THE RSRVS.

role players only.

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100 Favorites, 2025

1. $ilkMoney — Who Waters the Wilting Giving Tree Once the Leaves Dry Up and Fruits No Longer Bear?

2. Dijon - Baby

3. Kody Phillips’ Rip Van Kodys (Waxed denim)

4. Anne et Jean-Francois Ganevat 'Cuvee Florine'

5. Dodgers-Blue Jays Game 7

6. Amaarae — Black Star

7. BOY! It’s Out the Mud, We got Rashad McCants

8. All the homies at Skin Contact and Cellar 36

9. No Sense in Wishing by Lawrence Burney (Novel)

10. This tweet

11. Clipse’s return and reign

12. The Mike Brown-led New York Knickerbockers

13. Watching Asher & Alex get married in Greenpoint

14. The dog dancing in the corner meme

15. Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s “You will wonder if we would have been friends” exhibition at Noguchi Museum

16. The day Bragg got a new job

17. Benicio Del Toro and the skater scene in One Battle After Another

18. Retaking piano lessons in West Village

19. Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

20. The African Aesthetic: Keeper of the Traditions (Lucas, you won’t see this but THANK YOU)

21. IT: Welcome to Derry

22. 99 Records in Mexico City

23. Katt Williams’ Stevie Wonder story

24. Finding the Sweetback album on vinyl

25. Pablo Torre Finds Out

26. 🗣️FAHHHH sound effect

27. Teedra Moses performing Be Your Girl for Color Studios

28. Bone marrow tacos at Tacos Del Valle

29. Kenny Mason’s verse of MAVI’s Typewriter

30. The Amazon Prime NBA crew

31. LEGO botanical succulents collections (thank you Clinton)

32. Buttermilk pancakes at Lalo!

33. 454 performing Globetrotter live at Irving Plaza for MIKE’s Artists of the Century tour

34. UNKWNZJ Paintings

35. Luke’s wedding in Guatemala

36. Stephen A Smith shooting a crooked nurse on General Hospital

37. Getting stood up at Leo and discovering Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins) L'As des années

38. Josh, Kev and Elijah celebrating my birthday at The Foundry

39. Joshua Mohamed FW25 collection

40. Nigel Sylvester’s Brick by Brick sneaker

41. The 2025 NBA Finals

42. Woodworking classes in Gowanus

43. “Cornbread-off” during Juneteenth

44. Bong’s crispy whole fish and lobster

45. How did Mike Trout, the best baseball player of his generation, fade away?

46. The Indiana-Penn State football finish

47. Le Labo Tabac 28

48. Watching Cam Ward play football

49. The HK Black Pepper dry aged burger at The Flower Shop

50. Mac DeMarco - HOLY

51. Club Soda pop-up at Rude Mouth

52. New D’Angelo leaks surfacing on YouTube

53. Stephen Ford’s shot of Bob’s on Heat’s 30th anniversary

54. Sinner vs Alcaraz French Open final

55. BALD NIGGA BALD NIGGA BALD NIGGA

56. Malia Obama directing a commercial for A’ja Wilson’s A’One signature shoe

57. Becoming close friends with Erin and Archer

58. Sherrone Moore’s downfall

59. Learning Chad Hugo played saxophone on Jay-Z’s City is Mine

60. Sirayah Shiraz

61. Korean broadcast call of Jalen Brunson’s series game winner against Pistons

62. Bill Bellamy telling the story of Jim Brown getting body slammed on the set of Any Given Sunday

63. Niontay — Fada<3of$

64. Marty Supreme

65. Cam Newton “People Not Gon Keep Being Patient With You” video

66. The Playing in Freddie Freeman’s veneer closet tweet

67. Brian Kelly getting fired

68. Jaylen Brown’s hair dye rubbing off on NBA players’ jerseys

69. Hinoki Fantome candle from Boy Smells

70. Panda Bear Tiny Desk concert

71. The R. Kelly I’m a Flirt remix story

72. Sticky Fried Chicken at Altar

73. Toga Virilis loafers

74. PHILLLLLTHY

75. Anderson Paak’s hook at Ensalada

76. The word “lashings”

77. Ohtani’s three home run, 10 strikeout game against the Brewers

78. KD talking about why he responds to Twitter trolls on Court of Gold

79. Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South playing an arrangement of Shai’s “If I Ever Fall In Love”

80. Hannan Hussain’s art direction for Clipse’s “So Be It” and “Ace Trumpets” music video

81. Watching Cam Spencer do anything

82. billy woods - GOLLIWOG

83. Carmelo Anthony inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

84. Dom Kennedy show at Racket in New York City

85. Masterwen028 TikTok covers

86. The Wayans family's speech at the NAACP Image Awards

87. The sample on The Weeknd’s Enjoy the Show with Future

88. Marcus Freeman getting compared to Veeze

89. Baba on Withers

90. The Luka Doncic trade

91. The Jabroni Negroni at Grand Tavern

92. Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

93. Stars in East Village

94. Mad Radio in Williamsburg

95. Noah flourishing with Store Run Radio

96. Dolce & Gabbana Devotion

97. Honeycomb Hi-fi Lounge

98. Drinking Fortaleza Tequila at Chavelas and Bragg, Sandy and Jake joining randomly

99. The Bergamot lamp from Lucy’s

100. Converse SHAI 001 "Hail Clay" sneakers

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kenny went to the moon on this

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Nas - Come Get Me (Live on the Chris Rock Show) (1999)

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Questlove's Okayplayer blog post, discussing the making of D'Angelo's Voodoo.

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100s — Middle of the Night

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(via Shane Ramos)

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Hey, it may be random but do you have any book recommendations? I've just read your post about Ka. I have this unwritten rule, that I always wanna hear recommendations from people, who hold certain personas, that I also do, to such a high regard. The more books, the better.

much luv

Thank you sincerely for this question. I’m usually all over the place with books, similar to how I absorb music. Right now, I’m finishing The Power Broker by Robert Caro but here are a couple books I read this year:

Those Who Saw The Sun by Jaha Nailah Avery

Rap, Hip Hop and The New World Order by Keidi Awadu

The Tao of Wu by RZA

Black Music by Amiri Baraka and LeRoi Jones

The Streets Were Paved with Gold by Ken Auletta

Music Is the Weapon of the Future by Frank Tenaille

Dilla Time by Dan Charnas

The Joy of Drinking by Barbara Holland

LeBron by Jeff Benedict

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

My brain is mush at the moment but those are just a few standouts off the top. A lot of times, I’m just revisiting my old Source and XXL magazines from 15-20 years ago and re-reading the editorials and cover stories. Puts time in perspective for me. If I think of any others, I’ll report back.

Thanks.

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RIP Ka.

I had to take a day to process my thoughts because this is a loss so profound for me, I still can’t fathom it.

Ka was an absolute genius of a writer. If you removed the production, you’d still get these literary gems and life lessons that seemed as if they came from some hidden biblical scroll that you weren’t supposed to hear or see. He made language sound like our greatest gift. He delivered lines so brilliant yet devoid of showiness to the point they sounded pedestrian to him. He spoke of pain, grief and death in such a concise and transparent manner that it made me question why I was incapable of expressing my hardships in a similar fashion. He could pack decades of wisdom into a single 10-word bar and make it sound like God wrote it himself. He was a master craftsman; economical and so matter-of-fact as if he was some wise old sage who had seen it all. And he did it all while serving as a firefighter in New York, which only added to his “everyday man” legend. The first time I heard Grief Pedigree at UConn in 2012, everything changed. My pursuit of literature as a degree and a career in writing is almost entirely indebted to KA.

i was having a conversation with a friend not too long ago about how rap still isn’t truly seen as an art form. It’s “entertainment” to most, but rarely is taken serious outside of its ecosystem. Despite its popularity, rap isn’t considered real literature, that belongs in the likes of, say, Shakespeare. Hell, even more recent writers like James Baldwin or George Orwell. With all due respect to them, I never grew up with their work nor were I alive when they made an impact on American society.

But Ka was there; and very much alive. He was the North Star. If a new Bible ever surfaces, I truly believe that Ka will be in it. He was a true philosopher poet with unwavering personal and artistic integrity; who gave artists and regular people the blueprint on how to hold your art and community in high regard without compromising an ounce of who you are. He was a man of the people who seemed to have this gift from God that he continuously sharpened and never once took for granted. And it might sound crazy, but it felt like he was getting better. The Thief Next to Jesus was easily in my AOTY convos, such as most of his albums were, but he finally seemed to be getting the ears that he so desperately yearned for, which makes the news that much more heartbreaking.

Ka is one of the greatest writers and poets this world has ever had the honor of hearing. I will miss him terribly. May his words, music, wisdom and brilliance live in eternity.

Kaseem Ryan (1972 - 2024) 🕊️

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Brown Sugar. July 3rd, 1995.

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André 3000 & Kate Moss for Rolling Stone (2004)

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RIP, Willie.

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The Logo. RIP Jerry West

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