Here For It: Tracy Morgan Returns, National Poetry Month and Bow Down to Ms. Cardi B

Watch: "The Last OG"

"The Last OG" is a sweet return to the small screen for actor and comedian Tracy Morgan, who hasn't worked since surviving a major car accident four years ago. The accident killed his friend and fellow comedian, James McNair, and Morgan suffered several broken bones and spent two weeks in a coma. Over the course of his recovery, he’s become, well, kind of sappy, but also super charming and just plain winning. And I’m here for it, because I totally get it — he’s happy to be alive, grateful for his family, and feels lucky to get to do what he loves, which is to make people laugh. And in "The Last OG," he really does.

Best known for his work on "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock," Morgan stars in this new TBS comedy series developed by Jordan Peele, which, I mean, for starters, how to fail? The show also stars Tiffany Haddish, the second indicator of success, because tell me about anything with Tiffany Haddish in it, and I’m watching. What’s great about the show, or the first episode anyway, is that it hits all the marks and feels super believable and current, while also being really funny. Morgan plays an ex-felon released from prison on good behavior after a 15-year stint. He returns to his Brooklyn neighborhood to discover things have changed, a lot. As if the gentrification isn’t bad enough, his ex-girlfriend, played by Haddish, is dating a white man.

Appreciate: Danez Smith on Audre Lourde at Poets House

It’s National Poetry Month, and poetry is magnificent, but so is New York, and so the combination of the two is double magnificent. There are several events throughout the city celebrating poetry, but I’d like to highlight one event in particular at the Poets House in Tribeca. On April 13, acclaimed poet Danez Smith will celebrate the life and work of Audre Lorde, an iconic poet, author and activist who remains a source of inspiration for so many black writers, myself included. Lorde’s powerful, emotional, resilient, and glorious work addresses racial and gender inequality, homophobia and class issues, among other things, but it is also just beautiful to read and hear out loud.

Similarly, Smith, a winner of the Lambda Literary Award and a finalist for the National Book Award, is a gender neutral black poet whose work tackles social issues and systemic disparities, but is also really gorgeous to read and hear. Here they are (Smith's preferred pronoun) delivering their extraordinary poem, "Dear White America."

Listen: Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy

Speaking of poetry, last week Bronx born badass Cardi B dropped her new album, "Invasion of Privacy," and it went gold the same day. People love us some Cardi B, because she’s loud and bossy and great and insouciant, and she’s got them bars, too. The first song on the record, "Get Up 10," gives us 68 bars, each one a burning spear of eloquent fire (a lot of cussing). Listen:

Cardi appeared on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend and confirmed the pregnancy rumors everyone has been twittering about for the past few weeks. During her performance of "Be Careful" she wore a tight-fitting white dress to reveal her baby bump. Congratulations, Cardi B, live your best life as Twitter would have you do.

Another song off the record, I Like It, with Bad Bunny and J. Balvin, which samples the 1960s Latin boogaloo song "I like it Like That," is sure to be a go-to summer jam. But the song I’m feeling the most is "I Do," featuring Sza, because it sounds like a little movie in your ear (again, with a lot of cussing). Listen: