[FIELD NOTES] "Spend Dat"; BET Awards; (Schools + Bibles / Hip Hop); Upcoming Interdisciplinary Events
👀 WHAT I’M NOTICING
The discourse over India.Arie x Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” has overtaken the Hip Hop/music/culture feeds since I started writing this edition, and since it’s largely specific-to-the-Black-community, I’m more compelled to just listen to all perspectives deeply, rather than participate directly…
(Some context, for those who aren’t aware. And a sampling of the online discourse that followed.)
Of course, I’m always compelled to say something when rap music/Hip Hop critique is done with too wide a brush, so I do want to implore folks to please not throw out the vastly brilliant artistic and cultural baby with the scammers-anthem bathwater (in this case, by reiterating my recurring premise that a solution to many of these issues might actually be to introduce Hip Hop to kids at a younger age — which flies in the face of many folks speaking up in support of India.Arie’s sentiment who feel that that “today’s Black music” is inherently, completely abhorrent, morally corrupt, degrading, and socially detrimental.)
Acknowledging all these things can be true at the same time is kinda the point of the work I do, and was at the heart of what I was working on when all this happened, which is below.
The lesson in both of these instances is that stubbornly holding on to a narrow view creates the inability to critically assess things. It’s why the nation is so polarized, as media and algorithms have literally been designed to keep us in a state of mind that restricts nuanced thinking. And when I saw some of that in commentary about the BET Awards, I had some more baby/bathwater thoughts…
People keep asking for things that exist. If I had a monthly Substack subscription for each time I see someone on social media bemoaning the lack of [insert a type of rap music here], when that type of rap music exists in droves if they just took a moment to look for it, I’d have… well, a lot of monthly Substack subscriptions...
Same thing with the BET Awards. People have been complaining and asking for a better show, but when it actually happened, so many people just assumed it wasn’t gonna be for them, and therefore, didn’t even care to watch.
(Mind you, for some, it was also not well advertised and there seemed to also be some confusion as to how to watch it, but that’s a different topic.)
What struck me as curious were sentiments like Ms. Hill (no, not THAT Miss Hill), who felt this way:
And to which 2,000+ people agreed by heart button, and many replied wiht, essentially, “Yeah, that’s why I don’t watch it anymore.”
(Seeing the lineup, I did feel the need to point out…)
Of course, my response was lost in the wind. And sadly, lots of follow-up responses to Hill sounded like:
Which also struck me as curious. Which of these performers or multiple nominees are we talking about, j_emmanuel_93? Leon Thomas? Raye? Olivia Dean? Tanya Blount? Jill Scott? Teyana Taylor? Queen Latifah? Common? Tems? Rapsody? Kehlani? Her small orchestra??
Nah. Here’s what I think the real answer is:
Good point. And then buried DEEP in the comments was what I consider the real gem:
At least brownpo4 gets it! That’s EXACTLY what our old asses should be doing, as I been explained here:
So, parents, educators, other old heads… The lesson here is let’s maybe stop leading with a mindset that makes it so much more difficult to relate to young people — you know, the ones we keep complaining don’t “respect the elders.”
Not to mention, I’d hate to think that anyone would be so dismissive of modern Black music based solely on outdated, or at the very least incomplete assumptions about what modern Black music has to offer.
I’m not saying everyone needs to watch these award shows. I’m suggesting that folks shouldn’t choose NOT to watch them based on stereotypical and, this year anyway, wholly inaccurate reasons. Proudly dismissing these artists and these performances at award show time — without having paid any mind to them during the year — just seems like an unfair way to treat these brilliantly talented young Black artists, and isn’t really the flex it seems. 🤷
(Meanwhile, there was a huge outpouring of support for the show from folks who actually did watch it… Here’s one I largely agreed with.)
There’s more... Read her full Thread here if you want.
📺 And at least watch the Lauryn Hill tribute if you haven’t seen it yet.
🤔 WHAT I’M THINKING
You should consider upgrading to a paid subscription (thank you to those who already have!) It really helps cover the costs associated with reporting on the brilliant and innovative ways Hip Hop is helping uplift humanity and push back against authoritarian and unjust actions. (More on that below.)
Again, we often hear complaints about Hip Hop journalism, but quality, culturally-respectful journalism — like all forms of actual journalism — costs money to produce, plain and simple.
Please help support if you can.
📖 WHAT I’M READING
OMG I’m actually reading novels again. I haven’t done that in years, and have tried a few times to jumpstart and do the Kindle thing, but I gotta say, here’s a cool use-case for AI:
I really needed to find ways to quiet/distract my always-too-swirly mind, so I asked my Chief-of-Staff (aka ChatGPT) to recommend books I might like. I gave it some prior faves, told it to scour the Reddit r/recommendabook subreddit for books that are consistently mentioned, ask me any questions it might need to narrow down my tastes, and it spit back a few options — and so far, it’s been 3/3!
Here’s one: I read Project Hail Mary (THEN I saw the movie… It was aight but the book was amaze, amaze, amaze! 😁 IYKYK!)
WHAT ARE YOU READING? RECOMMEND A BOOK!
📖 SPEAKING OF BOOK…
www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com/book
🎧 WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
Really glad to see RAYE hit the stage at the BET Awards. I hope the old heads who “don’t know who any of these people are” can see how short-sighted that attitude can be and go down her rabbit hole. I saw her perform at NOLA’s Jazz Fest this year and she’s a ton of fun, really talented, brings together a bunch of styles — she’s something special.
📺 WHAT I’M WATCHING
👿 Daredevil: Born Again
IN THE QUEUE: Earth, Wind & Fire documentary, House of the Dragon Season 2
📰 A POLITICAL STORY YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF
Texas makes Bible passages required reading for millions of public school students
All part of the plan — which I also been told y’all about.
📅 HIP HOP INTERDISCIPLINARY EVENT CALENDAR
(Send me events to add if you know of any)
July 8-12, 2026: NYC
August 22, 2026: San Diego, Ca
Red Bull BC One Cypher USA National Final
August 28, 2026: Brooklyn, NY
Common and Special Guests To Honor the Social Justice Legacy of Harry Belafonte
August 29, 2026: Columbus, Ohio
September 18-20: Tampa, Fl
Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final USA
November 13-15, 2026: Howard University
4th Annual Hip Hop Studies Conference (Recap of 2025 conference)
Submissions due July 31. Early registration is open.
Honestly, I recognize that this year's awards were better produced than years before and had more recognizable names, sure. But I also can't blame Jemele Hill for feeling aged out of trying to keep up with the Joneses in general. The older you get, the more things you have on your mind and for some people, that takes up space. That can be exhausting especially in the trying times we live in where there's always something vying for our attention and pulling us toward this streaming service or that website that we have to figure out. Sometimes, out of touch is inevitable but maybe we can hold a little grace for that.
To your curiosity, I wrote a piece in response to some of the dialogue I saw. It was written before the Yung Miami discourse (which I don't agree with) but believe needs addressing.
.https://substack.com/@briannaperry/note/p-204284294?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=61iaak