College football season is officially underway and for those looking to own the aux at their next tailgate or watch party, TIDAL released HBCU Homecoming, a centralized hub dedicated to the music, culture, and collegiate experiences at HBCU colleges across the country.
The playlists range by category to embrace the different aspects of HBCU life.
From Stroll and Step Songs with beats that get the intensity going, to Black Excellence which salutes the pioneers of past, present, and future, and Music Videos that are based on the energetic campus life of HBCUs, listeners will hear and feel the authenticity of these carefully curated playlists.
Y’all remember Drumline. Yeah, it’s all that energy but IRL.
HBCU Homecoming is one example of TIDAL showcasing its commitment to celebrating the different cultures that make us by highlighting their significance, influence, and contributions to the music we love.
The HBCU Anthems playlist
Including songs from the late DMX to songs that have become HBCU anthems by Wacka Flocka, these playlists do more than just set the scene for a perfect homecoming or tailgate party.
The Marching Band playlist
Bring the halftime heat to your dorm with this playlist compiled and curated to bring that drumline and HBCU marching band energy every time.
The Music Video playlist
Want more of a visual experience? TIDAL got chu. Bring HBCU throwback videos straight to the crib with this video playlist.
The Black Excellence playlist
Historically Black institutions of higher learning have always been known to breed and cultivate the brightest, most ambitious minds of the students who walk through their campuses.
Whether it’s a breakthrough in medicine, business, cinema, or every other discipline imagined; innovation and success are not foreign to HBCU alumni.
The Stroll and Step playlist
There’s nothing quite like a good Stroll and Step song to get the vibes going.
The House Party classics playlist
From Juvenile to Gucci Mane this HBCU homecoming playlist ensures to keep bodies moving.
The Essentials playlist pays homage to the perfect HBCU Homecoming
TIDAL has gone above and beyond to put together a complete curation of playlists focused on the musical contributions from some of the most notable HBCU alumni. (click here to access)
College students are dealing with a plethora of unfortunate circumstances right now in the wake and mold of this current crisis.
We were stripped away from our universities, our public scenes brimming with knowledge and enrichment. Some will never be able to return in a student capacity. Others had their projects halted completely; months and years of hard work just to be forced to abandon the equipment or tools necessary to complete the project.
The ability to coordinate, work, and learn online is an absolute blessing. But it is no substitute for interactive and immersive learning. And students and professors (after a few short weeks of technological, security, and communication problems), know this far too well.
This year will forever be tainted. In the history books, there will be an asterisk next to 2020.
For many of us, especially chaps graduating this Spring, we started off college to Donald Trump getting elected to the highest office in the land, and now finish off our college experience in the midst of a global pandemic. Where they do that at?!
The times are the times, but college students still deserve better. We wanted to take a look at three hindrances to college students right now, and in addition to awareness, hopefully, open up a discourse as to possible remedies.
Online learning is suboptimal
We are extremely fortunate to live in a time where technological capabilities allow for such diverse and massive functions over the internet. Schools are able to go on, many companies are able to tread water, and loved ones are able to stay in touch.
But learning, studying, and practicing online is no substitute for the real thing. Staring at a 10-inch screen is no replacement for the benefits of immersive learning.
Some professors are in their 60s, 70s, or even 80s, and shifting to a completely-online program is a task too audacious to complete. The results of such attempts have led to some pitifully hilarious, yet saddening, videos of people struggling on their video cam calls.
Students have also been struggling with the change in learning style.
Coordinating with professors, now, is extremely difficult and at the complete whim of how engaged they are during that day. Students trying to complete research or final projects have been thrown into a maze of madness.
Countless students are wrapping up their final semesters over a computer screen, forever forced to forego the entrancing qualities of walking through campus, especially as a college senior.
The game is the game, and everyone is doing the best that they can. Still, it cannot be overlooked how this switch to complete online learning will affect students.
Seniors get no real graduation
Beyond the emotionally crippling effects of having your last semester cut short, college seniors will not even be able to walk at graduation. With the social distancing measures in place, colleges are already preparing to hold virtual graduations as a precaution.
For years, you work hard through sleepless nights and grueling projects, with the vision of the cap and gown as the only light at the end of the distant tunnel. Graduations are joyous occasions, especially for families where a college degree is not a certainty.
Iran Cedeno is an engineering student at NYIT in NYC. He is set to graduate this Spring.
“It’s truly just disappointing. I worked my ass off to be the first person in my family to graduate from college, and to know I won’t even be having a graduation just honestly sucks,” said Cedeno.
“Gotta think positive about the whole situation, but that idea makes it so hard to even be motivated,” he concluded.
And Cedeno is not alone in his circumstance or sentiment. Working class youth across the country were ready to have a day to celebrate their achievements with their families. That celebration will no longer be the same.
For sure, 2020 will go down as a somber year. And college seniors are some of the people most unfortunate.
Emerging to a barren marketplace
Not only is their last semester of college a disheartening experience for college seniors. But now they must gear up in search for a job in a marketplace that has been upended and thrown into chaos.
Companies don’t know when the virus will subside. They don’t know when things will go back to normal. And companies are reliant on others and the general state of the economic and political world. Right now, recruiters aren’t pulling out their binoculars in search of hungry recent graduates.
In fact, many of those recruiters have been laid off, and more than 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks. Jobs are few and far between, and rookie college graduates are not at the top of the wish list for companies reeling.
We feel for college students right now, as well as everyone feeling the brunt of the effects of coronavirus. There will not be much of a solution until an antidote is created, and even then the distribution and recalibration period will take some time.
The best we can do right now is offer support to our friends, family and fellow citizens. College students may seem wrapped up in their own selfish desires, but right now we need love and support too. At the very least students deserve a rebate for the cost of the rest of the semester.
Applying to college is undoubtedly a scary time. There is the fear of rejection and the prospect of not getting into the college of one’s first choice.
More than this, some young people come from backgrounds or a set of circumstances that make the prospect of going to college and have access to a higher education even more daunting, difficult and challenging.
But that shouldn’t discourage young people across the U.S. from seeing college as a viable space to carve out a future for themselves nor should it hinder them from pursuing their dreams through education, in order to create a better life for themselves as well as for future generations to come.
November is National College Application Month. To mark this occasion, Reach Higher has launched its “laundry” campaign in an effort to encourage high school seniors all over the country to make the commitment to apply to college.
Celebrities and public figures, such as Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Nick Cannon, Bailee Madison, and more, have joined a social media campaign to encourage students across the U.S. to take the pledge and apply to college.
In exchange for making this commitment, these same celebrities and public figures have pledged to do students laundry for an entire semester.
Reach Higher is an initiative started by former First Lady Michelle Obama during her time at the White House.
The program looks to inspire every American student to complete their education past high school by attending a professional training program, a community college, or a traditional university.
Speaking on the campaign, Reach Higher’s executive director, Eric Waldo states,
“We want to see high school seniors all over the country make the commitment to apply to college. And we know that once they get to college, students will discover so much about themselves, their passions, and the world. They’ll take eye-opening classes and engage in campus activities. And many students, if they are anything like me at that age, will learn to do to their laundry. We hope seniors will take the pledge and apply to college this fall.”
Disclaimer: Celebs will not be able to do anyone’s laundry, but they do care a lot about students’ education so please sign the pledge by clicking here: https://www.bettermakeroom.org/laundry/
After being released from the Broward County Jail earlier this month, Kodak Black is a free man… again.
His latest run-in with the law reached it’s conclusion last week after the Florida native completed 7 months for violating probation in an arrest in January.
Now, via his Twitter, he is expressing interest in formal education, asking his fans:
As you can imagine, students from all over began to chime in with suggestions. The loudest though was the request for him to attend the University of Florida.
Seeing that Kodak has a knack for being in and out of jail, it makes sense that he has more constructive goals for himself.
Possession of a stolen firearm, rape, and child neglect are just a few of the charges on Kodak Black’s record and as he regains his freedom once again, one has to wonder if the classroom is the solution.
The notion of college as the end-all-be-all to make it in this world was a popular thought not even a decade ago. Now, you have major CEOs and billionaire entrepreneurs saying college is hogwash. The shift has been monumental and swift.
https://youtu.be/v5cKelfljsI
Even still, one has to admire where Kodak’s head is, and he’s not the first.
Nick Cannon began pursuit of his formal education at the age of 35 at Howard University and Chicago product Lil Bibby enrolled at Illinois State University to earn a degree in computer engineering just in 2016. Not to mention Swizz Beats recently graduated from Harvard!
Kodak, 21, earned his high school diploma while incarcerated back in June. If you look back on his Instagram at the time, you’ll see that even then, a higher education was always in his sights.
Announcing on Instagram: “I just received my high school diploma today and although it is a big accomplishment for me I am yearning for more.”
Seeing that he always has a way with words, educating himself more can only sharpen the rapper. Either way, let’s hope he stays out of trouble and keeps releasing music.
As for where Lil Kodak could possibly enroll, UF really does make the most sense. It’s not too far from his hometown of Pampano Beach and he was already rockin’ the varsity jacket in his video for “Transportin”. Could be hot!
We are in the second month of 2018, and Drake has already been full of surprises.
Drizzy of course blessed us with Scary Hours; a two track EP featuring “God’s Plan” that has been killing the Billboard charts and breaking all the streaming records. When did producer Boi-1da know the record would smash? He said,
“Instantly. With Drake, he never misses. Soon as I heard it, I knew it was going to be great.”
No lie, Drake is blessed. With his wealth and celebrity status, it seems like the “Controlla” MC is making the conscious effort to spread his blessings not only with his music. Imagine skipping class the day after the Super Bowl only to have OVO’sleader have the entire school in his music video. I’d be sick!
On Monday, Drake made an unexpected visit to Miami Senior High to shoot part of his music video for “God’s Plan”. If you are thinking they captured visuals inside classrooms or the hallways, then you’re sadly mistaken.
A drone captured all of the footage and of course students and faculty had their snapchats and cameras working overload. After the festivities came to a close, Drake donated $25,000 to the school and offered to help design new uniforms.
Drake’s philanthropy doesn’t stop there. After receiving multiple scholarships with an inspiring essay, Destiny Paris, a student at the University of Miami, thought she had reached the scholarship limit. Unbeknownst to her, Champagne Papi had another gift up his sleeve. Drake pulled up on Paris with a $50,000 check toward her tuition.
“Oh you gotta love it!” Paris shared her story and her encounter with Drake on Instagram.
No the giving isn’t over yet. Drake must have missed the memo that Christmas isn’t until December! This time, Drizzy was helping people with their groceries.
We have apps to have our groceries delivered to us. Walmart encourages you to shop online and pick up what you purchase at the store. We are encouraged to be lazy or as I say “work smarter.”
But if you are still an OG shopper, you never know when someone may, oh I don’t know… buy everyone in the store’s groceries. Yesterday, Drake ran up a check at Sabor Tropical Supermarket in Miami, Florida, spending $50,000 on shoppers’ groceries!
Imagine walking into the grocery store just to pick up a “few things” to have Young Money’s hottest act, Drizzy Drake, buy your food. Drake even stopped to take pictures, sign autographs, and help shoppers find what they need.
It’s hard enough finding a Walmartassociate to help you with what you need. The fact that there’s a superstar helping you shop is unprecedented.
Drake is truly living God’s plan and it goes to show that when you have, you should give. Not only does it make you a better person, it enhances the community.
We need Aubrey Drake Graham to keep pushing the Kulture forward and setting examples for younger artists coming into the rap game.
Update: The Drake blessings continue down in Miami.
Barack Obama has undoubtably brought a lot of attention to himself and his family, you know, being the former United States’ president for 8 years and all, but one family member out of the Obama’s is feeling it the hardest.
Malia Obama has been put in the spotlight over and over again, having her life and every move criticized by the media. Now, Malia is a student at Harvard, following her parents’ footsteps in her education, and is subject to more scrutiny than ever.
After breaking news dropped that Malia was smoking in a bathroom probably leaked by her friend, and- gasp- kissing someone who has since come out as her boyfriend, a new movement has rose from the ugly pits of journalism news and taken over the internet.
“Fucking get your camera right now,” overlayed the video, originally captioned that Malia was “firing off them O’s like a boss.”
The internet actually lost it’s mind over this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1i05oGuj7Q
Let’s not forget last year’s jaw-dropping headlines of Malia at Lollapalooza-double gasp– smoking weed at the music festival!
Both Malia and her sister Sasha have been scrutinized time and time again by news outlets regarding everything from their errands to their fashion choices.
“Let Malia Live,” has become the slogan that’s taken over the internet the past two days. The quote is referring to the disgustingly excessive amount of news reports and outlets that follow Malia, as well as other children of famous names and politicians.
Chelsea Clinton, child of former president and presidential candidate Bill and Hilary Clinton, and president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump have even spoken out, supporting Malia in her normal college-student pursuits, having been subjects of various news headlines themselves over the years.
Malia Obama’s private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better.
Do you guys remember being 19 and in college? Probably recalling some of the best years of your life, right?
So… Does Malia not deserve that time as well?
Everyone knows that too much media can be toxic on the mind, but at what point in history did it become okay to spotlight children and teenagers and their everyday life, growing up and learning?
Furthermore, Malia Obama is the daughter of the former president and first lady, both whom are Harvard graduates themselves. She is bound to be a young woman with a heightened sense of awareness, so I really don’t think we have to “worry” about her daily life too much.
I seriously give Malia props for the way she’s handled the media so far. Not once has she or her sister lashed out over the media’s watchful eye, always keeping to themselves and maintaining a poised level of sophistication that they will surely carry with them throughout the rest of their lives.
Obama’s daughters are, at the end of the day, people just like you, I and everyone else walking in this planet. Hopefully this will be the last article I cover of you like this, Malia, and here’s to wishing you a successful, but most of all fun, four years at Harvard.
Superbad came out ten years ago, but the important life lessons that the film contains are more relevant than ever.
For an entire generation of kids, Superbad was a sort of how-to manual on what to do, and maybe more importantly, what not to do, at the end of high school and beginning of college.
It is perhaps the great adolescent comedy of our time. Like Animal House and American Pie before it, but there was something about Superbad that was less overbearing than those films.
There was more of a soul to Superbad, perhaps because of the great introductory performances of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera.
Both actors had made appearances before, Cera in Arrested Development, and Jonah Hill in a collection of C-List comedies, but Superbad launched both of their careers as comedy superstars.
Superbad taught us some of the most important things about that weird time at the end of high school when life is about to change forever.
Teenagers are weird and growing up is weird, but with films like Superbad everything feels a little more safe and easy.
In Superbad we learned that sometimes people draw dicks, there isn’t semen on everything so law enforcement is a tough job, that not everyone drinks, and so much more.
As a sophomore in high school when Superbad came out, that shit was personally transformative.
Shoutout Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Evan Greenberg, and co. for making an absolute comedic masterpiece that defined and shaped a generation.
