Chill July August 2018

FITNESS, TRAVEL, SEX, HEALTH, TECH & FUN

ISSUE 2

GET A BUFF BEACH BOD 10 Better Ways to do Push Ups

THE MUSIC ISSUE

30 Best Rap Songs Emo Latino Bands Classical Hip-Hop 5 Playlist Musts

DEFINING DAVEED DIGGS The rapper and star of Blindspotting and Black-ish talks about gender uid hip hop ardi and the politics of music

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What is BIKTARVY®?

BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about BIKTARVY? BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects: ` Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection.

If you have both HIV-1 and HBV and stop taking BIKTARVY, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.

Who should not take BIKTARVY? Do not take BIKTARVY if you take: ` dofetilide ` rifampin ` any other medicines to treat HIV-1

What are the other possible side effects of BIKTARVY? Serious side effects of BIKTARVY may also include: ` Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. ` Kidney problems, including kidney failure.

Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys.

If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. ` Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. ` Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.

The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (5%), and headache (5%). Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don’t go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking BIKTARVY? ` All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection. ` All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements. BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all of your other medicines. ` If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY. ` If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the following page.

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6/1/18 11:18 AM

K

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Get HIV support by downloading a free app at MyDailyCharge.com

KEEP MOTIVATING. Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY is a 1-pill, once-a-day complete HIV-1 treatment for adults who are either new to treatment or whose healthcare provider determines they can replace their current HIV-1 medicines with BIKTARVY.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

BIKTARVY.COM

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IMPORTANT FACTS This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

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IN THIS ISSUE/FEATURES

40

32

JOSH DRAKE (34), TARRICE LOVE (29), DEEN VANMEER (32)

29 40 COVER: DIG IT Rapper-actor Daveed Diggs hits his groove.

DON’T STOP THE MUSIC 45 FEELIN’ IT Mexican Morrissey?

47 30 YEARS OF THE BEST RAP SONGS Can you guess who?

49 NIKE TO TV Bobby Wooten is all about the bass.

50 SAVAGE MASHUP Hip-hop and classical together.

51 R-E-S-P-E-C-T A museum exhibit gives hip-hop mad props.

52 KILLING IT SLAYFest.

54 STRIKE A POSE FX’s new star.

55 JINN & TONIC The Quad’s Zoe Renee goes down smooth.

STREET STYLE 34 DRESS TO IMPRESS What to wear for music festivals this summer (and where to go).

ON THE COVER (AND ABOVE): DAVEED DIGGS PHOTOGRAPHED BY MEREDITH JENKS/TRUNK ARCHIVE

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34 ENTERTAINMENT 28 KKK CRACKDOWN Spike Lee’s new, based-on-truth comedy.

29 TEAR IT DOWN Jussie Smollett confronts racism in his new TV series.

30 WHAT’S UP DOCS? ew films on ra y egs in uerto Rico and Basquiat in the past.

30 BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE oet hillip Robinson e plains JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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IN THIS ISSUE/DEPARTMENTS

11

45

LIT LIST 10 Art of Color Chuck D paintings, Indigenous murals.

11 Chick We Dig Sexy and mouthy.

12 Spare Change App helps post bail.

12 Animated Mike Tyson & more.

14 Kids’ Got Skills Black, young, brilliant.

FITNESS 16 Beach Bods Plank your abs hard.

20 Rave Shape lub your way fit

59

GROOMING 22 Hair to Health Barbers can lower blood pressure.

22 Nice Package Manscaping tips.

23 Star Style Elgin Charles on hair.

SNEAKERS 56 White Kicks Cool summer sneakers.

VIEWS 50 Black Boy Joy Insta on the joy of being Black men.

PARTY 58 Doggystyle Snoop shares his cocktail recipes.

16

SPORTS 62 Boxing Dreams Abner Mares eyes a comeback title.

TRAVEL 60 Black on Tour A Broadway star hits the road. It hits back.

61 Driving While Black Has always been a thing. History.

4

SHUT TERSTOCK (16), RIYA HOLLINGS (11), WELTHEIMAGES.COM (59), COURTESY MEXRRISSEY (45)

ENTREPRENEUR 59 Black & Bleu Media magnate De’von Johnson.

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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In charge of tomorrow Your nearby Walgreens can help you stay healthy and plan for the future with at-home HIV testing kits and prevention options, including PrEP, along with condoms.

To learn more, ask your Walgreens pharmacist or visit HIV.Walgreens.com.

Š2018 Walgreen Co. All rights reserved. | 715785-796

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What’s On Our Playlists? ongs come and go, but for now these earworms are streaming in our heads

Summer: The Donna Summer Musical soundtrack

Joe Valentino Paige Popdan

,

Diane Anderson-Minshall Gerald Garth oly host by iam R featuring riip

on e

Raine Bascos Dimitri Moise James Brown III Thomas Freeman Khafre Abif Jacob Anderson-Minshall David Artavia, Savas Abadsidis Desirée Guerrero Michael A. Gonzales Leleita McKill, Josh Drake Donald Padgett , Dave Johnson Christopher Harrity Michael Luong, Tevy Khou Mayra Urrutia Nicholas Alipaz, Sr. Kevin Bissada , Laura Villela , , Greg Brossia , Stuart Brockington , Adam Goldberg, Noreen Murray , Brandon Grant , Jamie Tredwell, Andrew Park , Eric James , Casey Noble , John O’Malley , Michael Lombardo , Michael Tighe , Stewart Nacht , Tiffany Kesden Levi Chambers ,

uff uff ass

by Brayton Bowman

by his is merica by hildish ambino

Made of Bricks by ate ash

PRIDE MEDIA

Nathan Coyle Lucas Grindley

ait a inute by illow mith

Joe Landry, Bernard Rook Greg Brossia, Joe Valentino Eric Bui Antiouse Boardraye ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTIONS B 3 R , 101 (212) 242-8100 (212) 242-8338 (212) 242-8338

ou ould e been ady by ot hocolate

LOS ANGELES EDITORIAL (310) 806-4288 (310) 806-4268 chill@pridemedia.com

ergreen by ebba

SOUTHWEST EDITORIAL OFFICES 3 30 lorida e -330 emet, 9 9 1 9 chill@pridemedia.com NEED SUBSCRIPTION HELP? f you ha e any uestions or problems with your maga ine deli ery, please email our department at chillsubscriptions@pridemedia.com

Daniel Reynolds Lenny Gerard Ian Martella Argus Galindo Kirk Pacheco Heidi Medina John Lewis

Chill

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, AND TWITTER AND ONLINE @ CHILL.US

Facebook.com/ HIVPlusMag

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nna intour ealia Banks

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- 309 is published uarterly by ere ublishing nc Chill is a registered trademark of ere ublishing nc ntire contents 01 by ere ublishing nc ll rights reser ed rinted in the

SHUT TERSTOCK (JANELLE MONEA, WILLOW SMITH); ROBERT ALTMAN/INVISION/AP (AZEALIA BANKS); EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP (CHILDISH GAMBINO)

ynk by anelle

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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Amazing for Brian & Karsten, Chicago Lakefront

© 2018 ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, OFFICE OF TOURISM

Biking between a beach and a skyline was unforgettable.”

Chicago is full of surprises. You can explore miles of sandy beaches steps from one of America’s most scenic skylines. Relax in the warm atmosphere and enjoy a picnic in the park by day, and then hit the nightlife that comes alive as the sun sets. Discover world-class attractions, adventurous cuisine and be sure not to miss North Halsted Market Days! And join one of the largest pride celebrations in America every June.

ENJOYILLINOIS.COM

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ED

LETTER The first CD I bought with my own money was The Score by The Fugees. I remember playing “Ready or Not” on repeat to perfect the verses in my head, and also singing “Killing Me Softly” at full volume into my hairbrush (yes, guys do it too). This album was, and is, a staple for me. Even today, certain songs can take me back to those happy times in my life.

Music is a force. As far back as I can remember, it’s always been there for me.

Music is a constant—on my daily commute, the soundtrack to my workouts, even as a backdrop to countless hours working on Chill. From classical to show tunes, trap to top 40, there is a song (or a dozen) to give me what I need. And I know I’m not alone.

Music isn’t just a solo experience, either. I’m sure we can all agree that parties, family functions, and simple kickbacks are always better with music. (Can you imagine a family reunion without some form of a line dance?) For centuries, music has brought people together. It’s a universal language. We each might define music differently, but we can all speak to our experience with it.

For the Chill man, music is king—and true to form, this issue delivers interviews with singers, rappers, and other musical creatives from around the country. Our cover man Daveed Diggs (pg. 40) talks about his breakout roles (from Hamilton to Black-ish) as well as his new album—the soundtrack to his upcoming film, Blindspotting, which he wrote, produced, and stars in alongside his pal, Rafael Casal.

Music is constantly changing, and we highlight that innovation and evolution in this issue, covering the Oakland-based hip-hop orchestra, Ensemble Mik Nawooj, which is led by two men of color. But we haven’t forgotten our roots either. We bring you the top rap songs of the last 30 years as compiled by YouTube star ISAIAHthePLAYAH. Chill is determined to provide space for the urban millennial man to express himself, and not just through music, but in fashion, grooming, current events, and literature. At Chill, we’re here to look at the layers of manhood and humanity, but there’s nothing wrong with a banging playlist along the way.

FOL LOW US ONLINE @CHILLmag | www.CHILL.us CHILLthemag

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CHILLthemag

CHILLthemag

HOPETON STEWART (GARTH); COURTESY RUFFHOUSE RECORDS (FUGEES), ALEX ROGERS (SOCIAL)

GERALD GARTH Editor in Chief

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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SHOULD HIV PREVENTION MATTER TO ME? I AM LIVING WITH HIV.

I AM HIV NEGATIVE.

YES! PREVENTION MATTERS.

UNBC4027 11/16

See how we can all help stop the virus in our bodies and communities. Talk to a healthcare provider.

And find out more at HelpStopTheVirus.com

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CHECK THIS, TOO

Chuck D got some overdue respect when California’s Gallery 30 South (gallery30south.com) gave the multi-platinum rapper and Rock and Roll Hall of ame inductee his first solo art e hibit he legendary front man of ublic nemy and rophets of Rage earned a graphic design degree in 19 from delphi ni ersity, and has since combined his music with his art training to become a prolific pop culture chronicler is work in the e hibit Behind the een, part of the Oakland Museum of California’s Respect: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom, follows the world of music but the artist theartofchuckd com also tackles ma or cultural issues from ray on artin and oter suppression, to the Rosewood massacre and in ustices dealt the eminole tribe —DAVID ARTAVIA

WHEEL BACK IN TIME Sure, the 2018 Range Rover Evoque (landroverusa.com) is one slick ride, but East Coast Defender (ecdautodesign.com) offers you a chance to custom design your own classic Land Rover, styled specifically to your desires. You can choose body styles, drivetrains, wheels, tires, accessories, exterior and interior coloring and stitching, and nearly limitless customization (in conjunction with their lead designer). ECD finds an existing frame then basically builds your ride from the ground up. Their newest: The Range Rover Classic (right). Cofounder Elliot Humble, who grew up near England’s Lode Lane factory where original Land Rover Defenders were produced, says the “custom RRC will bring the car to the 21st century, without sacrificing its classic heritage and originality.” If you’re a fan of really old school Land Rovers you’ll want to check out all of ECD’s Heritage Collection, which features customized models that celebrate the original factory designs.—Gerald Garth 10

COURTESY GALLERY 30 SOUTH (CHUCK D); FAUSTO NAHUM (OAXACAN); COURTESY ECD AUTO DESIGN (RANGE ROVER CL ASSIC)

Yo! Bum Rush This Show

A brilliant new exhibition of murals captures the blending of Latinx, American, and Indigenous cultures in Los Angeles’s Zapotec community. Wowing visitors at the Downtown Central Library in Los Angeles, Calif., the exhibit runs through August 31. “Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A.” (oaxaca.lfla.org) incorporates iconography from Christianity, story-telling tattoos, Latin gangs, East and South Central L.A. (the latter was rebranded as South L.A. in 2003), Spanish Conquistadors, and traditional Zapotec culture. It all portrays what it means to be Indigenous and a migrant in L.A. and Oaxaca, Mexico. The murals are the work of Oaxacan artist collective Tlacolulokos (Dario Canul and Cosijoesa Cernas) and reveal complex issues between Oaxaca and California through an Indigenous Zapotec perspective, a culture that continues to influence communities on both sides of the border. Above all, the series reflects the importance of Native people expressing themselves in a world eager to silence them.—DA

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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LIT

LIST

RIYA HOLLINGS

CHICK WE STILL DIG Munroe Bergdorf

was the first transgender model hired by r al to take part in a campaign But after a contro ersial acebook post in which Bergdorf attempted to speak to white supremacy following the racially-charged attacks in harlottes ille, a , in 01 , r al cut ties with the British model hile some took Bergdorf s words as anti-white, many others stood by Bergdorf s decision to speak out against racism and di isi eness e always been like this, the turned-model and acti ist unroeBergdorf tells Chill. can t fathom how people can keep things to themsel es when they see things happening that are unjust or unfair. One of the blessings in disguise that has come with the whole r al thing, is that was able to talk about things that weren t only related to my gender s author and star of the documentary What Makes a Woman? Bergdorf is outspoken on issues that impact her but makes sure to talk about her role as an ally to other important causes like fighting slamophobia, fatphobia, and police brutality, as well as promoting abortion rights ou can t e pect other people to be there for you, if you re not there for other people think it s ery, ery important to remember that we are all pri ileged in some way, and it s all about utili ing that pri ilege to help others arlier this year, Bergdorf was once again brought to task for things said on social media ot long after she was appointed to ad ise a women and e uality minister from s abour party, Bergdorf resigned after tweets from 010 were called offensi e by the British press n an apology post, Bergdorf characteri ed the tweets as okes made with friends who also identify as B regarding a website called esbians who look like ustin Bieber hey were in bad taste and certainly not re ecti e of who am today Bergdorf added, ho was at 3 years old, is not who am at 31 ear, hear —DIMITRI MOISE JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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DADS FIGHT THE DARK SIDE What better way to let two dads duke it out over who is the reigning champion of adult animation than by binge-watching Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty and Mike Tyson Mysteries back-to-back? The universe’s smartest and most cynical grandpa, Rick Sanchez, warns his grandson Morty that shit is about to get really “dark” and the new Rick and Morty: Season 3 Blu-ray delivers. The dysfunctional family spins out of control, shaking off loser dad Jerry in a divorce, and sending the kids spiraling into cannibalism, glue huffing, and body dysmorphia. A trip to a family therapist proves Sanchez would rather die than put in the work to fix what’s broke. This season also brings you a Sanchez vs President Obama throwdown, a creepy election, and the annihilation of the human race. Good times.

Fans of the cult hit (it was the number one comedy series of 2017 among 18 to 34-year-olds) also have the opportunity to get their hands on an exclusive Pickle Rick figure via GetPickleRick.com. Meanwhile, world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has gotten a reputation rehab as a Scooby Doo-esque sleuth in the animated adult comedy Mike Tyson Mysteries, which also features Norm Macdonald as a (sexually) dirty Pigeon, Rachel Ramras as Tyson’s adopted daughter Yung Hee, and James Rash as a gay ghost, Marquess of Queensberry. In season three (now streaming on Amazon Prime and AdultSwim.com), the mysteries are always a little out there—and frequently don’t get solved—but the fun is in the trip, not the destination.

Guest stars like Rihanna and Snoop Dogg (left) make even the episode the animated Tyson calls a “stupid” mystery worth your time.

—Jacob Anderson-Minshall

Appolition is the new mobile app turning spare change into bail money (the app helped bail out dozens of moms in jail this past Mother’s Day). Recognizing that disproportionate discrimination against people of color wreaks havoc on their lives, social engineer and inventor Kortney Ziegler (@FakeRapper) and Tiffany Mikell decided to harness the power of crowdfunding to help those who can’t afford to be bailed out of jail. Donors link credit or debit cards to the revolutionary nonprofit app ppolition us , authori ing spare change to be sent to the bail fund. Supporters can also make one-time donations. Earlier this year, Fast Company recognized Appolition as one of its top 10 Innovative Organizations for Social Good.

—DESIRÉE GUERRERO

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ADULT SWIM (RICK AND MORT Y & MIKE T YSON MYSTERIES); SHUT TERSTOCK (MOTHER & CHILD)

MAKE CHANGE

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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PASSING

Black, Brilliant, and Still in Middle School According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one out of every two teenagers (49.5 percent of those 13 to 18 years old) will experiences a mental disorder in their lifetime, and 22 percent of those with mental health issues will experience “severe impairment.” The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that African-American and Latino folks use mental health services at about half the rate of white Americans.

When 13-year-old Charlie Lucas witnessed his older sister Hannah being relentlessly bullied and threatened at school—which sent her into a dark depression with suicidal thoughts—he knew he needed to take action. Finding no apps to help teens in times of distress, he and Hannah developed their own. Their app, notOK (notokapp.com), makes getting help easier, which is significant, because as its website notes, “Depression and anxiety inhibit a person’s ability to ask for help.” App users enter a list of “trusted contacts,” and when in distress, send a “notOK” alert, immediately notifying their chosen contacts with the message and their location via GPS. In just over eight weeks, their lifesaving app racked up nearly 30,000 downloads, attracted investors, and garnered a shout out from Grammy-winning artist Ne-Yo. Meanwhile, D.J. Comeaux was amazed by the comic-based megablockbuster, Black Panther. The 12-year-old was most inspired not by the film’s namesake, but rather the hero’s younger sister Shuri. “Shuri was the star to me!” Comeaux exclaims. “The one in control, the one who made it possible for Black Panther to fight and win. Plus, she created those cool shoes and drives a super-fast, cool car. She’s definitely the star who made technology cool.” Indeed, in the film, Shuri develops Wakanda’s high-tech weaponry, vehicles, and armored suits. Wanting to inspire other Black youth to follow in Shuri’s footsteps, Comeaux created AfroBotBoyz (afrobotboyz.com)—a robotics-based initiative to encourage kids to engage with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The organization’s awesome tagline is, “Yes, you can have an afro and build robots.” According to a recent Pew Research Center study, Black men and women are underrepresented in the tech industry. But Comeaux intends to change all that. “I want AfroBotBoyz to be worldwide,” he says, adding he wants kids everywhere “to be OK with not being perfect, be OK being smart and into computers. Technology is important, plus it’s fun. I just want all kids to feel good about themselves even if they’re not the popular type. They’re still cool.”—DA

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Teen siblings Charlie and Hannah Lucas (above left) combat bullying and mental health issues with their notOK app, while whiz kid D.J Comeaux (above) encourages other kids of color to pursue tech careers with AfroBotBoyz.

“Visibility is very important,” former NBA star Jason Collins told Chill, while attending the Point Foundation gala earlier this year. Collins (below), who came out as gay in 013, was the first working male athlete from any of the four major North American professional team sports to do so.

Now, Collins (@JasonCollins98) is happy to pass the torch to a new generation of LGBTQ athletes.

“I think we saw the impact of visibility in the sports world recently in the Olympics with Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon having such a huge moment and being the talk of the Olympics. I’ve been in contact with both of them, they’re great kids. I’m dating myself by calling them kids!

I wish them all the best.”

—DA

VAVANIA STOYANOVA (CHARLIE AND HANNAH LUCAS); COURTESY OF AFROBOTBOYZ (DJ COMEAUX); SHUT TERSTOCK (COLLINS)

THE BALL

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PuSh it ReAL Good

FROM PLANKS TO PUSH-UPS, THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO DO THESE COREBUILDING POWER MOVES.

BY DONALD PADGETT

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FITNESS

1 Tats and beards are fully optional.

T H E S E A R E N ’ T YO U R father’s push-ups.

Today, the modern gym rat has a veritable buffet of planks and push-ups to choose from that will turn up the heat with your exercise regimen. From bulking and toning to cardio and cutting, there’s a push-up or plank that’s tailor-made for your success—the hard way!

First: Planking is just a modern way of holding a push-up position for a set period of time, and there are a number of ways to do them.

Best of all, you don’t need any special machines or fancy equipment to get a solid workout. All you need is yourself, some stamina, and a whole lot of effort.

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FIT NESS

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The one-arm push up is one of the most demanding, yet rewarding exercises (if you can actually do one).

sing grips can increase gains, definition, and your ego

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One-elbow planking is an excellent way to strengthen abs (while distracting from a bad haircut).

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Perfect form is the key to a perfect (and sore) body.

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SHUT TERSTOCK (ALL)

Make planking a family affair!

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FIT NESS

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Rocky Balboa is not the only one who can impress other gym rats with the interval clap push-up.

Proper foot position is key to any properly executed pushup and plank (tough facial expressions, not so much).

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It’s not the size of the man-bun that counts, it’s the size of the man.

When you’re ready for the ultimate in gains (and humiliation), try planking with two medicine balls.

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Sometimes push ups are even better with a partner (and their added weight).

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FITNESS

Pop, Lock, And TwerkOut IT’S TIME TO GET TURNED UP BY ONE OF THE BEST URBAN DANCE WORKOUTS.

The secret to dancing in the sheets is actually doing it more outside the bedroom. But can building stamina and perfecting your moves be as fun in a gym? Maybe not, but the answer to achieving the best workout of your life might still be in getting your groove on.

Gym classes have changed. They’re no longer just for aerobic-loving white chicks, Soul Cyclists, and Zumba enthusiasts. In New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., instructors at 305 Fitness get you ready by killing the lights, switching on an LED show, cuing the DJ to spin mad beats, and creating a full-on dance experience with nonstop cardio; followed by sports drills, conditioning exercises, and high intensity interval training.

The best part is you’ll be having so much fun you won’t even realize you’re working out (plus, sexy people in wild abandon never hurts).

No dance experience is required at 305 Fitness, which offers what trainers call “easyto-follow choreography that incorporates equal elements of dance and fitness.” They add, “if you feel lost, follow the foot patterns and add the arms when you feel good. You will find after just three classes, you’re practically a pro.

Added perk: many of our clients report they have become much better dancers over time by attending class consistently.”

Halfway through each class, instructors lead a sculpting section targeting different parts of the body, followed by a five-minute interval training with sprints. Classes end after more dancing, a cool down, and stretching. Although the gym’s pop-up location, Playground LA, doesn’t have showers, the other locations have full-service locker rooms. (305fitness.com)

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STEVEN TRUMON

BY DAVID ARTAVIA

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Armed with her dancers and live band, music artist Dawn Richard took to the stage at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY on Saturday, May 19th for an electrifying show during the inaugural MOBIfest. Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI) launched their citywide interactive wellness festival celebrating Black Queer voices in fashion, music, visual arts and media in New York City. Attendees gained VIP access to each day’s events by taking ownership of their health by participating in free wellness services from of MOBI’s community partners across the city.

The weekend kicked off on Thursday, May 17th with a launch party powered

by Gilead at Harlem’s Underbar with beats by MOBIfest’s DJ BMajr and drinks by Lambda Vodka. Day 2, brought guests across the bridge to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for MOBIfest’s “Masc Off: Art Party.” Powered by Gilead and curated by Jae Joseph, the event was an evening of intimate and immersive performance art featuring live hair painting from Jonathan and Jarrett Key and a music performance from Rubby Valentin. Works from queer artists of color were exhibited in the gallery while attendees vibed to beats by DJ BMajr and sipped champagne provided by Luc Belaire. This all led up to day 3, which included a panel discussion featuring queer men of color across the media and entertainment industries moderated by MOBI’s Celebrity Ambassador, Julian Walker. Panelists included: Dyllon Burnside, actor (Pose on FX); Twiggy Garçon, ballroom influencer; Dustin Ross, host of The Friend Zone podcast; Terry Torrington, Slay TV founder; and Josh King, publicist & content producer for Singersroom and Rappersroom.

Headliner, Dawn Richard performed alongside other acts including Bry’Nt, EarthTone, Harmonica Sunbeam, Brita Filter, Robert Ball, and more.

MOBIfest featured DJ sets from Kenneth Kyrell, B Majr and Adam R. from PapiJuice; a ballroom performance segment curated by Twiggy Garçon featuring DJ Byrell the Great, Icon Jack Mizrahi, Omari Mizrahi, and Jonovia 007.

MOBIfest was presented by New York City Department of Health, Gilead, New York Blood Center’s Project ACHIEVE, AHF, and Impulse Group NYC. Community partnerships included Welthe Images, Out in Tech, The Red Door Foundation, King Children, TENz, and DBQ. CHILL was the official national media sponsor of MOBIfest.

To learn more about MOBI, please follow “MOBINYC” on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter: @MOBI_NYC, and visit www.mobi-nyc.com to stay updated on events.

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FADE IN

FOR HEALTH

arbers do much more than give a nice chop and fade. The experience of going to the barbershop brings communities together—and it’s got incredible health benefits too, according to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers recruited barbers and pharmacists to perform “interventional therapy,” and Black men saw a drop in their blood pressure—just by showing up at the barbershop. That’s excellent news, especially since Black folks are more likely to develop high blood pressure (and at an earlier age) than others.

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In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 43 percent of Black men deal with high blood pressure, second only to Black women, of whom 45.7 percent have high blood pressure.

Blood pressure causes nearly 1,000 American deaths every day. It’s time to start paying attention.

The study’s 319 Black male participants lived in the Los Angeles area, were between the ages of 35 and 79, and had systolic blood pressure readings over 140 mmHg (below 130 is considered normal, according to recent guidelines).

One group of participants received interventional therapy by both their barber and a pharmacist, who made monthly visits to the shop. The pharmacist provided information on heart health during their visits. The other group only received care from their barber without the presence of a pharmacist.

Nearly two-thirds of guys in the first group saw their blood pressure drop to a healthy number after six months, while fewer (11.7 percent) in the second group saw a similar decrease during the same time period. “When we provide convenient and rigorous medical care to AfricanAmerican men by coming to them—in this case having pharmacists deliver that care in barbershops—blood pressure can be controlled and lives can be saved,” the study’s lead author, Ronald G. Victor, told Science Daily.

Eric Muhammad, owner of A New You Barbershop in Inglewood, Calif., added that heart problems are a “silent killer, and [have] cost the lives and health of a lot of good men.

It’s a no-brainer that Black men are at the highest risk of high blood pressure. What’s different about this study is it looks at ways to effectively bring it down with the help of your friends, family, and support group.”

C. Adair Blyler, one of the pharmacists involved in the study, said, “There is a different level of trust and respect that’s earned when you meet people where they are, instead of in a hospital or clinic. The rapport I’ve been able to establish with this group of patients has been unlike any other I’ve had in my professional career.”

That kind of rapport could be essential in successfully combatting hypertension because treating the chronic condition usually involves regular care—and for individuals to alter their lifestyles. The researchers have begun a second phase of the study to determine if these kinds of benefits last and can be sustained for six months after the intervention. They also hope to expand the study to reach additional parts of the country. Who wants a cut?

—DAVID ARTAVIA

NATHON OSKI ON UNSPL ASH

TURNS OUT, THE BARBERSHOP IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART.

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GROOMING

Letting His Hair Down Renowned stylist Elgin Charles has a new book, and it’s all about hair, sexuality, and fatherhood.

THE FULL PACKAGE

COURTESY MANSCAPED

Yes, there’s now a deodorant for your junk, and it’s totally worth it.

Summer is here and it’s time to pull on your trunks and lounge by a pool or bake on your roof. But it’s also the season to think about every man’s enemy when it comes to impressing that hot tamale across the room: swamp crotch! Thankfully, Manscaped has you covered.

There’s a reason why pro footballers Julién Davenport and Michael Brockers, X Games skater Marcelo Bastos Ferreira, and MMA star Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell all swear by Manscaped products. For active guys, maintaining hygiene is especially important. All that friction creates sweat and funky odors that can put off your next hook up.

Whether you’re landscaping your nether region, or just want to moisturize or deodorize, the engineers at Manscaped ha e designed tools specifically targeting your unk that lea e you and your bae satisfied with the entire package I swear by Manscaped, too. Its most popular products include state-of-the-art trimmers and safety razors; the Crop Preserver, a genital moisturizer that is also a residuefree, anti-chafing deodorant and the rop Re i er spray, a performance-ready toner and refresher that acts as both a deodorant or post-workout reviver and features pH regulation for scent and freshness control. Additionally, the company offers The Perfect Package set ($50), featuring the entire Manscaped product line, including precision-engineered tools, unique formulations, and accessories to help keep all your tools organized. (manscaped.com)—DA

Celebrity hairstylist Elgin Charles is undoubtedly one of the most popular in his field today. His 25-year-old salon made history as the first to cater to African-American clients in the 90210 zip code (aka Beverly Hills).

His star-studded client list has included Serena Williams, Drew Barrymore, and Gabrielle Union. Charles has his own VH1 show, Beverly Hills Fabulous, and appeared in Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair. His new memoir, By the Way, is a lyrical and honest retelling of his life and loves, including his son Frank (now an adult) and his ex-wife, actress Jackée Harry, whom he’s still good friends with.

The book also chronicles his relationship with his father, who died two years ago, including their conflict about his sexual orientation. “I’ve been living in fear—and especially with my dad,” said Charles, who recently came out as bisexual. “I [always] said that when he passes, I’m just going to write a book and really just put out there everything that I’ve done in my life. I think it can be helpful for other people, and definitely helpful for me.”

In many ways, Charles’s love of hair intersects with his coming out journey, which is traced in By the Way. “For as long as I could remember, hair has been a part of me,” he reminisced. Charles’s father, however, was less thrilled with his young son’s passions. Charles, now 58, described his dad as a “good man,” but one who was “dogmatic” and “rigid” in gender-policing during his upbringing.

Once, his father asked why he chose to dress so flamboyantly on his television show. “I was like, ‘Hey, I’m a hairdresser. We have that freedom. We should be able to do that.’”

His dad, he says, surprised him with his response. The older man told Charles, “I don’t know what I did, but I must have done something right.”—DANIEL REYNOLDS JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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BLACK BOY JOY PHOTOGRAPHY BY LELEITA MCKILL

(@OLD_ARMY_JACKET)

Hamilton’s Wonza Johnson hopes his new photo series will help inspire more diversity on popular social media apps.

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VIEWS

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VIE W S

take a look at the “Explore� page of Instagram?

While the function is designed to give businesses and profiles more e posure and isibility, Hamilton star on a ohnson was disappointed by a lack of di ersity e found that people of color were not as isible on plore pages as white folks, and e en though he knew something needed to be done, he wasn t sure how to make a change hat s when a friend told him, ou control the

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content ou control e erything that you see, so how about you be the change nd thus, Black Boy oy hoto eries was born on his nstagram on a1 a series of portraits not selfies of himself taken around the country hile starring in the touring company of Hamilton, ohnson makes a point to work with a different photographer of color in e ery city to complete the series wanted to be the change, ohnson says to Chill e talks about the importance of seeing a person of color, particularly a Black man, being oyful and sharing his truth, rather than depicted as the aggressor stereotype regularly seen in the media ohnson tells us he has been getting messages from Black boys on nstagram thanking him for the series he result is we ha e people lo ing themsel es, he says he more people see themsel es represented, they will ultimately feel more worthy of being on nstagram e en —DIMITRI MOISE

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VIE W S Wonza Johnson is teaming up with Black photographers across America to birth Black Boy Joy: A Photo Series. @Wonza1

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NEW SPIKE LEE FILM TELLS TRUE STORY OF A BLACK DETECTIVE WHO GOES DEEP UNDERCOVER IN THE KLU KLUX KLAN.

From the brilliant mind of legendary filmmaker pike ee comes BlacKkKlansman a new comedy of sorts, based on the true story of a Black rookie detective who infiltrated the in the 19 0s John David Washington (son of Denzel Washington and star of

In Living Color

Two TV series and a new documentary bring Black lives into focus.

The fantasy of a post-racial America was shattered by the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

Facing the reality that our country still struggles with racism is starting to actually reach Hollywood Add to that the success of lms centering the Black experience Moonlight, Black Panther, Get Out), and we have a recipe for smart, real, and nuanced depictions of African-Americans on big and small screens. Count the following among them.

BLACK IN A WHITE WORLD The first season of the acclaimed Netflix series, Dear White People, is now available.

(Amazon DVD, $20; streaming, $30). The show follows a handful of Black activist college students at a PWI, or predominantly white institution. They explore what it means to be Black in America today (and how that experience differs depending on their politics, gender, sexuality, and skin tone) as racial tensions bubble just below the surface.

Bonuses include two exclusive featurettes (Dear White People: Art as Activism and Filming Chapter V) and audio commentaries with creator, producer, and writer Justin Simien. Season two is now streaming on Netflix, it goes deeper into modern-day

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—DESIRÉE GUERRERO

the fifth season, which premieres in July and is available on Starz on Demand. As Ghost pursues revenge, Power continues to be a smart crime show with real, even devastating, consequences.

segregation and looks at the (all-white) secret societies that have endured on Ivy League campuses.

BLACK POWER The wait is over.

And it’s going down. Starz has released Power Season 4 on DVD, so it’s time to catch up on the thoughtprovoking series about a respectable and wealthy nightclub owner who is secretly a drug kingpin.

Executive produced by 50 Cent (who also costars), this season follows Ghost (Omari Hardwick) as he finds himself behind bars, arrested for murders he didn’t commit. When he finally gets out he recommits to his family—only to see it suffer an unimaginable loss. That sets up

FOR THE LADIES The documentary This One’s For The Ladies revolves around male adult dancers of color (and a lesbian dom), but it has deeper interests: revealing how a community of color perseveres in the face of racial segregation, economic inequities, and other disparities; and a system stacked against them. It is also about sisterhood and the fluidity of female sexuality, making it a good date night flick by providing both masculine eye-candy and female-empowerment. For the Ladies premiered at the 2018 SXSW film fest and was quickly snatched up by NEON for worldwide distribution—after it finishes playing the festival circuit.

—Donald Padgett and Jacob Anderson-Minshall

FOCUS FEATURES (BL AKKKL ANSMAN); LIONSGATE (DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, POWER); NEON (L ADIES)

UNDERCOVER BROTHER

HBO’s Ballers plays Ron tallworth, the first Black detecti e in the olorado prings, olo , police department ager to make a name for himself and do his people proud, tallworth orchestrates a plan to go underco er with the help of his white partner, played by dam ri er Star Wars: The Last Jedi oproduced

by Get Out creator Jordan Peele, BlacKkKlansman goes deep into the history of the time, complete with an ngela a is look-alike acti ist lo e interest played by aura arrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming). Though the story is told primarily through a light-hearted, comedic lens, ee cleverly inserts social commentary that asks the question: How much have things really changed?

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TEAR IT DOWN

Musician and TV star Jussie Smollett exposes our country’s ugly truths in the latest season of America Divided.

TARRICE LOVE

BY DAVID ARTAVIA With a new R&B album out (Sum of My Music) and a hit TV series (Empire) under his belt, Jussie Smollett has become the definition of a Renaissance man, and he seems to do it effortlessly. A musician, actor, activist, and producer, he aims to bridge the gaps dividing industries and communities to shed light on stories that are often left untold.

Since his BET Award-nominated role in Empire launched him to superstardom, Smollett has become an executive producer on the second season of America Divided, alongside legendary producer Norman Lear and TV journalist Gretchen Carlson. The EPIX series, which premiered this spring, confronts the hidden ideologies that many U.S. citizens refuse to acknowledge. Smollett says he hopes to educate viewers on why these issues matter, and how we can come together and move forward towards social and economic equality.

The five-part docuseries highlights the nation’s disagreements over sexual harassment, Native Americans, coal mining, Confederate monuments, and sanctuary cities. In the episode, “Whose History?” Smollett travels to Tennessee to witness the movement to bring down Confederate monuments and commemorate the deaths of thousands of African-Americans lynched during decades of racial animus. While there, he interviews Lee Miller, leader of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, an organization of male descendants of those who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. It’s an interview the actor admits was especially hard to sit through.

“It’s so interesting to sit across from someone and look them in the eye, talk to them about the history of your people, and they’re trying to create something else that is not even true,” he says of Lee’s attempt at whitewashing the South’s legacy of racism. “It’s blatant lies, and it’s there only to serve their agenda.”

In another scene, Smollett asks an older Black man if he foresees justice truly prevailing in his lifetime. The older man replies, “No.” “I think that if you look at the time that [he] grew up in, it was a different time… as far as the hope of humanity,” Smollett admits. “I think that he’s made peace. But I also think, sadly, he had to make peace.”

ENTERTAINMENT Smollett says the killings of unarmed Black people going unpunished—and mass incarceration, police brutality, and racial profiling in American culture—is a cycle. And it is one that continues to feed itself because we aren’t speaking about these issues to each other. “[This generaton] is starting to put two and two together of the fact that this is not actually getting worse. It’s just getting more visible,” Smollett says. “Everybody wants to be like, ‘Oh well, why is it that it always has to be about this? Why can’t we just enjoy our lives? [Slavery] happened. It is what it is... For all those ignorant questions, America Divided answers them.”

America Divided is “showing you why you can’t have your quote-unquote history, why you can’t have your [Confederate] flags flying high, why you cannot have your monument.”

Knowing these details, he argues, is crucial.

“If you think about all of the issues in our nation—race, gender equality, homophobia, immigration, and HIV—the running [answer] has been to silence it,” he explains. “If these things are out in the open, then we actually have to deal with truth and reconciliation. And people don’t want to do that.”

He adds, “You’re always going to have racists, you’re always going to have homophobes, you’re always going to have these idiotic people... what [we] can do is change the power of those people, those beliefs, so that the opposite of those thoughts and beliefs is what becomes the norm.”

He adds, “Without telling the truth and reconciling what actually happened, we’ll never all be free. Those white Southerners that want to keep up those monuments, they are not

This is a great country and we could be even greater.

However, what we’re failing to realize was that Obama was the anomaly.

Donald Trump represents a lot of our country. This is the truth that people don’t want to accept.

Social media has also led people to express their opinions—even those rooted in ignorance. “Sometimes people speak just to speak… people are now trying to state their opinions—that are so fucking ridiculous—just to get attention. It’s a marketing ploy. Half of the people, you don’t even know what the fuck they’re talking about.”

That’s not his own approach, Smollett says.

“I don’t speak about things that I absolutely cannot. My ego is strong enough to say ‘I need to do some research, I need to figure some things out before I just spew my opinion.’

Everybody has an opinion, but everybody also has an asshole. It doesn’t mean that we need to see or hear every fucking thing... You need to be informed before you speak on things as if you are a master of it.”

In the series, Smollett uncovers truths seldom repeated, including that up to 5,000 people could be present at a lynching, turning it into a carnival-like atmosphere. There were also numerous Black women who were lynched, challenging the idea that women were “merely” raped, beaten, or imprisoned.

mentally free. They have never been physically shackled. But guess what? Their ancestors did the shackling. Mentally, they are shackled.”

Smollett’s mission with the series is to show that most people are inherently good, but still we’ve become a “desensitized nation.”

“This is a great country and we could be even greater,” he says. “However, what we’re failing to realize was that Obama was the anomaly. Donald Trump represents a lot of our country. That’s fact. This is the truth that people don’t want to accept. He represents a large mental instability and mental disorder of our country. We are a mentally ill nation. Look at what we were built upon, this place we call home. It was built on… stealing, murder, and the termination of an entire people.”

He continues, “We need to be trying to change instead of saying, ‘Oh, it’s a great place, we just have to do XYZ.’ No... Something has to be dismantled and rebuilt... The only way it’s going to happen is if the people that want to love and the people that believe in equality and peace talk louder than the people that want hate.”

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ENTERTAIN MENT

ean- ichael Bas uiat was a prolific street artist in the 1970s and ‘80s—and one of the first to gain international acclaim e went on to e hibit his neoe pressionist paintings around the world, before dying of a drug o erdose at ow a new documentary, Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, chronicles the artist s life and work pre-fame irected by ara ri er who inter iewed many of Bas uiat s close friends , the film focuses on the e periences that shaped the teenage artist into the visionary the world would come to know limpses into the New York City underground re eal the breadth of Bas uiat s talent and his in uence in defining that creati e culture he documentary boomforrealfilm com captures the fearless young Black artist in his element in all of his artistic endea ors from spray painting graffiti to renegade fashion design to creating e periential music n his early years, Bas uiat collaborated with street artist l ia as , an informal graffiti duo known for their memorable, signature works in the cultural ha en of the ower ast ide of anhattan Boom For Real un eils art and e pression in its rawest form, through the life of one who died too soon.—GERALD GARTH

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The guy who introduced hip-hop dance to London and Paris is trying to save Puerto Rico.

After Hurricanes Irma and Maria ripped through Puerto Rico last year, founder of New York City’s legendary b-boy group, Rock Steady Crew, RICHARD “CRAZY LEGS” COLÓN (above center at a Red Bull All-Star Show) took one of the first available flights to the island to see the widespread devastation firsthand. What he saw, and how he responded, is chronicled in a new 10-minute documentary supported by Red Bull (who also sponsors him as an athlete). Puerto Rico Relief: Six Months Since Hurricane Maria Aid Continues (watch it on YouTube) shows Colón, who was born in the Bronx and is of Puerto Rico descent, join the inspiring grassroots efforts helping to unite and rebuild this community in need. That includes seven trips to the island to distribute water filtration and purification systems with Waves For Water and Luci Solar Lights. Colón founded Rock Steady for Life (crazylegsworkshop.com) to fundraise for locals (they’ve garnered nearly $150,000 so far) with help from other Puerto Rican artists, including DJ Enuff, Puerto Rico Rob, DJ G-Bo, and DJ Tony Touch.—DESIRÉE GUERRERO The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by homas ing e amines the interactions between white people and ati e mericans in the and anada ot a history per se ing cares about language and chooses his words carefully , his accounting does cite historical te ts and sources he book uestions what we accept as history, debunking widely held beliefs perpetuated by fairy tales and isney fantasies hile so ereignty is essential for the selfdetermination of merican ndians, in many ways it s impossible for these nations or tribes to be truly self-sufficient, ing says orse, he s con inced that whites will essentially ne er stop trying to take ati e merican land or force nati e people to assimilate timely argument, considering rump s administration is currently suggesting that ati es are a racial group, not members of so ereign nations ing s natural sense of humor keeps this story of loss from becoming despondent, and he does find hope e writes, ati e cultures aren t static hey re dynamic, adapti e, and e ible ore than that, in the 00 years of uropean occupation, ati e cultures ha e already pro en themsel es to be remarkably tenacious and resilient ing lea es us with the hope that ati e mericans will remain so, e en as they continue to be incon enient inn ress to whites and orth merican go ernments

—JACOB ANDERSON-MINSHALL

MAGNOLIA PICTURES (BOOM FOR REAL); NIKA KRAMER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL (CRAZY LEGS)

new film chronicles the rise of one of New York City’s most iconic street artists

CRAZY FOR YOU

BRAINY BOOKS

FLIX: IN YOUR FACE STREET ART

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ENTERTAIN MENT

5 Books That Changed My Life Words can be weapons in our fight for self-determination and social justice, and books can open up new worlds and ways forward. Poet, educator, and HIV activist Philip Robinson says books have done both for him.

A longtime volunteer at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Robinson serves on its Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast Committee, which organizes an annual event commemorating the gay Black activist and Martin Luther King Jr. advisor who organized the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. The Bayard Breakfast, celebrating its 30th year soon, also recognizes LGBTQ people of color working to combat HIV. His latest work, We Still Leave a Legacy, collects over a quarter of a century’s worth of poems—covering roughly the same period as the HIV epidemic.

COURTESY PHILIP ROBINSON (ROBINSON)

1. HELIUM Author Rudy Francisco, a spokenword poet, packs the pages of this collection “with honesty, humor, and longing for love with questions about family,” says Robinson.

Filled with the politics of race, class, gender, and religion, Robinson says, “Helium touches upon the intersections of life many of us confront in one way or another.” (iamrudyfrancisco.com)

2. GIOVANNI’S ROOM

by James Baldwin re ects the author s own experiences as a gay man in Paris, frustrated with his relationships with other men. “This classic captured the mounting struggles for acceptance and the search for affirmation of gay men in the 1950s, says Robinson. “Many of these parallels helped shape me, as I entered a new world in search of my own identity, along with the various men I met.” (randomhousebooks.com)

It’s fitting then that the book’s title poem is silk-screened on a panel in the AIDS Memorial Quilt from The NAMES Project Foundation. Though Robinson (philiprobinsonpoet.com) dedicates the book in part “to the many friends lost from AIDS-related complications,” his message is one of hope and perseverance, and We Still Leave a Legacy is more than just a remembrance of what was lost. “The book embraces issues like identity, family, and discovering oneself in modern-day America,” he says. “The title represents the shoulders we stand on as well as those we walk together with in the day-to-day struggles.”

Robinson says these books below each offer “a better understanding of myself, adding emotional texture to my life as a man and human being.

They ignited a sense of encouragement at various times in my life, helping me to view my world through a much wider lens.” Hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.

3. NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME, also by James Baldwin, is a collection of the brilliant man s essays outlining the tensions of American race relations in the early-1960s. Baldwin examines the inequalities suffered by the nation s Black citizens, making “interesting statements about how Blacks and whites are inevitably and inextricably bound together. This book continues to compel America to question where we are today regarding race relations.” (randomhousebooks.com)

Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War by Marwan Hisham and Molly Crabapple is a gripping account of the cost of oppression and revolution in a long-troubled land. For Hisham and his fellow working-class friends, the Arab spring brought a glimmer of freedom to Syria. Inspired and optimistic, these college students joined protests against the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad. Five years later, one friend has died, another has become an Islamist revolutionary, and Hisham is now an exiled journalist living in Turkey. A collaborative effort with journalist and illustrator Crabapple, Brothers of the Gun is isham s attempt to make sense of what has become of his country.

Unable to openly work on the project in ISISoccupied territory for fear of his life and safety, Hisham smuggled his pictures to Crabapple, who used them as the basis for her illustrations (which were later published in Vanity Fair). The pair continue reporting from both ISIS-controlled and rebel-held parts of Syria. @penguinrandom—DONALD PADGETT

4. RESPECTING THE SOUL: Daily Reflections for Black Lesbians and Gays offers anyone spiritual growth but has particular meaning for Black queers. Robinson says author eith Boykin s book “makes one want to strive toward self-empowerment, and attempts to help distinguish between the internal and external complexities [we] often confront n indi idual s responsibility to find ways to move forward is heavily pronounced in this book, which makes for an inspiring read.” (keithboykin.com)

5. BOYS LIKE US: Gay Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories, edited by Patrick Merla, the former editor of New York Native, captures the coming out stories of a diverse group of 29 gay writers—including some of the country s most well-known authors.

The collection of essays “deals with identity and desire—and gives clarity to the fact that we are not alone in our experiences,” Robinson says. Even readers who aren t gay will find rele ance in the power of speaking one s truth even in the face of those determined to keep us down. (patrickmerla.com)

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity is the latest work by C. Riley Snorton, author of Nobody Is Supposed to Know: Black Sexuality on the Down Low. This time, Snorton examines the lives of early gender nonconforming African-Americans (including Christine Jorgensen contemporaries Lucy Hicks Anderson and James McHarris). He draws on a wide variety of archival materials: fugitive slave narratives, Afro-modernist literature, sensationalist journalism, Hollywood films, and the research of early se ologists n doing so, Snorton traces our understanding of gender as a changeable thing back to slavery and the creation of racialized genders. He argues that just as there is pressure to conform to heteronormative behavior, there is also a transnormative narrative, which relies on what he calls “the negation of Blackness.” One could argue, the negation of other peoples of color (such as ati e mericans s li ed e periences of gender is similarly essential to the creation of modern (white) ideas about gender and the “transgender experience.” In challenging these narratives, Snorton calls on us to imagine new, Black- and trans-inclusive worlds. @UMinnPress—JAM

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ALLADIN’S MAGIC CODE THE FIRST MAN OF COLOR TO ORIGINATE A DISNEY “PRINCE” ROLE ON BROADWAY (IN FROZEN), JELANI ALLADIN, SAYS CODE-SWITCHING HELPED HIM EXCEL IN HIS CAREER.

BY DIMITRI MOISE

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differently then, but that’s always going to be part of my DNA. You don’t ever want to feel that you are different, so I dressed a certain way and acted a certain way [to fit in].”

Alladin’s world turned around at New Canaan High School as a young recipient of the program, A Better Chance (abetterchance.org), which helps academicallytalented students of color gain access to some of America’s top-performing schools. The shift from Brownsville to New Canaan was major.

One of just five Black students at the school, Alladin recalls kids there were wealthier, whiter, and more “pulled together.” The then-13-year-old Alladin knew he had to adapt to survive. “At that young age, when you’re trying to protect everything that you are, you kinda have to morph who are you, to fit in.”

His first year at New Canaan, Alladin recalls he was asked to give a speech. He was instructed to write the speech ahead of time, and practice out loud in advance. “In that moment, I realized I couldn’t go up there and act any old way and say just anything. It had to be calculated. I couldn’t just say, ‘Yo, wassup? My name is Jelani’… I’ll never forget [that] because I was like, Oh… It’s still talking to people but it’s a different way of talking to people. I need to meet them where they are.”

For Alladin, dividing time between New Canaan and Brownsville underscored what he needed to move seemlessly between many intersections, not just at school with friends, but with his family as well. Part of an immigrant family from Guyana (a small South American country), Alladin is both a first-generation Guyanese-American and an AfricanAmerican, which impacts the languages he already knows.

Jelani Alladin (above center, performing in Disney’s Frozen musical, and below) has made great leaps onstage and in life.

@JELANIALLADIN

DEEN VANMEER (FROZEN); KAREN SANTOS (ALL ADIN)

CODE-SWITCHING. It’s the ability to use language and behavior to move across racial, cultural, and social lines. As people, we need not only to be understood in our own communities but also in other communities and the broader world. To do that, we code-switch. It’s our way of connecting with those who wouldn’t understand us otherwise. But does code-switching mean deleting parts of who we truly are? Broadway star and Drama Desk Award nominee Jelani Alladin (@JelaniAlladin) doesn’t think so.

“I know how to use the American language as cuttingly sharp as anyone else can, so come at me with that,” says Alladin, who says he’s the first man of color to originate the role of a Disney prince on Broadway (Sure, Kristoff in Frozen isn’t technically a prince, but, Alladin says, that’s how the Disney franchise thinks of him.) Alladin understands the importance of his place right now in today’s industry as a pioneer for other actors of color and the next generation of Black boys and girls, who can see themselves through Alladin on stage. [Note: The author and Alladin are colleagues.]

For Jelani, code-switching is based on environment.

“If I’m hanging with my friends in Brooklyn… or if I’m with my family at home in Brooklyn, the way I connect to the environment is gonna be much different than the way I connect with the people in…New Canaan, Conn., where I went to high school.”

Alladin is a native of Brownsville, which he describes as, “Quite possibly the hoodest place in Brooklyn, next to East New York.”

Growing up, Alladin recalls, omnipresent gangs and teen pregnancies were the norm in his neighborhood.

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CODE SWITCH Alladin’s ability to code-switch is an advantage as an actor. “When I walk into a room and go in for a certain role, I’m able to access [that role] honestly.” He feels like he can see people for who they truly are, because he can understand them—and in return, he becomes more relatable.

“As an African-American, people see your picture and paint you a certain way. And it’s up to you to either meet what they paint—or defy or change what they’ve painted in their minds.”

Actors of color are constantly having to prove

VINCENT TRUSPIN (ALEXANDER); SCOT T HENRICHSEN (WOODS); COURTESY RAUL QUEUE

HOW DO YOU CODESWITCH?

Shifting the language you use, or the way you express yourself, around others is just the beginning of it. As Gene Demby, lead blogger for NPR’s Code Switch, explains: “Many of us subtly, re e i ely change the way we e press ourselves all the time. We’re hopscotching between different cultural and linguistic spaces and different parts of our own identities—sometimes within a single interaction.”

Demby and six other NPR journalists make up the team for Code Switch, doing work that covers race, ethnicity, and culture on-air as well as in a blog, a Tumblr, a Twitter stream, and a Facebook feed. They called it Code Switch “because much of what we’ll be exploring are the different spaces we each inhabit and the tensions of trying to navigate between them. In one sense, code-switching is about dialogue that spans cultures. It evokes the conversation we want to have here.”

Chill, too, will be asking readers this year how they code-switch (around race, gender, geography, faith, and more). To start our own conversations, here’s what three guys told us.

Have you ever code-switched? Tweet us @chillthemag and tag #CodeSwitch. We may use your story in an upcoming issue or on Chill.us.

themselves, he says, often working twice as hard to receive half as much. But the rewards can be sweet. Especially when others see and understand the complexities encoded in their melanin-enriched makeup. Nowadays, Alladin doesn’t even recognize when he code-switches.

He does it automatically and subconsciously.

“I almost feel like if it were conscious, it would almost be wrong. I’m going to talk differently with my coworkers at Disney versus when I’m at a family cookout.”

We all code-switch, but if this star is right,

those who integrate it into their lives may have a better chance at success. Does that necessarily mean those who code-switch are assimilating at the expense of their heritage? No, says Alladin. It’s less about the need to meld into a certain demographic and more about understanding where everyone is coming from and connecting with that.“I don’t think it’s a deletion of who you are,” Alladin says. “It’s a consciousness and awareness of who you are and where your place is in the community that you’re in.”

JOSHUA ALEXANDER, LOS ANGELES @THEJOSHALEXANDER

My whole life is a code-switch. As a Black man, I must constantly keep in mind that my ability to code-switch impacts the type of friends I have, the kind of career I work in, and people’s perception of my intelligence, privilege, and exposure to the world. My codeswitching skills were sharpened after college when figured out that it went beyond linguistics. It was in the way I behaved, thought, and expressed myself. I attended Howard University where I had a very liberating experience expressing my Blackness. My Blackness showed through my baggy pants, Air Force Ones, a tapered fade with a do-rag imprint on my forehead, and a vocabulary full of cuss words that were coated with a Southern twang as they came out of my mouth. After graduating with a better understanding of how the world viewed me, it would have been unrealistic for me to think my expression of self would be able to successfully crossover into mainstream America.

Let’s be real, it doesn’t even crossover in my everyday relationships with my friends, family, or coworkers that come from the same culture as I do. I don’t talk to any two people the same, because we all express and emote uniquely. I like to think of code-switching as a way to relate to other people, bringing us all closer. At the end of the day, we code-switch to create the possibility of connection, which can provide us access to people or opportunities that we might not already have access to.

JUSTIN WOODS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

@JSTNWDS

When my intrigued, white college roommate said, “You talk differently to him,” after I greeted a Black worker at our PWI (predominantly white institution), I realized I’d been caught trying to meet the con icting e pectations of my two o erlapping worlds Code-switching is a reminder that we live in a world of white domination, where our culture exists outside the white gaze, and therefore is under subject to their curiosity and inquisition. The burden of constantly switching between worlds, and needing to explain the switch when noticed, is yet another demand our world places on non-white people. Accordingly, I’m left to wonder: What is it like to have the privilege to show up fully in all spaces? What is it like to not to have to defend how you show up in the world, because the world was created for people like you? I hold to the belief that when we meet the challenge of showing up authentically in spite of these barriers, we add to the allure and intrigue that is Blackness.

RAUL QUEUE, LOS ANGELES

@RQ_RUDE

Sure, I code-switch regularly. Whether it be toiling in a PrEP/PEP clinic ensuring patients receive sex-positive care to keep them healthy and well, or working my ass off as staff of Los Angeles’s most popular sex party, promising a space where men-loving men can act out their sexually liberal desires. The root of my work is sexual satisfaction. I am here to serve. But depending on the setting, it may be with a smile or a sneer. As a sexual health counselor, I am behind the desk actively listening, pulling for cues to understand the health needs of my patients, where their sexual health is my priority. As doorboy at said sex party, I am the gatekeeper to attendees’ sexual desires, but my priority here is making sure you pay full price. Every now and then a familiar face will walk through the dungeon doors.

First there’s the double-take, then the nod of acknowledgement, and with recognition in our eyes and a smile on my face, I break the silence: “Please have your ticket in hand or on your phone. If not, cash only!”

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BABES, BAKES, AND BANDS SURE, YOU’RE HEADING TO A MUSIC FESTIVAL FOR FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT, BUT YOU GOTTA LOOK GOOD, TOO.

Still suffering from FOMO after hearing that Beyoncé crushed it at Coachella this year? Well, you might have missed that one, but you don’t need to miss the rest of summer’s hottest music festivals. Some of the year’s best festivals are yet to come. But getting to the festival is only the first step he second and arguably more important is finding the perfect outfit Chill called on two of New York City’s hottest young stars to show you what looks will get you the most views on your Insta story. Actors Jelani lladin who plays ristoff in the Broadway isney musical, Frozen) and saac ole owell aniel, in the Broadway re i al of Once On This Island) rock this summer s dopest trends

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JELANI ALLADIN @JelaniAlladin Music festival he’s dying to go to: Burning Man and Coachella.

Music fests he won’t miss: Anything in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

First album: Usher’s My Way. First concert: India Arie.

On his playlist now: John Legend, Cardi B, Daniel Caesar, Yebba, Nicki Minaj, and the legendary Stevie Wonder.

Clockwise from above left: Red knit hoodie by Hania; swim trunks by Devereux Amalfi; red backpack by Gola Classics; Colorado sunglasses by The Fiestas Black cardigan & striped drop-crotch pants by Palmiers du Mal; black Gotham II woven sneakers by Noah Waxman; jewelry by Bershka Stretch leather button down & black shorts with tights by EFM; infinity black leather bracelet by John Varvatos; beaded necklace by Pikolinos The Maasai Project; red backpack by Gola Classics

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TEN FESTS ON FLEEK SOME OF OUR FAVORITE MUSIC FESTS STILL TO COME INCLUDE: New Orleans’s Essence Festival (July 5-8) Detroit’s Mo Pop (July 28-29) New York’s Panorama (July 27-29) Afropunk Fest in Brooklyn (August 25-26) or in Atlanta (October 13-14) Chicago’s Lollapalooza (August 2-5) Ohio’s Breakaway in Columbus (August 24-26) Nevada’s Burning Man (August 26September 3) New York’s Electric Zoo (August 31September 2) Atlanta’s One Musicfest (September 8-9)

ON ISAAC Navy blue drop-crotch pants and purple sweatshirt by Palmiers du Mal; purple slip-on shoes by House of Future; tortoise-shell and blue fade smooth sunglasses by Remo Tulliani ON JELANI Apron by Barking Irons; jewelry by Bershka

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Clockwise from left: Sweater blazer & gray T-shirt

by EFM; swim trunks by Devereux Amalfi; Freeport red suede loafers by Noah Waxman; chevron woven rubber bracelet by David Yurman; black/clear Courage sunglasses Remo Tulliani Caftan by Palmiers du Mal; ripped jeans by PRPS Jeans; Colorado sunglasses by Garden of the Gods Button-down shirt by Ted Baker; white shorts by Devereux Amalfi; fog Perry sneakers by Noah Waxman

Isaac Cole Powell @IsaacColePowell First music festival: None, he’s a fest virgin. opes his first will be Burning Man. Musical inspirations: Solange and James Blake.

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ON ISAAC Devereux sleeveless shirt by PRPS Jeans; English tan Van Dam boot by Noah Waxman; holster bag by The Local Branch Co. ON JELANI Barking Irons Public Enemy T-shirt by PRPS Jeans; English tan Hudson boot by Noah Waxman; tan leather fanny pack by Bershka

BUY THE SWAG IN THE MAG AT THESE LOCATIONS: efmmenswear.com palmiersdumal.com prpsjeans.com dvrxthreads.com barkingirons.com haniabyanyacole.com noahwaxman.com thehouseoffuture.com johnvarvatos.com davidyurman.com pikolinos.com bershka.com tulliani.com coloradoglasses.com thelocalbranch.co golausa.com

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THE ACTOR, MUSICIAN, AND ACTIVIST STAR OF HAMILTON, BLINDSPOTTING, AND VELVET BUZZSAW MAKES BOTH HIP-HOP AND HOLLYWOOD MUCH SMARTER.

PHOTO CREDIT

WHY EVERYONE IS DIGGING DAVEED DIGGS

BY JAMES BROWN III + PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEREDITH JENKS/TRUNK ARCHIVE JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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AV E E D D I G G S , the Tony and Grammy

Award-winner best known for his role in the 2015 worldwide smash Hamilton and his sweet gig as Rainbow’s brother on ABC’s Black-ish, wrote, produced, and stars in the new film Blindspotting.

The film, which he co-created with Rafael Casal, premieres this summer, but the genesis began a decade ago, when the two friends first discussed using verse to tell the story of what was happening in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African-American man, had just been killed by a BART police officer (which would later be the basis of the film Fruitvale Station).

In addition, rent was skyrocketing, gentrification had reached Northern California, and a myriad of these conflicts created a volatile landscape in Oakland, Calif. This is the backdrop Diggs and Casal based their characters, best friends Miles and Collin, on.

Casal and Diggs did a Blindspotting album, while his own band, clipping. (yes, that period at the end is part of the name) has a new project in the works (“The music is my favorite shit we’ve ever done,” he admits).

Daveed has been dubbed the perfect boyfriend by many women’s mags. Right now, he’s dating Emmy Raver, a former Hamilton actress who is starring in the upcoming Netflix superhero series, The Umbrella Academy. Still, work keeps him busy.

In addition to Blindspotting and Black-ish, Diggs has a slew of new roles as well. He’s in the upcoming Netflix horror thriller film, Velvet Buzzsaw, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, John Malkovich, and Toni Collette, which premiers in October. This summer, he begins filming the new TNT series Snowpiercer, based on the dystopian French graphic novel that became a film in 2014. And he’s got a voice role in the animated flick, Central Park, alongside Kristen Bell. Even still, there’s a “whole bunch of other shit I’m not allowed to talk about,” he laughs.

Chill style editor James Brown III (a former college teammate and longtime friend) got Diggs to talk about hip-hop, activism, gentrification, filmmaking, Afropunk—and of course, Blindspotting, the indie film already garnering awards talk.

Oh man, so I was just thinking. Almost 20 years ago, you were on your recruiting visit to Brown University and I was hosting you. That’s so real. Oh my god, dude.

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Now, we find ourselves talking about your new film, Blindspotting. What inspired it? Rafael Casal, one of my best friends, we’ve been working on this for almost 10 years now. It was really just our producers, Jess and Keith Calder, who found Rafa on the Internet a long time ago doing his YouTube poetry. They thought that his work in verse would be really interesting in a film. It started down that road. It’s been a crazy sequence of events. That’s how life works. But the gratifying thing about it—just like the gratifying thing about this conversation—is that it keeps coming back to the people who you started with. Knowing that before anyone had assigned value to a performance of mine or gave

It’s really a story about the tendency of gentrification to erase and forget context.

attention to anything I was doing, we were making art together and we still are. It’s great to have this thing coming out that people are responding to.

For me it’s like, of course people are flipping out about Rafael’s performance in the film, because he’s amazing, but he’s been amazing. It’s like when you started popping off on Broadway and people were like “Can you believe that?” and I was like ‘Yeah I can believe it.’ You left school to do that because you’re amazing. [Editor’s note: Yep, Chill’s style editor also just happens to star in Disney’s musical, Frozen, on Broadway!]

Well, thank you. What would be one of the takeaways from this film? I’ve been pretty hesitant to tell people what to feel, but the thrust of it is that it deals with a lot of issues, and these friends are dealing with things that are out of their control, and having to have conversations they’ve never had before. Rafael plays Miles, he’s white. I play Collin,

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I try to be as gender fluid as possible when I’m telling stories with that band. I’m trying to make every character be anybody, so I try to freely exchange pronouns.

The Hamilton star is known for his rapid fire delivery, so we played a round over musical faves.

Hip-hop or R&B? Hip-hop.

East Coast or West Coast?

West Coast.

So true. I’m talking to you from Philadelphia and this building is brand new and it’s this gorgeous building, but I have no idea what was here before.

I’m looking out over soccer fields and tennis courts, it’s all lovely, but I have no context of what this neighborhood is about, right? Who knows what was true of the community before? Does anybody remember that? I haven’t been forced to remember that; I’m only here for a day.…

Every time you move into a new place you have a choice: you’re either going to interact with the community that’s been there and take the time to learn about it and participate in the culture that existed, or you’re just going to go on about your life.

It seems like a metaphor for the world we’re in today. You definitely channel that, in the way you tell stories, with your band, clipping. We continued to make this pretty obtuse, pretty heady music, ignoring our political inclinations and more specifically the inherent politics of rap music and the inherent politics of how rap music intersects with academia, right? Between the three folks in that band, there are six or seven degrees, I guess if you count my honorary degree from Brown. There’s an inherent politic to that as well, so ignoring those things actually felt dishonest. So now we wear our politics on

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our sleeve, even if the characters in the stories we are telling are apolitical.

Do you think there’s a difference between hip-hop and rap? No. Rapping is an art form, it’s a skillset, and hip-hop is a cultural definition, but they interact with each other. To me, one is an aspect of the other I guess. Rapping is one of the ways that hiphop uses to express itself.

Who are you listening to right now? Well E-40, always—he just put an album out so that’s great, just like every other one he’s put out. I listen to everything, OMB Peezy right now; Young Thug, I love; this DJ Esco Project that is basically a new Future album; Cardi’s album is amazing. There’s Dojacat—I think she’s phenomenal and just put an album out. I mean we could go on in this vein forever.

Between growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area and going to Brown, you have a lot of activist history. I think people are drawn to you because you have a level of activism and political awareness. How does that impact your music? It bleeds into everything whether you want it to or not. [My band] clipping. started, and still is in a lot of ways, like a pretty anti-activist project, in that there’s no self there. I don’t ever speak in the first person in that band, so there’s no center to locate politics on.... There’s probably a reason why we are telling a certain story, and I try to be as gender fluid as possible when I’m telling stories with that band. I’m trying to make every character be anybody, so I try to freely exchange pronouns, trying to make choices like that. They just challenge me a little bit and the things that we are used to and it’s an experiment. After doing all the things we want to do, when we’re done, does it equal a rap song? So far, yes. We will see if we ever break that roll. So far, we haven’t been able to break rap.

Beyonce or Rihanna?

Oh, good, that’s a tough one.

I’m gonna give it to Queen B. Macklemore or Eminem?

Eminem.

Cardi B or Nicki Minaj?

Ohhhh, that’s a very hard one. I’m just going to go based on right now, I have to go with Cardi. Here’s what I love about that: I hope that Cardi’s success just rapping will inspire Nicki to just put out a straight-up rap album.

I think that she’s, bar for bar, one of the best rappers and she spends so much time singing because that’s what sells. And that’s cool. I’m not trying to hate on that, but I love it when she just raps. So if maybe she feels her position is threatened enough, she will put out a rap album.

Alright, Jodeci or Boyz II Men? Oh man, that’s good too. Boyz II Men. Jay-Z or Kendrick?

Kendrick.

Since you said Kendrick, Good Kid M.A.A.D. City or Damn?

I’m gonna say Damn, even though I like Good Kid M.A.A.D. City. Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is more important to me, but it’s Damn if we’re going with the better album. He’s grown, he only gets better, he’s a better rapper, it’s a better album. But shit Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is important to me, I’ve probably listened to it more.

And of your own clipping. albums: Splendor & Misery or Midcity?

Oh, Splendor & Misery. You got to love your most recent stuff Apple Music or Spotify?

I use Apple Music more.

Afropunk or Lollapalooza?

Afropunk! Afropunk is the craziest utopia…

We played Afropunk a couple years ago and shit, being on stage at Afropunk is the best thing. It’s the middle of the day, and everyone is like the sexiest Black alien you’ve e er seen t s so y, it s like if a runway show was actually a dance party.

SHUT TERSTOCK (BEYONCE, CARDI B, KENDRICK L AMAR); EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP (EMINEM)

he’s Black. We’ve grown up as best friends forever, in Oakland. Because of people who don’t understand their context, Collin is sort of more afraid then he’s ever been before, and Miles is being thrust in this situation where people are mistaking him for someone he isn’t. They’re both afraid of being mistaken for somebody they’re not and in that sense it’s really a story about the tendency of gentrification to erase and forget context.

Biggie or Tupac?

Tupac.

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Chicos Cry Too

MUSIC

For years, a love affair has existed between Mexican-Americans and sad music—but are these Morrissey T-shirt wearing sensitivos a dying breed?

DESIRÉE GUERRERO

By Desirée Guerrero

Sadness and suffering are as engrained into Mexican culture as tacos and cerveza, and one doesn’t have to dig too deep to understand why. For MexicanAmericans—who as a culture know well the struggles of immigration, poverty, systematic racism, gang violence, incarceration, and religion-fueled oppression—being sad almost seems like our birthright. It’s as though the very expression of our suffering is the only way we know how to cope with it as a people.

Expression of grief is done many ways in MexicanAmerican culture: tattooed teardrops to symbolize prison time or other traumas, the popularity of nicknames like “Sad Clown” among gang members, and, of course, the longsuffering Christ of Catholicism.

In the art world, artists like Frida Kahlo have become exalted saints due, at least in part, to their connection to suffering. Kahlo was severely injured as a teen and suffered crippling physical pain and emotional anguish (not to mention 32 surgeries) throughout her life.

Through these symbols of sadness, one gets to express that, despite the brave face put on every day in order to survive, they too, suffer.

Somehow this shared experience comforts and unites us. We know we are not alone in our struggles.

And one of the most powerful ways to express emotion and connect with others as a culture is through music.

“As a Smiths [and] Cure fan and a Latina, I can say that it’s reminiscent of what I grew up listing to in Spanish from my parents’ choice of music during the ‘80s,” Julie Crowell, a 39-year-old mother from Costa Mesa, Calif., tells Chill. “Like, the emotion.

I’ve analyzed this for our family and we agree that is why we are fans. The emotion in the music is similar to [what] our parents listened to and those kind of whiney male vocals we enjoy.”

Crowell, like myself, represents a very specific kind of music fan that exists in large numbers in the greater Los Angeles area—the post-punk-alternative-loving Mexican-American. If that mouthful doesn’t really explain much, just think Mexican-American fans of The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, etc. I would simply refer to someone like this as a fellow “Mexican Smiths’ fan.” And The Smiths, or more specifically, their former frontman Steven Patrick Morrissey, is the nearly unanimous favorite amongst this sect. At this point, much like Kahlo, he’s practically an exalted saint.

I am certainly not the first to wax philosophical about the ongoing love affair between Morrissey and his Latinx fans, and even about the very specific connection between Mexican-American fans and

the singer. In fact, Crowell’s keen observation comparing this type of music to the “whiney” ranchera music popular in her parents’ generation has been made by others who are deep in the scene.

“As in ranchera, Morrissey’s lyrics rely on ambiguity, powerful imagery, and metaphors,” Gustavo Arellano writes in his book Ask a Mexican, based on his popular, long-running weekly column of the same name in the OC Weekly.

“Thematically, the idealization of a simpler life and a rejection of all things bourgeois come from a populist impulse common to ranchera.”

Morrissey often sings of being an Irish immigrant in an imperialistic society (England) that looks down on his people yet relies on them to supply cheap labor.

Naturally that strikes Mexican-Americans as a familiar experience. There are other cultural similarities Irish and Mexican people share, as well: a strong work ethic, a love of boxing, and being devout Catholics.

“You see these stereotypical tough guys, Latino men covered in tats, having these great emotional outpourings to his music, completely reduced to tears by a beautiful song like ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,’” explained José Maldonado to NME.com last year. Front man of one of the world’s most popular and enduring Smiths-Morrissey tribute bands, The Sweet and Tender Hooligans (sweetandtenderhooligans.com), Maldonado says, “It’s really moving—and for a lot of people—quite unexpected.”

I’ve attended several Sweet and Tender Hooligans shows and can attest to the passion their fans have about this music. They are as enthusiastic as if they were seeing the real thing. They sing every word together—and cry together.

Unlike ranchera musicians, Morrissey has a history of sexual ambiguity (although he has often distanced himself from the LGBTQ community and once considered himself asexual). There is definitely an element of rebellion against traditional Latino machismo in choosing an effeminate, emotionally-complicated Brit as one’s musical god.

The fact that Morrissey is white is very relevant too. He is specifically popular among second and third generation Mexican-Americans who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, some of whom are mixed race or don’t speak Spanish. In the mashup of JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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The success of The Smiths’s tribute band Sweet and Tender Hooligans (above) is due in part to their many MexicanAmerican fans.

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cultural influences that these in-betweeners grew up with, this is, in many ways, an attempt to create a community of their own—a place where they feel like they belong and are accepted just as they are.

“Being raised in a country where you’re supposed to be an American, but you’re Mexican culturally, you’re kind of between two things,” Marina Garcia-Vasquez of Mex and the City, a New York City-based online community for Mexican-Americans, told Public Radio International (PRI). “You can’t really relate to your own family because you have your own interests.

Maldonado agrees: “Amongst my Anglo friends, I wasn’t quite Anglo enough. And around my Mexican friends, I wasn’t quite Mexican enough. I didn’t really fit into either compartment, so to speak.”

Despite the number of Latinx Morrissey fans, there are also detractors. For example, naming his compilation of music videos ¡Oye, Estéban! led some to suggest the entertainer is a cultural appropriator with purely self-serving motives.

Morrissey has expressed his love and appreciation of his MexicanAmerican fans many times over the years—albeit sometimes in questionable ways. During his 1999 ¡Oye, Estéban! tour, Morrissey famously “confessed” to his almost completely Mexican-American Southern California audience, “I wish I was born Mexican, but it’s too late for that now.”

Then there was this famously strange and somewhat condescending praise: “I really like Mexican people. I find them so terribly nice. And they have fantastic hair, and fantastic skin, and usually really good teeth.”

At another concert in Mexico, Fernando Lions, a Brooklyn-based tattoo artist and devoted Morrissey fan told PRI that the singer did something that left him not knowing exactly how to feel. “He had taken the Mexican flag and had put it around his waist, like a dress, or a skirt, or a towel… It was sort of rude, but sort of sweet. It was really odd.”

Then, Morrissey had the cojones to touch on gang violence in our community with the song, “First of the Gang to Die.” But, as someone who actually lost her first love in exactly this way, I must admit the song is sensitively and artfully done. It feels more like a delicate tribute to the fallen rather than an exploitation.

Still, accusations of cultural appropriation and pandering to his audience are plausible, considering that his music has been increasingly peppered with Latin themes, sounds, and language throughout his solo career. Yet, no matter how much negative press the singer seems to receive, his Mexican-American fanbase is as loyal as ever, although they are aging along with the 59-year old.

The popularity of Morrissey and other musicians of this genre peaked in the 1990s, and new fans hopping onto the sadwagon have slowed over the years. As we moved into the 2000s, the concept went commercial—one could simply purchase the rebellious “look” of Smiths-loving Mexicans via mass-produced T-shirts at one’s local Hot Topic, without ever attending a show or hearing a single song.

Today, Mexican-American youth seem to be grasping onto different, dare I say, happier, musical genres. Aside from a shift in ideas, trends, and attitudes, I think that many of today’s woke millennials simply don’t have the patience for crusty old curmudgeons who occasionally spew offensive bullshit (which even the most diehard fan at this point must admit Morrissey has done). It’s the #TimesUp, #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter generation, one weary of old white men, and preferring to get their Latin-inspired music directly from Latinx artists.

But rather than desperately cling to our perpetual sadness, as me and my Morrisseyloving-breed of Mexican-Americans begin to lose relevance, I choose to see this as progress. Perhaps the younger generation of Mexican-Americans are feeling more empowered and less imprisoned. Perhaps, for many, there is simply less to cry about.

Then again, under the Trump administration—which wants to deport, incarcerate, and separate us from our families—we are learning just how much we still have to mourn.

And Maldonado tells Chill he sees a surprising number of new, younger fans at Sweet and Tender shows each year. “You definitely see a mix of all ages at our shows over the last 25 years, but it’s striking how many young people you still see discovering those songs for the first time. It definitely speaks to how they can relate to many of the themes in Morrissey’s music.”

As a whole, the cult of Morrissey doesn’t appear to be losing any momentum. In fact, Mexican-indie supergroup Mexrrissey (mexrrissey.com), comprised of seven popular Mexican indie musicians, released the critically acclaimed No Manchester in 2016—an album of Morrissey songs that have been translated into Spanish and “Mexicanized,” with added layers of mariachi, cumbia, and bolero—and continue to tour due to its wild popularity.

“I plan on continuing with our tribute to Morrissey [and] The Smiths for as long as my body will allow,” confesses Maldonado.

“I enjoy playing with my bandmates and singing to a cheering audience every bit as much as I did on that first gig in October 1992. I’m 10 years younger than Morrissey, so I suppose I could at least keep it going for another 10 years after he decides to hang it up. ‘One Day, Goodbye Will Be Farewell,’” he says, quoting a Morrissey song title. “Just not anytime soon.”

FORREST LOCKE

M USIC

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M USIC

The Best Rap Song Each Year Since 1979

This commentator and new YouTube star is is making rap history, chronicling it year by year.

Isaiah the Playah

might not be a name rolling off your tongue yet, but the dude (right) certainly knows his rap history. Last year, the YouTuber uploaded a video detailing his opinions on the best rap songs from the last three decades, which garnered over seven million views in a matter of weeks. Now he’s remade the list.

“The weird thing about that video was that it blew up, like, two or three months after I uploaded it, which is pretty crazy because not many videos go viral only a couple months after they’re uploaded,” Isaiah the Playah (@yuhboyISAIAH) said in his latest video. “I never thought that this early in my YouTube career I would have a video with over seven million views!

It still does not feel real to me.”

After re-watching his original version, Isaiah decided to remake the video that launched him into that YouTube orbit. “I made that video when I was really bad at editing,” he explained. “I knew the bare minimum, so the video just seemed really unprofessional and not polished. And on top of that, my knowledge and practice has grown a lot since making that video, so there’s actually a decent amount of selections that I want to change. Plus, it’s 2018 now so I get to add another song to that list, so for all those reasons I just decided that I’m going to remake it.”

Tag #BestRapSongs to @chillthemag and tell us your picks.

1979 & 1981 “Rapper’s Delight” “Apache (Jump on It)”

SUGARHILL GANG

1987

“I Ain’t No Joke”

YOUTUBE (ISAIAH)

ERIC B. & RAKIM

1980

“The Breaks”

KURTIS BLOW

1988

“Straight Outta Compton”

N.W.A

1982

“The Message”

GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE

1989

“Eye Know”

DE LA SOUL

1983

“Magic’s Wand”

WHODINI

1990

“Can I Kick It?”

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

1984 & 1986 “It’s Like That” “It’s Tricky”

RUN DMC

1991

“Summertime”

DJ JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE

1985

“I Can’t Live Without My Radio”

LL COOL J

1992

“Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang”

DR. DRE & SNOOP DOGG

SHUT TERSTOCK (SUGAR HILL GANG); ALICE.LOWNDES (KURTIS BLOW);AP PHOTO/SETH WENIG (GRANDMASTER FL ASH); BRET T HAMMOND (WHODINI); AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN (RUN DMC); AP PHOTO/BOB GALBRAITH (LL COOL J); DAVID CORIO (ERIC B. & RAKIM); GREG ALLEN/INVISION/AP (N.W.A); AP PHOTO/MICHAEL CAULFIELD (DE L A SOUL); AP PHOTO/ROB CARR (A TRIBE CALLED QUEST); AP PHOTO/ TERENCE TAN (DJ JAZZY JEFF/FRESH PRINCE); AP PHOTO/ TERENCE TAN (DR. DRE & SNOOP DOG)

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1993

“C.R.E.A.M.”

WU-TANG CLAN

1994

“Flava In Ya Ear”

CRAIG MACK

1995

1996 & 1998

MOBB DEEP

TUPAC FEATURING DR. DRE & ROGER TROUTMAN

“Shook Ones Part 2”

“California Love”

“Changes”

1997

“Mo Money, Mo Problems”

NOTORIOUS B.I.G. FEATURING MASE & DIDDY

1999

“Party Up”

DMX

TUPAC FEATURING TALENT

2000

“Ms. Jackson”

OUTKAST

2006

“Kick, Push”

LUPE FIASCO

2001

“One Mic”

NAS

2008 “A Milli”

LIL WAYNE

2002 & 2013

2003

“Lose Yourself” “Rap God”

“Many Men”

2009

2010

EMINEM

“Forever”

DRAKE, KANYE WEST, LIL WAYNE, EMINEM

50 CENT

“Over”

DRAKE

2004 & 2007 “All Falls Down” “Everything I Am”

2005

“Hate It or Love It”

KANYE WEST

THE GAME FEATURING 50 CENT

2011

2012 & 2015

“Niggas in Paris”

JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST

“Swimming Pools” “Alright”

KENDRICK LAMAR

ON DISPLAY: If you love vintage hip-hop images, llike famed music photographer David Corio’s shot of Erik B and Rakim (page 47), check out his work at the “Beat Positive: Hip-Hop’s Golden Age” exhibit at London’s Getty Images in London until August 4. (davidcorio.com)

2014 & 2018 “No Role Modelz” “ATM”

J. COLE

2016

2017

LOGIC

GOLDLINK FEATURING BRENT FAIYAZ AND SHY GLIZZY

“44 Bars”

“Crew”

AP PHOTO/STEPHEN CHERNIN (WU-TANG CL AN); RTBUNN / MEDIAPUNCH/IPX (CRAIG MACK); TOBIAS NIELSEN (MOBB DEEP); AP PHOTO/BEBETO MAT THEWS (TUPAC); AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN, FILE (NOTORIOUS B.I.G.); AP PHOTO/KATHY WILLENS (DMX); AP PHOTO/JOE CAVARET TA (OUTKAST); AP PHOTO/DIANE BONDAREFF (NAS); SHUT TERSTOCK (EMINEM); AP PHOTO/JIM COOPER (50 CENT); AP PHOTO/KEVORK DJANSEZIAN (KANYE WEST); AP PHOTO/PAUL HAWTHORNE (THE GAME); JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP (LUPE FIASCO); AP PHOTO/KEVORK DJANSEZIAN (LIL WAYNE);NEW MUSIC CARTEL (DRAKE/KANYE/WAYNE/EMINEM); SHUT TERSTOCK (DRAKE); SHUT TERSTOCK (JAY-Z & KANYE WEST); PHOTO BY MAT T SAYLES/INVISION/AP (KENDRICK L AMAR); SHUT TERSTOCK (J. COLE); L AURA ROBERTS/INVISION/AP (LOGIC); L AURA ROBERTS/INVISION/AP (GOLDLINK)

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M USIC I wanted to be, so I’ve embraced [my] differences, loving that I was both AfricanAmerican and Puerto Rican. I knew the importance of individuality and uniqueness, and always sought after finding my own voice.

I’m not sure how much discrimination I’ve really faced in the music world because most, if not all, of the “in demand” music comes from Black [or] Hispanic music. In some ways, music is one of the only fields one can benefit from being a minority. I see terrible representation at the Grammys, but that hasn’t affected me directly.

I can recall one experience that really altered my perception on race relations, which involved a young Barack Obama. I was a freshman in college when Obama was running. The media began to tear down his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who happens to be my godfather. Jeremiah is, hands-down, one of the most brilliant people I have ever met—something I still believe Obama also feels. However, the media and Obama’s opponents made it such an issue that Obama had to denounce his own Black pastor over his stances. It opened me up to recognize new levels of racism that really involved tactics using misunderstandings and misrepresentation. I see this narrative all the time now, most recently with both the Colin Kaepernick situation and Black Lives Matter movement.

He’s All About That Bass

By Dimitri Moise

Bobby Wooten III has composed and produced music for artists like J-Lo, numerous TV shows, and ads for Nike, Adidas, and Kith. Now, he’s joining David Byrne on a world tour.

Tell us a little bit about your start in the music industry. I was extremely fortunate to

be born into a musical family. From day one, I was playing any instrument I could find. I honed my skills growing up in church, school band, voice ensembles, and my own bands with friends. I studied jazz bass performance… [but] I didn’t fully engulf myself in production until immediately following college. Post-graduation, I lived at my parents’ house for two years in Chicago and created nonstop to the tune of over 800 songs—that was my grad school! I’m not going to say that my journey was easy or hard because I suppose there was, and still will be, moments of both. However, when someone is fueled by determination, what can really stop them other than themselves?

KIMNEAK JULY

Your first big break? I moved to New

York City in 2013, and my first gigs were producing music for a sports agency. A year later, I performed my first Broadway show, Motown: The Musical, which opened many more doors for me as a bassist within the Broadway world. Throughout my production

life, various events and people helped me to write [and] produce music for… some of the world’s greatest artists, such as Jennifer Lopez, Mac Miller, and David Byrne.

What inspires you? I’ve always loved and been a fan of the superhero story. After watching movies like Black Panther, Spider-Man, and The Matrix, I always leave wanting to accomplish the seemingly impossible. This is also true after I read about or watch movies on some of the most successful humans that ever lived—Einstein, Quincy Jones, DaVinci. Their work ethic was insane. That’s what drives me. I’m a workaholic.

After seeing Hamilton, I was like, Yes! This show gets it! Alexander Hamilton worked nonstop to leave his mark and legacy, and I plan on doing the same.

What is it like being a man of color as an instrumentalist? I grew up in the suburbs of

Chicago. I was often one of the few minorities in my honors classes and I felt a certain way about that all the time. But I had a mom and dad who told me I could be whatever

You’ve been able to work with some of the hottest artists around and compose for popular shows such as Empire. What has been your favorite project? I’d like to say my favorite is whatever project I am working on, and there is some definite truth to that. For me though, the most magical and “goosebump moments” happen in the studio. I live for that. Seeing Jussie Smollet sing a song of yours while Forrest Whitaker bops his head on national television is quite a satisfying moment. I also recently scored the music for a Lebron James documentary and—this goes back to the inspiration question—my favorite moment was providing the underscore to Lebron James himself, speaking on what motivates and fuels him. He basically said his mom, friends, family, and I strongly cosign that.

Are there any behind-the-scenes moments you can share? One of my

first conversations with Terrence Howard involved the element phosphorus, how its complementary color is a light-blueish purple, and its shape is an octagonal-like figure. He believes math, science, and all things are connected. I rode an elevator with Taraji P. Henson when she shouted out “Photo shoot!” and her entire clique immediately pulled out cameras and snapped tons of photos of her. I was once unashamedly drooling while watching Nicki Minaj perform while Meek Mill [her boyfriend at the time] was right next to me.

What advice would you give other guys?

One life, one opportunity. Your story is yours to write.

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YOU’VE NEVER HEARD HIP-HOP LIKE THIS A new sound is coming out of Oakland. It’s a musical mashup like none other. BY GERALD GARTH

Innovation is taking something and growing it in a new way, and that’s just what the guys behind Ensemble Mik Nawooj (EMN) are doing. In 2010, Christopher Nicholas and JooWan Kim founded the Oakland-based ensemble made of ute, clarinet, iolin, cello, piano, drum, bass, two s (Do D.A.T. and Sandman), and a lyric soprano, which fuses hip-hop and classical music like the world has never heard.

As executive director, Nicholas’s role is to manage public relations, build development and production strategies, and co-produce with Kim, the artistic director and composer. Blending hip-hop and classical music is not for the mild mannered, and the Ensemble Mik Nawooj embraces that uncomfortable space.

Kim tells Chill there has been some pushback from musical classicists and some hip-hop aficionados alike is unapologetic, he says f you re doing something legitimately new and meaningful, get ready to eat a shit sandwich, because that s what s gonna happen at first There’s been no greater time for the story of hip-hop then right now, Kim says, pointing out, endrick amar ust won the ulit er ri e ot that hiphop needs classical recognition, but, with hip-hop being such a young genre, what we’re doing is sampling elements of classical music and sampling elements of hip-hop to create new classical music

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A classically trained pianist, Kim says he had an epiphany, was ha ing an e istential crisis as a classical composer. So, I wanted to get out of that sti ing and cra y genre eople say classical music is the pinnacle of music but let s be real it s classical music that needs hip-hop, not the other way around ip-hop will be ust fine But in order for classical music to sur i e, it has to change Kim’s own journey to hip-hop was one of immersion fter si months of writing an album, I delved deeper into hip-hop, and it was NWA’s uck tha olice that showed me what hip-hop was how much energy it had always say was dipped into the river of hip-hop by Dr. Dre and was reborn as a hip-hop composer, im laughs For Nicholas, another focus is increasing isibility for and accessibility to fter listening to the first album, reali ed that it needed to be more than ust an album, he e plains here needed to be consistent shows for people to know about the nsemble e e been doing this for about eight years and take it pretty seriously. In the beginning, it was so new mi ing hip-hop with classical music, and there were a whole slew of assumptions. We wanted to be very clear in our narrati e and to control our narrati e Kim, who is Asian-American, says its essential to him to recogni e his indebtedness to the Black roots of hip-hop Black people Black mericans created the culture of hip-hop. I think in America, because of its unique history and experiences with oppression and racism, it’s hard for a lot of people to think outside the bo this in isible bo nd I say invisible, because people don’t even know they re in it im goes on he true definition of cultural appropriation to me is that posing as something you are not hate er it is you are naturally inclined to do, it should be re ected outside, says icholas nd people will get it, belie e it or not nd artists should not be afraid of what they create and should be open to accept and grow with that and allow people to do that with them Ensemble Mik Nawooj has been making impacts and is looking to broaden the output by touring farther afield, in the and abroad s we mo e forward, we do want to build the Ensemble, and are looking into more collaboration and e panding, says im He sees collaboration with other artists as essential for s growth hink about it like a guy who studies French cuisine in France and comes back to America and opens a burger joint. The burgers will be different, because he will use the techniques he’s learned. In culinary arts, in fashion, in filmmaking, it s the same im continues, e want to add things that are working now and create new music, based on something that works and is fitting to the world e are here to disrupt the arts market and change it The Ensemble embraces change, but also stays true to their akland roots s we are doing production, we want to make akland a hub for our music , says icholas aybe do an annual event in downtown Oakland, where we do our prototype work for low cost to free, so people can see it. Even when we go out and take it to people, we are always coming back to akland

MAT THEW EVEARIT T

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OAKTOWN’S FINEST

AMANDA SADE (GUY); JAMEL SHABAZZ (KIDS)

THIS AIN’T YOUR DADDY’S MUSEUM.

ip-hop is life for people from all different kinds of backgrounds. The Oakland Museum of California’s new, interactive exhibit “Respect: Hip-Hop Style and Wisdom” looks at that life in a new way, showcasing hip-hop’s evolution and featuring key pieces of the culture from across America.

Informed by the insights of more than 50 hip-hop historians, artists, and community members, René de Guzman, the museum’s director of exhibition strategy and senior curator of art, and his team have created an exhibition that highlights the full spectrum of hip-hop.

The exhibit looks at four elements of hip-hop: MCing (or rapping), DJing, b-boying (or breakdancing), and graffiti.

Upon arrival, museumgoers walk a red carpet “to set the tone of this exhibit as a celebration,” says De Guzman. A room dubbed the Hip-Hop Dojo includes rare items belonging to hip-hop legends, including a handwritten essay by Tupac Shakur, custom jackets, Soul Train footage, and Grandmaster Flash’s original turntables. The Dojo gives patrons a chance to play on turntables, build rhymes, and practice their tagging skills with cans of spray paint. It also doubles as a performance space for visiting artists.

De Guzman reinforces the importance of making the initial exhibit hands-on because “hip-hop is a genre that asks folks to engage in it and get better at whatever they do.” The exhibit also has a tapestry by New York portraitist Kehinde Wiley, who recently painted Barack

Obama’s official presidential portrait. The exhibit continues to give voice to struggle and celebrates resilience, empowering people from all walks of life to speak their truth and be at their best.

And while it focuses on hip-hop on a broad scale, the exhibit also pays tribute to San Francisco Bay Area natives. “The Bay Area had urban youth cultures that were percolating around the same time as New York City and Los Angeles,” De Guzman says. “For example, ‘popping and locking’ is a Northern California style of dancing that became a part of hip-hop. The rapper Too Short sold custom mixtapes out of his car in East Oakland. Hip-hop wasn’t being supported by commercial interests on the radio, so artists had to create their own distribution systems. Hip-hop was able to find a market without corporate interest.”

The subculture of hip-hop has never stopped charging forward, transforming, and sprouting in new and unexpected ways.

“I think it’s a unique opportunity to look back at hip-hop in a certain way,” says Jahi, the Oakland rapper and creator of the interactive lecture series called The Intersection Between Hip-Hop Culture and Education.

The museum exhibit, which runs through August 12 (museumca.org), looks at hip-hop not solely as history, but as a breathing and evolving embodiment of life.

Colorful photos of artists, graffiti murals, and bold pieces of hip-hop fashion make the exhibit shine. It also has an entire component dedicated to Afrofuturism, an aesthetic and philosophy that explores the intersection of African/African Diaspora culture and technology.

— Gerald Garth

Scenes from the new exhibit celebrating hip-hop culture, “Respect: Hip-hop Style and Wisdom.” Oakland native Dyamen (above, left) shows off his grill on Telegraph Avenue.

Kids hang out (above) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York circa 1981.

JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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M USIC

5

FOR YOUR PLAYLIST

ANTHINY KING’S “CLOUD 9” This New York rapper, singer, songwriter, and audio engineer gives smooth vocals and cool vibes.

IG: @AnthinyKing

SCRIBECASH’S “WON’T GIVE UP NOW” This California-bred female MC, singer, and director gives powerful messages and dope beats.

IG: @TheRealScribe

DERRIUS LOGAN’S “LEIMERT PARK.” This Los Angeles born singer and rapper gives André 3000 and Stevie Wonder vibes.

IG: @DerriusLogan

RILLA FORCE’S “SEA” A Boston-based music producer, artist, and DJ with bass-heavy tracks somewhere between ambient soundscapes and sophisticated melodies.

IG: @RillaForce

JULES AURORA’S “BACK TO US” Filipino-American singersongwriter delivers a distinct soft and hypnotizing voice somewhere between pop-oriented R&B and traditional soul.

IG: @JulesAurora

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SLAYIN’ IT

TV creator Sean Torrington’s inaugural SLAYFest might be this summer’s big thing. BY DIMITRI MOISE After two years of hard work and determination, SLAYFest makes its debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on July 21, celebrating queer and trans music, film, television, and arts. It’s an outgrowth of SLAY TV, the media company that was founded by Sean Torrington (above) and his husband Terry to bring LBGTQ people of color’s stories to the forefront.

Torrington hopes that SLAYFest (slaytv.com) can become an annual tradition creating space for Black people of all experiences to come together—a crosspollination of film, music, and other creative communities. Already more than 3,000 individuals have signed up to attend the inaugural SLAYFest, where they’ll enjoy screenings of independent films, industry panels, vendors, and live podcasts, all curated by the folks at SLAY TV. Attendees can also look forward to a concert featuring Bry’Nt, Boy Radio, Cakes da Killa, Dai Burger, and Mila Jam. For Torrington, the theme of culture over identity means creating together, not individually. “Black people as a whole are masters at creating culture, and doing it

NAJAH BROWN (KING); COURTESY SCRIBECASH; COURTESY DERRIUS LOGAN (LOGAN); CHIA MESSINA (RILL A FORCE); DORIAN QD PHOTOGRAPHY (AURORA)

MUSIC INDUSTRY EXPERT AND A&R CONSULTANT DOM KING GIVES HIS TOP PICKS FOR HOT NEW ARTISTS WITH FRESH SOUNDS. IG: @IAMDKING

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M USIC

Looks Are Deceiving

TERRY TORRINGTON (TORRINGTON); FACEBOOK (WOLVES); COURTESY RICO NAST Y

LOOK CLOSER AT THESE ARTISTS.

together is extremely important to me, more than doing it individually,” he says.

The lack of representation of queer and trans people of color in mainstream media helped fuel Torrington’s interest in filling the void with stories told through that lens. “We’re creating stories that are for us and by us,” he says, but that may still have a universal appeal as well.

“Relationships across the board really are not that different,” Torrington says, comparing queer couples to those who are not. “We all go through the same things, and it’s really just a human experience.”

Bringing these communities of Black experience together also introduces the abandon that comes with living a life that is label-free. As someone who never found himself fitting into any singular box, Torrington says he hopes SLAYFest can be a nod to others out there who don’t feel like they fit in.

“Living label-free means being as free and authentic as I wanna be in that very moment,” Torrington muses. “It doesn’t have any notions on how I’m supposed to be or what you’re supposed to expect from me.”

SLAYFest founder Sean Torrington (above) wants to create a label-free environment.

“It’s pretty obvious that from looking at us we are different, but instead of trying to appease other people, we lean into it and accept it,” says lead vocalist Marc Avery of the Los Angeles R&B band, The Wolves (above). With Rockwell Sands on drums, keys, and guitar; Sean Carney on lead guitar, keys, and background vocals; and Marc Avery on lead vocals, this multicultural and multi-talented trio also write and produce their own content. With inspiration ranging from the Eagles and Marvin Gaye to Drake and Future, The Wolves showcase thumping basslines and cool melodies. Their new track “Freaky” came out in June. (@TheBandWolves) Rico Nasty (below) is a female rapper with a style and sound all her own, which she’s trademarking as “Sugar Trap”—a rap, hip-hop, dub step blend with a vibe that matches her colorful attitude, fresh style, and creative mind. Her track “Poppin” was featured on HBO’s Insecure. Nasty’s recently released mixtape, Sugar Trap 2, exudes rock star confidence and flowery soul. (riconastymusic.com)— Gerald Garth

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FX’S BREAKOUT STAR DYLLÓN BURNSIDE OPENS UP ABOUT HIS ROLE ON THE FX SERIES, POSE. BY DIMITRI MOISE THE LATEST RYAN Murphy TV hit, FX’s Pose, revolves around Black and Latino

queer and trans youth of New York City’s underground ball culture in the 1980s as street kids battled the growing AIDS epidemic alongside the extreme wealth of New Yorkers and the rising downtown social and literary scene.

Actor Dyllón Burnside sees Pose as a response to today’s social climate.

“I think it’s important to have work out there that pushes up against the [oppression] that says, ‘No, we are not gonna be silent,’ but in fact says, ‘We’re gonna get even louder, advocate for ourselves, and advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves,’” he says.

Burnside believes Pose will unite viewers who feel under attack these days. “I feel an enormous responsibility to take care of these stories,” explains Burnside, who is not transgender hen the actor first looked at the script, he wasn t sure he was the right fit for the show which features the largest cast of trans actors in tele ision history But his agent helped him push past self-doubt fter filming an audition tape, he was asked to come in for a screen test with Murphy. He didn’t get the part, but Murphy loved his performance enough to create a new role just for him. Thus, Ricky was born.

Ricky was abandoned as a kid, and finds himself li ing on the streets of New York, where he has to make compromising choices to survive the streets,”

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ANTHONY CHATMON

PUMP UP THE VOLUME

Burnside explains. “He has a chance encounter with someone who asks him to consider joining a house in the ball culture.”

Burnside admits he knew very little about ballroom culture, which many don t reali e has had a huge in uence on popular culture today. “I didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the culture, so for me, in preparing the for role, there was a lot of digging through archival footage, trips to the library, and trying to find things online,” he says. “There is not a lot of documentation, so you have to piece things together to get a full comprehensive picture.”

Perhaps the most notable documentation of the house and ball culture was the 1990 film Paris is Burning, which speaks to the genesis of voguing and highlights the fertile ground of house music, fashion, and language that’s made its way into the mainstream like fierce and shade Burnside also spoke with several people from the ball scene, including the legendary Twiggy Pucci Garçon, the New York City Prince of the House of Comme des Garçons. Garçon also advised the show’s creators.

“I feel really honored to be a part of something that’s so groundbreaking, it’s truly a privilege,” Burnside says.

“I’m getting an opportunity to give voice to some folks who haven’t necessarily had their voices heard on a large scale prior to now. This process has been super enlightening and eye-opening for me. Even though an experience can be completely different from yours, you may find yours mirrored within it Burnside dedicates his role to Giovanni Melton, a 14-year-old killed by his father, who didn’t want a gay son, and to “all the other queer boys and girls who were murdered, abused, and ostracized from their birth families.”

The actor has a hopeful takeaway for audiences watching Pose: “They’re not watching a trans show, they’re watching a show about human beings. I hope that viewers see themselves in the characters… I hope we are able to not think too hard on a person’s otherness.”

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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RISING UP

Knowing

Zoe

BRIDGER SCOT T

DAUGHTER OF LEGENDARY ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT FRONTMAN SPEECH, ACTRESS ZOE RENEE IS FORGING HER OWN PATH IN HOLLYWOOD. Zoe Renee, daughter of rapper and musician Speech of Arrested Development, has been following her father’s footsteps in the spotlight while forging her own path as a breakout star in her role as Noni, the eager saxophone-playing freshman in BET’s The Quad. In fact, Georgia A&M University, a Historically Black College, saw a huge leap in enrollment applications because of its portrayal in the show.

Renee is fully aware of the show’s impact.

“The Quad has done a lot, just to shine a light on how awesome [Black college life] is,” the Atlanta-bred star says. “Of course, there are the parties, and the quad, with everybody coming together and dancing together, sometimes during the day… That lifestyle truthfully—in Atlanta—is the heartbeat. It courses through all of Atlanta’s veins.” (The quad, short for “quadrangle,” is the nickname of the courtyard central to many college campuses.)

All-Black casts portraying collegiates on screen have been few and far in between, most notably seen prior in the hit sitcom A Different World and the Spike Lee film School Daze. Though The Quad wasn’t renewed for a third season, its spotlight on HBC life will hopefully make way for more representation in the years to come.

Although she’s disappointed the show wasn’t picked up for another season, Renee says her famous father is there to give advice.

“He’s involved a lot in how I’m learning to move in this industry,” she says. “It’s really cool to have a dad that has been through a lot, and the things I have questions about— whether it’s contracts, or whatever, he knows the ins and outs of the industry.”

Speech’s guidance may have helped Renee choose her latest role, in the film Jinn, which challenges Islamic stereotypes. Renee portrays a carefree 17-year-old Black girl named Summer who is prompted to reevaluate her identity when her mother converts to Islam.

She describes the film as the story of a mother and daughter coming together while also trying to figure out the meaning of life—a story of love, Black families, and inclusion.

The overall perception of Muslims in America can vary dramatically. A 2015 Public Religion Research Institute poll found 56 percent of Americans said the values of Islam are “at odds” with America’s values and way of

life. When asked the reason why, many cited fear of terrorism (despite the fact that deaths on American soil almost always come at the hands of home-grown, white Americans).

However, according to a more recent PRRI poll, two-thirds (67 percent) “of people who talk with Muslims at least occasionally agree that Muslims are an important part of the American religious landscape.”

This highlights the importance of increasing Black Muslim representation in media. The more people realize they already know someone who is Muslim, the more accepting they are. And the Pew Research Center reports that one-fifth (20 percent) of the nation’s Muslims are Black.

Renee says in her hometown of Atlanta, the West End was a neighborhood with a strong Black Muslim presence.

“I would see Black Muslim families regularly. It was always beautiful to me.” But, she admits, “Most of my knowledge had come from the news or the latest headline.

And typically, those aren’t uplifting, good, or even accurate [portrayals of Muslims]. And

so, going into [filming Jinn], I was very raw in my idea of the religion.”

Much of the solution comes from Muslims telling these stories themselves, so that they are depicted diversely and accurately.

Typically, Muslims on TV are portrayed as antagonists or terrorists. Very rarely (if at all) are viewers exposed to the joys, careers, families, or the unique complexities of Muslims as individual people.

Nijla Mu’min, director and writer of Jinn, is hoping to create change by telling her own story as a Black girl suddenly having to switch to Islamic life. Renee says she felt nervous, knowing the story was close to Mu’min’s heart. “I felt pressure, but in the healthiest way. Pressure in making sure I did the work and making sure I was honest.”

Renee also hopes audiences see a wider connection in Jinn. “I hope [viewers] see humans when you look at this family. Even if their lifestyle, their religion, has zero correlation to yours, I hope that you see human beings and that you see love in that humanity.”—Dimitri Moise JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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Adidas Originals Adilette Slides

Summer is the only socially acceptable time of the year to regularly rock sandals, but you would be forgiven for wearing Adidas Originals Adilette Slides into fall—especially poolside. The woven pattern and iconic “three stripes” design of their rubber straps offer the same sporty aesthetic of a sneaker in white or black. ($45, adidas.com)

SNEAK INTO SUMMER If rainproof boots reign supreme during winter, then summer should be all about the sneaker. Crisp white kicks in breathable materials are the season’s must-haves and wear well with any look. Still, you never have to stick to the script. Take a peek at our top footwear picks for summer.

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COURTESY ADIDAS

BY THOMAS FREEMAN

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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SNEA KER

ALERT Common Projects Original Achilles Low

All white low-tops are the ultimate summer sneaker. A longtime editors’ favorite, the Original Achilles from Common Projects pair hand-stitched construction with a clean and minimalist design. Its white leather is a touch more luxurious than the rubber of your ordinary Adidas Stan Smiths. ($410, mrporter.com)

A.P.C. Men’s Running Shoes

French fashion brand A.P.C. spurns trends in favor of timeless minimalism, so expect its latest sneakers to stick around. Simply called “men’s running shoes,” they boast an unusual mix of polyester canvas, tan suede details, and navy soles, but are no less versatile for it. ($310, apc-us.com)

Off-White x Converse Chuck Taylor

COURTESY COMMON PROJECTS; A.P.C; CONVERSE

or the final release of he en collaboration with Nike, streetwear god Virgil Abloh brought the cra y to a classic silhouette he ff- hite on erse huck aylor features a translucent upper, the recognizable red OffWhite hangtag, and the word “Vulcanized” on the midsole. ($130, converse.com—but we hear bidding wars may soon break out)

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PART Y

DRINKING DOGGYSTYLE

WANT TO THROW a classically cool

cocktail party with a hip-hop twist?

Crack open Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks by André and Tenaya Darlington (runningpress.com). This bitchin’ recipe book pairs some of the hottest albums from the 1950s through the 2000s with delish and unique cocktails to help create the perfect mood for your next after-party.

HERE’S OUR FAVORITE RAP ALBUM, COCKTAIL MASHUP:

Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg. Producers: Dr. Dre, Suge Knight Label: Death Row, Interscope Genre: Gangsta Rap, G-Funk WHEN TO SPIN: Laid-back hot tub party

SIDE A

GIN AND JUICE Settle into this classic sipper with the third song on the album. Better batch a whole pitcher, ‘cuz these go down easy.

2 ounces gin 2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice 2 ounces fresh orange juice 1 lime wheel, for garnish Shake ingredients with ice and pour the drink, ice and all, into a highball glass.

Garnish with lime.

LINER NOTES: Snoop Dogg had just come off working on Dr. Dre’s

landmark release, The Chronic, when he dove into the studio to record his debut. The album was a huge hit, and helped introduce West Coast hip-hop and G-funk to a mainstream audience. At turns brilliant and silly, with a great free- owing ibe, the realist lyrics talk about guns, sex, cars, and money with a compelling straightforwardness that doesn t udge s such, it s a party album that ies in the face of a heavy, gritty lifestyle.

Reprinted with permission from Booze and Vinyl ©2018

by André Darlington and Tenaya Darlington (Running Press)

SIDE B

TANQUERAY NO. TEN “LAID BACK” Snoop Dogg created this signature drink himself in partnership with Tanqueray.

It’s a tasty treat, arf arf!

1 ounce Tanqueray No. TEN 1 ounce Cîroc Apple 2 ounces fresh pineapple juice 2 ounces club soda Pineapple wedge, for garnish Shake all ingredients except soda with ice.

Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

Top with soda. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

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SHUT TERSTOCK (SNOOP DOGG); PIXABAY (GIN AND TONIC); SHUT TERSTOCK (TANQUERAY NO. 10)

BEFORE YOU DROP THE NEEDLE: Wheel the bar cart out to the deck and crank up the bubbles so you can be splashin’ along to the opening track (“Bathtub”). No other album says, “Will you give me a sponge bath?” like this one.

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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ENTREPRENEUR BLEU IS THE COOLEST COLOR

The founder of the popular Black-owned and operated media company wants to change the world.

Can he do it?

COURTESY DE’VON CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON

BY GERALD GARTH DE’VON CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, founder of BleuLife (bleumag.com)—a multisensory media company focused on fashion, music, and culture for the multicultural millennial—has found himself in the sweet spot between “arrogance and ignorance.” But he’s no fool. The Harvard graduate values education, but more than that he honors the support and opportunities he’s been afforded.

“On a spiritual level, I get that my free existence as a Black man in the United States rests on the shoulders, the backs, the feet, the hands of generations before me who could not even imagine life today—being a businessowner, owning Black media, and being in charge of the narrative and the message,” he tells Chill. “I believe that ‘he who controls the media controls the mind.’”

BleuLife is “a full-service media company—we are digital, we’re experiential. We are a gateway,” Johnson says of BleuLife. “It’s become not just a gateway to celebrate men of color, but also a validation of our talent.”

The company’s bimonthly print publication, Bleu, covers fashion, travel, and culture, while its monthly sister publication, Bombshell, looks at content for multicultural women. With various events and publications that showcase everything from business to empowerment, BleuLife is indeed a 360 degree experience.

Since its inception, Bleu has set out to connect brands with key demographics through quality and intentional content.

“It started with me and my friends sitting around my apartment in Harlem, feeling inspired—like the New Negro Renaissance,” he explains. “‘What do we do? What’s our mark? What are we going to make happen?’ And after several rounds of Ketel One and cranberry, we decided that we were going to start a magazine. It sounded like a good idea, and we thought, ‘Why not?’ Then we started Bleu.”

Having studied journalism, business, and communications, Johnson is determined that Bleu tells accurate stories as a brand. “I learned very early on that if I want to change the narrative, I can’t do that as a spectator, I have to do it as a player in the space.”

As someone with the ideal blend of confidence, tenacity, and support, Johnson cites his family, particularly his mother, for his determination. “I was never told ‘No,’ as a child. There were rules, there was discipline, but nobody told me ‘No.’” It was this liberty that gave Johnson, a Long Island native, the wherewithal to follow his dreams. He started Bleu 13 years ago and went full-time into the venture nine years ago. “A lot of what I’ve done career wise has been about taking chances.” He laughs, “I started Bleu and had no clue what I was doing. I don’t think I had the knowledge to know just how hard it was—how hard it is.”

Even still, Johnson is consistently inspired. “I am absolutely the result of the power and the prayers of my family to push me in an amazing divine direction. A balance act between the greatness I know I can be and the barriers society throws at us every day. You wake up as a Black man, ready to face whatever hurdle comes at you, overcome it, thrive, and move forward.”

When it comes to inspiration, Johnson believes in paying it forward. “You find how other people have been inspired, then you find your calling. It wasn’t that in the beginning—to be this space for Black men, inclusive of straight Black men, gay Black men, bi Black men, queer Black men, it became that.”

Representation in diversity is key for Bleu. “I’m not just about having Black faces in our work, but also hiring Black writers and

Black photographers and Black editors and stylists, giving them opportunities, knowing that opportunities aren’t always there for Black creatives.”

When asked why representation is so important, Johnson responds, “Maybe because I didn’t have these images of myself growing up. Because of all the opportunities and support I had, I was self-aware very early, and my self-esteem for the most part was strong. It is important to me to pay it forward. To create spaces that do the same. There is that Black boy in Middle America or the South who wants to be a model, and he’s never seen Black models that look like him. He’s not the biggest toughest guy, he’s an everyday guy—I wanted him to be reflected in the magazine.”

“Or on the other side,” he adds. “There is the tough guy who may be good at football but may also be good at math, or really good at design, and he’s sketching after football practice. And he says, ‘I don’t ever think I can be a designer, I have to only be a football player.’ Well no, you can be a designer, because in Bleu, you saw a story of a Black male designer or creative director.”

His commitment to the Black narrative is clear: “We continue to do this work, because it’s going to take centuries to undo the mental oppression and psychological warfare placed on Black people in America. It’s not going to happen overnight. So, when I say I’m planning on a 100-to-200-year company, it’s not about me. It’s about the work and the work coming behind me for years to come.”

With that, Bleu has many years ahead and with vision must come planning.

After more than a decade in business, Johnson understands what it takes to maintain and grow a media company. When asked what keeps Bleu going, he answers simply, “Magic tricks!” and laughs. “It’s hard to produce media right now, because there is so much noise. Not everything is real [in the industry], but we are trying to have a real company and be transparent. Thinking about long-term and legacy—I’m building a 100-year brand, not a just ‘right now’ brand.”

JULY / AUGUST 2018 CHILL

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TRAVEL

I got a crash course in American profiling and discrimination while touring with a Broadway show.

never understood certain implications of my Blackness until I started traveling the country. I was born in Queens, N.Y., grew up with privilege in a very sheltered community, and attended college in New York City. I faced little discrimination, and my sheltered lifestyle offered protection into adulthood, which allowed me to grow up impervious to the implicit racism around me. Unless you make a conscious effort, in some parts of this country, it can be easy not to notice.

In New York, it’s simple to maintain a strong group of diverse friends. It can be just as easy to find birds of a feather and flock together. But what happens when you’re in a place where diversity isn’t celebrated, or even present? I found some answers to that question touring the U.S. I landed a role in a hit musical on Broadway right out of college and I later travelled the country with the touring cast. Those two years were instrumental in my developing a deeper understanding about the realities of living as a Black man in today’s America.

I remember being racially profiled at a retail store in Boston. Our show was having an opening-night event, and I stopped to buy an outfit for the evening. I was one of a few shoppers—and the only Black one—browsing the men’s section. As I moved about, I locked eyes with a worker on the floor, a young white male with tattoos on his arms and gauges in his ears. He asked if I needed any assistance.

“No, I’m just looking around,” I replied. He proceeded to follow me throughout the store, keeping a close eye on the things I had in my hands. Suspicious of what was going down in this guy’s head, I made sure not to take my backpack into the dressing room.

On my way to the register, I was confronted by the same worker who said, “I found this security tag in the dressing room you were just in.

Can I check your items?” I was a little stunned, but felt obliged to show him the items I had in my hands. “I saw you walk in the room with a

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white shirt. Where is that?” He asked if he could search my backpack.

“Absolutely not,” I said. I took the $200 I was about to drop and spent it elsewhere. But I left feeling enraged and embarrassed.

That encounter was a shock for me. I wasn’t dressed any differently nor did I act any differently than anyone else in the store, but I realized which of my things were not like the others: the color of my skin. This was one of many instances I encountered in my time on the road. As a young adult, I quickly came to the realization that the shields of my sheltered past could not protect me in the real world.

Whether it was walking in Memphis down Beale Street as an older white stranger called me “boy,” seeing my first Confederate flag in Arkansas, or working in cities full of “Make America Great Again” banners lining the streets, I learned that I had to be on high alert.

As a Black man in today’s America, I had to be mindful of whom I interacted with, what I said, how I dressed, and my overall presence and demeanor. I had to wake up in the morning and remind myself that I was Black, and because I was Black, it would affect the way people looked at and treated me. This I’ve known, of course, but it was never something that stared me down so violently until adulthood.

In today’s political and social climate, it is more important than ever to understand the necessity to confront and connect with those who are different from us. Our idea of a “post-racial America” is a fallacy. Racism and discrimination are real. The micro-aggressions people of color face are not in our heads but happening in real time. And happening every day.

As far as we’ve come, we have so much farther to go. It’s important we have these difficult conversations around race and equality.

America is becoming more diverse with each passing minute. If we can’t work together to have constructive conversations around the deeply racist roots of our country, we will only continue to see today’s divisiveness worsen. We can’t go backwards. We can only move forward. The end goal is in sight. How we get there, is up to us.

SHUT TERSTOCK

BY DIMITRI MOISE

CHILL JULY / AUGUST 2018

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“My family had a Green Book when I was young and used it to travel in the South, to find out where we could stop to eat, where we could spend the night in a hotel or somebody’s home,” former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chairman Julian Bond told NPR in 2010.

With the popularity and affordability of the automobile increasing during the mid-1930s, more Blacks were finding themselves strangers in an oftenunwelcoming land. The guide became a must for “Negros on the move.”

Digitized versions from various years can be seen today on the New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture digital collection (nypl.org).

Earlier this year, About Comics released a facsimile of the 1940 edition, which included an ad for the La Fontaine Service cleaners on Edgecombe Avenue in Harlem; listings for hotels, nightclubs, barbers, beauty parlors, and restaurants; as well as a page-long A groundbreaking book, The Negro Motorist, helped history of the publication.

Black motorists safely navigate America’s highways.

As Bond told NPR, “You think about the things that most travelers take for granted, or most people today take for granted. You needed The Green Book Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington often to tell you where you can go without having doors slammed in your talked about the extreme racism they face.” Or be humiliated, beaten, or even killed. experienced traveling the highways of The success of The Green Book soon became enough for Green America in the decades before the Civil to quit his postal service job and, in 1947, open a travel agency for Rights Movement. While the once-main people of color. The guide was sold by merchants throughout the highway known as Route 66 has been country, with Esso (now Exxon) gas stations as its largest non-Black mythologized in pop culture as part of the distributor. In the 2010 children’s book Ruth and the Green Book, American Dream, for Black travelers that written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey (with stunning illustrations by same trip could be a nightmare. Under Floyd Cooper), the author wove Esso’s sponsorship into the narrative.

Jim Crow laws, white-owned businesses— Ramsey also produced a 2005 play detailing the life of the including gas stations, diners, and hotels— publication. In 2015, he told The New York Times, “Green’s dream was were not required to serve Black people. that the book would not be needed one day. But he didn’t live to see In some locations known as “sundown it. He died in 1960. The 1964 Civil Rights Bill was the dream Victor towns,” African-Americans had to vacate wanted. He was hoping equality would mean his company would go by dusk or they might be lynched. If two of out of business. After he died, his team honored that by closing down the most famous Black people of their day the company and no longer publishing the Green books.” feared traveling these roads, what were In recent years, others have put in the work to keep the memory everyday citizens of color to expect? and mission of The Green Book alive. Celebrated documentarian Launched by Harlem native Victor H. Ric Burns will include the book in his upcoming film Driving While Green in 1936, The Negro Motorist Green Black, while the Tumblr, “Mapping The Green Book,” offers insight Book was a much-needed guide for and photos of Black travel in the ‘40s and ‘50s. travelers of color going on “land cruises in In 2017, The Root sent writer Lawrence Ross on the road with a America” as they journeyed from town to 1957 edition to see what remained in various locations noted in the town simply hoping for safe passage. The book. “Once I arrived at a city, I would open up the book, choose 1937 edition had only 16 pages, but as the restaurants, hotels, and boarding houses,” Ross told Marriott the years progressed the guide thickened Traveler. “Then I would put it into my GPS and drive to the places.” to 100. With his wife Alma, Green As Ross would discover, most of the original businesses no longer compiled information supplied by fellow exist, but the guide itself remains monumental. Though it’s been 52 postal workers throughout the country. years since the last edition was published, the significance of The Circulation for the guide would eventually Green Book still matters. —MICHAEL A. GONZALES rise to 20,000.

Band leader Duke Ellington, shown here in 1959 arriving in New York aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, talked often of the racism he faced in the U.S. while traveling.

COURTESY NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY (BOOK); AP PHOTO/ANTHONY CAMERANO (ELLINGTON)

Safe Travel Under Jim Crow

Harlem native Michael A. Gonzales writes The Blacklist, a monthly book column for Catapult exploring out-of-print books

by Black authors.

He’s contributed essays to New York magazine, The Village Voice, and The Paris Review.

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MARES CAN’T BE TAMED MEXICAN-AMERICAN WORLD BOXING CHAMPION ABNER MARES IS TENACIOUS—AND SO IS HIS COACH.

BY DONALD PADGETT Four-time world boxing champ Abner Mares explains his life’s trajectory—escaping poverty and violence to rise to the top of three weight classes—with the simple statement: “I just don’t give up.”

Mares has triumphed with the motto: “Losers fail because of the circumstances, and winners win despite the circumstances.” This attitude helped Mares survive the streets of a Southern California neighborhood that was a virtual war zone in the 1990s, when he first arrived in the U.S. at 7 years old. At the time, the FBI estimated one in 15 Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., residents had a gang affiliation. Mares shared a one-bedroom apartment with eight siblings and his mother, who worked three jobs and struggled to make ends meet. Mares says hunger was a constant presence, and he recalls dumpster diving for discarded food.

The Mares home was in contested gang territory, and gun battles plagued the neighborhood. Mares’s fighting abilities helped him survive, and gained him respect, but they also drew him closer to gang life.

“I’m not gonna lie,” he says now. “It helped me, the street rep. I was a good fighter. They had respect for me because I would always beat up the older guys. They wanted to jump me into the hood.”

His family had other ideas. When his father (who by this time had joined the family in America) learned Mares was about to be initiated into the local gang, he sent his son back to relatives in Guadalajara, Mexico.

It was a harsh transition for the 15-year-old, but the move led Mares to land a spot on the Mexican

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SPORTS

MARES ENTERPRISES (BOTH)

Boxing champ Abner Mares (left) and his coach Luis Garcia (above) are both tenacious fighters who belie e in hard work o er god-gi en talent

national boxing team.

Word of his abilities had preceded him. He recalls, “They had me spar their number one guy. I beat him up.”

Four years later, he was boxing in the Olympics for Mexico.

As an amateur, Mares racked an impressive record of 112-8 wins with 84 knock outs. But when he went up against Hungarian Zsolt Bedák, he lost in a controversial 27-24 decision.

“I didn’t lose,” Mares insists. “I was robbed.”

World-renowned boxing coach Luis Garcia still remembers the first time he saw Mares fight. He knew immediately the young boxer was a champion.

It didn’t matter that Mares hadn’t medaled at the Olympics—Garcia recognized talent when he saw it. He’s now Mares’s strength and conditioning coach.

When the two first

met, Garcia was working for Mexican-American boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya training a stable of boxers signed to the former champion’s club, Golden Boy Promotions. Garcia saw Mares sparring at local gyms and knew he was in the presence of someone special. He could see the younger man’s focus and work ethic. As Mares says now, “I worked for my talent.”

Garcia also has a mantra. “Having a heartbeat doesn’t mean you’re living. That’s called existing.” He saw that Mares was willing to put in the hours necessary to become a champion. Garcia quickly shared his discovery with De la Hoya. “I told Oscar right away: ‘That kid right there is pretty much the heir to the throne.’” De la Hoya signed Mares immediately.

The then-19-year-old immigrated back to the U.S. with his wife to join Golden Boy and train with Garcia.

Mares’s first professional fight was against Luis Malave.

Mares sent him packing in the second round with a technical knockout. A string of successes followed, until he took a blow to the face that sent him reeling. A doctor told him, “You can’t fight anymore. You’re done.”

A detached retina felled him. A boxer can’t fight if he can’t see. Worse still, there were long-term implications to consider—the potential for diminished sight, perhaps even permanent blindness.

Mares now had a family to feed. He reluctantly hung up his gloves and took any job he could, even working as a security guard at a local high school. But he never stopped missing the ring. Nearly two years after that career-ending diagnosis, his wife urged him to get a second opinion. The new doctor declared neither the boxer’s sight nor his career was at risk.

Mares isn’t bitter about the time he lost, however.

For him, the two years away proved a learning experience. “That’s why I work so hard, because everything or anything can be taken away from you just like that, like the snap of your fingers.”

Four championships later, Mares is still fighting strong. But he says his family remains the main focus of his life, and he doesn’t like being away for long.

“I need to get home to those smiles,” he explains.

“I need to have that love.”

No longer a teen sensation, Mares now trains harder and wiser. He throws fewer punches, but lands more.

He’s happy to have matured. “I love it now!” he says.

“I’m excited to be fighting at this age.”

As we go to press, Garcia is training Mares hard for his long-awaited rematch with Leo Santa Cruz, who bested Mares in a 2015 title fight (the year the documentary Getting to Know: Abner Mares was filmed). Mares says he just wants “redemption.” He and Garcia have had three years to develop a different game plan. They’re not worried about the outcome.

Regardless of who is declared the winner, Mares and Garcia will both go home to families that love and sustain them. With that kind of support behind them, the boxer and his coach can’t lose.

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ANDRÉ THE GIANT LEAD OF HULU’S CASTLE ROCK, ANDRÉ HOLLAND IS A STAR ON THE RISE.

BY DAVID ARTAVIA The last few years have been a whirlwind for André Holland. Since his role as Kevin in the 01 scar-winning film Moonlight pulled him into the ollywood spotlight, the actor has become a fi ture in pro ects with messages of Black empowerment, gender e uality, and social progress e t up, olland is starring in the brams and tephen ing collaboration, Castle Rock he ulu series, a psychological horror set in aine, debuts uly and was generating bu months in ad ance he truth is, olland had been making interesting creative choices even before Moonlight. After playing politician and activist Andrew Young in the Ava u ernay-directed film Selma (and a supporting role in DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time , olland starred in Ryan urphy s hit series, American Horror Story: Roanoke. his spring, olland made his directorial debut in the off-off Broadway production of Greg Keller’s Dutch Masters and this summer he stars as the title role in hakespeare s Othello at the Globe heatre in ondon, alongside lobe eteran ark Rylance as ago he labama-born actor is claiming a seat as a prominent performer tackling intersectional issues, but for him these kinds of stories are long o erdue think for a long time, people used to say that mo ies with Black leads don t perform well at the bo office, and certainly not internationally, olland says ith the success of Moonlight, Black Panther, and Get Out, he adds, think those mo ies sort of destroyed that myth, so think it opens up a lot of a enues for similar types to be made e should be seeing many more mo ies like these, o er and o er again olland is wasting no time waiting for ollywood to green-light pro ects e recently produced his first film, the sportsthemed High Flying Bird. Holland also stars in the ick written by Moonlight’s Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Steven Soderbergh (who shot it on an iPhone).

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olland knows the art of the hustle n our business, would say the key is to create your own opportunities, he says rite, direct, whate er you ha e to do to make your own work itting around waiting for the phone to ring, think that those days are gone Recently, olland bought the rights to heodore Rosengarten s book All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, a story about a Black sharecropper in rural labama d like for his story to be told, he says, knowing there are many stories left was ust thinking there s ne er been a story, a mo ie, that know of, about rederick ouglas, who think was uite an incredible man s more stories of people of color are being told in ollywood and beyond, olland is uick to say it s important to remain color-conscious rather than colorblind think color-conscious casting is the thing that seems to be the most useful idea, he says olorblind don t think that we are blind to color think it s a bit silly to think that we are o be aware, to be conscious about the choices that you re making, that s what resonates with me he same goes for stories of to ic masculinity, too, which olland is no stranger to think in light of the e oo and ime s p mo ements, people are certainly more willing to talk about to ic masculinity think it s changing think we all ha e to change and be more aware of the images that we re putting out there The search for individual identity is something all men e perience as well e e plains the search is within each of us elebrating oursel es, falling in lo e with oursel es, you know what mean istening to oursel es and not being swayed by all the noise that s out there ot letting that stuff pull you away from who we know we are t goes back to self-care, self-lo e eeping your feet on the oor olland adds, think self-care in general is really important or me, it s about taking time out ha e been working so hard for the past four years, back to back, and now it s about car ing out some uiet time for myself, for family and then making conscious decisions about how m spending my time m not ust doing the ne t ob because it s the ne t ob m really taking care of myself in that way Being the busiest he s been professionally, olland says he has aha moments about his worth and alue separate from work think that being in relationships often teaches you that t certainly taught me that, he says of owning his alue nd learning to be more honest, and more forward about my own feelings, and then being okay standing behind those feelings t s a lesson m always learning hope to ha e many more aha moments in my life

SHUT TERSTOCK

COOL DUDE

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In adults with HIV on ART who have diarrhea not caused by an infection In adults with HIV on ART who have diarrhea not caused by an infection

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Mytesi (crofelemer): • Is the only medicine FDA-approved to relieve diarrhea in people with HIV Mytesi (crofelemer): •• Is Treats diarrhea differently by normalizing thediarrhea flow of water in the GI HIV tract the only medicine FDA-approved to relieve in people with Has thediarrhea same ordiff fewer side eff as placebo clinical studies •• Treats erently byects normalizing theinflow of water in the GI tract •• Comes from a tree sustainably harvested in the Amazon Rainforest Has the same or fewer side effects as placebo in clinical studies • Comes from a tree sustainably harvested in the Amazon Rainforest What is Mytesi?

Mytesi is a prescription medicine that helps relieve symptoms of diarrhea not caused by What is Mytesi? an infection (noninfectious) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Mytesi is a prescription medicine that helps relieve symptoms of diarrhea not caused by Important Information an infectionSafety (noninfectious) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Mytesi is not approved to treat infectious diarrhea (diarrhea caused by bacteria, a virus, Important Safety Information or a parasite). Before starting you on Mytesi, your healthcare provider will first be sure Mytesi is not approved to treat infectious diarrhea (diarrhea caused by bacteria, a virus, that you do not have infectious diarrhea. Otherwise, there is a risk you would not receive or a parasite). Before starting you on Mytesi, your healthcare provider will first be sure the right medicine and your infection could get worse. In clinical studies, the most that you do not have infectious diarrhea. Otherwise, there is a risk you would not receive common side effects that occurred more often than with placebo were upper respiratory the right medicine and your infection could get worse. In clinical studies, the most tract (sinus, nose, and throat) infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), common side effects that occurred more often than with placebo were upper respiratory flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%). tract (sinus, nose, and throat) infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%).

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IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION This is only a summary. See complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or byINFORMATION calling IMPORTANT PATIENT 1-844-722-8256.

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To report side effects or make a product complaint or for additional information, call 1-844-722-8256.

Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Rx OnlyPharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Inc. Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Manufactured

by Patheon, for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. harvested in South America.

Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.

NP-390-34

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Take an active role in your health.

Ask your doctor if an HIV medicine made by Gilead is right for you.

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