“Break records at Louis, ate breakfast at Gucci, My girl a superstar all from a home movie. Bow on our arrival, the un-American idols, What niggas did in Paris, got 'em hangin' off the Eiffel” -Kanye West, Clique

Washington, DC (BBR) - Time will tell if Kanye West’s White House bid is an earnest effort to assume the presidency or a publicity stunt to fuel future record sales. Regardless, his candidacy lacks national viability and it is doubtful he would attract enough votes to effectively sway the outcome on Election Day. However, Candidate Kanye’s theatrics run the risk of diminishing, and at worst, making light of the myriad issues roiling America today.

Ever since stepping on the scene with the 2004 release of his debut album, College Dropout, Kanye West has offered a searing critique of the altars of consumerism and entertainment where Americans worship artfully blending humor, theology, sexuality, eroticism, social justice, and politics. West, throughout his career, has held a mirror up to society, the culture, and himself in ways that has allowed me to look past some of his most outlandish antics. Why? Because I’ve seen through the veil of the theater and his perpetual “wardrobe changes” for what they are—naked attempts to keep the congregation (ahem) audience engaged.

One of my favorite Kanye tracks is “I Love Kanye” from his seventh album Life of Pablo, where he essentially tells his audience that the person we all fell in love with was really just a character he was developing, which is constantly being refined. Surprise! The joke’s on you.

Kanye Omari West is to Kanye West what Rudy Ray Moore is to Dolemite.

Before cloaking himself as presidential candidate, West’s previous wardrobe change was to eschew making secular and profane music, in favor of tunes that are spiritually inspired. Throughout his career, West has always engaged in God talk (praise, worship, and lament) explicitly and through innuendo. Even in some of his most vulgar lyrics, expressions of his faith can be found.

But at the same time, West was also aware that he stood on an altar and was the subject of adoration.

“When a nigga blowup they gonna build statues for me,” he raps on the all-star track “Forever” which features Drake, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. While West’s verse begins with bravado it ends with him mourning the recent death of his mother and shallowness of the fame he initially craved. “Chasing the stardom would turn you into a maniac, All the way in Hollywood and I can’t even act, They pull their cameras out and God damn they snap, I used to want this thing forever y'all can have it back.”

However, rather than retreat from the spotlight his antics would reach even greater heights, including memorably snatching the microphone away from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. His next album, arguably his magnum opus, was released with a 35-minute short film. The movie is about a Phoenix who falls to earth and becomes West’s girlfriend but has to eventually leave him to return to the celestial and heavenly world from which she came.

In subsequent years, West would go on to release albums and songs with titles like “Watch The Throne,” “Who Gon Stop Me,” “Yeezus,” “I am A God,” “Ultralight Beam,” and now “Jesus is King.”

It seems that West has also concluded that religion and popular culture have a lot in common. Indeed, for the past year or so, West has been holding revival style concerts called “Sunday Service.” They started as small invite-only sessions that centered around a gospel choir and testimonies from West’s celebrity friends. Then this summer at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, West held a sunrise Sunday Service atop a mound while dressed in a flowing tunic.

Isaac Hayes was Black Moses, now Kanye West is Black Jesus.

While not billed as a tour, West has taken Sunday Service on the road, including performing on the campus of Howard University during homecoming and at churches in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

It seems West has answered the question he posed back in 2010 through the song “Gorgeous”: “Is hip hop just a euphemism for a new religion? The soul music for the slaves that the youth is missing.”

However, I am critical of what West is offering in his latest manifestation. Beyond the recent embrace of right-wing political ideology, what is more troubling is that he is calling people to the altar to worship without any sacrifice. I find it deeply troubling that the white evangelical Protestants who backed George W. Bush—a man West famously declared didn’t “care about Black people” on live television—are now praising his music through various media platforms.

I don’t know if West, the faith leaders, and universities that have hosted him are making a mockery out of religion. But I believe that faith and worship should be tied to earthly and spiritual transformation. So, if religion ain’t revolution, then you are just getting high.

BBR ( Los Angeles)  - 2020 It has been confirmed by multiple outlets that 2017 Oscar winner and NBA legend Kobe Bryant has died at the age of 41 following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Bryant is reportedly one of a group of at least five people who died during a Sunday morning helicopter flight.

Initially reported by TMZ Sports (and soon corroborated by the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and other outlets), Bryant was on board a private helicopter with at least five other people on Sunday morning. It is believed, per TMZ, that a fire broke out on the helicopter which caused it to crash in Calabasas. TMZ also reported that eyewitnesses allegedly heard the helicopter’s engine sputtering before it eventually crashed. Even with these details, officials are still investigating to determine the true cause of the crash. It is unconfirmed at this time who else was on board the helicopter. Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, was not on board.

Bryant leaves behind a towering legacy primarily thanks to his 20-plus year career playing for the NBA team the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a five-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star selection. As far as his time with the Lakers is concerned, Bryant racked up many superlatives, including leader in points (33,643), steals (1,944),  3-pointers (1,827), free throws (8,378), and games played (1,346). Until Saturday, January 24, Bryant was the number 3 scorer in NBA history before LeBron James overtook him and secured that spot over the weekend. He was also voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008. He retired from the NBA in 2016. Following his retirement, Bryant won an Oscar in 2018 for Best Animated Short for his autobiographical Dear Basketball.

Chicago (BBR) Following The Last Dance, several of Michael Jordan's teammates were rumored—or confirmed—to have been upset with His Airness—including his capo, Scottie Pippen. During a conversation with the Associated Press, Pippen touched on these reports and his relationship with MJ. 

"Why would I be offended by anything that happened 30 years ago?" Pippen said in a piece published on Tuesday.

After the Emmy-nominated docu-series aired, sources started to claim that Pippen was "beyond livid" with the way he was portrayed in the documentary and blamed that depiction on Jordan. The Last Dance touched on the highs and lows of the Bulls dynasty. This included Scottie Pippen's contract woes and infamous moments like "The Migraine Game" in 1990 and when Scottie refused to finish out a game during the 1994 playoffs. 

"It didn’t bother me at all," Pippen continued. "It was an opportunity for our younger generation that hadn’t seen or knew anything about basketball in the ‘90s."

Yet there were some players who did take opposition to Jordan's account of events like Horace Grant. During the documentary, Jordan bluntly labeled Grant as the snitch who leaked information to Sam Smith for the Jordan Rules book. Grant responded by calling Jordan a "liar" before claiming that he's ready to "settle this like men."

Jada Pinkett Smith’s social media show “Red Table Talk” just got renewed, and spawned a spinoff.

What happened: Facebook Watch has renewed “Red Table Talk” for a multiyear deal for three years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

• The show will run through 2022, per Deadline.
• It will include Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris.
• Facebook Watch also added a new spinoff show called “Red Table Talk: The Estefans,” which will be hosted by Gloria Estefan along with her daughter Emily, and her niece Lili.

What they’re saying: Mina Lefevre, head of development and programming at Facebook Watch, cheered the move, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

• Lefevre: “We’ve been fortunate enough to be in business with such wonderful partners and are thrilled to expand the ‘Red TableTalk’ franchise with Jada Pinkett Smith, the Estefans and Westbrook Studios. ‘Red Table Talk’ is a shining example of how content, community and conversation come together on Facebook Watch. We’re proud to keep this conversation going around topics our fans care about.”
• Pinkett Smith: ”I’m incredibly proud of ‘Red Table Talk,’ and thrilled to build upon this franchise with my family and with Gloria, Emily and Lili. ‘Red Table Talk’ has created a space to have open, honest and healing conversations around social and topical issues, and what’s most powerful for me is hearing people’s stories and engaging with our fans in such a tangible way on the Facebook Watch platform. I’m excited to see the Estefans put their spin on the franchise and take it to new places.”

2019 headlines: “Red Table Talk” made headlines multiple times in 2019. Here are a few of the reports on those headlines.

• Jada Pinkett Smith admits she had a pornography addiction before she was married
• Common tells Jada Pinkett Smith on ‘Red Table Talk’ that he wants to get married
• Ayesha Curry says she feels self-doubt when women approach Steph Curry: ‘Is something wrong with me?’
• Jada Pinkett Smith says she faced ‘betrayals of the heart’ bigger than infidelity in marriage to Will Smith