Month: April 2018

Chvrches: Leaving Their Trace

Relatable, feel good music is exactly what someone looks for when listening to different artists.  The lyrics, the beat and even the video of a song can leave a lasting impression. When I listened to Chvrches’ track “Leave A Trace,” I was hooked.

Unapologetic synth-pop band Chvrches has been in the game since 2011. Their music most certainly gives 1980s summer time vibes for sure. The “v” in Chvrches is no mistake.  It was put there to distinguish them from different religious information when searching for their music online.

The trio were in different bands before they came together to form Chvrches. Iain Cook asked Lauren Mayberry to sing on a few demos that he made with Martin Doherty, an old classmate.  They gained popularity after they debuted their demo Lies.

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Kid ‘N Play: Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody

The 1980’s was a very important time in the hip-hop, because this is when hip-hop made the transition from fad to pop culture. It went from being viewed as an underground counterculture, to thrusting its way into mainstream society. So many cultural icons gained their notoriety during that time, and the first House Party movie also served as a launching pad for several of these soon to be iconic figures in their respective fields, while introducing other legends to a younger generation. From the late Robin Harris, John "Pops" Witherspoon, and George Clinton, on to Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, and of course Kid ‘N Play, House Party helped to propel each of their careers  to even bigger heights. For Kid ‘N Play, it was a defining moment that led to the duo becoming Hip-hop and Pop icons.

The Kid ‘N Play duo consists of Christopher "Kid" Reid and Chris "Play" Martin who both hail from Queens, New York. As legendary as the first House Party was, could you imagine Kid ‘N Play not playing their respective roles? Well, that's what almost happened. I To their surprise they were still selected, but not so much because of their audition as much as it was the frenzy they stirred as they were leaving drawing crowds of fans and shifting the belief that the movie starring them could be very successful.

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Katanu Kay: Kitenge Creations

With the birth of social media, several rare, innovative contemporary art styles and materials have garnered major attention, from packing tape murals to hyper-realistic paintings. The work of nineteen year old Kenyan artist, Katanu Kay fits into this category. She chooses to wield kitenge, a fabric used in most of East Africa, in her paintings. Kay breathes life into her work by draping her subjects in the cloth.

“The kitenge fabric in my art signifies all the different kinds of cultures represented by Africa because Africa is so culturally diverse. It’s so interesting to me that every single pattern and color holds a different deeper meaning,” Kay explained in an interview with the China Global Television Network (Africa).

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Swae Lee: Carefree and Prospering

Some of his most popular songs over the past three years include “No Type,”  “Black Beatles,” and “Unforgettable.” Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown, otherwise known as Swae Lee, has been working in the music business since he was about fourteen, and pretty soon he will become a household name. The Inglewood, California native is twenty-three years old and he began making music with his brother, Aaquil Ibinshaman Brown aka Slim Jxmmi, as well as a family friend Bobo Swae, forming the group called Dem Outta St8 Boyz.

Later, the group’s DJ, DJ Swae, put them in touch with P-Nazty, a producer for Mike Will Made It’s record label, EarDrummers. Shortly after Swae turned eighteen, he, his brother, and DJ Swae moved to Atlanta, where Swae began observing and experimenting with the more professional side of the music business. Unfortunately, after a while, they ran out of money and had to move back home, causing Dem Outta St8 Boyz to disperse.

This year sparked the beginning of Swae Lee establishing himself separately from the group, being featured on singles like “Drinks On Us” with Future and The Weeknd, “Burn Slow” with Wiz Khalifa, and “Nightcrawler” with Travis Scott and Chief Keef. In 2016, he was featured on tracks like “Yacht Master” by 2 Chainz and “Ball Out The Lot” by Bobo Swae. It was in this year that Swae got his first co-producer credit with “Pussy Print” by Gucci Mane featuring Kanye West. He also achieved a major feat, having written the hook for Beyonce’s “Formation.” “I make a lot of songs, so I’m just thinking that this is another song. A couple months later, Mike tells me that Beyoncé wants it. I couldn’t imagine!” Swae reveals in a Fader interview.

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Trevor Noah: Laughing with Conviction

At only 34 years old, comedian, actor, writer and producer Trevor Noah has changed the face of comedy. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa and born to a black Xhosa mother and a German-Swiss white father during 1984, the height of the apartheid, his childhood was no laughing matter. Ironically, that’s exactly what he jokes about. Noah’s biracial identity combined with growing up in an illegal family allows him to cross racial, cultural, political and social lines with real life experience.

“I inherited my sense of humor from my mom,” he told Time Magazine, “the ability to laugh in the face of danger, to mock it.” Nevertheless, his mockery, though funny, leaves his fans with lingering thoughts and questions about why issues like racial division and social equality even exist. Intertwining his comedy with social justice commentary, Noah’s humor keeps the world laughing while exposing their convictions as well.  Whether he’s joking about his own upbringing, colonization, siri or speaking in German, Noah uses humor to talk about some of the world’s most destructive wrongs.

Despite growing up in an environment that valued censorship more than humor, Noah’s observant nature and sarcastic comments helped build the foundation for his career in comedy. “I was in first grade, [and] I remember making a joke about the principal at the time and the manner in which he administered corporal punishment,” he told The San Diego Union Tribune.“There was something funny about the way he did it. I said something and the rest of the class laughed very hard,” he concluded, admitting the situation made him feel like a comic genius. But it wasn’t until his mid to late twenties that his comedy career really took off after his friends dared him to share some of his jokes on stage. In fact, it wasn’t until he met English comedian Eddie Izzard in a comedy club that Noah really began to hone his craft.

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Sara Cwynar: Reuse & Recycle

How does one define contemporary art? Everybody’s perception is different. Some would define contemporary art as i sculpting, performance, photography, installation or even videography. It’s all about how a person looks at it, however thing is for sure, art is a form of self expression.

Canadian artist Sara Cwynar creates artwork through photography and installation. She captures images with a camera and couples them with actual objects such as photographs, fruits, cups, flowers or even books, only to reproduce the items as another full image.

“My process begins with a massive personal archive of found objects, and involves reprinting and reworking the images, taking them out of collective spaces and into ones [spaces] open for personal intervention,” said Cwynar in an interview with independent publisher Lavalette.

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