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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Those who choose to judge, but lack pizazz

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Oct 2 2008, 11:00 AM ET Comment

After reading some comments, I went back and looked at that line about Wynton Marsalis. Blogging is one of those things where you really often respond emotionally, and sometimes, I find myself writing things (usually out of anger) that should be retracted. But I meant that line about Wynton. For better or worse, I'm a hip-hop patriot. I know only a little about what he's done for jazz, and so on that, I have no comment. But in terms of hip-hop, his flagrant ignorance was always distasteful to me.

It always amazed me that a guy could watch a few videos of 50 or Luda and then hold forth on hip-hop and be taken seriously. I'd love to see the response if I copped, say, Miles's Bitches Brew and then went on to talk about how much jazz sucked. I hope I'd be shouted down. But fair is fair, no? Ignorance in a three-piece suit is as bad as ignorance in a track-suit. And now some words from my youth.




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