The Renaissance Rundown: Heat 1
What’s good y’all?
If you’re here, you’re in the right place. This is where you will see our latest articles from the publication as well as any quick news from the rap/hip — hop world you may have missed. We also have some other cool things coming soon to make reading this whole email worth it (lol).
TL;DR — We want you to ask us for advice, follow our socials, and hear Paul on a podcast. In News, we remember Chadwick Boseman, talk about a ton of new songs, and recount(?) the VMAs. We recommend 5 songs, because we can.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Uh, if you didn’t notice somehow…we’re back?
- Do you (or someone you know) need advice? Have you (or someone you know) ever even asked a question at some point? Have you (or someone you know) ever wondered what it would be like to have random questions answered by two hip-hop heads? Then our advice column RapVice will be for you! You can submit via our Google Form, or alternatively by emailing us. All submissions will be considered anonymous and all subjects and any potentially identifying information may be changed to protect your identity. See our Google Form here.
- We changed our social media handles some time ago to be uniform, so if you were looking for and had trouble finding us, we’re now for sure @TheRenProj on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If and when we join other sites or networks, you’ll be able to find us as @TheRenProj then, too (if not /the-renaissance).
- Our dedicated email, if you need it, is prismrenaissance@gmail.com.
- Paul is human! Hear his voice in his recent appearance on the podcast The Oasis 13. Find ways to listen to the podcast here.
ARTICLES
Here’s what we published this week:
Meg Thee Stallion Is Human — We All Are by Paul K. Barnes
Black Women are not afforded the freedom of speech by Juwan Holmes
COMING UP
Here’s what’s coming up from The Renaissance:
- “Reconsideration: Watch the Throne” — We’ll revisit the iconic 2011 joint album by the incomparable duo Jay-Z and Kanye West in our first retrospective of the “Reconsideration” column.
- “TDELay” — Examining the music drought fans of TDE artists are experiencing, and what that means for the industry.
NEWS
Unfortunately, star actor and producer Chadwick Boseman passed away over the weekend. While he didn’t directly contribute in the hip-hop music lexicon, his portrayal of legendary musician James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, in 2014’s Get on Up earned him acclaim and worldwide recognition. In the movie, Boseman performed all the moves and some of the music himself, which led to critics naming Boseman “unforgettable”…which anyone that has seen his portrayal of King T’Challa in Black Panther, among other Marvel movies, should agree on. His turn as the comic book hero in the blockbuster “MCU” films over the last 4 years made him a superstar - especially with the musical contributions of several hip hop artists behind him, none less impactful than Black Panther: The Album, the soundtrack to the eponymous film created by Kendrick Lamar and TDE. It goes without saying that he will be a devastating loss for our community, among others. Wakanda Forever.
Stuff happens in the rap/hip-hop world everyday, but we’re gonna give you the things that matter here. You’re probably well aware of (or purposely ignoring) the first few XXL Freshman Freestyles we’ve gotten. So — we’ll skip that.
First of all, I’m personally very happy we got a new Travis Scott single, “The Plan” via the TENET soundtrack. With Ludwig Goransson and WondaGurl producing, this is definitely one you want to play on the good speakers/headphones. Big Sean dropped the first single from his highly anticipated album Detroit 2, “Deep Reverence”, and it has a feature from the late, great Nipsey Hussle as well as Hit-Boy on production. We also heard from Kendrick Lamar for the first time in who knows, how long but not exactly how we expected. He does the voiceover for the latest Nike commercial/homage for Kobe by performing a poem about being better. It reminded me of when he first began performing the songs from untitled unmastered on the late night shows.
Nas also dropped the Spike Jordan directed video for the “Ultra Black”, the first single from the Hit-Boy produced King’s Disease album. Lil Wayne’s classic No Ceilings mixtape is on streaming services now, and the nostalgia came with it — but 10 songs from it did not, making sample clearing the black cloud above the world of rap (among other things). Black Thought gave us bars in the fact-packed track “Good Morning”, which features Pusha T, Killer Mike and Swizz Beatz. Cordae linked with Roddy Rich for “Gifted” which came with a video directed by Cole Bennett as well.
The 2020 VMAs were yesterday, and hip-hop music was on display…sort of. Several rappers that had stellar years and topped the charts in recent months (such as Cardi B, Megan thee Stallion, and Drake) didn’t perform or take home any awards. Still, the virtual stage welcomed DaBaby, The Black Eyed Peas and Tyga. Machine Gun Kelly, Doja Cat, and The Weeknd all performed while taking home Moonmen (well, not really “took” home. I assume it’ll be shipped to them.)
Notably, both Latin sensation J Balvin and breakout star rapper Roddy Rich did not perform despite being previously announced to, and pop star Harry Styles is also rumored to have pulled out due to not earning any award wins. MTV also just decided to pretend the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award doesn’t exist — which isn’t the first time they’ve done that, but first time since 2012 the award wasn’t given. They’ve dropped both the award and the name numerous times before, but last year went mum on the subject and didn’t include Jackson’s name in any press to avoid further controversy when giving the award to Missy Elliott (although, they made conflicting claims about dropping or not dropping the name). As usual with MTV, no one knows. Megan did win one of the five nominations she earned, for Best Hip Hop video.
RECOMMENDED SONGS…for some reason, all the reasons, no reasons
