post- 11/30/18

Issue

In This

A Life Fraught with Living

Grace Wilkins 3

Chronicles of Shabbat

Caroline Ribet 2

Abbie Hui 4

Thrive, Don't Just Survive Griffin Plaag 5

Comeback Queen Quinn Matos 6

LATENIGHT

postCover by Rémy Poisson

NOV 30

VOL 23 —

ISSUE 11

FEATURE

Chronicles of Shabbat Hillel and Heritage

By Caroline Ribet

M

Illustrated by Rémy Poisson

y family is Jewish, but I’ve never really understood what that means. Before Brown, I could count the number of times I had been to a synagogue on one hand. I wasn’t bat mitzvahed; I knew only a handful of Hebrew and Yiddish words. At home, we insist Christmas is just like any other day. We light Hanukkah candles and eat matzah on Passover, but I was never sure if I was as Jewish as, say, my friends who complained about going to Hebrew school and missed classes for high holidays.

So when I went to college, I didn’t give much thought to participating in any kind of religious life at Brown. At the same time, I was also struggling to make friends, and as I always do, I turned to my big sister Stephanie for advice. She told me that she

sometimes went to “Shabbat dinners” at her college, whatever those were, so I did some investigating to see if Brown had them, too.

Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath, and it is observed from sunset on Friday until an hour after sundown on Saturday. During Shabbat, there are no electronics at all—laptops, lights, driving, and writing are all offlimits. No work. It’s a day of rest.

I grappled with my simultaneous Jewish identity and complete void of both religious and cultural knowledge. I wondered, would I become a fraud if I walked through the doors of a Jewish institution after 19 years of neglecting others just like it? But I was more embarrassed about my inability to make friends than my lack of religious knowledge, so I turned up at Brown RISD Hillel, the center for

Jewish life on campus, for a Shabbat dinner my freshman fall.

Shabbat at Hillel is a pretty amazing affair. It happens every week, and it’s entirely student-run except for the Saturday morning services that are run in collaboration with one of Hillel’s rabbis. At 6 p.m. on Friday, when Shabbat begins, there are religious services. There is always a reform group and a Havurah group (a service that keeps mostly in line with conservative liturgy). Sometimes when a need or desire arises, there is an orthodox service.

Hillel makes an effort to rotate which students lead services to keep things interesting and to make sure everyone feels engaged.

Then, at 7:15 p.m., individuals from all denominations come together for announcements

Letter from the Editor December is just a day away! The knowledge that I will be abroad next semester has magnified my usual end-of-year melancholy.

Knowing that this time, others will be living dog years in my absence, I’ve become desperate to communicate all my pitiful I will miss you please don’t forget me’s. The words feel a bit too solemn and are beyond me, but I hope an undercurrent of them exist in the time spent playing board games over tea or staying up late into the night to have lazy, circuitous talks.

Many of our writers this week struggle with the same ineffable toska. The feature reminds us to cling to near and dear commu-

2 post–

Dance Crazes

nities. Narrative acknowledges that at times, life can feel fraught with living, but nonetheless reminds us to stay balanced, sift through the bad, and dredge up the good. Finally, A&C provides some tunes to frame your end-ofyear ventures, whether you plan to ignore the cold and take the long nights as a sign that you should go stargazing with that what-if boy, or do a few cozy gift exchanges to the sounds of holiday pop. Either way, ‘tis the season to make the most of things.

Jennifer editor in chief of post-

1.

Flossing

2.

The Twist

3.

The Cupid Shuffle

4.

The Dougie

5.

The Time Warp (again, let’s do it, c’mon)

6.

The Hokey Pokey

7.

The 8th grade fist pump

8.

The leave room for Jesus

9.

The Hoedown Throwdown

10.

The "I have to pee"

NARRATIVE and Kiddush, the blessing over the wine (it’s grape juice, except during Family Weekend, when it is actually wine). I usually stand there awkwardly while people sing the prayers because even though I know what they sound like now, I’m not confident enough to join in. Sometimes I pretend to sing or hum along really quietly because it makes me feel less fraudulent. “Recycle your cups!” Hillel e-board members announce as people migrate from grapejuice-blessing to the hall where dinner is served.

Each table sits roughly 10 people. I like watching people enter in groups of two or three and jockey for seats at tables with people that they already know. Though I go to Shabbat a lot now and tend to recognize a lot of people, there have also been times when I barely knew anyone at all. Even on days when I feel most like a stranger, I do not feel like an outsider. Whatever has brought people to Shabbat dinner—a friend, an interest in religious services, or the dinner itself—I know that we all have something in common.

Once everyone is settled, each group blesses the bread (it’s called saying Hamotzi) and passes it around. If it’s a table full of students who already know each other, they dive into gossip and start catching up straight away. If it’s a group of strangers, or mostly strangers, they exchange names, play icebreakers, and ask benign questions about concentrations and hometowns. Sometimes, I just listen. Other times, I feel totally overwhelmed. Interacting with 10 people at a table can feel daunting, and I don’t know how to navigate the social dynamics—there are conversations on either side of me, and I’m drifting between them, between being left out of both or intensely involved with one or the other. I don’t mind either way.

The food is always delicious and kosher, and there are also vegetarian and vegan options, dessert, and fruit: big salads, potatoes, chicken, rice, eggplant, chocolate mousse, melon slices, grapes. Though I went freshman year to break the monotony (and insecurity) of always eating at the dining hall, now that I live in an apartment, I see these dinners in part as a way to take a break from my usual routines by enjoying delicious, diverse foods with a community that is lively and welcoming.

Lots of Shabbat dinners have themes like interfaith or Jews of mixed identities or faculty, and oftentimes there’s a guest speaker. Occasionally, a couple of students share prewritten thoughts on the theme, or one of Hillel’s rabbis will relate it to current events. Especially because the news is often volatile and upsetting, I find it comforting to listen to someone talk about a text that has been read by countless people over thousands of years. Moreover, Jewish scholars and rabbis and regular people still have new readings of the Torah to offer, and it helps them to understand our modern world.

There is a closing prayer, and then an oneg at someone’s house or dorm. An oneg is a party with no music or lights (because there is no electricity on Shabbat) to celebrate the day of rest. The Jewish seniors' Facebook Messenger group chat is often used by upperclassmen trying to get each other to

host the week’s oneg. I don’t think I’ve ever messaged in the group, but I am happy to be included: I like watching conversations play out.

Saturday morning, there’s a service, followed by lunch. Lunch is free, and even people who don’t come to services can come to lunch. In the words of one Hillel e-board member, “In terms of pluralism, we don’t just talk the talk. We are working to actively engage students in the way that they want to be engaged. It makes me happy that students can just show up to whatever it is that they want and not feel the pressure to do anything more or less or different.”

It’s true. I always skip the religious stuff, and I mostly don’t feel guilty about it.

Hillel often has a Saturday afternoon activity, like singing, text study, or a board game tournament for people who are serious about following Shabbat’s many rules. I’ve been told by Shabbat-keepers that the Saturday activities, apart from being contemplative and restful, make the day fun and social for those who have been separated from their cell phones and laptops.

Saturday evening, there’s an Abdallah service to close Shabbat. One Shabbat regular described this service as being one of her favorites. There’s a ritual involving a braided candle, the service is lyrical, and there’s a blessing on sweet-smelling spices. It is a ritual all about separating the holy from the everyday.

Then, Shabbat is over, and the participants go back to their daily lives.

Upon further reflection, I feel it’s surprising that Shabbat specifically and Judaism more broadly have become such central tenets of my life at Brown.

I showed up at Hillel in part because I wanted to build a community, but also because Friday nights in college are ridden with expectations about going out, having dinner plans, or ending up with legendary stories to bring home for winter break. Freshman fall, I dreaded facing the big chunk of time between the end of my Friday classes and going to bed 12 hours later. Early on, I was not invited to parties. I didn’t have friends to hang out with. I definitely did not want to do my work. These feelings of loneliness and embarrassment were amplified by the fact that I didn’t know they were, in fact, rather ubiquitous.

But even though I don’t worry about having plans on Friday nights anymore, I still go to Shabbat most weeks. Growing up, I didn’t really think of my being Jewish as something to be celebrated. In fact, I didn’t really think of my being Jewish at all. Going to Hillel for cultural and social activities that I enjoy and not for the religious elements that I don’t has helped me feel like this religious and cultural community, at least at Brown, has things to offer me and not things to demand from me.

I’ve never known that much about Judaism, but I’d like to learn more. Attending Shabbat many weeks over four years has made me feel like it isn’t too late for me to learn about this culture. It isn’t too late for me to hum prayers I don’t really know. Hillel has been one means of forming a community that is supportive, diverse, and invested in inclusivity. For this reason, I’m happy Stephanie started going to Shabbat, and I’m glad I followed suit.

A Life Fraught with Living A Poem

By Grace Wilkins Illustrated by Katya Labowe-Stoll In those rare minutes of true silence I sit and wonder why the good times seem to worsen all bad and battered things that follow in their wake Oh tell me you have felt that extra-bitter truth of losing love having known its sweetness Tell me, you too have torn the fruit tree limb from limb, sucked the nectar dry and found yourself with nothing but a pit of your own making wide enough for you to spin with arms outstretched and still catch hold of nothing But maybe one can hope that in the inverse lies life’s twisted consolation: The bad times often serve to make the good times better, brighter sifting through the silt to dredge up shiny, lustrous things Or maybe the Good and Bad exist not to stoke the other not in spite but in perfect ignorance And you remain the only point where they both touch your heart beating good-bad, good-bad, good-bad, still undecided.

Oh, this burden of knowing them both! this burden of toeing the line between like a sea-worn rope, tethered to nowhere And you are the tide, always the tide

“I stop having emotions after 12 a.m."

“Before college, one of my goals was to run a half-marathon, and now I can’t even sit properly.”

November 30, 2018 3

NARRATIVE

and maybe in the best of times you are the ship as well, and maybe in the worst of times you cling, a barnacle to this rusty, shell-shocked world

you really cannot function, and remember to drink a glass or bottle of water for every cup of coffee you consume. Prioritize drinking water to let your blood and brain juices flow: your body and mind will thank you.

afraid you are too much of both scared you are not enough of either

Brain food is real. Eat nutritious meals and snacks.

Finals week can translate into unhealthy eating habits. We often go for that quick, tasty, on-the-go snack and mindlessly munch away because these items are most convenient. However, the quick calories of processed carbohydrates will ultimately leave you exhausted following the instant energy of a sugar high, and your concentration and memory will be impaired. To combat this, eat foods such as fresh vegetables and lean proteins, which are digested slowly. Vitamin and nutrient-rich foods will give you extra energy and help to prevent sickness.

Other than fruits and vegetables, I also recommend snacking on nuts. Grab a bag of trail mix and perhaps a bar of dark chocolate: something crunchy and something bittersweet. Furthermore, I felt great and had much more energy after I portioned my meals to be about 50 percent vegetables, 35 percent protein, and 15 percent carbohydrates. Although most exams are more than an hour in length, I try not to eat a full meal right before an exam, as energy will be devoted to digesting that delicious zucchini bread instead of helping me complete that five-step synthesis problem. My brainfood protein bar is a better alternative, keeping me going throughout an exam.

Fuel your body. Eat according to a timely schedule.

Yet, in truth, the thing I fear the most above all else is the day when I stop caring what I am. not much is more listless or depraved than an indifferent soul.

So, I’m content to toe the line for now Pushing towards the good Pulling, tearing away from the bad And maybe I may never come to rest, And maybe I may never truly learn, And maybe I may never know myself beyond my name But maybe—oh I survive in the hope— that it’s enough just to know I’m trying.

Thrive, Don't Just Survive Nutrition and Balance During Finals

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By Abbie Hui Illustrated by Rémy Poisson

inter has come. The end of the semester is near; finals are just around the corner.

Though final exams might determine your grades for your classes, the most important thing this winter season is your health. Here are some tips on nutrition, healthy eating habits, and work balance, so you can not only survive but also thrive this finals season.

NUTRITION AND HEALTHY EATING HABITS Go easy on the caffeine intake and stay hydrated.

I learned to not drink caffeinated beverages right before an exam when my anxiety intensified after I downed a latte right before my two-hour test last semester. A little bit of caffeine keeps you attentive, but too much will actually increase your anxiety and dehydrate you. Dehydration causes fatigue and headaches, so save coffee for the days 4 post–

I adopted the eating style of intermittent fasting, eating only during an eight-hour time period each day. Though I began intermittent fasting to lose weight, my goal has since evolved into a lifestyle choice, for I feel my energy levels boost in the morning. This eating style serves me extremely well during finals season in particular, as otherwise I always lose track of time .

That said, everyone has a different approach to eating during finals season—a healthy relationship to food may look different for each person. For those who let time fly by and forget to eat, please remember to eat something every four hours. On the other hand, stress eating can happen, which is not the end of the world, but it can result in a stomachache. To make sure you are fueling your body with brain food and nutrients during proper intervals of the day, I suggest eating according to a timely schedule that works for you.

WORK BALANCE Keep yourself accountable.

To make sure you’re checking tasks off your to-do lists, find a responsible study buddy. My study buddy and I share a class every semester, and we have established a routine to meet up to study together whenever we’re both free. We have discovered a range of quiet, niche study spots on campus—the Everett-Poland lounge, SciLi mezzanine, study rooms in the Rock, and more— that allow us to focus intensively. We have become great friends through study-buddy time, too. When we are both studying for the same exam, we talk out confusing concepts together and work through questions. No worries if your study partner is studying for a different exam, though! Simply having someone there with you can help keep you focused.

Take regular but reasonable breaks.

I enjoy taking quick 20-minute power naps or going to brunch somewhere on Thayer or Wickenden Street with my roommate. My study partner and I also love to escape to the finals study events, where we bask in the comfort of dogs and make fun, artsy crafts. Finals are a grueling time for college students. Though you may want to

ARTS&CULTURE study all day, your brain can only process a limited amount of information at one time. To help prevent burnout, remember to recharge with rejuvenating breaks to improve your concentration when you return to studying.

Soon, finals will be over, and you can begin your break with your health intact—feeling great about your hard work all semester long.

Use all your senses when studying.

As both a visual and kinesthetic learner, I learn best by diagramming and rewriting my notes on flashcards. When the opportunity arises in study rooms, I take advantage of the whiteboards to, for example, draw out the manipulations of the cardiovascular system.

Are you a visual learner? Auditory?

Kinesthetic? Not sure? You can use all of your senses in creative ways to solidify the materials you’re studying and, most importantly, make learning memorable. While studying, annotate your notes in different colors, say your notes out loud, and touch the paper when you’re writing on it. The more senses you engage, the more likely your learning will stay with you. *** In addition to considering these tips, remember that your value lies beyond the results of an exam, essay, or grade. Your physical and emotional wellbeing is worth far more than a number. Soon, finals will be over, and you can begin your break with your health intact—feeling great about your hard work all semester long.

Comeback Queen Mariah Carey Throws Caution to the Wind

By Griffin Plaag Illustrated by Rémy Poisson

botched 2016/17 New Year's concert especially did her status in. Hell, John Oliver called her a "human nightmare" on the Tonight Show this year. Simply put, it's been a long time since 1995, when Carey’s “Fantasy” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks straight. In 2018’s cultural dictionary, you could probably find Mariah Carey's name under "over the hill."

Enter Caution, Carey's first full-length album since 2014. Receiving wildly positive critical acclaim, Caution represents a new direction for Carey. Eschewing her belt-it-out diva persona, Carey instead adopts a chilled-out vibe that manages to be modern without abandoning her iconic early-2000s R&B sound.

It's a somewhat astonishing shift for her: some of that classic Mariah Carey haughtiness comes through on tracks like "GTFO" and "A No No" (loaded with post-relationship rebukes and blue fire), but most of the album is best suited to an anaerobic smoke chamber—hazy, relaxed, understated and full of back-channeled interpolations from Carey herself. There are also moments of strikingly beautiful clarity woven into this carefully-honed aesthetic backdrop. “The Distance," for example, begins as though a mesh veil has been lifted off the speakers before lapsing back into a smoky, bass-driven vibe. Carey’s Caution is not the product of a washed-up pop star attempting to re-enter the scene (a la "Bitch I'm Madonna" or Britney Spears' inexplicable British patois on "Scream and Shout”). It’s a far cry from Carey's previous album Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse in both musical quality and titular restraint. This is something different—a cogent, impressive work from an artist whose craft is clearly still vital.

Of course, Mariah Carey isn't the first artist in recent memory to provide critics with useful poptimist fodder. Plenty of Top-100 artists have produced albums that have received as much critical acclaim as commercial attention. Taylor Swift's 1989 was a much more mature product than her early pop-country forays or her preliminary crossover attempt, Red. Carly Rae Jepsen's E-MOTION followed up the ubiquitously-memed "Call Me Maybe" to become a summer fixation of indie kids and radio listeners alike.

Still, this kind of renaissance seemed improbable for Carey. Swift was already the commercial darling of Billboard radio by the time 1989 got pressed: she was bound to drop a magnum opus at some point. Jepsen's career had just begun when she released her hit single, and a retrospective look at "Call Me Maybe" reveals that the sparklers-in-July sound captured on E-MO-TION was already a large part of her sound when she broke into the scene in 2012. Carey, now in her late 40s and far removed from her era of pop dominance, was far less poised to achieve continued relevance than her contemporaries (and with “All I Want for Christmas is You” reliably topping the charts each Christmas season, it seemed unlikely she’d ever bother). That Caution has received so much attention while retaining the less modern feel of her mid-2000s work speaks to Carey's continued acuity and songwriting ability.

Most of the album’s songs, despite conforming to a pop mold that could be considered passé, sound as catchy and texturally interesting as anything on the radio today. "Giving Me Life," especially, has potential to be remembered as a classic tune, with Carey’s sterling-if-understated vocal performance backed by collaborators Slick Rick and Blood Orange.

Caution is no mere imitation of Mariah at her zenith. It's new, it's fresh, it's restrained— and above all, it's intelligent.

Caution is no mere imitation of Mariah at her zenith. It's new, it's fresh, it's restrained—and above all, it's intelligent. Carey expertly bridges the intersection between the R&B of her heyday and its present-day successors, proving she belongs as much in the latter as the former, thanks to her remarkable vocal ability and her savvy musical mind. Assuming she doesn't try to lip-sync on tour, Carey’s Caution is poised to stand as one of the most impressive examples of an artist's return to form in recent memory… and even without that context, it’s damn good.

T

he average young person knows exactly three things about Mariah Carey: (1) She constituted half of the most perplexingly turbulent inter-judge relationship ever to grace American Idol, spending most of its twelfth season picking fights with fellow panelist Nicki Minaj.

(This is often cited as foreshadowing the current Nicki Minaj vs. Cardi B feud.)

(2) She once got caught lip-syncing a New Year's Eve performance, provoking incensed defamations of her character from citizens across the land. This is remembered, on the whole, as a great time for the American people.

(3) She's responsible for what can authoritatively be called the biggest Christmas bop ever put to wax: “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” This, we are all thankful for.

I'm being unfair, of course. Carey has a remarkable vocal instrument (if you’re familiar with high-octave ranges, you know it would be inadequate to simply call hers a “voice”), as well as a lengthy and prolific musical career she can comfortably rest her laurels on. But it would be difficult to say with a straight face that, in the year 2018, her star shines as bright as it once did. That November 30, 2018 5

ARTS&CULTURE

LATENIGHT

Why Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD Was My Album of The Year

By Quinn Matos illustrated by lauren marin “Rollin rollin rollin got me stargazing— psychedelics got me goin’ crazy.”

The much anticipated release of Travis Scott’s 3rd album, ASTROWORLD, was a midsummer holiday to be celebrated with respect. Arizona iced teas, Backwoods rolling papers, and high school halffriends packed into my mom’s minivan. Though we’d barely interacted since college began, the occasion was momentous enough to rally the set of music nerds back into a group. After preparing with a late-night trip to a nearby nature preserve, we made for Jones Beach down a long, poorly lit freeway, and finally, I pressed play.

If it isn’t clear already, Travis Scott’s 3rd album was a big deal for me. His last two albums were already personal classics: Rodeo was one long, drugged-out night anthem, and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight perfectly mixed Travis’s warbly mumblings over beats that erased the distinction between dreamy cloud rap and aggressive trap. The difference now was that Travis Scott was everywhere. After years of nudging the culture, he started rotating it on an axis. 2018 saw him catapult from underrated internet star to mainstream musician, due in no small part to his quickly cemented relationship with Kylie Jenner. Concerts turned to SNL appearances; album covers became magazine covers. It felt like I had a personal stake in his rise, and I had already steeled myself to reach and argue ASTROWORLD into album-of-the-year conversations regardless of its quality; I had gassed up the project way too much to face reality if it flopped.

The album’s first song, “STARGAZING,” provides a fitting intro to its sonic and lyrical concepts. If ASTROWORLD recreates the closed Houston amusement park it’s named for, this song is its rollercoaster. The song’s first half builds the same sort of suspense: high-hat drums click at eighth-note intervals, pushing the song just a little too fast for comfort while a stretched, metallic tone slowly calls and responds in the background. Sitting on top of beatlong 808s, these two sounds average out to an uneasy speed, unmistakably reminiscent of an acid come-up.

The first verse begins as Travis switches between his trademark groaning and a high-pitched, unintelligible whine to describe his meteoric rise to success, regular and excessive drug use, and the start of his new family— all in the same verse.

“STARGAZING” crests two-thirds of the way through with the sounds of rollercoasters and an airy set of howls before the ambiance cuts to silence.

After a confused half-second, the 808s return faster and distorted. The hi-hats come in triplet

bursts, and the slow background tone is replaced by an upward arpeggio that just keeps hitting. Beat switches are to be expected in a Travis project, but the abruptness is new. Travis stops mumbling and just raps—talking no sleep, mosh pit concerts, cocaine nose-bleeds straight through to the last line: “Ya feel me?”

I didn't, but I was dumb lit in this Honda Odyssey.

ASTROWORLD proceeded to deliver as both a listening experience and a thematic project. Even better, it did so by ignoring every expectation I had formed. The album jumps from ride to ride: purposefully avoiding the cohesion that flannel-wearing music critics have so often praised, the cohesion that made his last two projects so impressive. Travis pieces together a rapper’s dark fantasy: Kylie Jenner is routinely deified, the Weeknd sings a deeply emotional ballad to IV heroin, and our protagonist hops from show to flight to club as autotuned verses bleed into one long tribute to his nightlife escapades. Throughout, Travis’s vocals are the only constant, as the entire album is organized around disorienting contrasts. “STOP TRYING TO BE GOD” holds a full theological discussion directly before “NO BYSTANDERS”—a song whose hook is three dudes yelling “FUCK THE CLUB UP.” The outro on “WAKE UP” promises a club banger, only to produce the creeping piano and eerie rattling on “5% TINT.” This sort of norm-breaking feeds into a projectwide mission to dislodge the various staples that have come to typify pop-rap. “SICKO MODE” is the ideal example, both for its disrespect to The Hook as an institution, and the fact that it has nevertheless gone double-platinum. The Hook has acted as the rap verse’s more profitable antithesis, where catchy vocal melodies can justify putting hip-hop on mainstream radio. There is arguably no greater champion of The Hook than pop-rap’s primary deity: Drake. Any song with a Drake feature inevitably charts and usually defines a project, and when “SICKO MODE” began, I predicted the usual: Drake will spit an intro through the beat drop and rap two lines into the expected verse. All seemed to be going as I predicted. But suddenly, his voice echoes down to silence. The beat unceremoniously switches to a punchy, industrial layering of drums as Travis rips 24 hookless bars, ending the verse with a reminder: “Who put this shit together—I’m the glue.” Only then is Drake brought back for his verse, the hit restarted on a

“Who knows what the future has in store for TIME [Magazine], or for Post-, for that matter. We’re still here, for now, so start reading.”

Saanya Jain, editor’s note 11.29.17

“Yes, it ‘suuuuuucks’ that many of us didn’t fully participate in this magical space [Aurora] in the first place.”

Daniella Balarezo, Creative Capital 11.29.17

6 post–

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jennifer Osborne a FEATURE Managing Editor Anita Sheih Section Editors Kathy Luo Sydney Lo ARTS & CULTURE Managing Editor Julian Towers Section Editors Josh Wartel Liza Edwards-Levin

different beat and followed up by a second Travis verse to end the song.

This ritual sacrifice of a Drake Hook recenters Travis as the executive producer of the album, and he claims any and all credit. It contributes to the larger point being made with the project, one symbolized by the grotesque, open-mouthed Travis Scott blow-up on the album’s cover. With ASTROWORLD, the rapper known as Travis Scott is building a children’s theme park for which he is the entrance and architect. The pop-rapper acknowledges his objectively weird role as ringleader in a WWE-like circus. The music is a drug, it’s a trip, it’s a voyeuristic glimpse into the highlight reels of a lifestyle that doesn’t actually exist. Rather than reject this role, ASTROWORLD leans into it, pasting together a caricature that is self-aware yet no less committed for it.

Travis plays his part beautifully, and it’s nearly 2a.m. by the time we reach the final song. The beat on “COFFEE BEAN” is unexpectedly relaxed. Gone is the chain-laden Hidden Hills denizen. Strippers and droptops are waved away, and where the rapper persona stood is some guy in shades who likes drugs and hiphop. A muted, startlingly relatable Travis waits in line in a coffee shop and stresses about his girlfriend. After ten days without talking, Travis wonders, is he even good for Kylie? She’s a public figure, her family doesn’t like him, and he’s already got one strike for being a Black man. Already preparing for custody battles, Travis envisions his own divorce before he’s even married.

“Bad, bad news.” The rapper’s finished, and these dayto-day issues remain unresolved.

Violin and Auto-Tune hummed the end of the album and the night’s trip as red-eyed kids climbed out one by one, exiting the minivan’s yawning doorway towards homes and train stations. Finally, it’s just me and my green tea, paused at the stoplight. I’d spent the most exciting portion of my evening reading into every beat and verse—hypersexed commercial myths of gold, bottles, and logos. Was any of it worth the philosophizing? Where did this deep attraction to party rap come from, and what are its implications?

How could I have better spent this time and energy?

For a moment, I questioned my values and my sense of direction.

Then I pressed play again, because ASTROWORLD slaps.

NARRATIVE Managing Editor Celina Sun Section Editors Divya Santhanam Jasmine Ngai COPY CHIEF Amanda Ngo Assistant Copy Editors Mohima Sattar Sonya Bui HEAD OF MEDIA Samantha Haigood

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