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Anyone abreast of current trends, conversations, and the happenings of the times are merely degrees of separation from rapper Cardi B. Whether you love her, hate her, or are indifferent; whether you consider her a skilled rapper, or believe she is a flash in a pan at the current moment, Cardi B is music’s current “it girl.”
As of now, Cardi B is one of the ubiquitous ones — celebrities or pubic persons who dominate for a time, or for a lifetime, and if they are fortunate, dominate all or most facets of entertainment. She can be heard in most of the current music on the Billboard Hot 100. She is all over our televisions, and as of this past September, she is in women’s make up cabinets as she adds her name to the products of fashion daddy Tom Ford. Cardi can also add multiple Grammy nominees to her resume as her debut album Invasion of Privacy scored five nominations. Even after dealing with the not-so-fresh press, following her dust-up with Nicki Minaj at a New York Fashion Week event, fights with strippers and bartenders in strip clubs, beefs with other peripheral, women rappers, and as of recently, breaking up with husband Offset of Migos (more on that later), she has proved her brand is intact.
Unquestionable Success
(Twitter.com/IamCardiB)
The Bronx-born half Trinidadian, half Dominican rapper has seamlessly weaved her way through various genres of music as her voice is heard in not just Hip Hop music, but also R&B, and most recently, pop music. She formerly had the highest selling opening week of any female artist in 2018, when her debut album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 with 255,000 equivalent units her first week of sales tracking. The album has scored near-universal acclaim, headlining and turning out almost all of the worldwide music festivals. She even having to cancel a few after the birth of her daughter Kulture. She has amassed fans from all over the world in the process, and is becoming a global force
To compound the depth of her success, Cardi recently accomplished a feat no other woman rapper has done. She has amassed three No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits: Bodak Yellow, I Like It, featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and a feature on Maroon 5’s Girls Like You that sat at the penthouse of the Billboard Hot 100 charts for seven weeks. With her feature on the remix of Maroon 5’s Girl Like You, spending that many many weeks on the top of the Billboard charts, she also has the accomplishment of spending 11 cumulative weeks at No.1, solidifying her place in Hip-Hop culture. Not only is this noteworthy because it was attained while riding high on the success of her debut, but two of her chart toppers were tracks from her debut album with her first No.1 hit; 2017’s summer banger, Bodak Yellow was a chart-topping success with no features. While that may seem like a trivial layer of accomplishments to some, to Hip-Hop heads devouring today’s Hip-Hop output, most albums are pregnant with features of contemporary rappers so this is a significant accomplishment. Therefore, none of her detractors are allowed to take away her shine by surmising her success is based on her features or being linked to other famous rappers.
Lastly, to reiterate for effect, her debut album was nominated for five Grammy awards with two of them being in the big four categories: Album of the year and song of the year for I Like It. The other three nominations were for best rap album, best rap performance, and best pop duo/group performance for Girls Like You shared with Maroon 5.
Notoriety’s Dark Side
(Image: Instagram)
As is the case with fame and fortune, detractors and the proverbial haters show themselves and began to tear down whatever success an artist attempts to achieve. People who may have supported her in 2017, now dig through her social media past to come up with problematic material in order to highlight any perceived ignorance, or ratchet behavior as some have termed it. It’s what’s expected of fame and ubiquity. For the most part, hardcore fans and casual listeners alike applaud her for her authenticity and ability to speak on matters with a raw, urbane, assertiveness that is familiar to some, but very much her own. However, others bristle at her ways and predict if she doesn’t get the right people behind her to set her up for continued success, a fall from grace is inevitable.
Cardi hasn’t exactly helped herself at times. There is the bar brawl at Angel’s Strip Club in Queens, New York, where sister bartenders got into a scuffle with members of Cardi B’s entourage in which they were alleged “to have thrown furniture recklessly, causing injuries to employees’ feet and legs,” according to USA Today. It was alleged that the sisters slept with Offset, and that ordering members of her crew to fight them was the rapper’s revenge.
However this lawsuit ends, someone in Cardi’s camp may need financial assistance, for actions of this nature, which will inevitably come from Cardi’s bank account. Settlements for the actions of careless friends rack up and get expensive. Recently, the tide has turned as news of Cardi and Offset’s impending breakup. Cardi took to Instagram to speak on her break up in a video that has since been removed. But here is what she said in a nutshell:
“He’s always somebody that I run to, to talk to — and we got a lot of love for each other, but things just haven’t been working out between us for a long time.”
Many sighed in relief because Offset has a wandering eye, and saw the writing on the wall when she first announced she was pregnant. This is a step in the right direction.
Then there is the ongoing beef with Nicki Minaj that won’t seem to crash, burn, and fade away into the memories of our smartphones. Shots are taken in radio interviews from one side and a brutal response is given on Instagram from the other side, resulting in eight-minute videos, uncovering all the facets of their multilayered squabble. The battle between the women probably won’t be over for some time, especially since Nicki Minaj recently took aim at Cardi B in her “Good Form” video. However, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj’s ex, and the only rapper to publicly get herbed by Drake on wax, dropped a track on Nov. 30, entitled ‘Championships” which features Cardi, Jay-Z, and Meek’s former nemesis, Drake. The track garnered much attention on Twitter as users began trolling Nicki Minaj because of the interesting entanglements of this collaboration — that is Nicki Minaj’s arch-enemy and her ex on the same track.
What Listeners Hope
(Image: Instagram/iamcardib)
What we hope for the young, multiplatinum superstar is longevity in her career. We want the hits to keep coming and for her star to continue to rise. Most importantly, we want her to retain her authenticity; that raw, raucous, New York City, but specifically Bronx way of being that many of us have come to appreciate — even love. We don’t want to see her fall victim to the same pitfalls that have befallen some of the most popular celebrities: bankruptcy, addiction, surrounding oneself with the wrong support system among many things. We hope she follows through with her separation plans from Offset and get far away from him. Offset, like many young rappers with money, fame, and their own brand of ubiquity, are hot in the trousers, attempting to “smash” anything walking. Monogamy is the last quality they will cultivate in relationships.
We want Cardi to make it because we the critics, social scholars, fans, and casual observers alike know ubiquity doesn’t last forever. One day you are on top of the charts, and the next day casual listeners are asking one another, “Remember (insert former celebrity’s name)?”
But in the meantime, keep shining; keep winning; keep reppin’ for New York City and the Boogie Down BX.
The post We’re All Degrees of Separation From Cardi B: The Ubiquity of Hip-Hop’s Current It Girl appeared first on Black Enterprise.
Anyone abreast of current trends, conversations, and the happenings of the times are merely degrees of separation from rapper Cardi B. Whether you love her, hate her, or are indifferent; whether you consider her a skilled rapper, or believe she is a flash in a pan at the current moment, Cardi B is music’s current “it girl.”
As of now, Cardi B is one of the ubiquitous ones — celebrities or pubic persons who dominate for a time, or for a lifetime, and if they are fortunate, dominate all or most facets of entertainment. She can be heard in most of the current music on the Billboard Hot 100. She is all over our televisions, and as of this past September, she is in women’s make up cabinets as she adds her name to the products of fashion daddy Tom Ford. Cardi can also add multiple Grammy nominees to her resume as her debut album Invasion of Privacy scored five nominations. Even after dealing with the not-so-fresh press, following her dust-up with Nicki Minaj at a New York Fashion Week event, fights with strippers and bartenders in strip clubs, beefs with other peripheral, women rappers, and as of recently, breaking up with husband Offset of Migos (more on that later), she has proved her brand is intact.
Unquestionable Success
(Twitter.com/IamCardiB)
The Bronx-born half Trinidadian, half Dominican rapper has seamlessly weaved her way through various genres of music as her voice is heard in not just Hip Hop music, but also R&B, and most recently, pop music. She formerly had the highest selling opening week of any female artist in 2018, when her debut album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 with 255,000 equivalent units her first week of sales tracking. The album has scored near-universal acclaim, headlining and turning out almost all of the worldwide music festivals. She even having to cancel a few after the birth of her daughter Kulture. She has amassed fans from all over the world in the process, and is becoming a global force
To compound the depth of her success, Cardi recently accomplished a feat no other woman rapper has done. She has amassed three No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits: Bodak Yellow, I Like It, featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and a feature on Maroon 5’s Girls Like You that sat at the penthouse of the Billboard Hot 100 charts for seven weeks. With her feature on the remix of Maroon 5’s Girl Like You, spending that many many weeks on the top of the Billboard charts, she also has the accomplishment of spending 11 cumulative weeks at No.1, solidifying her place in Hip-Hop culture. Not only is this noteworthy because it was attained while riding high on the success of her debut, but two of her chart toppers were tracks from her debut album with her first No.1 hit; 2017’s summer banger, Bodak Yellow was a chart-topping success with no features. While that may seem like a trivial layer of accomplishments to some, to Hip-Hop heads devouring today’s Hip-Hop output, most albums are pregnant with features of contemporary rappers so this is a significant accomplishment. Therefore, none of her detractors are allowed to take away her shine by surmising her success is based on her features or being linked to other famous rappers.
Lastly, to reiterate for effect, her debut album was nominated for five Grammy awards with two of them being in the big four categories: Album of the year and song of the year for I Like It. The other three nominations were for best rap album, best rap performance, and best pop duo/group performance for Girls Like You shared with Maroon 5.
Notoriety’s Dark Side
(Image: Instagram)
As is the case with fame and fortune, detractors and the proverbial haters show themselves and began to tear down whatever success an artist attempts to achieve. People who may have supported her in 2017, now dig through her social media past to come up with problematic material in order to highlight any perceived ignorance, or ratchet behavior as some have termed it. It’s what’s expected of fame and ubiquity. For the most part, hardcore fans and casual listeners alike applaud her for her authenticity and ability to speak on matters with a raw, urbane, assertiveness that is familiar to some, but very much her own. However, others bristle at her ways and predict if she doesn’t get the right people behind her to set her up for continued success, a fall from grace is inevitable.
Cardi hasn’t exactly helped herself at times. There is the bar brawl at Angel’s Strip Club in Queens, New York, where sister bartenders got into a scuffle with members of Cardi B’s entourage in which they were alleged “to have thrown furniture recklessly, causing injuries to employees’ feet and legs,” according to USA Today. It was alleged that the sisters slept with Offset, and that ordering members of her crew to fight them was the rapper’s revenge.
However this lawsuit ends, someone in Cardi’s camp may need financial assistance, for actions of this nature, which will inevitably come from Cardi’s bank account. Settlements for the actions of careless friends rack up and get expensive. Recently, the tide has turned as news of Cardi and Offset’s impending breakup. Cardi took to Instagram to speak on her break up in a video that has since been removed. But here is what she said in a nutshell:
“He’s always somebody that I run to, to talk to — and we got a lot of love for each other, but things just haven’t been working out between us for a long time.”
Many sighed in relief because Offset has a wandering eye, and saw the writing on the wall when she first announced she was pregnant. This is a step in the right direction.
Then there is the ongoing beef with Nicki Minaj that won’t seem to crash, burn, and fade away into the memories of our smartphones. Shots are taken in radio interviews from one side and a brutal response is given on Instagram from the other side, resulting in eight-minute videos, uncovering all the facets of their multilayered squabble. The battle between the women probably won’t be over for some time, especially since Nicki Minaj recently took aim at Cardi B in her “Good Form” video. However, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj’s ex, and the only rapper to publicly get herbed by Drake on wax, dropped a track on Nov. 30, entitled ‘Championships” which features Cardi, Jay-Z, and Meek’s former nemesis, Drake. The track garnered much attention on Twitter as users began trolling Nicki Minaj because of the interesting entanglements of this collaboration — that is Nicki Minaj’s arch-enemy and her ex on the same track.
What Listeners Hope
(Image: Instagram/iamcardib)
What we hope for the young, multiplatinum superstar is longevity in her career. We want the hits to keep coming and for her star to continue to rise. Most importantly, we want her to retain her authenticity; that raw, raucous, New York City, but specifically Bronx way of being that many of us have come to appreciate — even love. We don’t want to see her fall victim to the same pitfalls that have befallen some of the most popular celebrities: bankruptcy, addiction, surrounding oneself with the wrong support system among many things. We hope she follows through with her separation plans from Offset and get far away from him. Offset, like many young rappers with money, fame, and their own brand of ubiquity, are hot in the trousers, attempting to “smash” anything walking. Monogamy is the last quality they will cultivate in relationships.
We want Cardi to make it because we the critics, social scholars, fans, and casual observers alike know ubiquity doesn’t last forever. One day you are on top of the charts, and the next day casual listeners are asking one another, “Remember (insert former celebrity’s name)?”
But in the meantime, keep shining; keep winning; keep reppin’ for New York City and the Boogie Down BX.
The post We’re All Degrees of Separation From Cardi B: The Ubiquity of Hip-Hop’s Current It Girl appeared first on Black Enterprise.
We finally get the reunion between Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) that we have been waiting for. Meanwhile, Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) push even deeper into the resistance. In doing so, they become even closer to the man who can have them all beheaded! This was actually a thrilling episode that was ruined in the end because Outlander can’t behave itself.
Now that’s a Reunion
Roger is looking kinda rough as he searches the streets for Bri. She has a head start and may be off to the next leg of her journey. He has to find her soon. Why? First, because Bri is Claire’s daughter — headstrong and oftentimes does not “read a room” very well. Second, well, Roger is an old-school dude who seems to think women can’t survive without a man. This is despite Bri making her way all the way to Wilmington, DE.
They do find each mercifully early in the episode. I am so thankful that we don’t have to wait until the end. They meet up and that old fire starts in. He wants to protect her, and she doesn’t need one. They push and pull and end up in each other’s arms. And then they are married. What? This seems kind of non-sequitur, but it’s done. The marriage is by the Highlander tradition binding them until they can get the real thing a year later. Of course, it’s all ruined when Roger spills that, in trying to protect Bri like always, he withheld information that Bri should have had immediately. And just like that, they have broken up again.
I do want to note how clever it was that Roger met Fergus (Cesar Domkey) and didn’t know it. He and Bri are also in the same town as her parents! The suspense is killing me. Get together Frasers! Jamie needs to see his girl and Claire definitely needs her mama after this episode’s ending. I also want to note the nosey waitress who sees Bri and Roger’s back and forth as him endangering Bri. These nosey women are always that reason someone gets tossed in jail for a “misunderstanding”. I think this waitress will prove to be the first white lady to call the cops on a person for something that wasn’t a crime and wasn’t any of her business.
Claire and Jamie: Rebel Spies
Once again, Claire proves her badassery by first diagnosing a man’s condition and predicting his need for surgery and then later operating on him in the lobby of a theater! Sure, Jamie accelerated the need for surgery after hearing that the resistance was going to be ambushed that night. They have a mole who is connected to Governor Tryon, the British official presiding over the region. Jamie must get word to the rebels and his friend Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) among them. The man’s injury was just the way to do it. Claire expertly keeps everyone riveted until the surgery is done and Jamie returns safely.
The official surgeon is hilarious as he shouts his treatment plan, which I’ll just leave unspoken. Claire has definitely cemented their role as the confidants of Gov. Tryon and assets to the resistance. But, have they succeeded in putting the Washington’s (yes, I mean our first president and his wife) in danger in the process?
Not Steven Bonnet, Again!
So, Brianna, fresh from her marriage and breakup with Roger, walks into the bar in which she is lodged to see men playing poker. One of them is Steven Bonnet and he has her mother’s ring. We all know how he got it, and most of us are at this point screaming at Bri to stop talking to this man. RETREAT BRI! But, remember, like Claire, in the beginning, she doesn’t “read the room” and ends up in a position that many women back then found themselves in. She was brutalized by Bonnet.
The thing is, the act here is unnecessarily displayed. There is no need to show this man’s brutality with the imagery of the rape. Sure, Outlander didn’t show the acts, but the sounds create imagery that is just as visceral. At this point, we all know that women were badly brutalized by men at an alarming rate back then. We also know that they had no recourse. No one came to their aid, in a fashion similar to that of the men who sat and listened to the violence in the next room without trying to stop it. That stuff was the norm. We know this. Why do we have to keep experiencing it? At this point, falling back on such imagery is lazy writing that doesn’t serve the plot at all.
Predictions for Next Time and Beyond
The episode closes with Bri walking up the stairs and the audience reeling from what just happened. I have a few predictions for the rest of the season after this episode:
- Jamie is going to kill Steven Bonnet. That cocky pirate assaulted the wrong man’s daughter. That’s a fight I can’t wait to see.
- Claire and Jamie are going to have to save the Washingtons as some point to preserve history. Tryon’s info on the latter couple will be put to use and somebody’s hanging usually follows. That can’t happen to our first President and Claire knows it.
- That nosey waitress is going to get Roger caught up somehow. Either she fingers him for the rape that Bonnet committed, or she leverages another charge. That kind of “I want to speak to a manager” outrage never knows how to leave well enough alone.
So those are my thoughts. Do you all have some predictions for the rest of the season? Let’s hear them!
Outlander airs Sundays on Starz and the Starz app.
The post The ‘Outlander’ Reunion Tease and History Lesson No One Needed appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
By: Megan Maher
During the Aquaman premiere, Megan Maher of Black Girl Nerds had the opportunity to chat with guests of the event and capture their thoughts about the movie. She spoke with creative individuals associated with the film including; Ray Fisher (Victor Stone / Cyborg), Skylar Grey (Singer / Songwriter) for Aquaman), Rupert Gregson-Williams (Composer for Aquaman), and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (screenwriter for Aquaman).
Ray Fisher (Victor Stone / Cyborg)
What do you think a film like this is going to mean to the audience?
I think more than anything else, it is opening up a new world for superheroes, period. I mean, it’s the first time we have been underwater. They are creating an entire universe underwater. You can really do anything you want. You have seven seas, you can have seven kingdoms, it’s almost limitless. It’s almost like going to the furthest regions of space.
Do you think Cyborg would last in Atlantis?
Cyborg would. He’s got apocalyptic tech, which is capable of interdimensional travel, so I think he would be able to handle himself swimming down to the furthest point of the Earth. He would probably need to get some sort of face cover or get the cybernetics to put some oxygen in his lungs for him, so he doesn’t have to breathe. But I think he would be fine.
Other than Cyborg, who is your favorite DC Comics character?
Aquaman tonight, for sure. And I am a big Batman fan. I have been a Batman fan ever since I was a kid.
Skylar Grey (Singer / Songwriter)
What was it like doing the music for Aquaman?
I am very excited to have my first untitled performed by me, but also I wrote it with my fiance, Elliott Taylor. James Wan and I worked together in the past and he reached out to me again to work on this song. He kind of wanted a Titanic Love Ballad moment, and so I attempted at that. And then the melody of my song is used throughout the film during the love scenes and things like that.
Did you grow up reading comic books?
I didn’t grow up reading comic books but I got more into comics when they became movies. Like Batman, I am obsessed with and then I worked on the Suicide Squad movie. I did some of the music for that as well.
Rupert Gregson-Williams (Composer for Aquaman)
How long did it take to work on the music?
For about a year. I spent a lot of time with James Wan trying to get the differentiating sounds from land and sea. And we spent 80% of the time under the sea so, it was important to reflect that.
What was it like composing music with all of the action and environmental (land and sea) transitions in the film?
It was all really really awesome, a lot of this stuff is effects, so I spent a lot of time talking to James Wan about how it was going to be and once we got some of the visual effects in I had to revisit some of those areas.
What inspired the guitar riff for Aquaman?
Well, if you know Jason (Momoa) even on the set he would have his guitar by him. If you ask him what his favorite thing in the world is, its music and his guitar, so it had to be.
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Screenwriter for Aquaman)
Did the current social and political climate surrounding global warming influence a lot of the script?
Absolutely, it mainly came from what we wanted to get that across. We wanted the villain to have a point of view, that wasn’t purely villain-esque. And that was not just a mustache-twirling lunatic, he is the king of the ocean and the ocean is being treated terribly. You know sometimes when you get an issue movie, it gets a little heavy handed because the hero is beating you over the head with it. I thought it was interesting here that for the villain you go, “oh you know he is kind of right” and maybe how he is going about it, is wrong. But the issues are correct and when he and Aquaman have that conversation, Arthur has nothing to say you know, he’s like you know, “you’re right but this isn’t the way to do it”.
How did you all come up with the origin story for Black Manta?
We ended putting together a lot of different versions of Black Manta’s origin. Incorporating him into the movie, we wanted him to have an impact on Arthur’s character. You know because he isn’t directly involved with the main plot, but at the beginning, Arthur is not fully the Aquaman yet. He is not a hero, and he treats Black Manta, maybe the rest of us might think the way he deserves to be treated. You know he’s a bad guy, he kills people, and maybe he didn’t deserve to have his father saved (spoiler). But by the end of the movie, he has made this enemy now, he realizes that to be a hero he has to be better than us, he can’t give into those petty urges, like the need for revenge, he’s got to sort of ascend beyond them. So the idea was to create an origin for Black Manta that would motivate that change for him.
Aquaman is currently playing in theaters everywhere.
The post How Does Cyborg Feel About ‘Aquaman’? appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.