Lydia Anderson

Lauryn Lewis

Staff Writer 

Many people have heard the amazing voice of SZA on some of the hottest contemporary R&B tracks to have been released over the last few years but she had not fully developed into the artist she had planned to be. Yeah, she may have landed features on songs with Rihanna, Wale, and Kendrick Lamar, but no one really knew exactly who she was besides being a “feature” artist. She was ready to touch topics many women in music would not dare to explain. SZA decided that it was the time to take her career seriously as an independent artist. It was time to build her own brand.

SZA’s debut album, Ctrl, has emerged to become one of the most self-finding and praised albums of the year. The bluntness of her music allows fans to actually get a taste of who she is. SZA released hit singles including. The Weekend, Love Galore, Broken Clocks, and Normal Girl. She received recognition from some of the greatest artists in the industry including Beyonce, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar. But how did she come in the path of these amazing artist?

Growing up, many people knew her as Solana. Solana was a lot more reserved than the artist we know her as today. Because she grew up in a household with two amazingly strong religions, Christianity and Islam. She was not really exposed to things that would get her mind off of religion and school. As she became a little older, her brother would sneak her music every now and then which she fell in love with. After graduating from high school, Solana found herself in and out of college until she realized it just was not the path in life that she wanted to take. By this time, she had finally decided that making music was her calling.

After releasing two soundtracks/mixtapes, SZA had caught the attention of one of the best rappers in this generation, Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick decided to sign her to his own inclusive record label, Top Dawg Entertainment. This came as a surprise to many because SZA happened to be the first female signed to the label. This deal lasted around 3 years until she decided that she would partner with both TDE and RCA as her record labels. Around this time, Ctrl was released.

There are a total of 14 songs on this album that has become a hot commodity. Each song gives a side of SZA that many of her fans have never seen before. She even revealed that this album was the artist she had been trying to find throughout her career. The album expresses emotions that almost any kind of female have felt during the period when they were trying to find themselves. The intro song for the album, ‘Supermodel’, expressed feelings of hurt and insecurity over men who have seen her as not enough of a good woman for them. As the song goes on, expressing her insecurities helps her release some of them.

Two songs on the album that relate a lot to each other are ‘The Weekend’ and ‘Love Galore’. Aside from them being the most popular songs on the album, they have both expressed relationships she has been in that have possibly been toxic. The Weekend describes what it is like to be in the relationship like a love triangle. The only thing is SZA takes on the role of the side chick, who is dominant, non-recessive, and proud of only having the man (of the love triangle) for the weekend. Love Galore, which features the artist Travis Scott, gives the perspective of being out of a relationship but wanting to be apart of it again as well as realizing that she deserves a lot better than the guy who did her dirty.

Yet another side of SZA is revealed through her songs ‘Normal Girl’, ‘Drew Barrymore’, and ‘Broken Clocks’. ‘Normal Girl’ describes what SZA wishes she could be to her lover. She yet reveals some more of her insecurities that her lover seems to see. SZA wants her clarification from her lover because he is who she confides in. ‘Drew Barrymore’, named after the famous actress is about living a life where nothing is in control and you are just letting things happen as they come. ‘Broken Clocks’ can relate a lot to any high school girl. Trying to focus on both school and your social life can get intimidating until you really choose what matters to you most. And you can not forget to mention the encouraging words from SZA’s mom. “If you don’t like me, you don’t have to fool with me. You don’t have to talk to me or treat me mean. I don’t have to treat you mean. I just stay out of your way. That’s the way you work that one.”

I believe that this album really showed her fans what she was capable of by showcasing her bold tones and feelings throughout the album. Fans of both R&B and Hip Hop have been looking for new artists to fulfill their musical needs by speaking of topics that most are shameful of. Women especially, feel like they should not air their emotions because they will be seen as classy. SZA pushes that stereotype to

 

Overall, this album deserves a round of applause because it gives you a lot of clarification on who SZA is as an artist and it can also help you find the person that you are.

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer 

Back in February, recording artist Young Dolph (Adolph Thornton, Jr.) was shot at over one hundred times in Charlotte, North Carolina after finishing his performance at CIAA Weekend. As he was in a bulletproof SUV, none of the shots penetrated and Dolph was left unharmed. The tension between himself and fellow Memphis natives/rappers Yo Gotti (Mario Mims) and signee Blac Youngsta (Samuel Benson) is believed to be the cause of this incident.

Two months later, Dolph dropped studio album “100 Shots” on April 1st, with a tracklist describing the incident and taunting the shooter(s).

Dolph landed in the hospital after being shot at again, this time in Los Angeles, California at a Hollywood mall in late September. He was released from the hospital two weeks later on October 12th and released an album the following week on October 20th. Titled “Thinking Out Loud,” the project foresees to be an extraction of Dolph’s mind after these near-death experiences. With his life heavily at risk, (God forbid) this could potentially be one of his last projects.

What’s the Deal
The intro, classic Dolph over an unusual techno-trap instrumental to open up the album. Doesn’t set the tone properly nor serves the mood of the album any justice. A super simple rhyme scheme throughout the song, unable to showcase Dolph’s lyrical capabilities. This, along with tracks 4 and 9 are a dumbed-down version of Dolph, I believe to appeal to the masses of today’s younger hip-hop/rap audience.

Pacific Ocean
Coming from nothing, Dolph is no stranger to appreciating and flaunting his success. On this track, Dolph rhymes about his position in life, children, material possessions, and abundance of women. His flow makes this one stand out, it’s a more lyrical, slower-paced song.

Point Across
Track 3, one of my favorites. Dolph went crazy on this one, the hook is excellent and blends seamlessly with his two verses. An impeccable flow plus an instrumental from Zaytoven creates this amazing addition to the album.
Drippy
Too repetitive for my liking, Dolph’s instrumental choice remains up to par but the lyrics and flow lacked on this track. Nothing worth noting here, you can skip this one.

Believe Me
Track 5, along with the visual, is great. Dolph filmed scenes of this video in the hospital while recovering. He reminisces of the journey getting to where he is now, morals about raising his children, and deserving all his blessings on this song.

All of Mine (feat. DRAM)
Track 6 has the best hook on the album. A surprising feature from DRAM provides melodic vocals perfectly complementing Dolph’s laid-back flow over a calm instrumental. I replay this song at least once every time it comes on.

Go Get Sum Mo
Track 7, the longest song on the album. Stacked with features, this track includes verses from Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, and a chorus from Ty Dolla $ign. I like how no one seems out of place, I wonder what the collaborative process looked like. Not one of my favorite songs due to the lack of substance but a great song overall without a doubt.

Thinking Out Loud
Classic Dolph rapping about the usual: drugs, material possessions, women, guns, and money. He brings us directly into his mind, as the title states, expressing his thoughts in the booth. Being one of the more relaxed tracks, I’d recommend this for a kick-back setting or a long drive to sit back and reflect on life.

Eddie Cane
Track 9, pre-outro finishes strong with high-energy and a rapid-fire flow. Some scary movie piano like sounds can be heard throughout this track, the potential nod towards Halloween? Quality production by Buddha Bless supplies listeners with the last turn up song of the album, perfect for a party/club setting. A repetitive hook from Dolph ensures the catchiness of this one.

While U Here
A perfect outro to conclude this spectacular artistry, a track vocalizing the importance of appreciating/honoring your loved ones while they are alive. Reflecting on his lifestyle and becoming more cautious of his actions because of his observant son watching his moves are the highlights of this one.

Young Dolph displays the importance of timing and his determination to his craft with the release of Thinking Out Loud. A tracklist perfectly pieced together makes this great, stepping slightly outside of his comfort zone with multiple features unlike the project before this one. I’d recommend tracks 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10.

Jeremiah Butler

Staff Writer 

Jason Blum’s [The Producer] and Christopher B. Landon [The Director] new “mystery and thrill” film, Happy Death Day is Number 1 at the box office over its first weekend with a total of $26.5 million from 3,149 theaters. I went to 40th Street’s The Rave Cinemas theater and was expecting a lot from this movie.

 

The movie starts out with Tree Gelbman [Jessica Rothe] waking up and going through her birthday. At this point in the story she has just woke up in Carter Davis’s [Israel Broussard] dorm room and is recovering from a late night at a party, she’s not in a good mood. While going to a surprise party her friends planned for her, she gets killed and wakes back up again. Then the cycle of being hunted then killed and waking back up again starts. Through each death, she doesn’t realize at first why this is happening and Tree’s growing friend Carter helps her a little bit to see who is her killer.

 

If you went to the movies and thought you were going to be scared out of your life, this movie is not for you. It was more mystery than the thrill and no horror at all. If you were to make a list of October’s scary, teeth rattling, keep you up at night movies then Happy Death Day would be somewhere near the bottom.

 

While watching the movie the audience made small remarks like laughs and gasps of disbelief of what was happening. I was expecting for screams and “Don’t do it” throughout the theater, but there was none. Delivering just that from the movie would have made the movie just a bit more engaging because everyone is into the movie and are so into the movie that they try to say things to the actors. Then generally it’s funny when someone says out loud what you were thinking about the movie.

 

Many can argue that Happy Death Day is fine just the way it is. It did make money in a lot of theaters and did create mystery throughout its plot, but the thrill was brushed over in a way, that could’ve been more meaningful to the need of fear I’m sure most were looking for.

 

“We wanted the movie to be scary, but we also felt that because of her situation and because she’s trapped. She’s trapped in the same day and it, therefore, becomes predictable that in the effort to solve her own murder she also can start manipulating things and that really lent itself to the humor I think angle of it all because she doesn’t care anymore she can do whatever she wants,” said Christopher in an interview with FilmIsNow Network.

There are movies that relate to the same plot Happy Death Day portrays. For example, Michael Tiddes [The Director] comical Netflix Original film, Naked. It’s Rob Anderson’s [Marlon Wayans] and Megan’s [Regina Hall] wedding day and Rob has to get this day perfectly right for his wife to be.

 

Both “Happy Death Day” and “Naked” are films that show how reliving one special day can change the overall outcome of how that day turns out for them. Imagine reliving a day like your birthday or the first day of school or a first date. At first, you’re annoyed and you panic because this is happening to you, but feeling this way I think is something that happens when your days are repetitive. Going to school, going home, doing homework, sleep. Going to school, going home, doing homework, sleep.

 

A merry go round of things that all happen with no change. I think both movies inspire the viewer to change it up and switch the leading events to get a better outcome. In the beginning of both movies, Tree and Rob had to redo a birthday and wedding day, because the outcome of each wasn’t what they wanted.

The movie currently wasn’t scary or made you stay up at night, but it did deliver some controversial thoughts about how we spend each day, after all a sticker on Carter’s dorm room dorm says, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

 

Louisa Strohm

Staff Writer 

 

Recently the popular show amongst many American teens, Riverdale, has come back for season two on the CW. Although many are thrilled to see one of their favorite programs back, lots of others are surprised at the dark twist the plot has taken. From shootings, murders, and acts of violent crime in every episode so far, the question some have to ask is: has the show gone too dark?

 

Season one of Riverdale was a murder mystery, that ended in the direction that no one thought it would. The four main characters, Betty, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica, worked vigorously to solve this murder, all with a reason of why they needed closure. Even though there was a murder involved in the first season, there was always an uplifting plotline in each episode that made you smile.

 

The last scene of season one ends with an important character getting shot. This came as a huge surprise and left people waiting for season two to see if the character lives. But when episode one of season two came along, there were many fans left uneasy by the amount of sadness and hurt in the episode. There were flashes of a masked man throughout scenes that looked happy, characters turning their backs on each other, and more dark activities, which left many fans upset with the show.

 

In the three episodes shown so far, there has been a murder, a shooting, it has shown teenagers doing drugs, physically abusing each other, and more. This raises the question: do teens really need to be watching this dark material? Many teens are already under the pressure of social media, school, peer pressure, and much more, so do they really need to be watching other fictitious teens falling down these rabbit holes?

 

It is understandable that the show needed a new mystery for this season and wanted to start a completely different plot line, but did they have to make it as intense and scary as they did? Last season, it was only described to the viewers what happened to the murdered individual, but this season, the shooting of an important character has been shown multiple times; the shooting of two more teenagers, and a murder of a teacher. This is thought to be sensitive content and for a show aimed towards teens, it may be a bit too much.

 

I look forward to solving the mystery and seeing what path Riverdale decides to take for the remainder of the season. I think that they are taking a unique risk with making the show more graphics and I am very interested to see if the show will continue on for a third in season two’s footsteps.

 

If you want to catch up on Riverdale, all of the episodes are available for free at http://www.cwtv.com. Riverdale is on Wednesdays at 8:00 pm on the CW channel.

Taylor Green

Staff Writer

 

“Are criminals born, or are they formed?”

That’s just one of the few questions that Netflix’s new original series Mindhunter, tries to

answer.

Mindhunter is a crime-drama, created by Joe Penhall, an English Australian playwright, and screenwriter.He is best known for his own play “Blue/Orange”, that he later adapted into a television film. The series was also produced by David Fincher (Director of “Fight Club” and “Gone Girl”) and Charlize Theron (roles in Mad Max: Fury Road and The Fate of the Furious)

Although Joe Penhall is responsible for making Mindhunter come to life, it was originally a book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit written by John E. Douglas, a former special agent and unit chief of the FBI who played a big part in the psychological analysis of crimes in the 1970s.

Douglass started off as an FBI sniper and turned into a hostage negotiator. He is the man responsible for criminal profiling to the bureau. He spent a lot of his years interviewing serial killers before the name “serial killer” was even pegged. Trying to figure out their motives not only furthered the crime field for officers today but for many people within psychology fields.

Mindhunter is set in the 1970s and it follows two FBI agents, Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt Mccallany), as they try to learn more about the psyche of “sequence killers”. Yet this is deemed to be difficult, considering that they are in an era where the explanation for criminal behavior tends to stop at “criminals are just bad”.

Instead of the who, what, when, where or how that most crime shows on television are trying to answer, Mindhunter is utterly unique and is about the why. Throughout the series, both agents are traveling across America trying to piece together the mentality of a killer.

The show references real life, mentioning notorious killers such as David Berkowitz and Charles Manson, and having actors play killers like Ed Kemper, Dennis Rader, and Jerry Brudos. Jonathan Groff’s character is supposed to represent John E Douglas when he was first inducted into the FBI.

I was interested in this show because Netflix had a trailer for it and it looked really intriguing. I’ve always enjoyed crime dramas, such as Law and Order: SVU and Making A Murderer. I read the description and saw that the show would be set in the 70s, which peaked my interest even more because I have never watched a crime series set in a specific era.

Since the show was set in a precedent era, I was preparing myself for racially charged comments and sexist remarks left and right. However, the show is very politically correct and directed through a lens that is very educational. Instead of showing you that people are just being antagonizing, they are helping you recognize that people simply weren’t as informed in this age.

Although the show isn’t blatantly offensive, it isn’t as diverse as one would hope. People of color are scarce in this show and women are only brought up when detectives Ford and Tench are questioning a killer about their victims.

The only two main female characters are Deborah Mitford played by Hannah Gross and Wendy Carr played by Anna Torv. Although the show is centered on their male counterparts, both women don’t let that limit them in their fields.

Deborah, who is Holden’s girlfriend, is a postgraduate student at the University of Virginia who has Ph.D. in Sociology and she doesn’t let Holden forget. She is headstrong and extremely well versed providing him with more insight on topics like feminism, race, and human behavior that not only furthers his view on the world but helps him make progress in his career.

Wendy Carr is a psychology professor working at Boston University. Throughout the series, she is alongside Holden Ford and Bill Tench, trying to crack the cases. She brings a lot to the plate with her degree in psychology and her go-getter attitude.

Overall, Mindhunter is a brilliant series, without drowning you with too much information so that it doesn’t feel intimidating. It gives you an equal proportion of crime and drama, not only diving into the lives of the killers but the private lives of the detectives as well. It has already been renewed for a new season.

If you’ve ever watched Silence of the Lambs and liked it, Mindhunter is perfect to you. Similar to Jodie Foster’s character Clarice in the movie, the detectives in the show really make a connection with the killers. This allows them to learn more about their subjects not only as criminals but the people that they were beforehand.