1. Did anyone have a better summer than the New York Knicks (and their fans)?
2. After Erykah Badu’s hilarious wax salon interlude on “Love Me Not,” is it time to bring back album skits?
3. Who had this year’s most-WTF podcast moment: Cam Newton or Kendrick Sampson?
4. Can casting agents please slide into London Brown’s DMs after he made Marvin Thomas one of the most beloved characters in the Power universe?
5. Speaking of Power, have you emotionally recovered from the Raising Kanan series finale yet?
6. When was the last time you touched grass?
7. Can we get a Keith Lee run for public office?
8. Are Jay-Z’s podcast peers salty that he did an eight-episode HBO sit-down with a barefoot Rick Rubin?
9. A classic solo debut, too-short prime, and then poof, gone: Is Frank Ocean this generation’s Lauryn Hill?
10. How much water did we waste generating all those AI Quavo and Takeoff “Hotel Lobby” clips?
11. And don’t you miss when creators would shoot their own recreations, y’know, the old-fashioned way?
12. Isn’t OutKast’s lawsuit against Ovrkast ironic, considering Rosa Parks once sued the Atlanta duo over their song “Rosa Parks”?
13. After flipping Ella Langley’s country smash “Choosin’ Texas,” is Drake about to follow Beyoncé’s lead and go full yeehaw?
14. Are you ready to be ragebaited by journalist and podcaster B. Dot’s annual year-end hip-hop lists?
15. Doesn’t seeing Mahershala Ali kick ass and take names in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother make you miss the Blade movie we never got?
16. Be honest: Did you have an Amanda Seales diss track on your 2026 bingo card?
17. After this year’s seemingly endless recalls, is it time to make like Kelis and start growing food our damn selves?
18. Between Insecure, Atlanta, Luke Cage, and Queen Sugar all premiering 10 years ago, was 2016 a Black TV renaissance?
19. For those shading Jasmine Guy for aging since the original A Different World: Who raised you?
20. Will Nolan Wells‘ family ever get justice?
This feature appears in VIBE’s upcoming Fall 2026 print issue.
