Unruly Subjects
Unruly Subjects is a weekly show about politics and culture hosted by Chenjerai Kumanyika, media professor and Peabody Award-winning audio journalist. Each week, Chenjerai makes sense of the week’s struggles with some of his favorite people - thinkers, journalists, friends, and folks who can help us laugh through the pain.
The show is created in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Support Unruly Subjects at Patreon.com/UnrulySubjects
Unruly Subjects
Jack Harlow’s "Blacker" Comments: Unpacking the Fallout with D Noble
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This week on Unruly Subjects, Chenjerai is joined by his close friend Professor D Noble to unpack the viral fallout surrounding white rapper Jack Harlow. Following Harlow’s move into Neo Soul with his new album Monica, Chenjerai and Professor Noble dive into the controversy sparked by Harlow’s recent interview on the New York Times’ Popcast, where he claimed he has "gotten Blacker."
Go beyond the individual critiques of Harlow and go deeper to analyze how the "post-Not Like Us" landscape has changed the rules for artists, and who actually controls the means of Black cultural production. In other words who really controls access to the "Cookout?” And, of course, it wouldn't be Unruly Subjects without some levity—Chenjerai and D Noble spend some time riffing on the hilarious and biting nicknames that have popped up as the internet trolls Harlow, including Jan 6 Mafia, A Clan Called Quest, and Musiq Rothschild.
☎️ Got a better nickname for Jack Harlow than Jan 6 Mafia?
Call the UNRULY HOTLINE and let us know—we might play the best ones on the next episode: 215-436-9212
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Unruly Subjects is created in partnership with Rowhome Productions