Neo-Buppies

(n.) \nē-ō-bə-pē\
What: Upwardly mobile urbanites conflicted by the challenges of keepin’ it real
Habitat: Conference rooms, ‘hoods
Pet peeves: Hackneyed Diddy-esque excess

I had to laugh at this piece in Radar Magazine. Every issue they feature a new “species” and this month it’s the Neo Buppie. According to writer Brian Marsh,

Jazmin & Neville

New York’s young black urban professionals are definitely upping their game. Rejecting the ghettoizing BET stereotype of the bling-flossing, Cristal-drinking playa, a subtler breed of brothers (and sisters) are deftly navigating their way between outer-borough neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Fort Greene and the minimalist conference rooms of Mahattan’s creative professions. Meet the Neo-Buppies. More Kanye than Ghostface Killah, they combine pedigreed educations, lefty politics and ‘hood savvy to infiltrate mainstream ad agencies and publicity firms but still go out of their way to retain the respect of the gully crowd back on the old block. Pulling off their tricky style – a cake-and-eat-it-too mélange of young Hollywood labels, crossover brands, and slyly understated ghetto flourishes – isn’t easy (you try keeping 4,000 fashion codifiers straight!), but it’s paying off. With Barack Obama poised to become America’s new baller-in-chief, dapper rapper-turned-actor Common dropping a new CD, and clean-cut crooner John Legend embarking on a new tour, this brownstone-dwelling, socially conscious crew is taking the nation by storm.

Funny and eerily accurate, save the repeated references to “ghetto” which I find annoying and simple. Not to mention how Marsh gets too hyphy with the hyphen. Whatever. Get your Neo-Bup on by copying Jazmin’s and Neville’s steeze.

Kill the messenger

Chris Rock came back on the scene last weekend with his HBO standup special Kill The Messenger. The special featured footage spliced from Rock’s performances in Johannesburg, London and Harlem. I’ve heard mixed reviews, but I thought it was hilarious. I watched the show over a friend’s crib with a group of folks and they thought it was a riot as well.

As usual, Rock touched on lots of current events, like the election and gas prices, as well as racial issues. He spent a good amount of time talking about interracial dating. It was all funny, as he started out talking about how a Black man would date ANY white woman, even Rosie O’Donnell who is a lesbian and a biggun. Predictably, Rock went on about how Black women hate interracial dating and really hate seeing Black men “step out” on the sisters. Sounded like the same old joke until Rock “revealed” the real reason Black women hate interracial dating: Because Black women are not attracted to white men. Make that average white men. According to Rock, we’ll go for Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey, but we won’t think twice about George from Seinfeld. Basically, as far as Black women are concerned, pickings are slim among white guys.