Arts

‘Certified Lover Boy’ is a boring and bloated rehash of Drake’s previous work

On Apple Music, 34-year-old Drake describes his newly released album “Certified Lover Boy” (2021) as “a combination of toxic masculinity and acceptance of truth which is inevitably heartbreaking.” For better or worse, this cringeworthy description only applies to a few of the songs on the album. Drake built up his “Certified Lover Boy” persona for over a year, going as far as cutting a heart into his hairline, only to release a bloated and unoriginal album nearly indistinguishable from his music of the past five years.

'Monet and Boston: Legacy Illuminated' leaves a lasting impression

Claude Monet (1840–1926) is arguably one of the most important painters of all time. With his extraordinary impressionist works, he captured nature’s fleeting moments in an entrancing manner and forever left his mark on art history. Though he never visited Boston during his life, the city has still served as a popular hotspot for collectors to buy and sell Monet’s works. Some of these compositions were eventually donated to museums, including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

The Met Gala's 'American Independence' theme gave celebrity outfits too much freedom

New York Fashion Week is back and better than ever

New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2022 kicked off on Sept. 7 after three seasons of virtual shows due to the pandemic. Despite the barrier of required proof of vaccination, the show was a welcomed return to normalcy. 

Tiffany & Co. creates controversy with new campaign

Launched in print globally on Sept. 2, Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” marks the luxury jeweler's first collaboration with the legendary Carter duo as they celebrate modern love. 

'Cinderella' attempts musical take on animated classic

Kay Cannon’s "Cinderella" (2021) teeters on the line between a classic fairy tale and a pop star’s music video. Starring Camila Cabello, a singer and songwriter who once belonged to the music group Fifth Harmony and has since led a successful solo music career, "Cinderella" loses the class of the original fairy tale and instead lands itself as a sad attempt at a pop culture-filled musical. 

Ella Jane shares debut EP 'This Is Not What It Looks Like'

Content warning: This article briefly mentions body dysmorphia.

Resurrection of the music scene: The summer 2021 roundup

After the tumultuous, pandemic-enwrapped cacophony that was 2020, musicians had to navigate the ever-changing music industry during the long months of quarantine. Summer 2020 saw some of the best works imaginable: “Chromatica” (2020) from Lady Gaga, the Album of the Year-winning “Folklore”(2020) by Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers’ sophomore LP “Punisher” (2020), just to name a few. 

'The White Lotus' was the best show of the summer

In mid-July, as the delta variant just began to tighten its grip on American communities, viewers turned their minds to the luxurious Hawaiian fantasy presented in HBO’s “The White Lotus” (2021), which follows a spattering of ridiculously wealthy vacationers and staff at a fictional resort of the same name. Instead of blissful escapism, though, the series offers occasionally sharp social satire mixed in with top-notch character work that proves the show to be much more than a lowly pandemic binge.

Kanye tells flawed but epic story of faith and family on 'Donda'

After three listening parties spanning a month and a half, a 24-hour livestream in Mercedes Benz-Stadium showing the tantalizing happenings of a small, converted bedroom, unreleased songs being played randomly on the radio and just an overall lack of transparency on when his album would release, Kanye West finally allowed “Donda” (2021) to hit the airwaves two Sundays ago. 

Tufts graduate Adam Wilson breaks down novel 'Sensation Machines'

Novelist Adam Wilson (LA’04) first published his new novel “Sensation Machines” on July 7, 2020. Soho Press released the novel in a paperback edition on Tuesday with an in-person event to follow on Sept. 13.

Tufts to hear the people sing (and play winds and brass) once more

For the first time in over a year, all musical ensembles at Tufts University will return to in-person modalities with full participation this semester. Vocalists, winds and brass players, whose participation in ensembles was restricted during the 2020–21 academic year, will be required to wear instrument-specific personal protection equipment; all such PPE will be provided by the Department of Music to any student who wishes to participate in an ensemble or engage in solo practice. 

The Prison Book Program extends support through books, community

The Prison Book Program has spent almost 50 years with one central mission: providing incarcerated people across the United States with free books from its headquarters in Quincy, Mass.

Senior profile: Panella reminisces on a fulfilling 4 years at Tufts

Disclaimer: Chris Panella is an arts editor and a columnist at The Tufts Daily. The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Commencement 2021 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices. Chris was not involved in the writing or the editing of this article.

Senior profile: Eliopoulos reflects on musical journey at Tufts

Eliopoulos, a Medford native, joined the Tufts music community in middle school when he participated in the Department of Music's Community Music Program and attended weekly Saturday morning classes in the Granoff Music Center. He continued in high school playing cello with the Tufts Youth Philharmonic, and he even squeezed his way into the back of the undergraduate orchestra for a performance during his senior year. Today, Eliopoulos is the principal cellist of the Tufts Symphony Orchestra and a household name around much of the Granoff Music Center.

Beyond the Underneath: Starting from an empty dance floor

A DJ once told me that mixing techno or house during a set is easier than mixing pop or hip-hop songs due to the similarity in beats and repetition, as well as the anti-teleological nature and layering characteristics of house and techno tracks. The difficult part is how to perfectly master the grand rhythm of buildups and drops in order to keep the audience hooked to the evolving repetitions. If the whole night of music is graphed in terms of its excitement, then it should look like a flow of slowly ascending waves.

The Brattle Theatre puts on its 8th Grrl Haus program

Despite temporarily closing its physical theater space near Harvard Square due to COVID-19,The Brattle Theatre has been keeping film fans entertained for the past year with virtual screenings of movie premieres and old favorites. Most recently, The Brattle offered viewers "Grrl Haus: Let’s Have a Party!," an eight-day-long program featuring films and videos by female, nonbinary, transgender and genderqueer creators. 

Senior profile: Ayyappan dances through her time at Tufts

Sowntharya Ayyappanstarted dancing at age six when her parents took her to learn Bharatanatyam, a classical style of Indian dance, from a teacher 30 minutes away from her home.Ayyappan has been dancing since, spending time doing so every weekend throughout high school. So when she got to Tufts, it was only natural that she’d joinTufts Pulse, Tufts’ Indian classical dance team.

SMFA looks back on a year of anti-racism activism

“Anti-Racism: A Year of Creative Activism at Tufts” highlighted initiatives that have sprung up across the university over the past year. It was sponsored by the Daynard Microgrant for Collaborations in Racial Justice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and brought together individuals from all corners of the Tufts community. The event, which took place on April 20 on Zoom, underscored the versatility of the anti-racism initiatives and the power that art has in society to actively fight against racism. 

Soundtrack to the end of the world: A world post-pandemic, Part 2

For this last column, I asked my friends to share a bit of what they’re looking forward to as a post-pandemic world starts to come into focus. They sent me songs of rumination, rest and, most of all, celebration. This is part 2; part 1 is available at tuftsdaily.com.