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Song Review: “Origo”

May 9, 2017 by lpahomov 1 Comment

Maddi Etxebeste

Staff Writer

What is the “Eurovision Song Contest”?

Yearly, a big international music contest is held in Europe, called the Eurovision Song Contest. It is the longest-running annual international TV song competition, held since 1956. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world. Each participating country has to submit an original song to be performed on live television and then each country votes giving a certain amount of points to decide who is the winner. Since 1981, the winner country hosts the next year’s contest. This year it is hosted in Kiev, Ukraine, after Jamala’s victory with her emotional song “1994”, which caused controversy in Europe due to its political content.

Almost no Americans watch this contest, although hundreds of millions of people around the globe live for it (including me!)

This year, there is one song that is standing out and impressing Europe: “Origo”, sung by Joci Pápai. This will be the song representing Hungary. Joci Pápai is a Romani-Hungarian singer, rapper, songwriter and guitarist. A popular English term for Romani people is “gipsy”.

This song stands out by having ethnic sounds and dances, and its peculiar chorus. He tackles some tough topics as ethnic discrimination and prejudices. Pápai sings it in Hungarian and he describes his song as a “message of hope and strength” to all the Romani minorities in the world, who, in some countries, may feel mistreated. He also explains how he found his strength in God and he describes himself as a “believer, dreamer, father, fighter, singer, and Samurai”.

The song also tells the story of a Romani man, him, falling in love with a White European woman, and how belonging to the ethnicity he belongs to was a problem that kept them apart from each other, as he says in the song: “Hogy meghódítsd a szívem ismerned kell lelkemet” which means something like “To conquer my heart you must know my soul.”

I wanted to do a review about this song because ethnic minorities in many countries suffer from not being treated the same way as natives, and because SLA has people from different cultures within the community, and if they never feel bad because of their origins this song shows how a man is having the same troubles. Maybe you can get to feel, or at least see how he suffered with the tone of his voice.

The first time I heard this song, along with the others presented this year, I was really surprised and I didn’t really know what I just heard. First of all, I don’t understand Hungarian, but I’m pleased that he decided to sing in his national language because most of the other songs are nowadays sung in English to “make it more international”. The song could be described by people as “weird”, because it is obvious that it is not a song that is going to be played in the radio stations worldwide and that it will not please most of the people if they listen to it for the first or second time.

The live performance add a lot to the song. Pápai appears with a woman who dances with a Romani style and with movements similar to “flamenco” dances in Spain. In the official video this woman also appears dancing and there are also shots of someone’s hand touching his heart. Even if the staging is not extraordinary it complements the song, the singer, and the dancer.

Something that can also surprise the audience is how “ethnic” the song sounds and suddenly hearing how Pápai starts to rap, and is combining two styles that are completely different.

“this song is a blend of styles: electronic beats, Hungarian popular music and gipsy style.” Once, in an interview, he was asked why did he add the part of the rap in the song, and he answered “In the Eurovision Song Contest songs can only last three minutes as a maximum, and rap is the best way I can say all the things I want to say and fast enough to tell you all of them”.

Even if this song has a meaning that has to do politics, being politics a topic that the contest wants to keep apart from the festival and focus on the music, the song is receiving a good acceptance within the “Eurofan” (Eurovision Song Contest fan) community. In the betting odds provided by www.eurovisionworld.com, one of the most known Eurovision websites, he is placed 14th out of 42 countries, which is a very good placement and means that he is seen as an absolute qualifier for the finals.

I wish him and his team the best, because Hungary is not a country that has always sent good songs, but this one is making the difference and may have a good result. Though, in the semifinals of this year most of the songs are balanced and some good entries will fail to qualify just for a few points, so no one knows what could happen. In any case, he deserves qualifying to the finals and finishing in the top 15.

He will compete in the second semifinal which will take place on Thursday, May 11th. The grand final is on Saturday, May 13th.

Official Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LflrKXL022U

National Final Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stjsoO0NfM

Movie Review: Fate of the Furious

May 9, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Deja Harrison

Staff Writer

The Fast and the Furious is an action series that is centered around insanely fast and illegal car races, heist and family. The recurring theme in the films are family is everything and they focus heavily on loyalty and trust. The films have been a huge success since the original in 2001.

After the sudden death of main character Paul Walker who played Brian O’Connor in the Fast and Furious series in 2013 many fans speculated about the release and quality of the recent 8th film. Walker played a huge role in all of the movies so the controversy that surrounded movie was very understandable. I decided to take a look at the movie and see if it still lived up to the previous films.

In the Fate of the Furious, or Fast 8 as most would call it, the themes are still very apparent. Dominic played by actor Vin diesel is forced to go against his family/crew by a mysterious female cyber terrorist named Cipher.

She is using his highly trained skills to wreak havoc across the world, her ultimate goal is to have power over all in the world. Dominic’s team consisting of his wife Netty(Michelle Rodriguez), Luke(Dwayne Johnson), Roman(Tyrese), Tej (Ludacris), and Megan(Nathalie Emmanuel) have been assigned to track and put a stop to him and Cipher’s attacks. The team does not know that Cipher is forcing Dominic to go against them, they simply assume that he is going rouge. I don’t want to give too much away but what Cipher is holding over Dominic’s head is huge and is a major game changer for the series.

In all I believe all the doubts on the movies story and overall rank were for nothing. Paul Walker’s death was very tragic and it made it hard for fans to see the films because they couldn’t envision the crew without him. The crew in my opinion did an amazing job honoring him and they kept his name alive in a way that I won’t reveal because it will be a major spoiler. This movie is definitely a must see if you enjoy laughs, family and some nice kick butt action. I recommend it to all.

Show Review: Everyday Struggle

May 5, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

Complex is a New York–based media platform for youth culture which was founded as a bi-monthly magazine by fashion designer Marc Eckō. Complex reports on trends in style, pop culture, music, sports and sneakers with a focus on streetwear, sneaker culture, hip-hop, and graphic art. Complex currently reaches over 120 million unique users per month across its owned and operated and partner sites, socials and YouTube channels.

Complex released a new segment/series titled “Everyday Struggle” which can be viewed on their website or via YouTube. The show features “retired rapper” Joe Budden, YouTube personality DJ Akademiks, and Complex journalist Nadeska Alexis. These two individuals have very strong opinions about many different topics regarding music and pop culture. Everyday Struggle is a talk show with heated debates between Budden and Akademiks.

The best thing about Everyday Struggle in my opinion is the frequency of episodes being released, since the debut of the show (April 10, 2017) there has been 24 videos of content as of May 2, 2017. I say “videos of content” instead of episodes because on Complex’s YouTube channel they also include highlights/clips of episodes about a certain topics discussed in the full-length episode. These clips range from 4:25 to 10:43 while the full length episodes are usually in the 30-50 minute time frame.

With the frequent controversial topics that are discussed on the show, Everyday Struggle has been gaining a lot of views.

For example, epsiode number 2 (listed as 102) focuses on the current status of Lil Uzi Vert and his ongoing label issues. Joe Budden angrily expressed his opinions about young artists signing to a major label company. Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill were brought up in an interesting conversation about “who won the break up”.

Another episode, episode number 4 (listed as 104) DJ Akademiks and Joe Budden debated who they think the greatest rapper alive is; after that they broke down the Janet Jackson divorce rumors and then talked about the rumored Quavo and Karrueche romance.

One element of the show that I think doesn’t get enough appreciation is the moderators. Nadeska Alexis is super calm and laid back on the show compared to the angry, loud voiced Joe Budden. She sometimes expresses her opinions and slightly joins in on the conversation, but her main focus is to keep the debate on topic as it can spiral in other directions.

Overall, there’s nothing I don’t like about this show. There’s an episode released today which features a guest appearance from Lil Yachty which means the show is headed in a great direction.

I would recommend this show to anyone who likes music, more specifically hip hop as that is the focus of the show. It’s super entertaining and hilarious.

Song Review: I’m The One

May 5, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Meymey Seng

Staff Writer

Seven days ago, the song “I’m the One” was released by DJ Khaled. Some people referred to this video as DJ Khaled assembling the team of avengers, since he brought together a notable group of singers and rappers. He was the one who created the song itself and had different visions of which voice would match a certain part best.

When I first heard this song, I only heard a solid ten seconds and was not sure whether or not I liked it. It just reminded me of other songs that I have heard before, nothing unique or special. Later, I searched it up to give the whole song and video a chance.

The video opens with DJ Khaled calling Chance the Rapper, telling him to bring some friends who were Justin Bieber, Quavo, and Lil Wayne to have a house party where they would celebrate the good things in life. The rest of the video was okay to me, I didn’t really care for it. It was simply them singing in a party environment surrounded by women.

Starting the video was a hook sung by Justin Bieber and I thought the beat was good, although the hook itself was kind of repetitive in a tiring sense. Quavo’s performance clearly relied on autotune, which kind of turned me off from the song. Even if it was meant to sound like that, I feel like it was not executed nicely. The next rapper after that was Chance and I liked that part more, even though it was very short. Lastly, it was Lil Wayne’s part and I enjoyed his lines but there was a very strong autotune sound. Seconds after the start of his part, it starts to sound better.

So overall, I would give this song a rating of five out of ten. A majority of this could be because I was expecting a lot because of the talk that has been built around this song. With this said, I have to admit, it is a actually catchy song and I’ve already heard it on the radio and played on loudspeakers. Occasionally I might be in the mood to hear it and have actually played it myself.

Sick Fights, Lame Plot

May 2, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Fatu Castillo

Staff Writer

Let me kick this off by saying that I knew exactly what I was going to get when I went to see Kong: Skull Island. I didn’t go into the movie theater expecting to be blown away by an intricate plot like Inception or delve into modern societal issues like in Her.

This is not a movie that will have you in tears while people filter out of the aisles nor will this movie compel you to contemplate society and technology the next time your phone dies and you’re bored.

So turn back and don’t waste your money if you want your emotions hammered like a punching bag or your thoughts challenged by a pretentious director that just had to make a point.

No, if I was looking for a movie that would blow me away with an amazing plot or deeping meanings then I’d be sorely disappointed.

I mean, dropping bombs on a random island? Because a crackpot researcher thinks there might be something there? Where was the government agent to say “Uh, Sir, that sounds a little too expensive.”

I paid money to see one thing and one thing only, sick monster fights on a giant screen. Let me tell you, I got my money’s worth.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the movie director, knew exactly who his target audience was and played right to them. Not even ten minutes in and Kong, all hail the king, was already on the screen.

He wasn’t beating anything up yet, which was a little bit disappointing, but he was still cool to look at. And it gave me the perfect taste of the what was in store for the rest of the movie.

It didn’t take long for hands to start being caught since the first fight scene was about fortyfive minutes. Watching Kong wretch-shop a bunch of military helicopters with added explosion noises and comical deaths was extremely pleasing.

Sometimes, there wasn’t even a reason for hands to be thrown but they were, namely when a giant octopus attacked out of nowhere in water that was definitely too shallow for it to be in.

Why? Because senseless violence and epic soundtracks were exactly what me and the other there are dwellers paid for.

Good acting? Not so much.

By the time the movie was over, I could care less about the if the people lived or died. I still can’t wrap my head around why some of them were even in the movie.

Why would a government agent allow an obviously anti-government photographer to come along on a secret mission? Why would an otherwise level-headed intent go crazy with vengeance instead of saving his men?

I don’t know and I don’t care, I got to see soldier fight with a giant spider.

Would I recommend this movie? No, if you don’t want to waste money of forgettable characters and a lame plot. Yes, if you just want to watch sick monster fights.