- 6 weeks ago
Take a trip down memory lane and check out some of our favorite Girls United moments in 2023.
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00:00we have to start off with trevor jackson's water cover shout out to trevor jackson i've been rocking
00:13with trevor jackson for a minute like i grew up in that era of like mindless behavior diggy simmons
00:17and then trevor jackson came along i knew he could sing but i'm like it's interesting to see
00:22these covers and like where he's taking his musical career and just seeing people react
00:27on twitter has just been the best days of my life i think that's like the best part of it though i
00:31think he knows that people are like tuning in to like the extra of it all and like as rmb starts
00:37to come back i think that's what's missing is like just passionate male rmb regardless of how it looks
00:44on like a social scape i think he's i think he's cooking with something i'm i'm gonna let him cook
00:48i kind of like it i it's cringy sometimes but like he's doing something that people aren't doing he's
00:54feeling like a gap of rmb so i like it personally and then also this year we've had a lot of new
01:01quotes and sayings like i know i've been telling y'all like unbig my back just a lot of yeah just
01:09like summing up like mental state what's going on it's very brash very to the point but like everybody
01:16gets it like you can say it out of context you can say it like in any setting and people just get it and
01:21that's like the beauty of the internet like universal language is kind of bringing us together
01:26and i'm i'm here for it yeah like we're all on our zoom all our bodies are tea like y'all get it we
01:32get it we here exactly i have to say like i love standing on business that just it does something to
01:40my spirit like i'm standing on business but i feel like we have to discuss auntie trivia like i just want
01:48to start off by saying there were i feel like on instagram you know a lot of people took it you
01:53know at face value that was like wow like these gen zers don't know what's going on and it's funny but
01:58then once the video got to twitter like fun everybody just kept nitpicking first of all i just think that
02:08these kids have to be taught these legacy you know musicians and artists and if these parents these
02:16grandparents these aunties these uncles these older cousins older siblings would have did their
02:21job then maybe they would have recognized it but to say that you know gen z like we're losing recipes
02:27and all that like i thought that was a little bit harsh personally yeah i definitely i definitely think
02:31like it's projection and like y'all we were having fun like we we are like years apart from you know the
02:39people who were in those pictures like i'm not gonna shame anybody if they don't know who that is
02:44because like you know as when we look at it the 90s and the 80s were so long ago like we're in 2023 now
02:52like not everybody is gonna know who that person is and i thought it was funny like i don't think
02:57everybody's gonna know each singer each artist all the time like it and it was a good key
03:02and you also you also have to think like those artists back then we weren't in like any type of
03:08digital age either so i think people are misunderstanding like we can identify like a
03:1570s 80s 90s bop all day long if we hear it but putting a face to the name like it's the same thing
03:21that we saw at essence fest when we did the actual auntie trivia they didn't know these people's faces but
03:25if you sung like an ice spice song or if you sung coco jones song they understand so like i feel like
03:31like like daniel said it was just a little jokey joke people took it took it the extra the extra mile
03:37and it didn't need to go there so everybody calm down we will be having more iterations of this though
03:42so we can redeem ourselves we don't get slandered on multiple timelines but it was just it was just
03:48a joke you know what's so funny i was looking through you know the photos i got every person
03:54except for marvin gay i thought he was teddy pendergrass so see and that goes to show like we know the
04:00names we know the impact with the faces exactly exactly to round up 2023 we need to talk about
04:10the beauty trends that took over the timeline took over tick tock everyone was following them but we
04:16also talk about the ones that we want to leave in 2023 whether it just be roundups of makeup that
04:22doesn't make sense or adding names to makeup books that don't make any sense but we're going to talk about
04:26it all and i want to start off by saying because i feel like this kicked off the year the hayley bieber
04:31of vacation of makeup with the brownie lips the the glazed donuts i don't even know with the makeup
04:38trends i feel like we need to talk about what recipes we're taking from black women and just kind
04:44of like commodifying for a white audience so starting with the brownie lips which is essentially just like
04:49what i have on now brown lip liner and some gloss on top recipes that we've been doing for ages stuff that
04:54we can get from beauty supply store so i want to know like are we kind of overreacting with the
04:59whole the whole renaming of trends that black women have been doing or are we kind of just for calling
05:05it out we're on the same page we're definitely we have the right to call this out because like you
05:13say like this has been around for years for decades like you can look at archival footage and photos of
05:18us doing the classic you know brown lip liner glossy look and it's not it we shouldn't have to
05:24just keep revamping things especially when it comes to like you said like we have white women and non-black
05:29people claiming these new trends and claiming these new looks and it's like god we've been did this like
05:35we it's and especially when it comes to delineals like we're not we're not sugarcoating anything
05:40we're not closing our mouths we're not just going to let things go by like we're going to call a
05:43spade a spade and you know the math wasn't mapping with the brown lips it was not my thing i was like
05:49am i missing something or is she doing a new technique but it's right no and then that's that's
05:55really the thing about it like i think i hate when um you know certain aesthetics or anything are taken
06:03from people of color and it's like we vamped into this like wonderful thing like i know one of the
06:09trends for beauty this year was sticky bangs which for us is like laying our edges and it's like what
06:16the hell is sticky bangs but it's not even a bang and that's what if that's what i'm saying it's it's
06:23it's irritating and i think that we are just for calling these things out um you know and i'm glad
06:30that hayley bieber was called out for brownie lips because it's like you know sometimes i think we come
06:36into this rift where it's like do they know what they're doing or do they really not know what
06:41they're doing and sometimes i'm like they know what they're doing i mean we live in an age of social
06:45media where things get spread fast um i feel like i can go on my for you page and i could find like
06:51these really nice aesthetic looking um you know pages of black women between like our hair our clothes
06:57our jewelry or like anything and i feel like if that's so public to the masses like they know itself
07:04like it's there's no excuse um and i'm hoping that we can leave this here this year and not
07:10bring it next year yes and i think it also plays into a larger conversation about where individuality
07:18is when it comes to beauty i feel like people look up to these celebrities or look up to these people
07:23who really aren't doing anything special but just want to kind of cling on to some type of like
07:29personality or try to like emulate some type of lifestyle and so i think trends like that it's a
07:35double-edged sword it's fun to follow the trends but at the same time why are you why are you so
07:40reliant on a hailey bieber why are you so reliant on an influencer to tell you how to do your makeup
07:45but not to dwell on it too much but talking about individuality i think a high point of beauty and this
07:52is getting to makeup looks that we we kind of enjoyed this year the whole clean beauty the whole kind of
07:57going back to our roots and embracing like our natural features when it comes to makeup
08:02i personally liked it i'm kind of ready for us to go back to like the full glam but i'd love to know
08:06what you guys think about the whole clean beauty movement the whole like kind of stripping down to
08:11the basics as someone that does not know how to do eyeshadow to save her life i loved that we did clean
08:21beauty this year that everybody was all that way because i'm like yes because listen i will look a hot mess
08:27with eyeshadow but um you know i'm kind of you know i'm here for going back to like the glam like
08:33i feel like soft glam was like the thing like all year i don't think soft glam is going anywhere but i
08:39think you know those more extravagant looks are definitely returning um more specifically there is
08:47this makeup artist i always butcher her name um cannot you know her nesra oh yes nora yes nesra
08:55yeah like i think she really spearheaded this like i don't even know what to call it but those like
09:02extravagant eyeliner eyeshadow looks like amazing amazing to move into fashion trends i feel like the the
09:13underlying theme of this year is like barely there clothing whether it's like literally barely there
09:19or just prints kind of replicating like a female body i think this year we've really kind of seen
09:25an unapologetic approach to just kind of showcasing your body but in a very classy a very feminine a
09:31very kind of soft way and again i'm all for it i'm here for it i might not partake or maybe i need to
09:37find the right opportunity for it but i really like you know just removing that stigma about the
09:43human body especially about women's bodies and i and i'm liking that it's transitioning over to more
09:48masculine fashion as well so i like down to the micro skirts to everything have you guys participated in
09:56like the barely there fashion trends this year um i love a good crop top like i'm never afraid to wear
10:03a crop top and it's just fun to see like it's so zillennial like i love seeing just like you know
10:09little mini skirts you got your crops on and you got you got your stomach out and long sleeve and like
10:14super extravagant colors like it's fun i feel like we were at a point where it was like really muted really
10:21monotone really new colors browns and it's like no like we're young like we could definitely pop some
10:27color and like you know give our intergalactic y2k really there vibe like especially especially
10:33with the nipple bra are y'all gonna get the nipple bra yes i like it i'm not gonna
10:39eat that little one thing that nipple bra that's like a perfect example of like
10:45making it inclusive for everybody because people might not feel the most comfortable like about it
10:49you know with their own their own features but it's like something that can just elevate the style
10:54and just like tapping into the trends i i really like it i'm not gonna lie yeah i'm here for it as
11:00well i think this year personally i've learned to embrace my body more to be able to participate in like
11:09the sheerness i know for essence festival um for the first day of creator's house i wore this like
11:16sheer long sleeve top and the whole day i really didn't notice how sheer it was and i'm like whoa like i
11:23got on stage i was like talking with it and i just felt confident so beautiful in it so i definitely
11:28love you know the sheerness and also i think this year um i've been seeing like a lot of discussions
11:35where fashion is sort of moving away from a trend dominant space it's all i know someone said something
11:45of the sort of like we're all like characters just choosing our clothes and not necessarily just like
11:52going by whatever is hot whatever's popping right now and i'm like i think that's interesting and
11:57going into next year i'm excited to see how much that expands out too and today we are going to get
12:03a little serious because if you guys read any of our work on gu we are all about opinion pieces we're
12:09all about speaking on things and just talking about it and calling it what it is so we gotta get into
12:15the problematic politics that have you know risen this year starting with student loan debt how are
12:22y'all feeling as we are all fellow graduates with student loans i will go first student loans i don't
12:33know her um it is a thing that is a figment of everyone's imagination i think we all need to let it
12:39go like let's drop it i feel like we've gotten to a point and this isn't even i feel like with gen z
12:46but i feel like even zelena nails have this mindset of why am i you know being being kind of approached
12:54and kind of taken advantage of by predatory loans and you know just wanting better for myself and then
13:01having to later take on all of this debt and i don't even think the debt is the main issue because
13:06you know that's just something that comes along with it you know no one really has like thirty
13:10thousand dollars to just offer up to go to college but the aftermath of like letting a loan sit for
13:17just a year you end up owing so much more or you hear all of these stories you know from millennials
13:24or even gen x about i've been paying my loans for 30 years and they realistically should have been paid
13:29off but now i owe more money than what i initially owed so i think outside of just the initial problem of
13:36everything just kind of being inflated when it comes to that is how do we actually get out of
13:41this cycle of debt why is it so hard to want to progress you know my education wanting to progress
13:49in my career why is that a thing that is holding us back so much so again my loans um don't want to
13:57talk about them they're there they exist i mean the and i think the interesting thing about it is it's so
14:03universal even people who are in you know high executive spaces people who are vps or people
14:09who are like everyone has a student loan story and i think there's something both cathartic about
14:15that but also kind of scary because it's why are we still having these same problems 30 plus years
14:20down the line and i definitely think like i'm glad with social media and just like us continuing to talk
14:26about it it's bringing up a bigger conversation when it comes to inflation and funding for college
14:33and scholarship opportunities for students because a lot of students who are in high school are like
14:37i really don't know if i want to go to college only because i can't afford it and that shouldn't be an
14:43issue because we all deserve to you know hire our education we all deserve to invest in ourselves but
14:48if it's at the cost of you know spending thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars then i understand
14:54that there's a bigger problem when it comes to just funding and granting people financial
14:59opportunities instead of just being like well you need to sign your life away and you know deal
15:04with these loans because those they do not go anywhere and they are knocking at your door
15:09and in your emails all the time asking for their money don't know where that's going to come from
15:13but that's just what it is not only just like student loans and that conversation regarding
15:19education but also just the state of zillennial literacy is at a very weird place right now
15:25recently you know new york had a lot of library cuts and just cutting hourly times at the library
15:31and you know we spoke about this on gu and it just opened up a larger conversation of why is our
15:39literacy being put at stake because of money i get it this is a very capitalistic society but it also
15:46comes to the fact that the next generation like they need more opportunities to read and figure
15:51out new things and learn history because sometimes they're not always granted that in their homes or
15:57not always granted that at school like we need libraries and places and institutions where students
16:02can find and further their education outside of just school at home yeah i i completely agree i think
16:11you know for me i still go to the library i love going there it's a place it's a place of solace
16:17it's nice and quiet everybody's just focusing and just reading books but also you know the library
16:23really serves as a essential and critical space for those who may not have a computer at home who may
16:31not have access to wi-fi we live in a society now where almost everything is done online from submitting a
16:38resume to applying for a job to applying for a scholarship to you know learning lessons at one
16:44point in time because of covid um so you know for new york city to really you know within their budget
16:52cuts have the library be affected i think i don't think that was a smart decision at all um and i think
16:58that it's pretty detrimental for sure let's call a spade a spade this is like a direct attack on the lower
17:05class and when i say lower class i don't think people understand that there are more people
17:11in that margin than there will ever be in i guess the one percent or even the the higher income bracket
17:17and so like danielle said a lot of these libraries a lot of these public spaces that provide resources to
17:25these kids they they know what's going to affect them it's not like a blind item that oh we don't know
17:30what's going to happen it's directly impacting those families who don't have access to that at
17:36their homes and so that's causing you know i'm i'm scared to see how that's going to impact the next
17:42generation when it does come to college when it does come from just to just like general information
17:47about things i i'm very worried about that and i'm really concerned as to why more politicians aren't
17:54prioritizing that especially and i think kenyatta you'll bring this up uh there was a viral moment
18:00a couple months ago of a teacher talking about education and talking about how k through 12 he's
18:07seeing so many declines and just like academia and just students education and just literacy and
18:13while people wanted to attack him for it it's like it's a larger commentary on that as well and it's
18:18a double-edged sword of resources it's a it's a on the other end it's also parenting so i think
18:24education is something that has been kind of thrown to the wayside over the last couple of years i think
18:30people are just like well they'll figure it out it's it's we've been doing it for for centuries they'll
18:35figure it out but it's like no as we progress and as society progresses we need to take a look at what
18:42people actually need in these moments and then work on it from that and and stop worrying about the other
18:47things that are going on that really don't concern us or worrying about bills that are hate like it's
18:53we've lost the plot essentially we've lost the plot and we need to get back to it and to close out we
18:59have to talk about the entertainment moments that happened this year for one victoria monet
19:08i mean my girl finally got her shine she released her album it was amazing from top to bottom
19:16and you know she did her of the essence with essence i mean she had a historical run this
19:25year for her career for sure yeah no she was definitely on fire this year like just from the
19:31cosigns like the fact that she got a janet jackson cosign and just all these people in the industry are
19:36just like pouring into her giving her her support her love and everything that she deserves like it's
19:41just been so cool to see and like she gets it like she's so she she has a zillineal eye like she knows
19:47what we want she knows how to make really good lyrics quotable moments that i be posting on instagram
19:53so i'm just proud of her like congrats victoria well-rounded artistry is coming back that's all
19:58i have to say she's leading the forefront and i i'm excited to see what she does in 2024 with her
20:06music with her aesthetics with just like the overall production real artists are coming back and
20:12victoria is the one to watch if you haven't been watching already right and she also invented the
20:17color brown so yeah i was just about to say that and also i love how victoria is really bringing back
20:24this like essence of like soul and funk and groove within you know the r&b space which is really nice
20:31and you know an artist on the flip side of that who also had a really tremendous year is sexy red
20:39i love her love her love her love her down i love her love her period no i love i love what she brings
20:48to music because it's like she's so authentically herself she's so organic like and she's just fun like
20:55i feel like there's always been like you know when it comes to just women in the industry in general
21:00like if you're super polished and super sexy all the time and super on like she's just herself like
21:06if she's not feeling it you know she's not gonna be fit like you know she's not feeling it if she is
21:09like if she's anywhere she steps on the scene like we're up we're turned like it's lit and i just love
21:15the energy that she's bringing to music for sure for sure and i also i like that sexy she's just raw
21:22she's just very raw we actually you know have an interview with her um that we did earlier in the
21:28summer and you know it was a really really really great interview with the associate editor of
21:33essence shelby stewart and let me tell you city girls who wear glasses we're up period we are
21:43all right and then also this year within the sports space i feel like black women in sports
21:50i took it literally took it ryan your thoughts where do we even start uh i think one conversation
21:59that i'm not gonna lie i feel like gu really spearheaded was stop trying to humble black women
22:04in sports whether they're winning whether they're losing i feel like the weird energy that they receive
22:11sometimes when it comes to that is so it's very jarring but i'm really glad like they stood on business
22:18akari richardson angel reese stood on business when all the naysayers were coming in coco goff
22:25scrutinized heavily when all these people were being attacked for simply just being an athlete
22:31that's really what it boils down to sometimes you win sometimes you lose sometimes you have moments
22:35where you know you are cocky or where you know you do like your kind of temper temper take control or
22:40where you do want to stand up for yourself i feel like that shouldn't be so heavily scrutinized by
22:48outside parties if we're being honest it shouldn't be so heavily scrutinized i'm really glad that these
22:52women are standing up for themselves not just off the court but on the court too you saw coco goff
22:59going back and forth with the umpire you know she was calling out unfair unfair rules angel reese you
23:05know just honestly just sports banter on the court and people turned it into this thing that it really
23:11wasn't but even after the fact again stood on business so i'm really liking the direction and
23:18where they're not only prioritizing you know their athleticism but also prioritizing their mental health
23:25and not apologizing for that and last but certainly not least we have to get in to the renaissance tour
23:37like let me tell you guys i every time i see beyonce my heart
23:45stops and i am in awe and i just it's like being at her concerts it's like you feel the energy in the
23:56stadium and she just comes out just looking like very beyonce ish and it's like oh my god 10 out of 10
24:0710 out of 10. she she definitely i think we all know by now like beyonce's impact will live on
24:15forever like there is nobody who can do it like her not only just as an artist but just the the way
24:22she's taking her brand and the way she takes risks and doesn't want to do what all the other artists
24:29are doing she doesn't want to play by the status quo she doesn't want to be cookie cutter like she just
24:33wants to experiment and be fun and and be vulnerable if she wants to say something out of pocket she can
24:38say that because she's earned that she's earned the right to just be free in her artistry it's just
24:44been really cool to see the movement that has come with renaissance the way the ballroom community has
24:50just received so much love and exposure and just showing that you know being unique is is good and
24:58it's okay to be yourself and it's okay to just you know be free and have an impact and create an
25:03impact and create your own impact i think renaissance was a way that lit a fire under all of us like
25:09oh we we can achieve our dreams like we can have these wild ideas wild thoughts and actually see
25:15them come to fruition so shout out to beyonce like that's a virgo queen and also we have to talk about
25:20blue ivy too just like to end it on that note i feel like the way you know the black community
25:27really championed for blue ivy and you know even though some of the criticisms were coming from
25:33inside the house i feel like people were really defending her and although she necessarily didn't
25:40really need our defending she really kind of took on that that role of her own and she was like okay
25:46i see what you guys are saying i see the criticism but i'm gonna work on it and i'm going to make this
25:51moment my moment and it honestly turned into blue ivy tour for a second like beyonce that's the
25:57manager the choreographer that's the production manager blue ivy really had a moment and i feel
26:02like that was just kind of like the literal b-side to the whole renaissance movement it's just coming
26:07into your own and i think that that is something we can take into 2024 to be honest make sure you tell
26:12us below in the comments and we will see you guys next year bye
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