I Used to Love Her: On “Brown Sugar,” Hip-Hop, and the Feeling of Home

Photo by Chris Rosiak on Unsplash

I’m resuming my usual activity of reviewing movies in the Black romance genre because I watched something sweet for Valentine’s Day: the movie Brown Sugar. In 2002, Brown Sugar premiered a few years after The Best Man, combining two of my passions: writing and music. The film follows the story of Syndey, aka Syd (played by Sanaa Lathan), a hip-hop journalist, and her relationship with her best friend, a record executive named Dre (played by Taye Diggs).

Although Syd and Dre have been friends for years, they have never taken their relationship to the next level. However, everything changes when Dre gets ready to marry Reese (played by Nicole Ari Parker), and all their pent-up feelings rise to the surface. Consequently, Brown Sugar is a classic friends-to-lovers tale in which Syd’s relationship with hip-hop parallels her relationship with her best friend. This plot point also bothers me about the movie because I generally find it problematic when couples come together despite being in relationships.