Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Nov. 12, 2011 at 6:22 PM
I’m guessing the average citizen only knows Paul Mooney from the hilarious Chappelle’s Show skits he made in the early 2000’s. But if you look at the man’s resume you will see that he has been a part of nearly every important black comedy in television history (Sanford and Son,...
Continue reading "Paul Mooney = Funny Genius" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Nov. 6, 2011 at 12:15 AM
Community is one of the few shows on television that will actually put minorities in their main cast. There are two African American characters (Troy, Shirley), a Middle Eastern character (Abed), an Asian character (Senior Chang), and a Jewish character (Annie). While I do appreciate the deviation from the standard...
Continue reading "Community Finds Black Janitors Hysterical...I do not" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Nov. 3, 2011 at 1:23 AM
White musicians have been ripping off black artists for a long time. Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and Eminem have all used black musical styles and repackaged them as their own. These three acts have also become far wealthier and more famous than most black artist in their genre. That’s not...
Continue reading "Why Minaj Needs to Stop Copying Gaga" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 23, 2011 at 2:09 AM
*These songs contain cursing Watch the Throne is the name of the Kanye West/Jay-Z super team-up album that debuted earlier this year. I have listened to a few of the songs, and they aren’t bad, they’re just not spectacular. Other critics have complained that the album focuses too much on...
Continue reading "On Earth as it is in Heaven: Jay Electronica & Immortal Technique " »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 16, 2011 at 4:25 PM
A majority of teenagers in this country have rock star fantasies, but how many of us have the courage to go balls to the wall after that dream? And do it without compromising our vision? Tyler the Creator, Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, Earl Sweatshirt, Syd tha Kyd, Mike G, Frank...
Continue reading "Help us Odd Future, You're our Only Hope" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 15, 2011 at 2:56 PM
If the occupy Wall Street protest has taught us anything, it’s that cops are not always playing by their own rules. Viral videos of unprovoked police brutality against innocent people have shown the world what minorities in this country have always known, cops don’t protect and serve everyone equally. I’m...
Continue reading "A Badge and a Halo: the TV COP Cliche" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 10, 2011 at 8:55 PM
Spike Lee is a film making genius and one of my personal heroes. While some critics have labeled him as too militant or critiqued him for hammering in his message, I believe the man is one of the greatest film makers ever. His movies are just downright entertaining. Every time...
Continue reading "My Top Six Spike Lee Joints" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 9, 2011 at 10:10 PM
*I make many references to "white people" in this article but I know that not all white people feel the same way about every issue. There are certain characters in pop culture that seem to connect with audiences of all ages. Han Solo, the loveable rogue from the original Star...
Continue reading "White Power: Can a Brotha Get a Cape Please?" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 8, 2011 at 1:17 AM
From the moment I heard “Calm like a Bomb” at the end of the first Matrix movie I knew I was hooked. In the eighth grade I tracked down all four Rage Against the Machine albums (I didn’t have an amazon account and they were hard to find ok?) and...
Continue reading "Rage Spread Thin: Why no Band Wants to be Like RATM" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 5, 2011 at 11:46 PM
When Nickelodeon brought back the 90’s shows earlier this year, they proved that people will always flock to the familiar. My facebook friends were celebrating this moment like an aging hippie who just heard Hendrix on their grandson’s ipod. There were so many posts about loving the 90’s and growing...
Continue reading "The Nostalgia Problem: Being Born is Not an Accomplishment; Finding Solutions is" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 5, 2011 at 5:24 PM
*The following is my personal opinion. I am not a music critic but I know what I like. Donald Glover may not be a household name to those who don’t watch Community. (You should watch Community) But I believe that he is the next Bill Murray. The man can turn...
Continue reading "Why Culdesac is my Nevermind" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 3, 2011 at 3:14 PM
*Over the summer, I was channel surfing and landed on the Disney Channel. The events that followed inspired this article. Pair of Kings is your typical light hearted Disney show targeted toward the tweener demographic. It is about two inept brothers named Brady (Mitchel Musso) and Boomer (Larramie Doc Shaw)...
Continue reading "A Disney Show That I Don't Hate!" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Oct. 2, 2011 at 4:19 PM
*Not based on actual science or math. There are many possible ways that one could be a nerd. Some people are book nerds, others are car nerds, and we can’t forget about the comic book nerds. In short, a nerd is someone with an extreme passion for a particular subject....
Continue reading "Cool to the Nerd Power" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Sep. 30, 2011 at 9:40 PM
“In a film which involves a lot of character deaths, the one actor of color will inevitably be the first to go." - tvtropes.org Don't act like you haven't noticed. Here are some famous examples from tvtropes: In X-men First Class, Darwin dies first. In Apocalypse Now, the two black...
Continue reading "Dead Bro Walking: Why are Black Film Characters Not Making it to the End Credits?" »
Posted by Isaiah Burwell on Sep. 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM
I don’t care how you try to change it or what context you try to put it in; I will never be comfortable with hearing the n-word in public. I don’t care if you drop the “er” and replace it with an “a”. I don’t care if it’s spoken by...
Continue reading "Why the N-Word Still Hurts" »
