Your Favorite Rapper Will Fade Away Some Day — and That’s Okay
The best emcees never fall off, but that doesn’t mean they stay hot forever
Lamar Jackson and the Racism of ‘Running Quarterbacks’
The quarterback is now one of the best players…
Your Toddler Will Never Know Spider-Man Was White
Miles Morales breathed new life into the stale Peter Parker coming-of-age story. Children who look like him can now strongly identify
Black Gospel Matters — Because Gospel Is Intrinsically Black
Gospel is one of the only predominantly…
Awards Snubs Don’t Insult Black Art — They Canonize It
The Golden Globes overlooked ‘When They See Us,’ but the adoration we give Black brilliance creates more enduring legacies than any award
Masculinity in Jamaican Cinema Needs a Rewrite
Jamaican films often portray men caught between…
The LEVEL Pitching Guide
Welcome to Medium’s new publication for Black and Brown men. Tell us your…
A Definitive Guide to the Modern Bro, From Ironic Rap to Mega-Woke
White dudes think they see themselves in me. They have no idea.
How Pimp Culture Survived the #MeToo Era
From rap makeovers to movies, pimps are everywhere. What’s…
Jay-Z Is About to Redefine What a Man’s Fifties Look Like
Shawn Carter has rewritten the playbook and outgrown men twice his age. Does a billionaire have anything left to prove?
Parenting Tariq St. Patrick From ‘Power’ Isn’t Rocket Science
What would you do if this criminal were…
Frank Lucas Told Me Not to Forgive Anyone
So I never forgave him. Asked to say some kind words at his funeral, I respectfully declined. Here is the eulogy I should have delivered.
The LEVEL Man: An Introduction
The whole point of the come-up is to challenge yourself. We celebrate…
Jordan Peele’s Thirties Were Insane-and He’s Just Getting Started
The writer/director turned sketch…
When You’re 29 and Have a Broadway Sensation
With the incendiary ‘Slave Play,’ Jeremy O. Harris became…
‘Watchmen’ Is a Revolution — So Why Are the X-Men Still Afraid of Blackness?
The show is an…
Letter From the Editor
A note from me to you
The Boundless Optimism and Timeless Wisdom of Fantastic Negrito
Xavier Dphrepaulezz’s triumph is the…
Where Blackness Is Its Own Nation
"It's a shock, whenever you leave the U.S., to realize how much other people understand that history matters"
Traveling While Black in Florence
The most dangerous thing a person of color can do is forget they're…
Letting My Guard Down as a Solo Black Traveler
"That familiar scenario - being the only Black …
On Being Black in First Class
"I'm really sick of paying for customer service that doesn't seem to be…
On the Blackness of the Panther
‘In my wildest dreams, there is no king. I killed the king. The king…
Why We Should Look to Black Artists for the Future of Music
We’ve seen Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, and Chance the Rapper introduce new methods of music distribution—but they’re following a long line of…
The Jungle
On Guns N’ Roses and making nice.
I Met a Nazi on My Vacation
This past August, I vacationed for three weeks with my girlfriend and her…
The Night Is Yours Alone
R.E.M., soul food, and death.
This Is What You Get
On Radiohead, climate, and Steve.
Missy, We Owed You a Better Future
On rhythm, astronauts, and rain
Kanye West’s Impossible Album
Graduation