Every Nas album since the turn of the century has closely orbited a major theme. At his most overt (he called an album Hip Hop Is Dead in 2006and tried to call anotherNigger two years later), the iconic Queens rapper will trace one idea from a dozen different angles, writing …
Read More »Paul Manafort, One of D.C.'s Most Venerable Swamp Creatures, Is Headed to Jail
WASHINGTON – “I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this.” In an overflow room at the D.C. federal courthouse in the shadow of the Capitol, the voice of Judge Amy Berman Jackson came through reedy and distant from the ceiling speakers. But her …
Read More »The Pot Industry Is Overwhelmingly White, and One Congresswoman Wants to Change That
Sometimes, all it takes is a poorly named weed strain to illuminate a real problem. Just this week, Shanita Penny, the president of the board of directors for the Minority Cannabis Business Association, was contacted by a black woman who was shocked that a marijuana dispensary in Maryland is selling …
Read More »See Country Duo Everette Cut Loose in Memphis for 'Slow Roll' Video
There’s an entire philosophy contained in one line of country duo Everette’s debut single “Slow Roll” that name-checks Matthew McConaughey and his immortal, “Alright, alright, alright” from Dazed and Confused. It speaks to an easygoing mentality that meshes with their relaxed, blues-influenced groove, and the song’s new video has lead …
Read More »Let's Talk About This Cuban-Russian-Chinese Conspiracy
The lede in the New York Times piece was striking in its certainty: A crisis over a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families — which began in Cuba and recently appeared in China — has widened as the State Department evacuated at least two more Americans from China …
Read More »'Game of Thrones' Prequel Pilot Ordered by HBO
Production is wrapping on the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones – which is not set to return sometime until 2019 – but today HBO confirmed that they green lit an untitled prequel to the mega hit from feature writer Jane Goldman and author/Game of Thrones co-executive producer …
Read More »MIT Scientists Unveil First Psychopath AI, 'Norman'
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled the first artificial intelligence algorithm trained to be a psychopath. TheAI was fittingly dubbed “Norman” after Norman Bates, the notorious killer in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. MIT scientists Pinar Yanardag, Manuel Cebrian and Iyad Rahwan trained Norman to perform image captioning, “a deep …
Read More »Taibbi: An Ode to the Feeble Corporate Apology
Three of America’s biggest companies – Facebook, Wells Fargo and Uber – have been offering up vague apologies via television commercials in recent weeks. If you watch the Cavs-Dubs game tonight, you’ll probably catch one or all of them. Have a bucket handy. All three entities are apologizing for recent …
Read More »'Hereditary' Review: Family Horror Tale Is the Scariest Movie of 2018
In its sense of poisoned family bloodlines, of the everyday invaded by unspeakable evil, of bonechilling terror you won’t be able to shake, Hereditary is a new horror landmark that puts a unique face on things that go bump in the night. To be clear, this award-caliber debut feature from …
Read More »Cody Jinks Details New Album 'Lifers'
Brash country outlaw Cody Jinks shared the details of his much-anticipated eighth album Lifers on Instagram,selecting July 27th for the release of his first LP after signing with Rounder Records. A Texas native and former thrash metal singer, Jinks captured the attention of country fans in 2016 with the release …
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