Still Processing

we need y’all back!! please jump back on the mic for a mini-series for the end of 2024. it would feel so comforting and enriching to hear your takes on this wild time, and to hear your voices again. I took it for granted when you were doing weekly episodes. I really hope you come back sometime!

I listened to the episode about J.Lo in this podcast, because the synopsis sounded interesting and as a huge fan of hers I wanted to hear Wesley’s and J’s takes. I do wonder what they’d say today if this podcast were still on, especially because J said that Ben Affleck doesn’t deserve her (which I highly agree with). I also think it’s interesting that she brought up how J.Lo looked scared in interviews back when she was married to Marc Anthony, because there are rumors that he abused her during their marriage. That said, their cultural commentary on J.Lo isn’t an amazing one. Wesley is entitled to his own opinions, but I thought her Motown tribute was great. Also, I totally disagree with him on “El Cantante” being terrible. That’s a very good film and one of J.Lo’s best acting performances to date, I can’t tolerate slander for that movie. And most egregiously, Wesley fails to mention her dance background in this episode, which is pivotal in tracing her rise to stardom. The information of her being on In Living Color is literally towards the top of her Wikipedia page. It’s also ludicrous how Wesley calls J.Lo “a good dancer” when merely being “good” doesn’t give you opportunities to backup dance for Janet Jackson, New Kids on the Block, or MC Hammer (all of which she’s done). You have to be among the best to get them. J.Lo is considered one of the best dancers in the industry. And although Wesley said that on World of Dance “she judged dancers who are better than her,” this isn’t totally correct either. Yes she judged dancers who are more skilled in different genres, but she’s still amazing with the genres she dances to, such as salsa and hip-hop. The failure to mention her dance background in any way—automatic one star deduction. I can tell Wesley hasn’t watched many J.Lo performances, but if he watched her Celia Cruz tribute, 2015 AMAs performance, and the It’s My Party tour routines, he would know how incredible of a dancer she is. He tries fitting her into the “jack-of-all-trades, master of none” category, but it falls short. J also classifies her into “famous for being famous” category. While not totally wrong, it’s still a myopic take that doesn’t capture the multiple dimensions of J.Lo’s image. An interesting episode they made, but they certainly needed to do more research before speaking on her. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Hands down my favorite podcast. Where did you go?! It’s been almost 2 years.

Just today I was wondering what Wesley and J’s hot take would be on Beyoncé’s album. I came to the podcast hoping a new ep might have dropped. Still silent. COME BACK! I miss y’all’s funny, smartness.