The best conscious hip-hop of the 2010s

protagonist; one that doesn’t always get air time in today’s cultural terrain.

‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ (2015) by Kendrick Lamar

Notable Line: “Dark as the midnight hour, or bright as the mornin’ sun / Brown-skinned, but your blue eyes tell me your mama can’t run.”

With “Butterfly,” Lamar connects threads from West Coast hip-hop, American Jazz and traditional African music: three scales of Black music layered into one album. Lamar has a knack for making impossibly-difficult topics consumable, but this album is in no way simple. On “Butterfly,” Lamar actively reflects on his Blackness and its presence in the world as we know it.

Tackling such topics as colorism, imposter syndrome and being “cocooned” into an institution, “To Pimp a Butterfly” remains one of the most deeply introspective projects I’ve ever heard, while also targeting issues at a macro level. In the #1 spot on many critics’ album of the decade lists, almost all that can be said about “To Pimp a Butterfly” has been. If you haven’t listened to this album in full, you should.

Africa / Old panthers lookin’ back like who gon’ come up after us?”

‘Eve’ (2019) by Rapsody

Notable Line: “And still we persevere like all the 400 years of our own blood,

“Eve” is perhaps the most unrestrained Black-feminist hip-hop album ever made, with each track named for a different Black, female icon. Rapsody has cemented herself as the greatest female rapper since Lauryn Hill. From “Hatshepsut,” the first female Egyptian Pharoah to Nina Simone, Serena Williams and Oprah, Rapsody leaves few Black, female legends unrecognized. Having risen to community acclaim with her guest verse on “Complexion (A Zulu Lie)” on “To Pimp a Butterfly,” there is seemingly no limit to the creativity of the Brooklyn MC. Transitioning from Black History Month to Women’s History Month, there is no better modern album to celebrate both.

— Contact Ben Brodsky at ben.brodsky@emory.edu

Black-directed films chronicle Black experiences

Exploring Emory’s art scene: spring break

By alexandra kauffMan Campus Life Desk

Carlos Museum Tom Dorsey Exhibit

Date: Feb. 18 - July 16

Location: Michael C. Carlos Museum

Cost: $8 (GA) | Free (Emory Students)

Never-before-seen works by Thomas Dorsey, a photographer known for the personal, intimate glimpse into 1970s Chicago African American communities, will be exhibited at the Carlos Museum from Feb. 18 until July 16. These photographs not only capture the city of Chicago and the people within it but also Dorsey’s memories and attachments from the time.

“Little Syria” Performance and Workshop

Date: March 1, 6 p.m.

Location: Harland Cinema

Cost: Free

In this performance-lecture, poet Omar Offendum and Los Angelesbased beatmaker Thanks Joey offer a fresh perspective to Syrian-American art, bringing “forward-thinking” contemporality and honoring their heritage.

Spanish Poetry and Recitation Contest and performance can transcend national boundaries and international conflict.

Elena Cholakova and Yarbo

Davenport Concert

Date: March 4, 8 p.m.

Location: Cherry Logan Emerson

Concert Hall

Cost: Free

Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Artist-in-Residence pianist Yarbo Davenport and Emory University Director of Piano Studies violinist Elena Cholakova will perform works from Florence Pierce, John Corigliano and more in this concert recital.

Atlanta Master Chorale: Magnificat

Date: March 10-11, 8 p.m.

Location: Cherry Logan Emerson

Concert Hall

Cost: $38 (GA) | $10 (Emory Students)

Renowned classical music group

Atlanta Master Chorale will perform selections from Bach, Rachmaninoff and more alongside readings from the ancient liturgical text “Magnificat” – a “hymn of praise” and “prayer for justice.”

Atlanta Science Festival: Blending Art and Science sion because while clips of the film are spliced in throughout, the interviewees are watching these moments on the big screen too. In doing so, we share the same reactions and we see the excitement and memories return for the viewer.

If you’re a fan of horror, looking for new movies to add to your watch list, or interested in the intersection of race and horror, then I highly recommend watching “Horror Noire.”

‘Afro-Punk’ (2003)

While there is a wide range of ideologies that fall under the punk umbrella, an important feature of all punks, one that I’ve witnessed firsthand, is care for community. Whether helping a fellow fan stand up in the pit or engaging in the protection of your peers against institutional powers, punks aspire to create a protected atmosphere. However, as history has shown, these kinds of spaces can often become dominated by white, cisgender men, thereby setting up a barrier that makes it difficult for new fans to feel comfortable, as seen in the documentary “Afro-Punk.”

Released in 2003, “Afro-punk” investigates the experiences of Black people involved in the punk scene across the U.S. Focusing on personal anecdotes from musicians and fans alike, director James Spooner illustrates the recurring dysphoria of being Black in a scene largely led by white artists.

The feeling of isolation is a major theme throughout the documentary.

Not only did Black fans express feeling lonely while within the white punk scene, they felt a similar distance established by Black people outside of the scene. As a result of this loneliness, fans either took steps to look as if they “belonged” in the punk scene, such as by straightening their hair, or left to establish a more Black-led space. However, among these stories of isolation existed moments of community; times when fans would rage together. Spooner points toward the flaws of the scene while highlighting the beauty that can exist in punk.

“Afro-Punk” is a pivotal DIY documentary that raises important questions about exclusion and acceptance, all accompanied by a head-banging score.

‘Black Is … Black Ain’t’ (1995)

Marlon Riggs was an influential documentarian in the late ’80s and early ’90s who explored not only what it meant to be Black in America, but also how his race intersected with his sexuality as a gay man. A majority of his work featured personal anecdotes about the difficulties with understanding his identity, as well as deep examinations of queerness and Blackness in culture. Riggs passed away in 1994 as a result of AIDS complications and his final film, “Black Is … Black Ain’t” is a testament to his work as an artist.

“Black Is … Black Ain’t” asks what it means to be Black, investigating not only its beauty but the ways it coexists with gender and sexuality. Using archival footage, interviews with Black scholars and activists such as Angela Davis and Michelle Wallace and recordings of Riggs, we get an expansive look at the role of labels in defining ourselves.

The film uses interviews and quotes from famous Black figures to provide a comprehensive look at how descriptors such as “Black” or “African” have been imbued with new meanings throughout time and, as a result, have sparked new conversations about the idiosyncrasies in identity. Along with these broad discussions though were intimate moments with Riggs, specifically recordings of him on a hospital bed. He’s aware of his failing health, acknowledging the fact that he’s losing weight and directly telling the cameraperson how he wants certain shots to be implemented in the film. Yet, he possesses hope and a smile as he imitates the sounds of jazz music and laughs with those around him. Riggs is able to find comfort in the time he has left as well as in himself.

Riggs gives a quote in the film that’s really stuck with me: “There is a cure for what ails us as a people, and that is for us to talk to each other.” It’s a thought that I not only echo but I also think this documentary sets out to explore the idea. “Black Is…Black Ain’t” is a reminder that each of us possess rich, thoughtful experiences and rather than combat one another or isolate ourselves because of them, we can listen.

— Contact Eythen Anthony at eaantho@emory.edu

Date: March 1, 7 p.m.

Location: Casa Émory

Cost: Free

Listen to Emory students share their original Spanish poetry or recite pre-existing poetry they love.

Portuguese Poetry and Recitation Contest

Date: March 2, 4 p.m.

Location: Modern Languages Building, room 201

Cost: Free

Come by to hear Emory students recite pre-existing or original works of Portuguese poetry.

West-Eastern Divan Ensemble Performance

Date: March 2, 8 p.m.

Location: Cherry Logan Emerson

Concert Hall

Cost: Free

The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble is the chamber formation of the namesake orchestra founded in 1999 by Palestinian scholar Edward Said and Israeli pianist Daniel Barenboim. Led by concertmaster Michael Barenboim, the entirely Palestinian and Israeli ensemble prove that music

Date: March 12, 3 p.m.

Location: Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Theater Lab

Cost: Free

New media artist Jane Foley and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine Madeleine E. Hackney will discuss science and art’s overlap, the dialogue between the two fields and the solutions to worldwide challenges that dialogue inspires in a Creativity Conversation.

The Queer Nuyorican:

Racialized Sexualities and Aesthetics in Loisaida

Date: March 13, 12 p.m.

Location: Robert W. Woodruff

Library, Jones’ Room

Cost: Free

Join Cornell University Assistant Professor of Performing Arts & Media

Karen Jaine, the latest entry in the Emory Race & Difference Colloquium Series, for a talk about the evolution of the word “Nuyorican” from an ethnic identity to an aesthetic marker.

—Contact Alexandra Kauffman at alexandra.kauffman@emory. edu

Why is Rosie the Riveter in the A&E ampersand?

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’ve featured an icon of women’s history in the header of page 7. Keep an eye out for similar celebratory ampersands in the future!