this month, we doing it different y’all get a podcast and a newsletter. you lucky mfs, ugh i wish i was y’all right now. we did one with the young legend mars sebastien and we’re experimenting still with what different forms might look like and who else to do it with than my creative og, a friendship forged in fire, a visionary in his own right quincy (aka q) ledbetter!
q is a filmmaker, musician, jack of all trades, and one of my best friends. it’s been 5 years since we first linked so i figured “why not make some fire shit with the homie?”
maybe you don’t got time to read but you’re at work or on the train with ya headphones in, podcast is here for your enjoyment. we chop it up about…well a lot, lock in
oh yeah, I forgot to add this at the beginning of the podcast, and guess who’s too lazy?
the thoughts and opinions shared on “loosies” are based on experiences, lives, and perspectives of the individuals, not meant to harm, hurt, offend, or damage anyone.
assuming the best of the guest and host and allowing space to grow and change is the bedrock on which the show is built. mistakes and misconceptions are the beginning of the conversation, not the end. 🌱
shout out ashley, happy anniversary, seeing you happy makes my heart happy sis 🙏🏾
big ups kyra, valeska, and lee, bb writers no more, we onward and upward now, queens get the money, shout out to zeezus 👑
whole queens qrew - great season, wonderful finale, thanks for the experience to experience the world of queens (and help build it too) 📺
yerrrrp what’s good space force, feels like it was a 100 years ago but also yesterday, but we did it gang, shout out kim and lauren who helped me thug it out every day and tawny who’s officially on my dream collab list 🚀
big ups lucas, pauly, and jordan - we really was at that korean spot meated tf up (ayyoo), i’ll leave it at that 🥢
shout out mikey, ana, and my darling niece elia - feliz cumpleaños, elia!!!
big ups karen, making fine art now and damn mf good at it, y’all should cop on ig 🧵
biggest of ups to mars, or should i say “creative director mars???” always happy to see your rise and love worldbuilding with you, boo. also, you’re too nice at soul calibur, goddamn ✨
shout out miriam and leah, love that y’all intertwined your come ups and now get to work together on something that y’all both love. fuck academia. tuteezy 4ever. 🔬🎨
grandma aiche - it’s been two years since we lost you and i carry your tasbih with me every day. miss you ❤️☪️
big ups mo & ray, thanks for having me at jrp again, ac til i d-i-e ✨
so proud of dani for the upcoming blessings, they coming in!! 💃🏽
shout out aiko, loved that dani put us in touch, your work and commitment to the culture is inspiring and can’t wait to watch your rise 🤝
big ups shivani: you are a true legend, i was honored that we got to chop it up and i can’t wait to collab, however that looks 👟
all my love to jah and grace, can’t wait to build and grow creatively with you and maria in the coming weeks 🥲
joey and lili: miss y’all, glad to see peaches and cream is still lit, catch y’all at the next one🍑
shout out my mentee camryn, soon to be a breath of fresh air into the industry and a kind and genuine soul, glad to know you 🔥🔥
como siempre, maria, partner in more ways than one (wink wink, fire shit soon come) i love you so much, today and always. we’re all on our creative paths but i’m always happy to look over and see you next to me ❤️❤️❤️ love seeing you create.
“artistic freedom” is not synonymous with “letting creatives be freely ignorant”
new nickname: oscar milde
side piece culture and gas man culture have a lot of overlap, we don’t talk about this enough
wait, the amazing race isn’t about black people?
gps is just the cha-cha slide for cars
taco bell had its kanye moment with the wings, you can’t be in every lane like a florida driver
apparently we about to undergo a cultural vibe shift and i hope dasani “water” doesn’t join us
y’all mean that nfts are just pokemon cards for rich niggas, that’s what y’all been bangin on about for a year
i had a wild thought: “lofi hip hop girl for prez 2024” then i realized she’s way too chill to be an imperialist leader of an oil hungry planet killing nation
some of y’all larp as narcs every day
paramore is for the kids bro!
*hits cheesestick* if there are black leprechauns do they speak leprekaans?
jeremy o harris.
maybe the “free smoke” section ain’t the one but this isn’t necessarily a shout-out or plug either. you’ll never read this unless you’re really searching or got google alerts on, which i’m sure you do but…
you don’t know me, but let’s face it, google is free, my life is out there. full disclosure, we met at sundance 2020. we spoke twice, total of probably 10 minutes about ysd, slave play, zola’s premiere, but in those 10 minutes, you looked right past me for someone more interesting, which i’m used to from hollywood niggas, i’m genuinely not pressed about that. c’est la vie.
but hey, listen, you made something, it blew up, people are critiquing it. it be like that. nigga, i hate critiques too but it’s part of the game. but maybe, perhaps, perchance, if i may be so bold, don’t make a play about the sexual proclivities of a specific, solo uno, black woman, inflict it on audiences, and when black women critique you, you research them (lazily, might i add), try to drag them using your platform, fail at that, then dig deeper by lying about the popularity of your play’s second run. 0 for 12 at the tonys must have you in your birkin bag but i’m coming to this as someone who’s genuinely curious about you.
i beg of you to answer this: “who is this all for?” if it’s for you, sick, i’m happy you got this level of success with something that’s yours. if it’s for the “culture,” i defer to my first question, who? people who like being called niggers by sexual partners? people whose safe word is “amistad?” ok, lemme chill. if it’s a commentary on kink, what’s the comment? if it’s a commentary on dom/sub sexual fantasy with the racial element added to it, what’s the comment? race, needless to say, is a heavy topic to explore especially with some sexuality (and triggering visuals of an assault) sprinkled on top, so i’m just looking for a reason, as a writer, why this is important to you? interracialized sexual proclivity aside, what about the work is provocative and shocking in a different way than other work? and finally, if twitter is to be believed (and twitter can be as reliable as your rotten tomatoes et al. sourcing), is kink central to your work? not to pigeonhole you but truly interested. if it is, that’s all fine my g, but why do white people have to hold power over black bodies in slave play and, i can’t believe i’m typing this, the “baldwin bukkake” joint with you and james baldwin positively swimming in heavy white nut (double entendre absolutely intended)? i genuinely would love to find out.
art should be expressive but also accessible, and maybe that’s just me. i know you tried to get black people into the new york run by lowering prices and that’s not nothing but the fact that people are telling you that the point of entry for the actual content, your show, is confusing, troubling, inaccessible, etc isn’t nothing. and a reaction where you go out of your way to throw the cape on for l*na d*nh*m, drag black women who are entitled to feelings about their own representation, and come from a place of intellectual superiority and a supposedly richer artistic palette than the audience you’re trying to reach…it’s giving me cishet entitlement politics and kanye-esque unassailability which i don’t think is your intention but is absolutely what feel when i see shit like that.
art imitates life and i wonder what your personal in is to these stories and if you’re a provocateur for provocation’s sake or actually trying to say a message that your audience may be missing, not for lack of intellect but for lack of understanding what you specifically are about.
i keep finding people complaining about emily in paris and how they could be ignorant about this ukrainian woman in season two and i just want to explain that a lot of your 50+ year old showrunners are como se dice…ignorant.
i always believe that there is a holistic way at looking at art where people snitch on themselves and i’m just saying that if someone shows a consistent need to make fun of people of color, queer people, “exotic“ women, etc.…that’s reflecting the tastes and povs of the showrunner, the lack of power of the lower-level writers who might be more tolerant or whistleblow on some of this, and these stories and dialogue go through so many levels of clearance that when it lands on your screens, it’s been touched by too many hands that didn’t see a reason to cut that bullshit out
tap in to these shows and docs:
inventing anna - high caucasian scammerology content. julia garner went off and anna delvey got a $320,000 payday from netflix…*rick ross voice* stay scheeeeeming
the tinder swindler - high caucasian scammerology content. simon leviev ran off on the plug, 1, 2, 3…400 times…and is now doing cameos and still scamming. we gotta stop lionizing white scammers and start giving black and latino boosters, credit card scammers, and niggas who really rob people their flowers
pam & tommy - man, i wish pam and tommy gave a sign off on this story but i will say that our current normalized invasions of privacy and entitlement to the attention of celebrities have a line drawn directly from their story to now. fun series so far but i also hate that for them
jeen-yuhs: a kanye trilogy - watch it. just watch it. imagine kanye as a house and donda as the foundation…when she passed, kanye, with no foundation, fell and he has been falling since ‘07 and has been trying to grab anything (especially our attention) to slow the decline. i don’t say this to excuse the fact that mans is buggin right now about kim and pete and it’s giving manic episode energy, but rather than judge, i choose to try and understand and to understand, we go back to the beginning…perfect timing for this piece, excellent archiving.
got to dig into these books:
abolition. feminism. now. - angela davis
long division - kiese laymon
flaming iguanas: an illustrated all-girl road novel thing - erika lopez
and for the podcast listeners, the body and brain does remember trauma differently than other emotions; we seek warmth and comfort but survival reins supreme. that neuro is still in my bones y’all, don’t make me get out of my lane 🧠
note to the homies who rock with the newsletter:
thanks for reading. transition to 2022 was difficult but i’m trying to celebrate wins, shake off lingering trauma, and move out of liminality into criminali- i mean peace, joy, love, you know, all those forever 21 t-shirt type feelings. went from mamoudou to xannydou this month, to help with panic attacks and extreme anxiety so more to come on that journey as well as my knee surgery recovery as well.
mad love to y’all, thanks for reading. more fire soon come, watch queens on hulu, space force s2 on netflix, and keep ya eyes peeled for more art this year from me and the gang. here’s to y’all who take me as i am, not how you want me to be, how i fit into your narrative for yourself, and help me be more present. be back soon 🌱
build back blacker