When I recently wrote that legendary 90s R&B group Jodeci was unbeatable in a Verzuz battle, I truly didn’t think it was controversial or even much of a debate. I thought, like I do with most of my thoughts, that I was just writing down that which was obvious...but not written down. I was getting my facts on.
Well, slap me silly and call me Susan because it turns out that everybody doesn’t agree with that? Marc Lamont Hill brought me on his Black News Channel show, Black News Tonight, to use me as a reason to try to convince somebody that Hi-Five needs to be in a Verzuz. And as it turns out, Michael Harriot, my colleague at The Root, also doesn’t believe that Jodeci is unbeatable. In fact, he thinks that New Edition easily beats Jodeci, assuming it’s a free for all—essentially allowing everybody not named Bobby Brown to take a seat while Mr. Brown presses play on his seminal, magnum opus of an album, Don’t Be Cruel.
As you can imagine, I disagreed with this assertion and well, as is prone to happen in these e-streets, we took it to the podcast. When I created Pass The Peas, I envisioned it as a place to do hoodrat things with my friends. There are a lot of very important issues to talk about in the Black community; I wanted Pass The Peas to be a place to talk about all of the other stuff, the stuff that brings us joy that might not change the world, but keeps us smiling while we’re in it.
This episode is proof positive of that. Michael and I spent an hour-plus going back and forth on Jodeci versus New Edition and then tossed in some trivia nuggets and musical hot takes. So join me and the homie, Michael Harriot, on this latest episode of Pass The Peas as we talk about a truly, truly non-important issue in the Black Community, R&B domination. Links below.
Thanks, Obama.