HOLLA!

Coming in a little late this week, but hello.

HIIIIIIIII!

I traveled over the weekend to visit my grandfather in Texas and had great family time. To say my love tank and happiness tank is overflowing would be an understatement. Thus, this newsletter is a little late, but I wanted to spend some time sharing ten things I read/listened to that I thought were worth sharing as we head into the weekend. 

Here are a few things I thought were worth sharing this week: 

1. LISTEN: LOVING this new Soulection mix. 
   

2. LISTEN: ESPN's 30 For 30 Podcast "The King of Crenshaw" 

   This is an excellent four-part podcast series about how Nipsey Hussle's life, death, and legacy impacted the world of sports. The podcast also touches on black male ambition and creativity and touches on the cliche about how rappers want to be ballplayers and ballplayers want to be rappers, e.g., Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Damian Lillard. 

   Also, I loved this podcast so much because it shows how deep of a legacy Nipsey has left in his passing and how many people he touched. Not to be that old person who tells repetitive stories, but I can't remember if I shared this before in this newsletter, but I met Nipsey before at Roscoe's a few years ago with my uncle. I whispered to my uncle how much I loved him. My uncle then called him over and said, "This is my niece, and she loves your music," and Nipsey was so nice, humble, and gracious. Those sentiments were also shared in this podcast. Great, great listen. 

3. READ: I recently read a short story, "Evidence of the Affair" by Taylor Reid Jenkins and loved it. It's quick and written in a series of letters back and forth. Creative concept and highly entertaining. 
   

4. WATCH/LISTEN: Let's have a Yebba moment. Last week, Yebba released her debut album, Dawn, and what a beautiful album it is. I've listened to the same songs over, and over, and over: “Far Away” ft. A$AP Rocky, "Love Came Down” and “October Sky.” Also, last week, NPR hosted Yebba for her Tiny Desk concert, which you can watch here. 
   

5. READ/LISTEN: Say what you want about Mariah Carey's movie Glitter, which I think has been named one of the worst movies ever, but the soundtrack will forever be one of my favorites, e.g., Mariah Carey featuring Eric Benet "Want You," also this moment in the movie (favorite part of the whole movie). This article speaks about the never-ending story of Glitter and how Mariah believes why the movie did so poorly was because of 9/11.
   

6. READ: I discovered the most random but fabulous newsletter by Samantha Irby, which covers episodes of the Judge Mathis show.  
   

7. LISTEN: I still can't get over how beautiful the new Cleo Sol, Mother album is.
   

8. READ: Although I still haven’t finished Season 2 of Succession yet, this article made me excited for Season 3.
   

9. WATCH: Of course, Chloe would make my shared list this week. “Lord Have Mercy,” has been stuck in my head all week.

10. READ: How and why you should do a Life Audit. I loved the three takeaways that came from this article:

“One: to shift my time and focus my energy on the gems in my life - the people who inspire me most - and to work on inspiring them, too. 

Secondly: to find more gems and build a community around them. At the end of my life audit, having a community of creative collaborators and inspiring, motivated minds to meld with was the area that felt weakest. 

Last but certainly not least: I felt compelled to share what I learned and encourage others to try this exercise. If you've made it this far, I hope you feel inspired. There is so much you can learn about yourself in a single Saturday afternoon."