I just don't know if men in any other ethnicity have to face the daily Upside Down-ness like a black man. A series of recent "headlines" in pop black culture, or Black Culture, just drove me into a state of paralysis - "This can't be life stuff." From Drink Champs beef, Verzuz conflict, 50 Cent's ever-growing content on STARZ Network, and the views expressed in new music like a record on Westside Gunn's Hitler Wears Hermes 8 one just can't help but wonder what's the personal toll associated with remaining a consumer of all this content. And then on the other hand, let's take a look at this Willie Lynch-esque "Richard Snipp" letter discussed in a recent Delano Squires article on The Blaze (TV) site. With autumn arriving, outdoor cycling is quickly winding down, but there's a new edition to the Wood stable.  

Stephen A. Smith's ESPN takeover is historic stuff. The recent First Take shake-up reassigned Max Kellerman to some new ventures, and it's simply amazing what Smith has been able to accomplish as the face of sports personalities. Speaking of brothers making history, let's take a look at how the forthcoming motion picture King Richard will solidify the father of Venus and Serena Williams as one this century's ground-breaking black men. True to "It's Always Personal", as I listen to new music week after week, it's startling how far we've moved away from the possibility of the crafting of such a universally respected hip hop album like A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory. Tribe's sophomore classic is the life soundtrack of this podcast's host. In the intro, we'll get into the benefits of "drafting" in cycling as a means of having success in various personal endeavors. 

Album reviews on It's Always Personal... WHY??? There may not be anything more personal for me - outside of my marriage and small fam/friends circle - than my lifelong relationship with music. As a single parent child, a middle son, when my mom was working third shift throughout my teenage years, my ecosystem included three elements: myself, music and movies. Some music fans and artists are going to respect and/or appreciate the fact I listened to their music. | Check out the review of Rome Streetz' latest album Razor's Edge, a 13-track project produced entirely by T. Dot's Futurewave, and find out why I'm talking about the promising New York rapper - for over 30 minutes!

What can I say, it's IAP again! Look, soc med COVID/coronavirus and vaccine talk is something to be avoided at all costs. IAP was supposed to eliminate Jason Whitlock mentions altogether, but COVID rocked the Fearless podcast this week. I'm not going with Malcolm's "chickens coming home to roost", but I do continue to ask why individuals keep running out here with strong stances on the coronavirus pandemic. We'll round out this week's COVID talk with comedian Aries Spears' IG live shared by MSNBC's Joy Reid. Nick Cannon reportedly has seven children he's fathered with four different women. Normally, I couldn't care less - this is It's Always Personal. However, I do get tired of rich brothers trying to act righteous, well read, spiritual or enlightened... when in reality they can just AFFORD to be out here f---ing with zero consideration of consequences. This leads to a mentions of NBA player PJ Washington and Insta Model Brittany Renner's story. In the intro... of course there's a little cycling and fitness, followed by some IAP sports and random topics. 

It's Always Personal rolls along with another week of great entertainment topics. What's more personal than what you include in your leisure time? The major headliner is the unexpected post-GRAMMY win return of Nas, who re-teamed with producer Hit-Boy to deliver a sequel to last year's King's Disease. We'll jump into a high-level review with a little commentary on where the QB legends is with his craft. You probably missed it, but Apple TV+ delivered a helluva series with The Morning Show. The Jennifer Aniston-led drama series kicked off the streamer's initial set of original programming, and tackled "Me Too" in a thoughtfully entertaining way, while also assembling an amazing cast. Might as well take a look at Season One before the next 10 episodes arrive in September. Also, I had to speak on what I heard when former Rock-a-fella artist Beanie Siegel did some sharing about what changed his view of Jay-Z during a recent episode of Revolt's Drink Champs. In the intro this week, just in case you're still working on that new you, I have another cycling update - now down to a svelte 241 pounds.