It hasn’t taken long for Vince Staples to carve out his lane in the West Coast gangsta rap scene. After a slew of teenage mixtapes, as well as a few features on early Odd Future releases, Staples broke through to the mainstream hip-hop consciousness with his 2014 EP, Hell Can Wait. His approach was uncompromisingly… Keep Reading
Jordan Peele, the comedian behind modern day classics such as “Key and Peele – Substitute Teacher” and “Key and Peele – East vs. West Coast Bowls,” caused a moderate stir last year when he announced that his directorial debut, entitled Get Out, would show him experimenting in the horror genre. Following Peele’s action comedy Keanu… Keep Reading
On Jan. 20, the eve of the Women’s March on Washington, production house A24 made a quiet announcement. The producer of some of the most notable films of the past few years—Spring Breakers, Moonlight, Under The Skin—declared that all of the opening weekend earnings of its newest film, 20th Century Women, would be donated to… Keep Reading
Pablo Larrain’s Jackie is first and foremost concerned with history. This is not to say that the film’s objective is a mere chronological depiction of historical events. Rather, contrary to more conventional biopics, Jackie is concerned with the conscious role of individuals in creating history—which in the case of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is a highly… Keep Reading
A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ) mean a lot of things to a lot of people. The group was formed in 1985 with original members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Their status as a uniquely positive, innovative force in the “Golden Age” of rap is beyond reproach, which is… Keep Reading
Following in the tradition of ambitious “American ________” titled films (i.e. Psycho, Graffiti, Beauty, Sniper, Hustle), American Honey seeks to encapsulate its moment in history. Thankfully, director Andrea Arnold’s vision of a romantic road trip delivers everything it promises in one of the grandest statements of the fall movie season. Winner of the Jury Prize… Keep Reading
Writer-director Kim Nguyen has never been conservative in his creative choices. The Montreal-born, Concordia graduate’s recent films have taken him to shooting locations in Tunisia (La Cité) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (War Witch). Historical drama, horror, and magic realism are just a few of the genres Nguyen has dipped his toes into… Keep Reading
Danny Brown doesn’t make albums for the faint-of-heart. Throughout his career, Brown has pushed the limits of what one can say on a mainstream rap release, as well as the genre’s sonic boundaries. As he shifts rapidly between coked-out rampages, stoned relaxation, explicit sexual descriptions, and bleak explorations of alienation… Keep Reading
Tennessean rapper Isaiah Rashad has some destructive tendencies. They were the subject of much of his deceptively laidback flows on his eye-opening 2014 debut, Cilvia Demo. The two years since have not been easy for Rashad: An addiction to Xanax, alcoholism, and the pressures of being his label’s prospective ‘next big thing’ have defined a… Keep Reading
