DAMN. is a strong album that only suffers because it comes off the heels of a near-perfect album that I believe will come to define the 2010s. The album has verses and production that not only sets it apart from the other rap albums that were released this year but also those released last year.
1. “REDMERCEDES” by Aminé
The Baltimore-based band Future Islands kicked off the tour for their new album The Far Field with a release party at the Ottobar on Friday, April 7, followed by an additional three night residency at the venue.
Long-time Freeform (formerly ABC Family) hit Pretty Little Liars (PLL) has finally begun to unveil its endgame in the back half of its seventh and final season. The first of 10 final episodes aired Tuesday, promising viewers an addictive, unpredictable ride, as always.
The last time I saw anything involving live acting was my high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, which, if you do not know, has something to do with an anthropomorphic plant that eats people while singing jazzy tunes.
There was excitement in the air at Future Islands’ Friday night show, held at the Ottobar to celebrate the release of their latest album, The Far Field. By inviting Nerftoss and Soul Cannon to open and choosing to play at Ottobar in lieu of a larger venue, Future Islands seemed to be giving back to the Baltimore community, which frontman Samuel T. Herring emphasized has meant a lot to the band.
A lot of people think that the issue of queer representation in the media ended in 2004 with Damian from Mean Girls in the same way that many people think the larger battle for gay rights ended with the establishment of marriage equality in 2015.
Joey Bada$$ is a miracle. At a time when New York and East Coast hip-hop as a collective was being mocked, ridiculed and disdained, Joey, this wiry, wide-eyed 18-year-old kid dropped his first mixtape, 1999, and changed the status and esteem of a whole coast.
“[It was] nothing more, nothing less, than a beautiful view.”
Early on in the first episode FX’s Legion, a character’s memory of a pivotal event is dissected. Thirty minutes later another character enters and essentially tells the audience that the previous memory was fabricated.
If you haven’t seen Pink Flamingos, please do yourself a favor and take care of that now. Fair warning: It’s by far the most disgusting film ever made, so as long as you aren’t alone and you aren’t sober, you’ll love it.
Long-time Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) made her directorial debut in last Thursday’s poignant and beautifully cinematic episode “Be Still, My Soul,” the 18th episode of season 13, which chronicles a cancer treatment that hits close to home for the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial and explores the idea that love can sometimes do more harm than good.
After three years without new music and a self-imposed social media hiatus, Ed Sheeran finally released his newest album, Divide (÷), on March 3. New listeners and devoted fans alike will find the exceptional guitar skills and raw vocals that have solidified Sheeran’s popularity in full supply on this new album, but they can also expect to witness Sheeran’s notable evolution into different musical styles.
Freddie Gibbs (aka Freddie Gordy, Gangsta Gibbs) has been rapping for years, but his rise was fairly recent. He caught buzz over mixtapes and small, local songs before truly blowing up through his masterful collaboration with Madlib (Piñata)as well as his great follow up album, Shadow of a Doubt.
The young audience that filled Isaiah Rashad’s show shouted “Zaywop” in unison in excitement for the Tennessee rapper’s entrance. Shortly afterwards, he stormed the stage mid-flow, with an energy that I personally wasn’t expecting. Really, that was the dominant theme of the night: subverting expectations.
Baltimore-based band Future Islands had been touring virtually non-stop, playing relatively small, do-it-yourself gigs before they broke out in spring 2014. Their performance of “Seasons (Waiting on You)” off of the album “Singles” on the Late Show with David Letterman went viral, largely due to their lead-singer Samuel T. Herring’s highly-charged energy and unique dance moves. It is the most viewed debut in the Late Show’s history.
