oct. 11-12 [Chattanooga]: Chattanooga Hip Hop Summit
Nov. 3 [D.C.]: Masego at The Kennedy Center
Nov. 9 [D.C.]: Andre 3000 at The Kennedy Center
Jan. 11, 2025 [D.C.]: Club Quarantine Live with D-Nice at The Kennedy Center

KNOW OF AN EVENT THAT SHOULD GO HERE? REPLY & TELL ME!

JOB LISTINGS

We Do It 4 The Culture SEL curriculum program is hiring lesson designers.

Y’all. This is a LOT of work lol… If you find this valuable, please CLICK HERE to help me keep doing it.

BUT WAIT… THERE’S MORE!!

🆕 MANNY’S PICKS…

There are plenty of places to find out about new music, but I’ll give a few picks here and there to help the cause.

Rumor has it, I have pretty decent taste…

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