by Canaan Wilson | Nov 18, 2021 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
With the way I grew up, the influence that R&B music was prominent. Whether it was car rides or cleaning the house the genre would be the soundtrack to a lot of the formative moments of my life. My parents would play the likes of Stevie Wonder, Al Green and many others that flooded the speakers with soul and vibes. It’s now the genre I gravitate towards and there is no shortage of artists today that have strived to create those similar songs and sounds that carry the genre forward. One example of this is the dynamic due of Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak, who formed the group Silk Sonic. These two artists have created that nostalgic sound that many have fallen in love with. The smooth instrumentation and lyrics have brought back the sonance that artists of previous generations of music have laid the foundation for. They’ve added their own unique style and voice to it, which has brought R&B music back to the forefront of what people listen to today. The two feed off of each other in the music and it has been a seamless fit for the two to create together. They met back in 2016 when Anderson joined Mars on the European leg of the latter’s 24k Magic World Tour. After hanging and doing a bit of creating they would go on to record as a group. They haven’t looked back and the music they have created has been phenomenal. Their new album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, was released on November 12th and I have to say it may be one of my favorite albums to drop this...
by Rebekah Stogner | May 30, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment, Opinion
I remember three years ago when a former voice coach gave me two free passes to see some movie called Pitch Perfect. I passed, thinking that it looked incredibly stupid and would probably bomb at the theaters. Oh, how far we have come. Currently the reigning movie at the box office with 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, Pitch Perfect 2 is the second big blockbuster of the summer that girls everywhere (and probably a few boys) are flocking to see. Even though the movie’s been out for over two weeks, a large group of high school girls and even two grandmothers piled into the matinee I saw. As a fan of the original movie (and a capella singing in general), I was really hyped to see this. I adore Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld and was excited to hear more amazing mashups of popular songs through beat-boxing and harmonies. My main problem with this movie is the amount of rehashing of the plot and the jokes. In 2012, we saw the Barden Bellas struggle to redeem their boring routine with the help of newcomer Beca and go on to win the national title. Here, we see them struggle to redeem the world-renowned status of their group after a mishap at a national performance with the help of newcomer Emily as they try to win the world title. Fat Amy and creepy Lily’s one-liners have the same formula as before, even though Wilson improvises most of her lines, and the jokes relating to racial and sexual minorities still play to the lowest common denominator of their stereotypes. Sequels are supposed to...
