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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.
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Race War Part Two: Jimmy Shoots The Fair One

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Feb 18 2009, 10:00 AM ET Comment

Lots of people pointed out that I kinda dissed Jimmy, by selecting a bad version of "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" yesterday. I went back and listened to the original. It is, of course, fraking great. The weird thing is I'd forgotten how much I loved the harmony and back-up singing.  Jimmy's bad, no question, but whoever is singing back-up is murdering. And yeah, murdering is good in this case. The thing about the Joan Osborne version, as much as I like it, is that she completely overpowers everything. Jimmy isn't weaker, but he just melds in to the song. 

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