“Bruce and I grew up watching the same TV shows. Roy Rogers used to say ‘Yippee ki yah, kids.’ So it had to become ‘Yippee ki yah, motherfucker’ in the movie. That line was from me. Whenever you think you’re writing a line that’s going to catch on, it never does. A lot of people, […]
When it comes to writing on Queer film and studying its history, you have to become an archaeologist— dig through archives of film, and like an excavator— discover a small piece and somehow place it among the rest of the pieces in order to analyze the foundations of it. Film studies of Queer representation is […]
Hip-hop, the aesthetic lifestyle of breakdancing, street art, and rap music has always been a celebration of the culture around it, namely the culture of Black America. Rap music, in particular, became a cultural doorway that allowed African Americans to deliver their message to the world around them. At the same time, rap was always […]
“I was in the living room of Dondy Bastone’s house, I was 15 and it was 1977. The song that he put on was Psycho Killer and I absolutely freaked out, it was like nothing else I had ever heard and made me feel things I had never felt… Some very strange things happened to […]
“But listen, you don’t need to be worried about these Alt-Right guys. They don’t want to fuck with Black guys. They just really hate the Jews.” It is one week after 32-year-old Heather Heyer was struck and killed by a James Alex Fields with his silver Dodge Challenger while protesting the White suprematists’ rally to […]
Star Trek: Discovery premiered Sunday, September 24, 2017 to less than stellar reviews. Set a decade before Star Trek: TOS (The Original Series), Discovery follows the exploits of the USS Discovery during the Federation/Klingon Cold War. (For the uninitiated, the Federation is a sort of interstellar United Nations, while the Klingons are, well, the bad […]
“You go through things like we went through as a band, and people started to split apart, become more like oil and water. But early on, you see the sweetness that was there. It was the three of us against the world, trying to establish ourselves, and that’s the experiment of a band.” – Andy […]
“Musicians are like politicians. They’re the last people who should be making music, just like politicians are the last people who should be running things.” -Nigel Godrich It sounds “busy.” It sounds “layered.” It sounds “sparse.” It calls to mind this band or that band, and it sounds like something new and different. Something integral […]
In the previous article, I discussed the theme of James Cameron’s catalogue of movies involving humanity vs. technology. Cameron goes back and forth about how the use of technology can be both a benefit and a burden for mankind, and we as an audience will know how he will pose technology in the movie depending […]
James Cameron burst onto the scene in 1984 with The Terminator, and two years later in 1986 he released his second feature, ALIENS (to pretty much near-unanimous praise); thus Cameron had already begun a love/hate relationship with technology. As a storyteller and a director, he was well aware of the possibilities of technology, both as […]
“You’re driving in a hurricane and you see three people at a bus stop. One is an old lady and she’s sick. One is your best friend and he saved your life. And the third is the lady of your dreams. Now check it out, you only have room for one in your car, which […]
I was watching the new Showtime series, White Famous, this past week and this line jumped out at me… “Diversity’s real important to me right now.” There’s something so funny about it. Though it’s spoken quite earnestly, the intent is very clear… Diversity is only important because that’s what networks and large conglomerates think the […]
“People were literally scared of my records. There have been so many rumors about me and my records. People got the first album, and they would just make up stories. They’d get into an accident and be like, ‘I got into an accident because I was playing that tape.’ It wasn’t like we helped ourselves […]
“My whole thing was, just being me. Now, you look around the NBA and all of them have tattoos, guys wearing cornrows. Now you see the police officers with the cornrows. I took a beating for those types of things.” -Allen Iverson It’s a hot day in September, New York’s frenetic energy is juiced by […]
To get myself in the mood to write about the impact of bloghaus on pop culture for a real-life magazine (SHOUTOUT CONTROL FOREVER)… On Saturday night August 5th, instead of schlepping out to HARD Summer to see the breakout superstars of the beloved musical era, I went to Echoplex to check out a $10 bloghaus-themed nostalgia […]
“Everyone calls it hip hop, but we aren’t hip hop. Our records are always like “yeah that UK Hip Hop”, we are like grime music, its a completely different thing.” -Jelacee, Stooki Sound Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo, Jr. has made it. Last year he charted on the UK billboard top 10, wen’t #1 with […]
Welcome to Neon Black where we talk all things pop culture, music, art, and film. Today we talk about A Star Is Born and Venom making big box office numbers – Lil Wayne making big numbers – UFC 229 Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov – T.I.’s new album Dime Trap – LANY’s new record Malibu […]
Having to compete with prime cable networks, such as HBO or Showtime, can’t be easy—especially when it’s the rise of the online streaming era. TNT adapts to survive in the television market by buying out the competition. Whenever an opportunity arises for the network to grow, it rushes to place an offer. From acquiring blockbusters to […]
Tha Carter V may have dropped two weeks ago, but I’ve been a Lil Wayne fan since his Cash Money Millionaires days in the late `90s—when he was a member of The Hot Boy$ with Juvenile, Young Turk, and B.G. I remember being in fourth grade when I heard “Back That Azz Up” by Juvenile, […]
Lil Baby x Gunna Finally arriving is the highly-anticipated Gunna and Lil Baby project, Drip Harder. The two have recently exploded on the hip-hop scene, damn near shaking it to the point where everyone has heard of this duo. This is one a lot of people have been waiting for—even comparing them to duos, like Lil […]
Welcome to Neon Black where we talk all things pop culture, music, art, and film. Today we talk with writer/director Christopher Louis about the state of film and drawing on creativity, and what it’s like making a film for Netflix. We also chat about Christiano Renaldo and the allegations of rape he is now facing, […]
Earlier this year, the “Popular Film” category was announced. Its optimistic intention: to give films that weren’t orthodox “Oscar” movies the opportunity to become critically acclaimed. Oscar films are movies purely with the intention of competing at the Academy Awards—think period dramas or serious films that attempt to bring something new to the cinematic table. So, […]
Ivy Miller is a model, lifeguard, sports host, swimwear designer, student and comedian, and she’s only 22 years old. She gets real (and real funny) about how she transitioned from modeling to being a student and comedian when she realized her best talent is being herself. She breaks down about her acne, and how it […]
It’s 2018, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that there are even more dope Queer artists on the R&B and hip-hop music scene than there were six years ago—acceptance issues are becoming a thing of the past. It was back in 2012, when Frank Ocean penned an open letter to his fans to […]
The first trailer for the Elton John biopic, Rocketman, has blasted off. Yes, I think the trailer is impressive, and as a fan of Elton John and his music, I am tremendously excited for the film to be released in May of next year. However, there are some issues with the film that we need to discuss. […]
