Rap duo The Outfit, TX aims to drag Dallas out of Houston and Atlanta’s shadows — and get the national attention the city deserves — Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com. “In Texas, our OGs put us in a precarious division, because they was so autonomous,” rapper Mel says on the phone from Maryland. Half of Dallas duo The Outfit, TX (TOTX)…

“Boycott the Grammys”. 30 years ago, hip-hop’s forefathers organized a collective strike against The Recording Academy due to the institution’s mistreatment of the genre’s first rap nominees — DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, J.J. Fad, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, and Salt-N-Pepa. Spearheaded by Russell Simmons’ Def…

At first sight, The Last Black Man in San Francisco exposed the oppressive relationship between the modern day technological utopia and its Black residents; an interwoven lineage among the two entities birthed from The Great Migration. Viewed through the focal point of a young Black girl, viewers witnessed the sins…

2020 Presidential Candidate Julian Castro’s campaign manager speaks of the glass ceiling for people of color, her own backlash, and community-building — Maya Rupert is making history. As the third Black woman to manage a presidential campaign — working for Julian Castro, the first Latinx presidential candidate — she’s laying the foundation for a new generation of Black women and girls to authentically be themselves in electoral politics. Rupert’s presence in our…

I have begun to believe that my Ivy League degree is bullshit. In fact, I would argue against the held belief that graduating from one of the nation’s premier institutions of higher education is the nation’s ultimate gag. …

Word Count: 651 words /Written: February 13, 2017 Yesterday night, Beyoncé continued the legacy of black women used the arts to reflect the life of being a black woman in the United States where their efforts aren’t valued or recognized. Black female artists infuse the cultural traditions of African spirituality…