Lex writes about race, pop culture, and sports. Follow him on Twitter at @tribecalledlex_ .
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The Eternal Beat of ‘The Low End Theory’
Thirty years ago Friday, A Tribe Called Quest released their seminal second album. It’s at once steeped in a rich tradition of Black music and like nothing else that’s come since.
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Drake Can Change. He Just Doesn’t Have to—Yet.
The hand-wringing over ‘Certified Lover Boy’ mostly has centered on one big criticism: The Boy is pulling from the same playbook he always has. What would break him out of this stasis?
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‘Candyman’ Doesn’t Have a Sharp Enough Hook
The 2021 reboot from Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele takes aim at the Hollywood industrial complex that birthed it. But intention isn’t the same thing as execution.
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Kanye West Resurrected a Retired Rap Group. Now They’re Back With a New Album.
Olskool Ice-Gre and E.P Da Hellcat had put their rap careers behind them. Then fate intervened in the form of the most infamous man in popular music.
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Isaiah Rashad Is Tapping Into the Fire Within
The TDE rapper returns from a five-year break with a new album, ‘The House Is Burning,’ which finds him doing more soul-searching than ever before
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Sha’Carri Richardson Can Outrun Everything Except a Broken System
Richardson was poised to become the breakout star of the Olympics. After testing positive for THC, she won’t get to compete. Her story is cause for outrage—and a reminder of the costs of a system that refuses to change.
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“You Have to Be Selfish As an Artist”: The Valiant Return of Hiatus Kaiyote
The genre-smashing group discusses their creative process and their long-awaited third album, ‘Mood Valiant’
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Go Sell It on the Mountain: Jay-Z and the Myth of ‘Reasonable Doubt’
The biggest figure rap has ever seen had to get some things off his chest before he could get to the business of building his legend
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Simone Biles Made Gymnastics History. Now a Different Kind of History Is Repeating Itself.
Biles recently became the first woman ever to attempt the Yurchenko double pike in competition. By nailing the remarkably difficult maneuver, she not only expanded the boundaries of her sport—she ignited a controversy that feels all too familiar.
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The Spirit of Barry Jenkins’s ‘The Underground Railroad’
The Amazon adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel attempts to answer questions art rarely does