The Skidatel Newsletter: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (Week Of 3/29-4/4)

It’s back, ladies and gentlemen. Five things, five thoughts, five verdicts as determined by the man called Lucius Black. So...who here is ready for another installment of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly?

1. Azealia Banks-I’m not personally a fan of her music. Things like that happen from time to time. But I respect her for simply being herself and being a Black woman who has a passion for what it is she does in life. The Bible says that one should lean not on their own understanding so I will borrow something my ever intelligent friend Jasmine said.

She [the homie Jasmine] says:

“...She's still super immature (which is exactly what she should be at 23), but every time she's asked serious industry questions, she lights up like a Christmas tree. It's refreshing to see an artist take pride in their craft/culture so passionately.”

No greater summary than that. Congrats on the Billboard cover. Gorgeous lady.

VERDICT: GOOD

2. J. Cole-I apologize first for getting into the amazing 2014 Forest Hills Drive album so late. But I got there and I’m thankful for it. Per his usual, Cole tells one great story after another. But what makes this album so unique is that there are NO FEATURES. Not a one. What makes it more unique is that he [Cole] is the first hip-hop a in twenty-five years to go platinum without any features. To put that in perspective...

...I’m twenty-seven. So the last time this occurred, I was two.

Wow. Cole world indeed.

VERDICT: GOOD

3. Manuela Arbelaez-The name doesn't mean a thing to you. If you Google it, you’d have an association. For those who are just reading this and forgoing Google’s power, allow me to tell you about her: this is the model on The Price Is Right who accidentally revealed the price of the car during “Five Price Tags,” a game that involves correctly choosing a vehicle’s value among five over-sized tags.

Arbelaez accidentally unmasked the correct $21,960 price after the contestant’s first pick, even though the participant still had two more chances to guess.

"It was a brain fart," said Arbelaez. "I just zoned out. I literally did not see that coming. My body took over and reacted before my brain had a chance to stop it."

The goof brought Arbelaez to tears and sent “Price is Right” host Drew Carey into a giggle fit.

"Congratulations, Manuela just gave you a car," Carey told the contestant.

She kept her job.

I guess we all have those moments and this is a very public example of it.

VERDICT: BAD (we all have those days)

4. Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law-Damn it. I fucking told myself I wouldn't get drawn into this. I’m gonna hit this quick and go on about my business. One opinion to express.

The biggest problem: this law opens a dangerous door. The legislation could allow for businesses to discriminate against LGBT employees based on the claim of "religious reasons". Essentially this is masking hate as religious freedom. Sorta like a hateful Halloween, if you will. And from there it can only go bad...especially if they all decide to dress up like “Christians” that day.