As the Tufts campus prepares to welcome one of pop’s biggest, most outlandish and crass stars to the Spring Fling stage, the Daily Arts Section set out to deliver a comprehensive history of her persona and her music, and to explain why she is a driving feminist force in the music industry.
The best hip-hop record in recent memory opens with a simple sound bit, sampled off of the 1974 Boris Gardiner song, “Every N****r is a Star” [this song title was altered during the editing process]. Kendrick Lamar’s "To Pimp a Butterfly" (2015) goes on to reaffirm, reject, tear, mend and scream this simple message of racial self-love. This is the record Kendrick Lamar has been waiting his entire career to make. It stands as a culmination of ideas previously established in Kendrick's work and fleshed out in full here; ideas about society, music, duty, evil and the way all these trappings are intertwined and self-propagating within his psyche. "To Pimp a Butterfly" is introspective, but is also driven by a simple mission of spreading light in a space that is dark – whether that space is Kendrick’s own mind or the community that surrounds him.
“I got a bone to pick” are Kendrick Lamar’s first words on “King Kunta,” and -- now three years removed from his place atop hip-hop’s throne, a seat he held comfortably when his debut album, "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" (2012), was released -- “he mad." Now, he wants his throne back.
Whether you went on vacation, went back home or stayed on campus over break, you probably are not ready to get back into the swing of things. In fact, if you're anything like the people I've been talking to, you’re not doing your homework at all. That’s okay -- you’re not alone, and with ...
My dearest Tufts students (and Nana),I am SWUGging out over here!!! Apparently there are only five weeks left of school, meaning that for one-quarter of the Tufts population, there are only five weeks left of college. BRB while I go curl up with my body pillow and cry to the sweet sound of Joni Mitchell ...
Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!
Fans of Westeros rejoice: Popular HBO television show “Game of Thrones” (2011-present) is returning in just a few short weeks. The fifth season of the series, which is based on the fantasy novels of the same name by George R.R. Martin, will premiere on April 12. Devotees of the books should take note, however, because the newest season is going to make some deviations from the original story.
The second annual Granoff All Night Music Festival will be held this Friday, March 27. The event, which features over 30 student groups performing back-to-back, will run from 9:30 p.m. Friday night to 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning in various spaces within the Granoff Music Center.The festival will be free ...
While there’s nothing that the Daily Arts section loves more than a tale about teenage vagabonds causing mischief in Miami over that precious and precocious nine days in almost-spring (à la Harmony Korine’s 2012 masterpiece “Spring Breakers,” because who doesn’t love machine guns, a blonde ...
It is surprising how little noise "The Gunman" (2015) made as it underwent production, with not much being known about the film until its recent release. Googling the movie provides only a vague description. One result from Fandango sells it as a “new action thriller from Pierre Morel, ...
Desiring to aesthetically render the allure of human flesh, artists have sought innovative ways to represent the human body -- both over-sexualizing and muting its carnal nature. The nude in the classical period, while often devoid of clothing, carefully concealed the nakedness of its form, replacing ...
Few things appear more hopeless than an abandoned house. Lonely and forgotten, the dwelling stands as a reminder of a forgotten past. Who once lived there? Why did they leave? What secrets did they leave behind? The house stands as a testament to these unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions, ...
Just past Davis Square, across from a toy store, lies Palm Sugar. This unassuming Thai restaurant has all the endearing trappings of a hole-in-the-wall, with a few too many tables to actually be one. The food is fast, cheap, authentic and delicious. The menu is extensive without straying too far ...
A famous actor walks into a friend’s dinner party, meets an 87-year-old man, and is so overcome with inspiration he decides to make a movie about him. An unlikely prompt to a successful documentary, but precisely what occurred in the making of "Seymour: An Introduction"(2014), Ethan Hawke’s ...
The first few strains of “Goon” (released March 17, 2015), the first studio release of Tobias Jesso Jr.'s solo career, sound like they are from another era. In “Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” Jesso Jr. sounds like a modern day Billy Joel, a balladeer for the modern era, revamped. The piano keys tease at the harmony from Joel's “New York State of Mind” (1976) before launching into a full-fledged ballad, reminiscent of '70s Billy Joel, Elton John, Don Henley -- the list goes on. Yet while bringing a healthy dose of homage to the greats, Jesso Jr. inserts his own soft crooning and blends it with a multi-genre influenced repertoire. The result is pure gold.
If you've been a reader of my column for a while now, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of out-of-the-ordinary and unconventional books. They’re an enjoyable break from cookie-cutter stories that can flood the bestseller lists, and the hackneyed tales some authors can churn out in just a few months. ...
Sometimes it takes a darling starlet a few walks around the block before she finds her precious footing, and only after she’s spent time wobbling down Sunset Boulevard in her cotton-candy-pink jelly-sandal high heels can her gait transform to a confident strut. Marina and the Diamonds, that '80s ...
New Jersey is known for many things, from Bruce Springsteen to the hellish turnpike to the now-infamous Jersey Shore. However, many people may not consider the Garden State a hub for up-and-coming visual artists. As much as New York art snobs may scoff in disdain, the local arts scene in Mercer County ...
“Bloodline” (2015), the newest addition to the growing pantheon of Netflix original shows, was released on March 20, with all thirteen episodes of the first season now available for streaming online. The show, created by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, is both a moody portrait ...
When one thinks of renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, one likely pictures a soloist surrounded by accompanying string players in a full orchestra, with classical music wafting toward the audience. However, through the 2014-2015 season of the Celebrity Series of Boston, symphony-goers were recently treated ...
