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Old School Friday: If I Were A Boy

So of course, if I were a boy I'd want to be Theo Huxtable or Dwayne Wayne. Alas, they aren't real ppl. And as much as I love Shad Moss, he is also not my choice out of fear that I'd suffer from short man syndrome. But this was hard, because there are quite a artists I'd emulate if I were a boy. Sean Combs almost made it on, but I spared you. I'm not sure if I'd be funk like Prince, a crooner like Gerald Levert, or rock out like Lenny. And I also didn't include anyone who has passed away...because if I were a boy, I'd like to be alive.

My Boy Choices Pre-1999:
Nas... Yes, even during Snaggle Tooth Era. He tee-totals through different genres of rap, but is always himself and you'd be hard pressed not to find a message through most of his music (note I said most. Oochie Wallie is obviously not included...but that's a perk of being a guy, isn't it?). And while he hasn't diversified his act, is prone to antics like naming his album N*gger, he remains sharp in what he does and is married to Kelis.



Jamie Foxx. This man oozes talent...even when he wasn't a recording artist. Go ahead Wanda!



Sigh, if only Theo's rap career took off:



Join in on the Old School Friday Fun!
Anyone can join in on the OSF fun. Check out the rules here and peep other participants below. HAPPY Old School Friday!

AJ - BklynQueen’86 - Bria - CC Groovy - Chocl8t - Cooper - Shawn - Danielle Vyas - Dee - DP - Fresh and Fab - Hagar’s Daughters - Invisible Woman - John - Keith - Kevin - Kim - LaKeisha - LaShonda - Lil Creole Pimp - Lisa C - Mahogany - Malcolm - Marcus - Martin - MarvalusOne - Mike - Mrs. Grapevine - MsLadyDeborah - Pjazzypar - Pop Art Diva - Quick - Regina - Revvy Rev - Shae-Shae - Sharon - SJP - Staci - Tami - Tha Connoisseur - Thembi - Vérité Parlant - Villager - Vivrant Thang - Wheneva Whateva - Zenobia -

Why Black Men [Supposedly] Can't Finish College

Peep the link above for an Essence write up of an AP survey on "Why Black Men Can't Finish College?"


1/6 of me want to find the AP research so I can read the conclusions and have some more insight myself. I'm sure it's nothing that hasn't been said before...but it's nice when numbers back it up.

1/6 of me wants to find the AP research to discredit some part of it, because that's what I've been trained to do.

1/3 of me is (as I often am of recent) disgruntled with Essence for basically regurgitating an Associated Press project without adding more nuance and then having the nerve to title the piece so negatively. I'm not saying to go start finding excuses for black men not finishing college, but you can flesh out a news piece.

1/3 of me is extremely happy its pushing 1AM and I can excuse myself out of thinking because I should be asleep.

Most of the comments on the Essence website seem to point to men spending their college time chasing women. Do you agree that this is the problem?

http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/news/articles/education_news_why_black_men_struggle_to_finish_college