Sex, Television “The tone-setting awkward sex scene has become a staple of the modern television series opener” Author Drew Kaplan Date 25 November 2016 Perhaps you’ve seen the new TV series whose pilot episode begins this way: A...
Hip-Hop “Kanye’s career-long fixation on his own contradictions eventually consolidated into an aesthetic…who wallow in soft self-loathing and explain away their loutish behavior as the result of melancholy and bruised ego” Author Drew Kaplan Date 28 October 2016 His career-long fixation on his own contradictions eventually consolidated into an aesthetic, one that...
Movies, Work “Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock…don’t need to be good friends to be effective colleagues” Author Drew Kaplan Date 15 September 2016 The differences that matter — that create comic friction and dramatic tension — are...
Entertainment, Movies, Pop Culture, Television “Superhero team-building is a venerable comic-book practice, one that flourished in the ’60s and ’70s…more or less contemporaneously with the first voyages of the Starship Enterprise” Author Drew Kaplan Date 4 September 2016 Nothing in popular culture, or in consumer capitalism, is ever really new. Superhero team-building...
Hip-Hop “One of the reasons Kanye West inspires such a devoted following is that, despite all of the changes in his life and in his music, we can still recognize him as the same character he was when his story began” Author Drew Kaplan Date 19 August 2016 One of the reasons Kanye West inspires such a devoted following is that, despite...
Television “There’s room for both kinds of shows, but as ‘Cosby’ recedes from reruns, ‘Roc’ seems especially worthy of reconsideration” Author Drew Kaplan Date 18 August 2016 …looking back at “Roc,” I find it interesting to consider that before his acting...
Hip-Hop, Music “After years of experiencing West through Auto-Tune and mike effects, hearing his natural voice is a reminder that doubt remains his greatest motivation” Author Drew Kaplan Date 11 August 2016 West hasn’t released much music since “Yeezus,” an album on which his voice began...
Hip-Hop, Music “Gucci’s trademark is his flow: buoyant and melodic, with light comedic flourishes” Author Drew Kaplan Date 3 August 2016 Perhaps no rapper has had more near-misses than Gucci Mane, now a decade and...
Hip-Hop, Music “Drake understands how people live with music, how it helps us get through life, whether it’s a breakup, a court date, or an unusually long jog” Author Drew Kaplan Date 6 July 2016 For Drake, redemption lies in his city and in his past, as well as...
Hip-Hop, Music “…what distinguished Drake was a sense of shameless guile, a confidence in his complex persona that was due partly to his background as an actor” Author Drew Kaplan Date 3 July 2016 In the past, the impassive outlaw rapper and the gushing doe-eyed singer crossed paths...