The times we live in are borderline apocalyptic man. Your competence is weaponized or reduced to nothing more than a "DEI quota", not because of any intelligent deduction or critical thinking on the critic's part (Charlie Kirk types, Rot in Piss), but simply because it doesn't matter how excellent you are in the "wrong skin."

^^^^^ this

Chicken or the egg tbh. Is it a result of colonialism or what we did to survive it? Can’t call it

its a good topic to discuss, i think it depends on what u mean by black excellence

like my parents both have professional degrees, u could call that black excellence cus its some upper middle class s*** but yea tbh it depends on what u want in life, cus that s*** will have u surrounded by white ppl living and dressing and acting like them to some degree, if u rly down with the hood that s*** wont rly hit the same

me personally i think the question is bigger than black people. everyone has to make sacrifices to find financial success, being black adds a dimension of difficulty because its harder for us to relate to and fit in with rich white ppl, im not far enough along my journey to make a statement on that

but if we just talking music, it depends on whether the artist has leverage to make their own decisions, and the wisdom to act on that freedom properly. if u a broke street nigga that s*** might not pan out cus ur literally being w****d out by your label, but if you have a entrepreneurial spirit and some cash flow its definitely worth it

yea this is a big problem. ive heard people talk about "diversity hires" and s*** like that, honestly it depends on what type of field youre in, in science from what ive seen theres not much blatant racism unless youre not being social or performing well, which is the heart of the problem, they dont necessarily see black men especially as a part of their caucasian culture so its harder to network and fit in

I’m a brown guy…so I won’t speak as some authority on it. From my perspective, idk what unanimously and definitively is considered “black excellence.” As an observer, I find it to be more of a problematic term.

Same people heralding D’Angelo in his passing would’ve viewed him as a flameout when he was struggling. It feels like “black excellence” is a very corporatized term. It really rewards polished figures at the expense of those who struggle.

Which I think puts it, as a term and how it’s used generally in the mainstream, at a head with great artistry which is often born out of struggle. Struggle is not a pretty thing. There’s not a glamorous way to struggle. And I feel “black excellence” lends itself to glamor in the mainstream.

Anyways, I would term D’Angelo’s legacy and journey climbing out of his low spot as more than whatever the term “black excellence” has come to be quantified as.

Sometimes when I see black people who have made it from different backgrounds I have a deep urge to want to know what conversations they’re having.

Like when Neymar and Travis were team Jordan together or when Rocky, Schoolboy Q, and Danny brown linking up back in 2013

feel like it's always been borderline apocalyptic.

because IMO it's pretty dystopian/apocalyptic that in order to be great you gotta pretty much sacrifice your entire wellbeing

it's gotta be f***ed up to have to be beaten as a child in order to amount to a sense of "greatness" that could easily be taken down via a potential lie. It's gotta be f***ed up to have to pretty much be coerced to be damn near naked in a video to be thrusted into a sense of greatness you never even wanted in the first place.

The environment has been sick for quite a while. The way this industry/country/the world has been ran for like...the last century was never sustainable in the sense of an increase of human decency.

This society wasn't really built for living and that's why all the dreamers keep dying early.

It's often disregarded just how difficult the industry was for a black man in MJs case, because most now just see the barriers he smashed through

The further you excel as a black man, at least in spaces also frequented by white people, the more you’re placed in positions where you’re told to be careful not to offend the white people around you. that cognitive dissonance is disheartening

Shrink and don’t take up any space

Black people are spectacles
This has been the case since the dawn of time. the whole system collapses without having an other

This is actually where ship really went south and now we got digital AI black fishing LMAO

I don’t know, man it’s something extremely harrowing to see nihilism from one of our greatest black minds. To say you “give up on blacks in America” is chilling dog

Yall niggas are going too hard on a woman that witnessed more psychological damage and domestic terroristic war crimes than any of us can imagine. I’m not gon s*** on her for reacting like she has to all of said damage. (L

Most people from that era that are still living, if u meet em, they not well. Allegedly, i know some family members that got to talk to assata rest in peace)

It's sad to see, artists like 21 Savage listen to RnB and are actually very concious if you hear his views, but because of stereotypes plays a caricature that sells to the mass public. It's a double edged sword, you get rich off the image from your struggle while also being is a negative role model to the community you're trying to help. I don't think any other culture has to think about this.

I don’t think I was grossly mischarazterizing what she said though.

Yes not only does everything you speak up for get swatted down by your own people "Oh he/she don't speak for us!"(we know but people love pointing it out every chance they get) You gotta be the spokesperson and not be at the same time

there are legit people who are jealous and try to drag you down just cause they are part of the same community, its weird

Amazing thread idea and post @insertcoolnamehere

yea I think about this often too as a Palestinian artist esp but like the fact that you as an entertainer are held to the standard of essentially being a face of not only your local community but your race in general and if your not still held to a ridiculous standard of purity, often being dehumanized to the level one is, is quite a unique s***ty struggle esp because how can someone really be fully immersed confidently into their art with all that loaded in all those aspects you have to take into account? It’s draining.

Esp since most black artists in music make it through rap music since it’s the least gatekept from black creators (relatively lol), the most embedded in their culture, and prolly just what they like or whatever and the label of rapper carries so much like prejudice racial undertones like “yea im a rapper” is not seen as prestigious in any sense yet your living around old white CEOs and 9 hours a day in the studio even though music doesn’t even sound good to you this week lol just for one album to possibly take you back to the s***ty institutionally enforced conditions you still mentally can’t take yourself out of lol. When I speak to artists it seems like just such a dif experience based on your background

I think about this a LOT and I really f***ing hate it esp as a queer Palestinian artist lol that’s a whole different discussion of careful and volatile I wish I had some kind of reference of someone that isn’t a traitor like dj khaled lol. It’s a shared thing where someone’s people is more of a political concept to a lot of people to watch in a museum than it is a person, to a more radical degree than other entertainers.

I hate that Diddy has ruined “black excellence”

And let’s not forget Bill Cosby’s Pound Cake speech.