#85: Take It or Leave It
A monthly drop of things I love
Welcome to Take It or Leave It. Pretty much every month, Paid subscribers will receive a quick hit of things I’m loving. But this installment is free for everyone.
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Taurus season is starting with a bang. My birthday is less than two weeks away, but it feels like this past week was the birthday with everything that went live. But before we get into that, the past month has been action-packed. I spoke on a social media panel with Elizabeth. That was the first time we’ve ever gotten to do something like that together. A tree fell on our fence, so that was wild. I went to Austin for a creative retreat. It’s probably my favorite thing I’ve done in a while, and I wrote more about it here. Traveled to Indy for the men’s Final Four and National Championship. All my teams lost, but at least we had fun. Then, that brings us to this past week.
I’ve heard people talk about how there’s New Year’s, and then, there’s the real new year. That’s how this past week has felt. I spent the first few months of the year chipping away at a few things. Now, I see what I was working toward. I had a lot of fun things come out this week, so I’ll drop a list below just in case you missed them:
For Eric’s Track Ten newsletter, I wrote an essay about the throughline of R&B and Black music in Justin Bieber’s career. This is my contribution to Resurrection, a collaborative collection with Eric, Natalie, and Caitlin Doherty that traces moments in pop stars’ careers when they rise from the ashes. I had fun writing on Journals and how it makes SWAG possible.
Meighan Grady interviewed me for her newsletter’s Well Worn series. She asked me several questions about bravery that made me think deeply and gave some clarity about myself. I think you should read it, but don’t just take it from me. Natalia Cropper said:
“Wow wow wow. I devoured this! Alex is new to me but I immediately went and subscribed. Such beautiful words about bravery, had me tearing up.”
My dear friend Jaden Shah, one of the people who has helped shape The Album Club from the beginning, invited me to curate a playlist for his radio show, WaveSpace. That episode is out today, and I hope you love it. I’ve had the playlist on repeat in my personal life and think you’ll enjoy it, too.
Also, I interviewed Julien and Justen Turner of Dreadhead Films for my debut on the Experience Columbus blog. The Turner brothers premiered the comedy pilot for their show, FreeLance, at Sundance earlier this year. I’m thankful I got to share how Columbus has played an integral part in their story.
Alright, that’s all the plugs. I love you and hope you have a wonderful week. More goodness below.
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🎤 Dave’s Power 106 Freestyle
Hanif shared this on his Instagram Story, and man, I’m so glad I tapped in. There’s a lot of talk about entering “flow state” right now, but this is exactly that. Dave blacks tf out for damn near seven minutes. I want you to go listen for yourself, but here are a few of the lines that made me smile like Keith David:
“If I pass down my hustle, I can leave my kids nothin’ and they still be rich”
“I need antidepressants for the doors on my cars”
“We do Indian when it suits her, like Kamala Harris”
“I ain’t even bein’ sassy, but I really ate with that”
📖 The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Shoutout to Shivani for putting me on to this book. It starts with one of my favorite quotes from Robin Wall Kimmerer: “All flourishing is mutual.” She goes in depth on the “gift economy,” which she views not only as an ethic of reciprocity, but as a reshaping of our entire world. A revolt against imperialist, white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Kimmerer asks one of the more important questions of our time: “When an economic system actively destroys what we love, isn’t it time for a different system?”
I’m so grateful this book exists and appreciate how it gives an abundance of language for what it means to show up for each other and choose interdependence over individualism.
🥤 Shirley Temple prebiotic sodas
Elizabeth and I are known to sometimes forgo the fancy cocktail when we go out to dinner and order Shirley Temples instead. Yes, we’re aware of the ever-alluring Dirty Shirley. But sometimes you just want the syrupy goodness of grenadine floating around an ice-cold Sprite. One-to-two Maraschino cherries, of course. I’d go on record to say it’s maybe the drink of my lifetime. A friend that has stuck by my side since early days at the kids’ table.
What is inner child work if not co-opting my adolescence for the purposes of gut health? The new craze of Shirley Temple-flavored prebiotic sodas has descended upon our home like the plague of locusts. We taste-tested three different brands: Poppi, Bloom Pop, and the most confusing one, Stiller’s, which I guess is Ben Stiller’s soda brand? Who knew? No one needs to know because it’s bad. But I actually really like the Poppi and Bloom Pop versions.
Elizabeth’s favorite is Bloom Pop. I prefer Poppi, but the Bloom Pop is a close second. The caf at the office is stocked with Poppis, so they’re my work friends. And then we keep a case of Bloom Pops at the house, so they’re who I come home to. Both are good. Both are necessary. All of them aren’t the real thing.
🥰 Jill Scott & Tyler
When Jill Scott told Tyler, “You look like you’ve been loved,” I felt that. What a beautiful thing to see in someone and speak to them. This whole conversation is a balm. I love how they see each other throughout. I love the mutual admiration they have for one another. The smiles they bring out of each other. Jill telling Tyler that her son is dope and reminds her of him. Tyler eating that up. This is intergenerational. This is reaching backward, reaching forward, resting in the warm embrace of Black artistry.
🏜️ “We got Coachella at home”
Let’s start with a confession: I stayed up for Bieberchella two weekends in a row.
The second confession is that I’m happy I did.
And the third confession: I’m still suffering the consequences.
I don’t have too many things to say about the Justin Bieber performance that haven’t already been said (or that I haven’t already written about), but I do think it was the perfect way to honor this current stage in his career and where he came from, as well as the fans that have supported him from the start.
It was good to see Justin approach these weekends thoughtfully, especially within his preparation. Touring has been an Achilles’ heel for Justin throughout his career. I’m sure part of that had to do with the people he had around him—many of which he’s since cut ties with. But instead of pushing himself to exhaustion, Justin picked his spots. He did trial run performances on Twitch and did a small run of LA shows leading up to Coachella, and of course, there was his Grammys performance. It all paid off with the most confident version of Justin we’ve seen in a while. I’m not fully opposed to a tour if that’s what he wants to do, but I hope he took notes from Kendrick & SZA and pops up in a few major cities instead of doing a full-blown world tour. Ease in, and enjoy the moment.
My surprise for the weekend was ZULAN’s set. I had never heard of the Argentinian DJ, but I shot up as soon as I heard snippets of “4EVER” and “Gasolina.” ZULAN had a whole crew of festival attendees behind her like a Boiler Room set while she vibed out in a vintage Boca Juniors jersey. The energy was infectious, and so was ZULAN’s festival look. I ended up snagging my own CABJ kit on Depop. Only issue is they spelled “Maradona” wrong. And that’s why I still stand behind Depop being the bravest place to shop on the internet. Joke’s on me, I guess.
A few other highlights from my two-week binge of Coachella livestreams:
Dijon and Mk.gee on Weekend 1 (and them both popping out during Bieber’s performance)
Turnstile, plus extra points for how lit the crowd was
GIVĒON bringing out Kehlani to sing “Folded” and looking so giddy the entire time
Kacey Musgraves with the surprise set at Weekend 2
Addison bringing out Olivia Rodrigo to sing “drop dead”
Sleeper pick: Teddy Swims and Joe Jonas singing “When You Look Me in the Eyes”
Loved all of this. I've seen small parts of the Jill and Tyler conversation and can't wait to watch the whole thing. I love watching two people talking like that and can just feel the connection. So nice.
Taurus season baby! As a fellow Taurus I’m so excited for this season. Also, is there anything better than an ice cold maraschino cherry? Your interview was so beautiful. Happy to be here.