Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 6, 2025
May 6, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Arts & Entertainment



LHCOLLINS / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Ottobar frequently hosts local and touring punk and indie bands.

Ottobar hosts a trilogy of Baltimore indie bands

In an eclectic night of minimalist beats and nostalgic rock, the Ottobar brought together a collection of local Baltimore bands to play a four-part concert on Jan. 18. The event took place in the venue’s downstairs performance space.


JPEGMAFIA explodes into the public eye with his label debut

Remember when Richard Spencer got punched in the head on TV? That was a great moment in the history of racists getting beaten. Our anonymous black-clad hero played Spencer’s head like it was a game of Bop-It; he snuffed him like a vanilla-scented candle.


GAVIN WHITNER/CC BY 2.0
The importance of vinyl is the impulse to sit down and listen to music.

Listening to music in the modern age

Music suffers some of the harshest disrespect of any of the arts. All too many people who consider themselves music fans (including me) often listen to music in the background while doing something else — grinding through work, driving or any other menial task. It is rare for anyone to sit down, clear their schedule and listen to an album.


Aphrodite in NYC_CC BY 2.0

Actor James Franco directs and stars in The Disaster Artist.

The Disaster Artist captures the story behind "the worst movie of all time"

I’m going to start this off by saying that I have never watched The Room and I will never watch The Room. It’s not something that appealed to me in high school, and its prevalence among college students as a “cult classic” has only strengthened my feelings against it. This is the hill I will die on, and nothing will ever change that.



Coco dazzles musically and visually

We live in an era were people of color are able to become more and more intertwined with relevant popular culture events. We have Ta-Nehisi Coates writing for the Black Panther comic book, Jordan Peele giving us the racial horror film Get Out and Guillermo Del Toro still serving us some nuanced — but still weird — characters in his productions.


 COURTESY OF JIMMIE THOMAS FROM CURATORS OF HIP HOP Alpha designs and sells his own clothing under the brand Melted Butter.

Local rapper and designer has an exciting future

Even before I met Alpha Johnson I sort of knew who he was, sort of. I knew Alpha as the rapper Joey Bricks, who I was introduced to when a friend showed me the video for his song “No Love.” The general wavy quality of that song, as well as the fact that I see Alpha almost everyday — on-campus, at work, everywhere — made an interview with him a must.


COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
J. Magazine held their fall reading at Bird in Hand Cafe in Charles Village.

J. Magazine hosts fall reading at Bird in Hand

J.Magazine, the student-run literary arts magazine, is published biannually and features student prose, poetry and art. On Wednesday Nov. 29, the magazine held a reading of a variety of works that will be published in its Fall 2017 issue. The authors had the chance to showcase their writing at Bird in Hand.


COURTESY OF BRANDON LACKEY
BeatClub is a monthly event organized by Lineup Room Recording Studios.

Bmore BeatClub is a gateway into the Baltimore rap scene

This past Thursday, I found myself wandering down a rainy, vacant Baltimore street trying to find an event I had long been interested in attending: the Bmore BeatClub, a monthly event which is organized by Brandon Lackey, the owner of Lineup Room Recording Studios.


COURTESY LAUREN QUESTELL
Hasan Minhaj showcased his comedic skill at MSE’s final event of the year.

Hasan Minhaj uses humor to tackle tough topics

Considering that we’re in the middle of gearing up for finals, a.k.a. impending doom, I was surprised at the massive and honestly pretty diverse segment of our student body that was assembled in Turner Auditorium. The crowd waited, anxiously cramming in those last few calc problems.



Binge-watching Sex and the City in 2017

I first tried watching Sex and the City (SATC) a couple of years ago. As a fan of Darren Star’s latest fun, if at times oddly-paced, show Younger, I figured I was likely to enjoy its fashion-forward and more mature cousin even more.


BENE RIBOO/CC BY-SA 3.0
The shoegazing band Slowdive reunited in 2014 after nearly 20 years.

Slowdive and Cherry Glazerr’s show lights up Rams Head Live!

On Nov. 17, British shoegaze veterans Slowdive and Los Angeles garage-rock band Cherry Glazerr played at Rams Head Live! as part of Slowdive’s North American tour. The band skipped over Baltimore in their original tour dates for the United States, instead hitting D.C. in May. But, two weeks ago, they managed to make their way here, and the show was great.


THE TONY AWARDS/CC BY 3.0
Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones won Tonys for Dear Evan Hansen.

Dear Evan Hansen is an emotional look at adolescence

Ever since I first heard the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, I’ve wanted to go see this musical. Even the first few times I listened to it, when I had no idea what the storyline was, the music somehow made me cry.


COURTESY OF TANYA WONGYIBULSIN
Barbara Kruger’s piece Who Owns What? is on display in the Tate’s Media Matters exhibit.

Escaping into art at London’s Tate Modern Gallery

This Thanksgiving break, I had the chance to visit the Tate Modern, one of the most prominent contemporary art museums in London. Located on the South Bank of the River Thames, Tate Modern is a massive building that houses many different themed galleries and art installations.




FRANK DEMARIE/CC BY 2.5
Brooklyn rapper Fabolous teams up with Jadakiss on Friday on Elm Street.

Jadakiss and Fabolous live on as icons

The late 1990s and early 2000s were an interesting time for hip-hop. Labels like Bad Boy, G-Unit and Ruff Ryders had essentially come to define the New York sound, which had become far more melodic and polished.


Irish actress Saoirse Ronan
Opening of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival at the Berlinale Palast

Lady Bird is one of the year’s strongest films

In a year where we, as an audience, have been treated to some spectacular directorial debuts in the form of Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out and Tyler Sheridan’s thriller Wind River, it is only suitable that the next big name directorial debut is also an incredible work of art.


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