A Breakdown Of Syd’s “The Bear” Black Coded Episode

Chef Adam seems like a genuinely nice guy who just wants to impress Syd and make her feel welcome. Unfortunately, he commits quite a few microaggressions in his attempt to be friendly. When Syd meets Chef Adam at the new spot, he is blasting M.O.P.’s “Ante Up,” which is honestly a classic rap record that I play around the house.

“Do you know this guy?” he asks Syd (M.O.P. is actually a duo) before he continues whitesplaining. “It’s East Coast shit, but it’s a classic.” I assume Chef Adam thinks playing very loud rap music for the Black woman coming to visit him will make her feel welcome. He tells her she can then play whatever she wants (I guess he assumed she wanted loud rap music?), but then Syd turns on Beethoven, to which a caught-off-guard Chef Adam goes, “Yeah, vibes.”