As a vegetarian, beef is something I try to consume as little of as possible. And yet, when the Queen of Rap, Nicki Minaj, finds her title contested, beef can be difficult to avoid.
How to possibly recap what will likely go down in history as one of the weirdest Oscar ceremonies of all time? From the Best Picture mix-up when La La Land was accidentally read instead of the actual winner, Moonlight, to Jimmy Kimmel pranking a bunch of everyday people on a Hollywood tour (or were they actors?), to candy falling from the sky, to a producer who’s still alive being featured in the In Memoriam segment, it was a wildly entertaining if dysfunctional evening. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a few steps back and start with the red carpet.
Poet and photographer Tyler Knott Gregson is best known for his Typewriter Series, which began in 2012 when he stumbled upon an old typewriter at an antique shop and was inspired to type out a poem with it. Since then, Gregson has posted one typewritten poem each day, with the recent addition of one haiku on love per day, gradually gaining a significant social media following in the process.
If you’ve seen Black Mirror, imagine the improvisational skill of the comedian who powers the animated blue bear Waldo in real time. Now add that to the most strangely absurd and yet hilarious comedy imaginable.
On Saturday, Feb. 18, Temps d’Afrique (TDA), the only African dance team at Hopkins, placed third in the annual Unity African Dance competition sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Established in 2005, Temps d’Afrique is dedicated to showcasing the diverse artistic styles within the continent of Africa as well as the African diaspora.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday that can cause wildly varying emotions. To some, it is a celebration of love. It is a sacred day filled with warm, sweet emotions that swell and bubble inside. To others, it is a terrible reminder of their inability to find the right partner. In going through the day, I was inspired to write out some choices of entertainment that can help on both ends of the spectrum.
Recently, Lady Gaga earned acclaim for her performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show. In the days following, she announced a global tour to promote her most recent album Joanne and unexpectedly dropped a music video for her latest single “John Wayne.”
Anna Pitoniak, an editor at Random House, published her debut novel The Futures on Jan. 17. The book is a simultaneously romantic and decidedly realistic take on what happens post-graduation when you’re forced to step out into the real world.
“I’m sick of these Soundcloud rappers bruh. When is Migos playing?” said the guy next to me.
Following the election of the 45th US President, every irksome, privileged (Facebook) friend has slithered out of the woodwork to remind us that some of the best art emerges out of intolerance and persecution: “At least the art is gonna be so good, man.” This is one of many displays of shortsighted and reductive, even silly, everything-is-going-to-be-okay reasoning.
1. The Last Artful, Dodgr
I have never been a fan of Big Sean. While Lil Wayne would occasionally rap a couple lines or verses where the punchlines were corny or stale, those kinds of lines are a staple of Big Sean’s rhyme book. He has stumbled with lines like “I make like the universe and plan it (planet) out,” and “I’ll be there for you, I’m all ears, in other words, I’m here (hear) for you.” Whenever I see a Big Sean feature on a song, I expect an okay but forgettable verse.
Parquet Courts performed at the 2640 Space last Wednesday along with Philadelphia-based Ghostly International harpist Mary Lattimore. The show was one of the early performances on their short 2017 tour slate that also includes a show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
Following a year of solid R&B releases that brought the standard of the genre ever higher, London-based artist Sampha faced the challenge of creating something powerful and unique, a project worthy of Rihanna’s Anti or Solange’s A Seat at the Table that broke away to earn its own distinct acclaim. And he did just that with his debut studio album Process.
