Prescription Filled: Dr. Dre’s ‘Compton’ Is Bold, Busy, and Unexpectedly Radical
Sean Fennessey, Grantland (8/7)
Dr. Dre's album dropped last night. It's called Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre, because as well as being Dre's 16-years-in-the-making follow-up to 2001, it's also the soundtrack to Straight Outta Compton, which he's also in. Phew, Dr. Dre is back! Check out Fennessey's review of the record, and why it's so unexpectedly radical.
The Meme-ification of Misandry
Charlotte Shane, Matter (8/5)
In Charlotte Shane's opinion piece for Matter, she works through the idea of misandry as a meme, and why it's counter-productive from a feminist and POC standpoint. Also, Vice's new women's issues vertical, Broadly, has an ironic, meta, post-post-feminist piece up called Extreme Self-Care for Modern Ladies, that is self-deprecating and mocking, without missing the mark.
Getting Over Embarrassment
Pixie Casey, Rookie (8/4)
This essay on embarrassment will probably resonate with everyone. Rookie's Pixie Casey explains how she used to get all flustered about tons of things. "I consistently agonized over perceived mistakes, be they sartorial, romantic, or social (especially social) for most of my young life," she writes. #Same. Though Rookie's audience is mostly teens, their personal essays are typically pretty universal, and Pixie's is no different. Learn how she allows awkward moments to free her instead of dragging her down.
The Misadventures of Issa Rae
Jenna Wortham, New York Times (8/4)
In 2011, Issa Rae's web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, went viral. Four years later, and Rae is struggling to gain traction with her new show. Jenna Wortham does a kick-ass job of profiling Issa Rae in this piece, and the difficulty and frustration of trying to get a three-dimensional woman of color onscreen.
The New Science of Sentencing
Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Ben Casselman, and Dana Goldstein, The Marshall Project (8/4)
The folks over at The Marshall Project are at it again with another super comprehensive and chilling piece on the criminal justice system. Court rooms are on the verge of determining sentences and paroles based on risk assessments of the probability that an individual will commit another crime. CREEPY. Check out this article on the science of sentencing, and the awesome graphics that go along with it.
Kehlani Earned This
Naomi Zeichner, The FADER (8/4)
For the cover of FADER's Fall Fashion issue, Naomi Zeichner wrote a piece on breakout R&B singer Kehlani. "Earnest like Frank Ocean and louche like The Weeknd," Kehlani is poised to take over. Read about how the talented, tatted-up 20-year old went from living couch-to-couch to getting signed to Def Jam.
How To Be A Badass Muslim Female Artist
Ashleigh Kane, Dazed (8/4)
London-based zine OOMK (One Of My Kind), now in its fourth issue, is "empowering young creative Muslims and POC as they navigate 21st century Britain, girlhood and the ‘war on terror.’" Read this cool AF piece on Muslim artists and the way they tackle -phobias through art.
How Waist Trainers Became The Biggest Thing On Instagram
Rawiya Kameir, The FADER (8/6)
This piece on waist trainers and the people who buy and sell them not only discusses the strange world of Instagram merchandising, but the reasoning behind body modification, and the way that women take control of their appearances. Important stuff.
The Unbreakable Rebecca Black
Reggie Ugwu, BuzzFeed (8/7)
Rebecca Black lived through the disastrous virality of "Friday," for which people hated her, and even provoked death threats when she was only fourteen years old. The young Rebecca Black had to grow up really fast, but now she's eighteen and fearless. BuzzFeed's Reggie Ugwu tells us why Rebecca still has reason to smile. :-)