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(07/03/23 3:30am)
First things first: I’m a big fan of cartoons. Despite officially being a music beat writer, I’ve written quite a few articles about some animated shows I think back on fondly. I like all types of cartoons; however, the ones I have the most nostalgia for aired on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney during the late 2000s to early 2010s. Being a fan of cartoons is a large part of who I am as a person. Another part of who I am is that I’m Indian, and incidentally, these two attributes of my identity never mixed. Growing up, I didn’t see people who looked like me on TV. If I had actively looked for Indian actors and actresses, or if I was a fan of Bollywood films, I’m sure I would have found what I was looking for. However, I can probably count on one hand the number of Indians I found in cartoons when I was younger. That being said, the most prominent Indian that I have ever encountered on television was none other than Baljeet Tjinder from “Phineas and Ferb.” And I hated him.
(04/25/23 4:00am)
For the past ten or so years, I’ve had an Android phone. My first phone ever was a Sony Xperia Play. It was honestly a sick piece of tech for 2012’s standards — essentially a Sony PSP that was retrofitted to a cellular device, complete with a built-in slidable game controller. Little did I know that it was also going to be my first exposure to the world of cellular operating systems. The Xperia Play ran on Android 4.0. At the time, it was impossible to browse the internet without the phone crashing, and it was difficult to be heard during phone calls because the phone’s fans were so loud. However, the games hooked me. And when I outgrew my Xperia Play, I opted for a Motorola Droid instead of an iPhone 4S, even if the iPhone 4S had a killer app in Siri.
(04/24/23 4:30am)
In my junior fall semester, I joined The Chronicle on the recommendation of a friend. I don’t aspire to go into journalism and never thought my writing was special. Still, I’m opinionated when it comes to music, cartoons, and video games, so I attended my first Recess meeting on a whim. The end result was a retrospective article reviewing Black Eyed Peas’s album “The E.N.D.'' I then wrote more music reviews and eventually became a music beat writer for the Recess section. I’ve, without a doubt, enjoyed my time writing for the Duke Chronicle. Despite this, after I graduate, I’ll probably never write another music review again.
(02/17/23 1:00pm)
Who’s the greatest anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit? That shouldn’t be a difficult question. What about the greatest cartoon duck? The greatest pig, the greatest coyote, the greatest Tasmanian devil? Maybe some answers come to mind. Any show would be lucky to have even one of these characters in their series, but if one show had all of these wacky and zany characters, then it might stand to reason that it’s one of the best shows of all time. I’m glad to say that one show DOES have all these characters, and it is “Looney Tunes.”
(02/13/23 12:00pm)
Lil Yachty is pressing restart. “Let’s Start Here” is his fifth studio album and as the name implies, it marks the beginning of a new era — one that came out of nowhere. Last autumn, Yachty released his hit single “Poland,” which he described as “just trolling.” “Poland” is addictively jarring and hypnotically catching — and it leaves the listener wanting more. But “Let’s Start Here” is a departure from “Poland,” infusing psychedelic rock with soul. The end result is an abrupt pivot away from “Poland” or “Lil Boat,” and, despite a few rough edges, was a genre-transcending mishmash that shows off Yachty’s versatility.
(11/10/22 11:00am)
Joji is an artist I’ve greatly admired for nearly a decade now. Before George Miller made serious music under the stagename Joji, he posted satirical comedic YouTube videos under the name “TVFilthyFrank” that I used to watch religiously as a middle-schooler. On the “Filthy Frank” YouTube channel, he would release comedy-rap music videos under the stage name “Pink Guy” that, while crude and vulgar, showed off his musical potential. As Miller’s 7.8 million subscribers grew up, so did his creative output. Miller retired from his career as a YouTuber and comedian in 2017 and moved on to creating serious music under the name Joji, ultimately releasing his latest album, “Smithereens” Nov. 4.
(11/05/22 12:00pm)
Last week I decided to watch “Black Adam” in theaters. Upon entering an AMC near campus, I was flabbergasted when the auditorium was absolutely empty on opening night, three minutes before the movie was set to begin. The reviews of the film weren’t amazing, but I’m never one to judge a piece of media until I consume it myself. And guess what. Despite watching it in an empty theater, I had fun with the movie. For as ready as I was to be unimpressed by the film, I found myself really enjoying it for the same reason why “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” was my favorite film of the summer — the fight scenes enthralled me. The plot was stupid and the jokes were unfunny, and it’s weird to say that I enjoyed the movie as a whole when the only positive was the action sequences, but sometimes you have to turn your brain off.
(09/28/22 10:00am)
Imagine yourself 10 years ago. You’re at your friend’s house for a sleepover. It’s late at night, and all of you are crowded around your friend’s dad’s work computer, taking turns showing each other YouTube videos. Someone presses play on a video titled “Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris” and says it’s part of a series called “Epic Rap Battles of History” (ERB). Before you know it, several hours have passed and you’ve gone through the entire channel’s catalog. By this point, the sounds of the birds chirping outside your window have ingrained themselves into the beats of the songs you’ve spent all night memorizing.
(09/16/22 1:00pm)
Five long years ago, JID splashed onto the rap scene from Atlanta. In 2017, he signed onto J.Cole’s record label, Dreamville, and released his debut studio album “The Never Story.” The following year, he was chosen as part of the Freshman Class list of up-and-coming rappers by XXL Magazine before releasing his second studio album “DiCaprio 2.” Then, after this impressive two-year stretch, he changed his output strategy: a keen eye scrolling through his Spotify page would promptly notice that his collaborative material from 2019 to 2021 greatly outnumbered any independent songs he released, with his most popular feature being on “Enemy” by Imagine Dragons. His guest verses, though, weren’t the reason I loved his music back then. While I appreciated his output in collaborative songs, I would have rather listened to music with his original voice and perspective. After making fans — myself among them — wait four long years, JID finally released his highly anticipated third studio album, “The Forever Story.”
(06/10/22 12:00pm)
HBO’s sports drama series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” appealed to me as soon as I saw the trailer for its first season. The show is a dramatic retelling of the 1979-80 Los Angeles Lakers season, which saw rookie — and future Hall of Famer — Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson help lead his team to the NBA Championship. As a basketball fan, “Winning Time” fed into my fascination for the “Showtime” era Lakers team, a time trademarked by Johnson’s fast breaks and no-look passes. “Winning Time” promised a behind-the-scenes look at the trials and tribulations faced by those who made this era possible, from the players to the coaches to the front office.
(05/31/22 4:00pm)
When Jack Harlow released “Come Home the Kids Miss You,” I was pretty excited to review it. I’ll admit, I have yet to write an overtly negative review for Recess because the artists I sign up to write about are typically artists that I enjoy and expect great work from. More often than not, they deliver. In that sense, I feel like I was tricked by this new Harlow album. Coming off of an immense rise in the past few years, as well as a genuinely insane guest verse in Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” I frankly expected more from Harlow’s new album than what I ended up receiving, but that could be my fault for not managing my expectations properly. The cover art depicts Jack Harlow sitting beside a microphone in a white void, and when he first announced that picture as the cover of his album, I thought it looked boring. In retrospect, I must say that fit perfectly with the blandness that ensued.
(04/18/22 1:00pm)
I don’t watch too many cartoons anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I outgrew cartoons — animation is a medium, not a genre, and there are plenty of animations to enjoy as an adult. I’m just saying that I haven’t been able to find cartoons that have commanded my attention. Despite a few exceptions, adult animation seems so bland, and I haven’t been able to vibe with much childrens’ animation, no matter how acclaimed it is. This is a drastic change from who I was growing up, when I spent my waking hours consuming every cartoon I could possibly watch. I’d split my time between 4Kidz, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, but the king of animation in my eyes was always Cartoon Network. The 2000s belonged to Cartoon Network — between “Adventure Time,” “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” and “Scooby-Doo,” I definitely made time in my day for cartoons. There was, however, one show that topped them all — one TV show that remains ingrained in my mind and had a profound impact on the trajectory of my humor and personality as a kid. That show was “Regular Show.”
(04/11/22 12:00pm)
Until recently, I’d never been to a music festival before. I’d been to a handful of concerts before COVID, but festivals are a whole different ball game. From the all-day performances to the abundant food options to the various other amenities, music festivals seemed to me to be a utopia where one could forget about their problems for a shining moment and watch their favorite artists perform.
(04/04/22 12:00pm)
It has been a long three-year wait since Denzel Curry’s last solo album, but it seems that the wait was worth it. The quality of “Melt My Eyez See Your Future” proves that Curry's time away was spent honing his craft. Curry likes to explore different worlds between various albums, ensuring each of them has a particular feel. Usually, his music is marked by his alter egos and the intensity of his flows, but “Melt My Eyez” sees Curry put that side of himself to rest in what is his most mature album to date.
(03/21/22 4:00am)
Though it may be blasphemous to say, especially during March Madness, I am a much bigger fan of the NBA than college basketball. The NBA has exciting basketball at the highest level and larger-than-life players who are exciting to follow both on and off the court. Many of these players express their interests outside of basketball, often branding themselves as connoisseurs in fashion. A select few players, however, create music for their fans to enjoy. So, instead of filling out a bracket, I decided to rank some famous ballers’ recent music drops. While this list is by no means exhaustive, I limited myself to my five favorite projects released by NBA players.
(02/14/22 2:00pm)
It doesn’t take much to realize that Saba is a special artist.
(02/07/22 1:00pm)
I have something I need to admit — I don’t particularly like most of Michael Jackson’s music. It’s an unpopular opinion for sure, and it’s not at all an opinion based on anything other than my own personal tastes. I respect “Thriller,” but I never listen to it for fun. I think “Billie Jean” is catchy, but I’ve never listened to that song outside of social functions. No matter how much I try, I always feel disconnected from his classics.
(01/31/22 1:00pm)
June 19, 2001, I was born in High Wycombe, England. My dreams of being the sixth member of One Direction were squashed, however, when my family moved me to Grand Blanc, Michigan at just over three months old. Grand Blanc is a rather small town just a couple of minutes south of Flint. With a population of just over thirty thousand, and a non-existent downtown area, I learned pretty early on that community serves as a link to the outside world. I have fond memories of growing up in Grand Blanc — both in terms of spending time with my friends and finding things to do within my community.
(01/24/22 1:00pm)
Earl Sweatshirt is a unique rapper. His music, which oftentimes feels more like spoken-word poetry than traditional rap bangers, enriches hip-hop as a genre. The story of Earl’s career is also paramount to understanding the trajectory of his career thus far, and how he ended up in his current artistic era. Exploding onto the scene as part of the rap collective “Odd Future” — once home to Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean, among others — Earl released his self-titled mixtape to fan acclaim. After this, his mother abruptly sent him to a correctional camp for troubled youths in Samoa, citing his increasingly rebellious behavior and violent lyrics. Upon his return, he resumed creating music, but his lyrics took a darker turn.
(01/10/22 5:00pm)
In the modern music landscape, there seems to be one constant: an influx of ever-growing “deluxe” albums that have little reason to exist. June 11, 2021, Migos released “Culture III” after three years of anticipation. Six days later, they dropped the deluxe version of the album. June 25, 2021, Doja Cat released “Planet Her.” Only two days later did she drop the deluxe version of that album. Some albums, such as Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City,” received three different deluxe treatments.
