The Essential Young Thug: A 20-Song Guide to the Prolific Rapper

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  12 minutes  |  2358 words  |  Sherie Connelly

Young Thug performs at Grant Park on July 31 in Chicago, Illinois. For one of the best rappers alive, Young Thug seems remarkably at ease. Most who wrangle that crown do it loudly: as the sneering villain, the smirking capitalist, the put-upon savior. But the Atlanta-born Jeffrey Williams, who just turned 23 and is facing a litany of gun and drug charges, and might yet be roped into a conspiracy to kill his idol, doesn’t seem too worried. [Read More]

The Ever-Elusive DAngelo Is Working On His Next Album

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  285 words  |  Janel Helmers

D’Angelo Mysterious R&B singer D’Angelo’s documentary Devil’s Pie premiered on April 27 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Per Billboard, at a Q&A, the director of the film, Carine Bijlsma, dropped the news that the singer is currently working on his fourth album, the follow-up to 2014’s critically acclaimed and surprise-dropped Black Messiah. (The film reportedly also ends with a note teasing the forthcoming album.) Devil’s Pie chronicles D’Angelo’s 14-year break from music in between his second and third albums. [Read More]

The Fosters Recap: Robots Against Misogyny

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1436 words  |  Zora Stowers

The Fosters Girl Code Season 4 Episode 8 Editor’s Rating 3 stars *** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » The Fosters Girl Code Season 4 Episode 8 Editor’s Rating 3 stars *** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Cierra Ramirez as Mariana, Amanda Leighton as Emma, Arden Belle as Penny. Earlier this season, I complained about an episode that leaned on gimmicky fake-outs to build a sense of drama. [Read More]

The Golden Bachelor Series-Premiere Recap: Gerrypilled

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1724 words  |  Janel Helmers

The Golden Bachelor Episode 1 Season 1 Episode 1 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** Previous Next» « Previous Episode NextEpisode » The Golden Bachelor Episode 1 Season 1 Episode 1 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** Previous Next» « Previous Episode NextEpisode » Lo! At last, the final sacred prophecy of our TV ancestors has come to be. The seas are boiling, the forests are burning, and the spotted lantern flies are a-plaguing, but the gods have not totally forsaken us: The first-ever Golden Bachelor has ascended. [Read More]

The Grammys Were Just a Lady Gaga Meet and Greet

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  471 words  |  Elina Uphoff

Collab? The Grammys should rebrand as what they actually are: Lady Gaga appreciation night. The singer performed a tribute to Tony Bennett, who was absent from the festivities amid his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s. And after Gaga shared a wholesome Oscars moment presenting alongside Liza Minnelli, she showed us what a utopian post-slap world looks like by engaging with her fans at the Grammys. Gaga might have added two statuettes to her Grammys collection last night, but her interactions with other stars — including an internet-breaking kiss with BTS’s V, real name Kim Taehyung — embodied the main-character energy she has been exuding these past few weeks. [Read More]

The Lion King Turns 20: Lyricist Tim Rice Talks About Writing 5 Iconic Songs

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1365 words  |  Janel Helmers

Broadway lyricist Tim Rice, whose credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Chess, and Aida, is more than just a wordsmith — he’s also an adept juggler. When the songwriter hunkered down to pen tunes for 1994’s The Lion King, he also found himself recruited for Aladdin, taking over after the sudden passing of lyricist Howard Ashman. Rice had never written for an animated movie before. [Read More]

The Magicians Trilogy Author Lev Grossman Explains His Cultural Influences

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1739 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The Magician’s Land, out today, concludes Lev Grossman’s realist fantasy series — sometimes described as “Harry Potter but with drugs” — about a group of 20-something magicians who find themselves in charge of a Narnia-like land. These are the books, movies, comics, and bands that inspired Grossman while writing the Magicians trilogy. 1. Watchmen Watchmen came out when I was in high school, because I’m super old. What Alan Moore did in that comic was he brutally attacked the founding conventions of the superhero story. [Read More]

The Man Who Was Almost Killed by Don Quixote

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  19 minutes  |  3953 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Terry Gilliam on the movie that took him three decades to make. Photo: Jim Naughten Terry Gilliam doesn’t have an office; he has a lair. It sits atop the London home the Monty Python animator and director has lived in with his family since 1985, and you reach it by climbing up four flights of narrow wooden stairs and through a pair of curtains. It’s the kind of cluttered, magical space where you might imagine a character from one of his films living — a mad professor, maybe, or an exiled king. [Read More]

The Martin Cast Is Reuniting for a 30th Anniversary Special on BET+

 Posted on June 10, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  216 words  |  Zora Stowers

As Sheneneh would say … oh my goodness. We’re getting a Martin reunion special to mark the 30th anniversary of the ’90s Fox sitcom. Cast members Martin Lawrence (Martin), Tisha Campbell (Gina), Tichina Arnold (Pamela), and Carl Anthony Payne II (Cole) will all appear. That’s almost all of the main cast — unfortunately, Thomas Mikal Ford, who played Tommy, died in 2016. Comedian Affion Crockett will host the reunion, which is set to tape on February 20 and air on BET+ later this year. [Read More]