Rap and hip-hop have, in many senses, long been genres prone to polarity and debate. Conscious songs vs. popular anthems; lyrical aces vs. commanding performers; kings of the studio vs. kings of streets; albums vs. mixtapes; East Coast club vs. West Coast gangsta; singing vs. rapping. Kendrick Lamar’s surprise eight-track, 34-minute “untitled unmastered,” released two weeks ago and composed of unpolished studio demos from 2015 Grammy award-winning album “To Pimp A Butterfly,” immediately posed many of those questions to fans. In particular, observers honed in on format – is it an EP? a compilation? a random scrap heap? – and production style – free jazz? funk? new age? – as their battlegrounds.
Rhymes, snaps and claps created an ambience of community within the walls of Haley House as performers spoke about social justice, personal struggles and general pop culture to the crowd.
Before graduating as a combined cinema studies and philosophy major in 2015, Northeastern University alumnus Jackson Hyland-Lipski had already worked on two Academy Award nominated films: 2014’s winner of Best Documentary (Short Subject), “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” and 2015 Best Documentary nominee, “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
After releasing its fifth record “Venom” in August 2015, the Welsh metal band Bullet for My Valentine is slated to present the album at the House of Blues Boston on March 3.
I remember the first time I walked onto campus. It was overwhelming. No website description, no college ranking list, no pamphlet picture could ever encapsulate the sense of awe that I felt. The Green Line emerged from underneath Huntington Avenue, adding to the buzz of students and city residents walking, talking and laughing, all in front of the beautiful grey buildings that sit at the front of the campus. Even Boston’s smell was somewhat sentimental to me, a young Texas boy heading to the city for the first time. This was nearly two years ago.
Event of the Week: Thursday, Mar. 3
Roxbury Community College is presenting its rendition of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” at the Roxbury Repertory Theatre. Directed by Robbie McCauley, the play is part of a centennial anniversary celebration in honor of Miller. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play follows Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, and his sons Biff and Happy after Loman returns home from a car accident. Loman has spent his life chasing the American Dream, believing that hard work will get him what he needs in sales. He attempts to make sense of the world that once promised so much but is now full of his manufactured excuses and daydreams. 1234 Columbus Ave., Roxbury; 10:00 a.m. – noon; $10.
A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Visiting Masterpieces: Pairing Picasso (MFA), affords visitors a look at how the 20th-century master revisited the same subjects that fascinated him throughout his career.
The Academy managed to barrel through its 88th Awards telecast, despite a minefield of possible (and actual) embarrassments and a seeming lack of care for its nominees and their craft.
Just like in the business world, we need our own personal elevator pitch. In today’s day and age, the traditional résumé on cardstock and business card with Times New Roman font can be bland and unmemorable. The hippest of employers are hiring based on Vines and blog posts. At parties and networking events, can you stand to recite the usual spiel of “I’m from blank and I work in/study blank” one more time? I find that the most truths are in the “but” and “also,” the dreams and experiences we keep tucked behind a comfortable title or background. “I’m a nurse but also a writer.” “I’m from San Francisco but I grew up in Brooklyn.” How do we get to the stories – the substance of our lives?
Event of the Week: Monday, Feb. 29
Whether it’s the Green Line, Orange Line or Red Line, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is both a source of Boston’s pain and pleasure – more often the former. Now, thanks to ImprovBoston, this lovable transportation system has its own musical. “T: An MBTA Musical” follows a group of three young people whose lives have been ruined by the aforementioned pain of the MBTA. But with the help of a secret map, they hatch a plan to reform everyone’s favorite transit system. Their journey is part drama, part love story and part scavenger hunt. Don’t miss your chance to hear classics like “The Shuttle Bus Song” in what BroadwayWorld.com calls the best new musical. 40 Prospect St., Cambridge; 10 p.m.; $25.
