Alpine Meadows, Tahoe, CA.
Bonus points: No F1 key
The N Word in the Bullpen
Richie Incognito, workplace bully
Rembert Browne, an AMDAL alum, has been crushing it lately on Grantland, writing informative pieces on sports and hip hop as it relates to pop culture (aka my dream job minus sports). Recently he wrote this article regarding the NFL’s decision to ban the use of the N word, whether it ends in “a” or “er.” Before you read the below, read that. I’ll wait.
Good, right?
Before we get into it, I want to say that I fully appreciate Rem’s
stance, both its content and the fact that he’s taking a position at all. These are awkward discussions to have, but if
we can’t talk about race in sports and rap, we’re pretty much fucked. So why not?
I won’t book report Rembert’s article since you just read
it (right?), but the gist is that to him, context matters and that a blanket
NFL rule does little to help the situation in the league and out of it. I fully agree, and because this topic hits as
close to home as possible for someone who isn’t black, I’ll try to put it in my
own context.
As a 30 year old rap fan, I often feel that the only place I get to truly enjoy rap is alone. I alt-tab music videos all day and crank that shit while driving down 101. And while I try to mumblerap along with the songs, when the n word comes in, I drop out like a crude radio edit. If white rappers Action Bronson or Yelawolf, who have half black kids, or Eminem, Mac Miller or Macklemore all refuse to use it, why should I? Tyler the Creator, a talented young black Los Angelino, has said multiple times in interviews that he wouldn’t care if his white friends use it. I doubt they actually do.
What about Drake or Obama, who are both half white? I’m half Asian and all Jewish, and while I’ll
occasionally make Asian jokes (FOBs are hilarious, Jews less-so), I rarely let similar
jokes slide from my gentile friends. Is
that fair? Not sure, but the way I see
it, I can navigate both worlds, because I have an Asian family and a Jewish family,
not a half-asian half-jewish family. So I
can only imagine the same is true for using the N word – it belongs to black
people not to me. And if someone told me
I can’t use a word that belongs to me in my free time, I’d be pissed.
But the NFL isn’t free time to players or coaches. It’s work.
And as a 30 year old resident Human Resources person working in a highly
litigious state, I’m hyper-aware of what is and isn’t allowed in the workplace. My heuristic is this: Does saying or doing something
make another person feel uncomfortable?
Will that discomfort land the company in hot water? Then don’t say or do
that thing. Pretty simple. Many of you
reading this have gone through sexual harassment prevention training and the
lessons are the same. Does saying or
doing something, even if not directed AT a person, make that person feel
uncomfortable? Then it’s off
limits. So I feel the same way about the
N word in the work place. Another case
study – imagine the following situations:
a) No
blacks employee, non-black employee using the N word
b) One
black employee, uses the N word referencing non-black coworkers
c) One
black employee, uses the N word while talking on the phone (presumably to a
black friend) while in the bullpen with non-black coworkers
d) Two
black employees, using the N word while talking to each other, same non-black bullpen
e) Company
of black employees, using the N word
Now imagine you’re the non-black person in the room. How would you feel? If I were to take the same test, I’d say in
all but the last situation, I’d be uncomfortable (in the last one I wouldn’t even
be there, but you get it). So back to the NFL – we’re somewhere between d) and
e). Now the NFL isn’t Beutsche Dank, so
employees aren’t as stuffy. And maybe
that’s why the N word on the field has gotten this far unchecked. But there doesn’t have to be many situations
to disrupt this delicate balance and it sounds like Incognito-gate was the
tipping point. If it wasn’t that, then it’d
be something I’m sure.
Point is, I’m in no position to opine on whether blacks
should feel bad or good when they hear the “n__a” and I’m sure Rem is right
that it all depends on who says it when.
And as a minority I’d be pissed if someone who isn’t my race tells me
what I can and can’t say on my own time.
But unfortunately work is work - unless it’s your show and you’re
willing to pay the legal bills, you have to play by the rules. Or take the 15
yard penalty.
When Infographics Go Awry
The confluence of current events, data visualization, rappers, and proving major news organizations wrong is the perfect potion to revive AMDAL:
The below video clip from the great people at Bloomberg. They are siting a graph that actually comes from Businessweek (Bberg giving no props, which will bite them in a second), which had an infographic of the above.
Everyone questioning all this should go to Businessweek and scroll through the comments - the trolls have it right for once. The chart incorrectly switches back and forth from net worth to annual worth, depending on what's convenient to paint the rapper in the worst light. Pretty terrible journalism on both Businessweek and Bloomberg's part. The real Forbes lists (Sparing you the actual Forbes website, as it is prone to induce seizures)
Annual Earnings
Net Worth
Yes, 50 Cent is still worth a lot of money and Pitbull is doing fine thank you.
Nardwuar vs. Hannibal Buress
AMDAL isn't dead, it just waits for the internet to catch up. When incredibly talented and hilarious comedian Hannibal Buress (who we've covered in the past, ah 2009) meets equally talented and hilarious interview expert Nardwuar the Human Serviette, the sleeping giant wakes. Both Hannibal and Nardwuar seem on their game this time around. If you want to lose a day, go backwards and check out every interview Nardwuar has ever done. In the age of the internet, I'm surprised celebrities don't respond to questions they've answered 100 times with "google it" or beaming them a link to the last 10 interviews where they've responded with some half-hearted answer for which their publicist has already prepped them. Not so with Nardwuar - this Canadian mastermind pulls shit from their past that has elicited surprise, horror and even anger (in BaBy CuDi's case). Since he usually covers musicians, many times the Human Serviette will pick up on artists that are buzzing, but often he will find acts who I haven't even heard of. If Nardwuar likes them, we probably should.
Anyways, enjoy the above. If you are more psyched on Hannibal than Nardwuar, check out the mini documentary leading up his first 1 hour Comedy Central special.
Anyways, enjoy the above. If you are more psyched on Hannibal than Nardwuar, check out the mini documentary leading up his first 1 hour Comedy Central special.
UPDATE: Ask and I shall receive: Rapper El-P at 1 second in:
"Can you just say to a m%@#$f4#$ "Just google me please. Google me and call me back."
Related: Noisey's "Back and Forth" is an exciting version of the interview - I like KRIT and El-P seems cool, but the A$AP Rocky x Danny Brown Back & Forth series is an instant classic (1-2,3-5)
Jan 20, 1992 was THE Good Day
According to Vulture:
"Using flawless deductive reasoning, Murk Avenue has concluded that the good day in question was January 20, 1992. The logic is as follows: The song, which was released on February 23, 1993, references Yo MTV Raps, which began airing on August 6, 1988, creating a potential five-year window when the titular good day could have occurred. The lyrics of the song also reference the Lakers beating the Sonics on the day in question: Of the instances when the Lakers beat the Sonics in that five-year period, only four happened on smogless days in Los Angeles. Of those four, two took place before beepers — also referenced in the lyrics — had been adopted. On one of the two remaining days, Ice Cube was hard at work on the set of Boyz in the Hood, leaving January 20, 1992 as the only possible "Good Day." Vulture salutes this truly impressive piece of detective work and hereby inaugurates a campaign to make January 20 a national holiday, complete with parades consisting only of tricked-out lowriders."
