Rewind the Culture

Welcome to Rewind the Culture where we break down the movies, music, TV shows, characters, and cultural moments that shaped Black storytelling.

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~Marc & Eb

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Rewind the Culture

In the Blu-ray commentary for Poetic Justice, John Singleton talks about the film and why he told Tupac that he was, "...not that good of a rapper."

"I’m probably the only dumb person in Tupac’s life to ever tell him, ‘You’re not that good of a rapper. You should just act. Forget that rap stuff. And he was like ‘Man, f— you.’ (laughing). He actually said, ‘Music is my life. I got to do my music. I’m a rapper. I’m a rapper. I love hip-hop. Hip-hop is my life. But he was a natural actor, and people don’t really understand that he studied acting in high school and he did plays and Shakespeare in high school.”

John Singleton also talks about how Tupac ended up landing the role:

“Tupac got into the movie because Ice Cube was supposed to star opposite Janet Jackson. I go to Ice Cube and I said, ‘I want you to be in a romance.’ He said, ‘Man, I can’t do that. I’m not a romantic guy.' So, Cube turned me down. And I had just saw ‘Juice.’ I would call up Tupac and I was like, ‘I want to do a movie with you.’ and he’s like ‘What?’ And so, we met up. ‘You want to do a movie with me?’ He said ‘Yeah.’ I say, ‘You want to do a movie with Janet Jackson?’ He said, ‘Hell yeah.'"

#poeticjustice #tupacshakur #IceCube #JohnSingleton

5 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 31

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Rewind the Culture

In a 2022 interview with The Breakfast Club, Jasmine Guy stated why she thinks A Different World's viewership dropped in the final seasons:

"Why would you change our time slot? And why would you put us against Martin? I definitely took that personally. You ain't got but two black shows on the networks and you put us at the same time against each other...we're not competing with Martin. We come on at 8:30, they come on at 8. We weren't strong enough to hold another time slot. And not against Martin. I feel like we have the same audience...You got two hit shows. Let's put them on at this same time. They don't do that to their own shows! So yes, I do feel like it was deliberate."

Watch Jasmine and Kadeem's full interview with The Breakfast Club here: https://youtu.be/Q1cueYYJed8?si=zWqmz...

#ADifferentWorld #Martin #JasmineGuy

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 8

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Rewind the Culture

In a 2025 interview on Shawn Stockman's (Boyz II Men) On That Note, Martin Lawrence discusses how writing, acting, and directing A Thin Line Between Love and Hate was one of the most stressful times in his life (see the 22:00 minute mark).

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

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Rewind the Culture

📣New video alert! Check out our latest [short/long] video about the breakup of the 90s R&B group Groove Theory.

~Marc and Eb

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

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Rewind the Culture

There has always been talk about a sequel to Set It Off, but did you know that the creator and writer of the film, Takashi Bufford, wrote a sequel (on Amazon) called Stony's Story in 2020? The story picks up ten years later while Stony is living in Mexico, but Frankie and Cleo are still alive (Frankie surrendered peacefully and Cleo survived the shootout 😮).

Also, make sure to watch our Set It Off Movie Recap: https://youtu.be/S98CeGGrEvU and our 10 Facts About Set It Off video: https://youtu.be/sj8XpGnAqE8

~Marc & Eb

1 month ago | [YT] | 10

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Rewind the Culture

Will Smith with James Avery (Uncle Phil) and his father Will Smith Sr.

New longform video later today...if the YouTube Police allow us...😅 Sorry for the wait! https://youtu.be/ntlEG2SiNgw

~Marc & Eb

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 37

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Rewind the Culture

What’s the FIRST Zhané song you remember hearing?
Was it Hey Mr. DJ, Sending My Love, Groove Thang… or something deeper?

Check out our full breakdown on their rise, their run, and why they quietly stepped away at their peak.

👇🏾 Watch the full story and tell us your favorite Zhané memory!

4 months ago | [YT] | 3

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Rewind the Culture

Sheeeeeit...😢...Rest in peace, Isiah Whitlock Jr. (September 13, 1954 – December 30, 2025).