Episode 199: Hip Hop, Pop, and Mental Health with Clarkisha Kent

Episode 199

9th November 2018

Kanye West’s rambling, pro-Trump speech on SNL late September may have surprised casual observers, but by that point, his fans had heard both his outrageous statements and his frank talk about mental health for months. Charlagmane tha God lamented his canceled TimesTalk with Kanye on Instagram as a missed opportunity, writing, “Normalizing being mentally healthy is a conversation that I really wanted to have with Kanye because he’s been so vocal about his own mental health struggles. Unfortunately, I think to have that conversation with him right now would not be productive and a total distraction from the point of the convo which is to eradicate the stigma of mental health especially in the black community.”
Well, we’re going to have that conversation today and we’ll we’re joined by Clarkisha Kent, film and pop culture critic known to some as a “professional hater.” The panelists discuss Mac Miller’s death, Chris Brown’s history of domestic violence, Jay-Z’s openness about lacking the necessary emotional tools for marriage, and the expectation on black women to be “strong” and support their partners through these emotional breakdowns.
To be clear, we are not medical professionals.

Episode notes

Kanye West’s rambling, pro-Trump speech on SNL late September may have surprised casual observers, but by that point, his fans had heard both his outrageous statements and his frank talk about mental health for months. Charlagmane tha God lamented his canceled TimesTalk with Kanye on Instagram as a missed opportunity, writing, “Normalizing being mentally healthy is a conversation that I really wanted to have with Kanye because he’s been so vocal about his own mental health struggles. Unfortunately, I think to have that conversation with him right now would not be productive and a total distraction from the point of the convo which is to eradicate the stigma of mental health especially in the black community.”

Well, we’re going to have that conversation today and we’re joined by Clarkisha Kent, film and pop culture critic- known to some as a “professional hater.” The panelists discuss rapper Mac Miller’s death, Chris Brown’s history of domestic violence, and Jay-Z’s openness about lacking the necessary emotional tools for marriage, among other things.

To be clear, we are not medical professionals.

All Abouts

Margaret is all about Lucy McBath. Lucy is the newly elected Representative of Georgia’s 6th Congressional district. She is a national spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which she joined after her son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in what is believed to be a hate crime.

Karen is all about Sharice Davids. She’s one of the two Native American women elected to Congress in the midterm election and represents Kansas’s 3rd district.

Clarkisha is all about the Twitter beef between herself and other black critics and Rebel Wilson over Rebel’s claim that she is the first plus-sized woman to lead a romantic comedy.

Wynter is all about Season 4: The Dream Door of the Syfy channel’s horror anthology TV show “Channel Zero.”

That’s My Jam

Margaret – Jamie Isaac – Doing Better

Karen – Ariana Grande – thank u, next

Clarkisha – The New Respects – Something to Believe In

Wynter – Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl

With Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh, Karen Tongson, Margaret Wappler, and Clarkisha Kent.

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Produced by Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org. Edited by Shana Daloria. This episode was engineered by Christian Dueñas.

In this episode...

Guests

  • Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh
  • Margaret Wappler
  • Karen Tongson
  • Clarkisha Kent

About the show

Pop Rocket is a high-octane weekly discussion of the culture we all love to love. Join host Guy Branum and panelists Wynter Mitchell, Karen Tongson, and Margaret Wappler for smart, funny, sometimes sweary chat about everything great in entertainment. Combining comic, journalistic, academic, and digital media expertise, the Pop Rocket team will keep you up-to-date on what’s most exciting in pop culture this week.

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