From New Edition and Boyz II Men to NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees, this conversation explores how Black R&B groups helped shape the modern boy band blueprint — and how the industry shifted its focus as pop music became more commercially global.

Laila also unpacks documentary-reported industry moments involving Motown, songwriting decisions like “Invisible Man,” and the structural differences in how Black artists and white pop groups were marketed, supported, and sustained.

This episode examines:

• How Black artists influenced the foundation of modern pop and boy band culture
• Why visibility and industry support shifted in the late 1990s
• How labels, radio, and marketing shaped who became “mainstream”
• The difference between cultural creation and cultural recognition
• The emotional toll on artists navigating industry transitions

This is not about erasing anyone’s talent or success — it’s about questioning the systems that decide who gets centered, who gets pushed forward, and who gets quietly moved out of the spotlight.

Because Black artists didn’t just participate in the culture — they helped build the blueprint.

And the question remains: why are they not always the ones who get to stay at the center of it?

When Lori Harvey ended her relationship with Michael B Jordan the internet called it a fumble. They said she threw away the perfect man. They said she was for the streets. They said she would regret it.

But what if she did not fumble? What if she looked at that relationship and decided that dimming her spotlight for someone else’s story was not worth it? What if she chose herself — her identity, her freedom, her own spotlight — over a narrative the world had written for her?

In this episode Laila Jean Yu breaks down the concept of main character energy and what it actually means to own your spotlight as a woman. She talks about why that idea — a woman refusing to be a supporting character in someone else’s story — makes so many people so deeply uncomfortable. She gets into the parasocial problem and why the world felt entitled to have opinions about Lori Harvey’s personal choices. And she talks about what it means specifically as a Black woman to claim your own spotlight and refuse to dim it for anyone.

Because you are the main character of your own life. Period. And nobody gets to write your story but you.

In this episode Laila Jean Yu breaks down the cultural impact of Black Panther and what T’Challa meant to Black men and boys who finally saw themselves as kings on the biggest screen in the world. She talks about Chadwick Boseman’s extraordinary body of work — from Jackie Robinson to James Brown to Thurgood Marshall — and why his performances were consistently among the greatest in Hollywood history.

She also gets into the secret he kept. Four years of chemotherapy and surgeries while filming some of the most iconic movies of our generation. He gave us his absolute best while going through his absolute worst.

And then there is the conversation nobody wants to have — the Oscar snubs, the posthumous recognition, and the pattern of an industry that overlooks Black excellence while it is alive and celebrates it only after it is gone.

This is the episode Chadwick Boseman deserved.

Wakanda Forever. 🖤

Audios used in the podcast:

⁠https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSabd8mMU/⁠

In this episode Laila and guest star Nya  gives their unfiltered perspective on the new Michael movie, his legendary music career, and the man behind the icon. From his relationships with his siblings, his parents, and the people closest to him — to the media’s role in shaping how the world saw him — this episode goes beyond the surface.

And then there are the fans. The real ones who loved him for his artistry and who he was as a human being. And the ones who only showed up when it was convenient.

Michael Jackson was a son, a brother, an artist, and a human being who deserved to be seen fully. This is Her Take on all of it.

No filters. No apologies.

A huge thank you to our guest Nya for joining Her Take. Go follow and support her on Instagram: @iam_nya_

⁠https://www.instagram.com/iam_nya__?igsh=MnNvMmxhdDFzbDBr

In this episode Laila gets honest about what it actually feels like to clock in and clock out of your authentic self daily. She breaks down the aggression label, the double standard that gives everyone else permission to be fully human while Black women are expected to be endlessly gracious, and why she created Her Take as a space to finally say the true thing without apology.

This one is for every Black woman who has ever swallowed something she needed to say. Your voice matters. Your exhaustion is valid. And you do not owe the world your silence.

Her Take. Unbothered. Unfiltered. Unapologetic.

Audios used in the podcast: https://www.tiktok.com/@wickdconfections/video/7525618201271553310

https://www.tiktok.com/@nothisisntnique/video/7524120122596805901

After a toxic relationship in 2018 she had to face some uncomfortable truths about herself. What she was chasing. Why she kept running toward people and validation that were never meant for her. And what it actually took to do the deep inner work and become a woman she would genuinely choose.

This episode covers the father wound driving unhealthy dating patterns, what shadow work really looks like beyond the aesthetic journaling, how law of assumption became a game changer, and the powerful question every Black woman needs to ask herself right now.

This one is for every woman who has ever popped her own balloon before anyone else got the chance.

Would you date yourself right now?

Her Take with Laila Jean Yu Says. New episodes dropping regularly. Subscribe so you never miss one.

But was there ever real beef — or was it projection?

In this episode of Her Take, we unpack the modeling industry politics of the 90s, the emotional labor expectations placed on Black women, and the difference between feeling unsupported and actually being harmed.

We also explore how narratives are created, amplified, and sometimes weaponized — especially when two powerful Black women occupy the same space.

Was it competition?

Was it misalignment?

Or was it emotional projection shaped by a system that thrives on scarcity?

This conversation goes deeper than fashion.

It’s about power, perception, and the roles we assign people without ever asking them to agree.

Audio clip used:

⁠https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSuthLKMe/

But what about Britain?

There’s a global narrative that the UK is more polite. More progressive. Less aggressive. But politeness has never dismantled a system.

In this episode, I sit down with a Black woman born and raised in Manchester, who has also lived in London, to unpack what anti-Blackness actually looks like in Britain — in schools, in corporate spaces, in media, and in everyday life.

We discuss:

• Growing up Black in the UK

• Race vs. class in British society

• Workplace “politeness” and subtle exclusion

• Media invisibility

• Colonial history and denial

• Anti-Blackness beyond white spaces

• What empowerment looks like now

Anti-Blackness doesn’t always shout.

Sometimes it whispers.

Sometimes it smiles.

This isn’t about comparison.

It’s about clarity.

This is Her Take — and we’re saying the quiet part out loud.

This episode is bold, unapologetic, and reflective. I challenge you to examine your own awareness, confront uncomfortable truths, and ask yourself: whose names are you really saying — and why? If you care about justice, history, and accountability, this conversation is for you.”

Clips featured in this episode:

⁠https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSmxhskDV/⁠

⁠https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSmxhgKyc/⁠

In this episode, Laila unpacks how Black History Month often becomes a space where white people expect softness, reassurance, and emotional labor from Black people—while avoiding real accountability. From performative allyship to historical erasure, this conversation challenges the demand for palatable Black narratives and calls out the systems actively trying to sanitize and erase Black American history.

This episode is not designed to soothe fragility.It’s designed to tell the truth.