Stuff White People Like is the first blog I have laughed at in a long, long time. The blog, which is becoming exponentially more popular by the day, lists–well–stuff white people like:

Knowing what’s best for poor people [SWPL #18]
Juno [SWPL #57]
Being the only white person around [SWPL #71]
Mos Def [SWPL #69]

In a prose which appears to be a hybrid between academic and journalistic tones, SWPL deconstructs the reasons for white peoples’ adoration of these particular subjects. Take the subject “Being an expert in YOUR culture [SWPL #18],” for example, which considers the white person’s ongoing quest for authenticity and desire to separate themselves from the guilt related to their legacy:

“It is imperative that you recognize how special and unique this white person is for knowing about your culture. Acceptable responses include ‘Wow, I’ve never seen white people order chicken feet,’ or ‘How did you find out about that film? I didn’t think they had dubbed it yet.’”

Of particular interest is the immediate popularity of the blog, which was launched shy of two months ago and has already logged over two million views. Part of its ongoing draw likely comes from the endless, masturbatory and over-analytical conversations that occur on each post’s comment message boards (that I have, admittedly, engaged in). If this dialogue weren’t so typically dense, serious, or off mark, it would likely be as funny as the blog itself. Take for example the commentary that came when then the blog attributed a liking of Mos Def to white people:

“You know what else white people like? They like to create ‘ironic’ blogs. So white, these blogs full of irony!”

“You’ve got the young trendy Democrats down, but I think you’re forgetting the other, less-PC bunch.”

“Imagine if I, as a white guy, started a blog called ‘Stuff black people like,’ and filled it with watermelon, fried chicken, dancing, gold teeth, cheap beer, pimping, etc.”

(more…)

American Gangster hit the DVD shelves on February 19th, and TRACE has 5 extra freebies to give away! We were on top of our game when we predicted the pending frenzy over the film, and interviewed its rising stars in our Sporting Life issue. With an all-star cast (Denzel Washington, Russel Crowe, and James Brolin) and a story based on one of Harlem’s most notorious crime bosses, the film was a box office hit. To get your own free copy, email TRACE’s Web Editor at lmarcus@trace212.com. We only have a couple handfuls of these DVDs, so get your own copy fast before all the gangsta glory is gone.

For those of you who frequently associate the word ‘hunger’ with a craving for soulful nourishment, Hermann Deza aka Hermosdef, the Paris-born photographer with roots in Africa’s Ivory Coast brings a uniquely fresh visual aesthetic to the table. Imagine being hit by the smell of roasting spices, and burning charcoal after you’ve been starved for days. Yeah… that’s the kind of soul food he’s offering you. With rich tones and striking intensity, his fashion and music photography will no doubt feed your lust for something new. There is an unmistakably intimate quality to Hermosdef’s portraits, which clearly draw their power from his deep familiarity with the world his subjects live in. As one of the members of French Hip-hop crew, Jazzeffiq, he’s in fact an integral part of the world he documents.

Photographers working with living subjects must keep their awareness in the absolute moment. They have to be ready to take a slice out of a streaming sense of reality, a frozen image of life, that will be powerful enough to make a lasting trace on our memory. To be able to capture the most open and vulnerable moments of human expression, takes someone who is finely attuned to the subtle realm of emotions and has a deep love for his subjects. Hermosdef has clearly got what it takes. His portraits are fragments of many souls - raw and beautiful. Check’em at his website.