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Top Ten Girls of 2016
We count down the 10 hottest girls from 2016 and reveal the RUKUS Girl of the Year, as voted by our readers.
16 All Access
The Latest Albums Reviewed Albums Reviewed: AFI AFI (The Blood Album)
34 Game On
The Latest Games Reviewed Games Reviewed:
By Silas Valentino
Nioh
Fat Joe & Remy Ma Plata O Plomo
By Joshua David Anderson
Yakuza 0
20 All Access Spotlight
38 Game On Spotlight
The Orwells, T.S.O.L., and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, MLB The Show 17, and Yooka-Laylee
By Silas Valentino
Artists/Bands Featured:
By Samuel Wendel
By Jesse Seilhan
Games Featured:
By Jesse Seilhan
On The Cover
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This Page
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Back Cover
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Andrew Gates All Access Editor
Silas Valentino Games Editor
Jesse Seilhan Art Director
Andrew Gates All Access Contributors
Silas Valentino, and Samuel Wendel Pit Pass Contributors
Andrew Gates Game On Contributors
Jesse Seilhan, and Joshua David Anderson Contributing Photographers
Andrew Gates Social Media Guru
Rupa Begum Contributing Make-up Artists
Alisha Baijounas, Bioanca Robinson, and Nicolette Melland Contributing Hair Stylists
Alisha Baijounas, Bioanca Robinson, and Nicolette Melland Advertising
Andrew Gates
advertise@RUKUSmag.com Mailing Address
RUKUS MAGAZINE 3115 e. Olive st. #42153 Las Vegas, NV 89116
Copyright Š 2008-2017 RUKUS, LLC. All Rights Reserved! January / February 2017 issue, Volume 9, Number 1. ISSN 2161-4369 (print) ISSN 2161-4377 (online) Visit http://www.RUKUSmag.com for more images and content.
TOP TEN GIRLS OF 2016
E
ight years of RUKUS magazine and we keep bringing you the fire, with more to come, as we enter the dragon. It’s always a favorite issue among our readers, to count down the Top Ten Girls from the previous year, and to announce our Girl of the Year. This issue is no exception, with girls from all over the country and a wide range of ethnicities, we’re sure it was hard to pick just one to be the Girl of the Year, but as always there can only be one. This is also a great way for us to say, “Thank You,” to our readers for all the support you’ve given us over the years, and we hope you keep coming back to see more of what’s in store, but until then, enjoy our Top Ten RUKUS beauties of 2016, and congratulations to our Girl of the Year.
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Getting Bloody Written by Silas Valentino
It’s been over a decade since their mainstream breakthrough and AFI have held it all together to add yet another disk to their discography. The once emo-meets-gothic outfit has embraced a growth spurt with their 10th album, titled AFI (The Blood Album), and the Ukiah, California-sprung hardcore rockers sound their most mature and refined yet. They’ve since dropped the theatrics as band members begin to embrace their 40s. The stark-black hair that concealed their pale inner selves has been trimmed and sonically they’ve worked in a New Wave glow into their sound that recalls what The Cure did years prior. AFI appear to be soaking up waves from the black hole sun but the result is rehashed and less convincing than the bands that came before them. The first statement of the album is opening number “Dark Snow” which comes packaged around the sharp buzz of bass synthesizers and grueling guitar solos. AFI don’t hold back on lathering ideas into the song’s structure. Various dashes of obscure moments appear throughout “Dark Snow” such as a fleeting acoustic guitar jingle or a detour into piano balladry that’s spearheaded by singer Davey Havok’s overly-dubbed vocals, layered into digital harmony. By the opener’s close, the echo of Havok’s enunciated “Ohs” remain. Havok appears in movies, television shows and Broadway plays outside of his duties as the band’s lead singer. He joined the cast of the Broadway show American Idiot in 2011 and the grandeur of the stage seems to be an influence. Much of AFI (The Blood Album) features Havok’s voice at the center stage and its greatest use is during “Aurelia” where he lowers his vocal range to reflect his matured suffering. “They’re barking in the wrong key/And you sing along” he repeats as he condemns conformity. Flashes of Green Day appear elsewhere on the album such as the crunchy chord rock of “So Beneath You.” Both bands were pruned in the East Bay Area hardcore punk scene and both bands abandoned the scene for a bigger audience with more mass appeal. “So Beneath You” gives it to you straight with power chords melodies and distorted palm mutes to give an extra edge to the aggression. Similar to other tracks on the album such as “Dark Snow,” the song will make a drastic departure from its core during the final minutes to facilitate a cathartic ending that’ll surely dazzle the scores of dedicated fans who’ve dubbed their cohort the Despair Faction Fan Club. Being for the benefit of cheap comparison, the carnival ambiance of “Snow Cats” with its cheeky call-and-response verse calls to mind the early work of Panic! At the Disco. AFI (The Blood Album) isn’t without a surprise, which comes in the bizarrely entertaining pop song “Feed From The Floor.” The song begins in a New Age-y echo chamber of guitar feedback which gradually grows until bursting into a belated hit from 1985. The song hits strides in its soaring guitar melodies and Havok is in full form when he sings: “Eyes gone dry. No more tears/Salt and shame upon my tongue/Dust on dust, drying flowers/We’ve been coming here too long.” His shameless vulnerability is what’s led to a consistent career for both he and his band.
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Your Choice Written by Silas Valentino
Although they’ve been appearing with each other on tracks for years, Fat Joe and Remy Ma solidify their hiphop friendship with their collaborative LP Plata O Plomo. The album’s title is Spanish for “silver or lead” which was infamously uttered by Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar as his offer to police: money or death. For this 12-song, 47-minute album such an intense ultimatum does not exist; rather, it’s the flashiness of silver mixed with the roughness of lead that can be used to describe these two who continue to wear their scars from the streets as they peddle rhymes over glossy beats. “Warning” kicks things off with a sample that’s been manipulated into a fluttering sound that sets up an eerie scene for Fat Joe to dispel. “So much coke you young boys won’t believe it/Hopping off J E T S I’m Revis,” he spits in his album introduction, boasting about narcotic consumption while giving a shout-out to former New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. (Later down the bars, he gives a nod to New York Knick Kristaps Porzingis and proves that Fat Joe supports his hometown teams even when they’re playing like duds.) New York City is well represented by Fat Joe during his verse but teeth marks come out when Remy Ma grabs the mic to let her advisories (Nicki Minaj?) know that: “How dare you allow people to compare you/Better be careful cause I don’t care you/Tried to be my friend but I didn’t care to.” Minaj and Ma have feuded and bickered throughout the past–“Warning” sets Remy Ma up to reclaim her independence and enter back into the game following her 2014 release from prison. Up next is the East Coast rap banger “Swear to God” that sports and horn-heavy hook that thrashes with an abrasive beat. It’s the first track on the album to feature Kent Jones. The Tallahassee young gun makes multiple appearances throughout Plata O Plomo and begins by rapping over a megaphone-like filter that recalls the howling of 2010-era Kanye West. (The whole track in general sounds like a reference to Ye’s “Cold”–which was produced by DJ Khlaed, a longtime collaborator of Fat Joe’s.) Remy Ma steals the track with her verse that starts: “Now if I liked your man’s face, I would have sat on it” before elaborating on why she deserves to the “queen of New York” moniker. The torch has been passed to a new generation of Bronx MCs in the unexpected hit single “All the Way Up,” which has Fat Joe reclaiming some credit amid the digital age and then hands the mic over to fellow neighborhood man French Montana. Over a silky horn whimper with a bass drop to attract a club audience, “All the Way Up” is a classic brag standard with Fat Joe and Remy Ma boasting about how big their abodes are now that they’re established hip-hop veterans. “Just left the big house to a bigger house” Remy Ma says, referencing her 6-year stint in prison for assault charges. It may as well be 2001 because Fat Joe is back on top. Fat Joe was asked last month on the a “Ask Me Anything” web board on Reddit if he was surprised of the success behind “All the Way Up.” His response was humble and steady: “Well I did expect, I knew it was a hit record but it was up to the fans to embrace it and the DJs to play it because you know at the end of the day every artist is at the mercy of the fans, so sometimes I’ve had other records I thought were smash hits but never blew up. So you run the risk of the fans not embracing it and getting it like you do.” Alongside his hometown colleague Remy Ma, Fat Joe presents his fans with Plata O Plomo and serves up a straightforward album full of big boasts over beats.
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facebook.com/theorwellsband
Written by Samuel Wendel
The Orwells, Terrible Human Beings
Tired of waiting on The Strokes to release another album? The latest from Chicago garage-rockers The Orwells should fill the gap, at least temporarily. On their third studio album, Terrible Human Beings, The Orwells keep the garage rock genre alive more than 15 years after Is This It hit the shelves. These cheeky lads deliver a burst of twangy guitar-driven rock—the very kind that has slowly disappeared from the radio waves in recent years. Against that backdrop however, The Orwells have put together another batch of radio-friendly singles in the vein of their 2014 hit song “Who Needs You.” From start to finish the guitars build to a squall of noise, the drums rumble along and lead singer Mario Cuomo’s shrieks add to the din. And with major label backing comes major label producing; The Orwells have streamlined their sound into a slick package that has whittled away some of their rougher edges. It’s far from original and leans heavily on their influences, but Terrible Human Beings provides plenty of big hooks and a healthy serving of manic energy. Standout tracks are “Buddy,” ”Fry” and “Black Francis.”
Frank Carter
,
facebook.com/ frankcarterandtherattlesnakes
& The Rattlesnakes Modern Ruin
Befitting of his backing band, English punk rocker Frank Carter spits plenty of venom on his gritty second studio album, entitled Modern Ruin. Set to a sonic background of jagged guitars, Carter’s strained vocals create an unrelentingly aggressive and moody scene for the listener from start to finish. But far from being a total downer, the former Gallows frontman sings with a sense of urgency that manages to take Modern Ruin to cathartic heights at times. An example is the sweeping album closer “Neon Rust,” an atmospheric ballad that comes out of left field and veers into the realm of post rock. Mostly, however, Modern Ruin trends toward propulsive powerpunk driven by furious guitars and Carter’s growling delivery. It’s far from a cheery affair, but if dour is your cup of tea it should go down easy. Standout tracks include “Vampires,”Wild Flowers” and “Neon Rust.”
facebook.com/tsolofficial
T.S.O.L., The Trigger Complex
For old timers, T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty) still know their way around a hook and a melody. The iconic California punk rockers have been chugging along since the 1970s and recently returned with their tenth studio album, The Trigger Complex. It’s their first album in a decade, but The Trigger Complex is a spirited and punchy effort from the band and serves as an interesting walk down memory lane. It showcases a wide range of 1980s punk rock styles, from scuzzy powerpop to groove-oriented new wave. At different times it brings to mind bands such as Social Distortion, The Ramones, Bad Religion and New Order. Although it never finds any consistent footing, it remains interesting throughout and finds T.S.O.L. inventively dusting off old sounds without leaning too heavily on nostalgia. Not bad for a band that’s pushing 40. Standout tracks include “Sometimes,” “Right Side” and “Satellites.”
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Samurai Souls Written by Joshua David Anderson
The beginning of 2017 has seen a resurgence of Japanese developed games. Between Resident Evil 7, Yakuza 0, Nier Automata, and Gravity Rush 2, it feels a bit like it did in the Playstation 2 era, where there seemed to be an endless supply of games that were made in the East. Nioh not only fits in with the previous group, but also sports a distinct Japanese setting and art style. Developed by Team Ninja, famous for their Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series, Nioh is an attempt to create a new franchise, an action title that had a rocky development cycle and borrows from several other big franchises. But does it carve out enough of a space for itself? Nioh takes place in the early 17th century Japan, during the end of the Sengoku period. The main character of William Adams is based on an actual real life historical figure, and many of the characters in the game are based on real people of that era. Nioh doesn’t stay too long in history, adding in fantasy elements like magic, spirits, and demons called Yokai. William, travelling to Japan from England in pursuit of an adversary named Edward Kelley, fights his way through Yokai and humans alike, and finds himself in the middle of a war for dominance between Japanese clans. As William has the ability to see spirits, he becomes instrumental to the war, helping swing the tide of battle. The gameplay of Nioh is both familiar and unique, with a heavy influence from the Dark Souls series and Ninja Gaiden. Many concepts from the Souls series have some sort of representation here. You collect a type of currency from enemies called Amrita, which you can spend on attribute points to level yourself up. If you die in the game, all your accumulated Amrita is waiting for you at the place of your death. If you die on the way to your grave, you lose all of it. Saving at a Shrine in the game will reset all of the enemies you have defeated, and boss battles are larger than life, pitting William against difficult foes with punishing attack patterns. However, Nioh distinguishes itself from the Souls series pretty heavily, most notably in the combat. Coming from the team that made Ninja Gaiden, the fighting here feels like an evolution of that rather than the slower pace of Dark Souls. William is adept with several different types of weapons, from axes, swords, spears, and even the chain-and-sickle style kusarigama. With each weapon, there are three different stances you can use, each giving a weapon multiple attack movesets. When you attack, you expend Ki, not unlike Stamina in Dark Souls. However, Nioh ups the complexity by allowing you to do combinations of moves that can refill your spent Ki immediately. These can be canceling animations, dodging, changing weapons, or special moves. What this means is that by mastering the combat in Nioh, you can be a force of nature, refilling your Ki before the enemy has even reacted. Nioh also further distances itself from Dark Souls with loot drops, weapons with rarity colors like Diablo, and an extensive crafting system. The game is also split into levels called Missions, with each one being a distinct area, which allows the game to be more friendly to the gamer with short time spans. There are a lot of things to chase in Nioh, which is good because the game allows you to choose extra hard versions of the levels, with different enemies and higher level rewards. Beating the game will net you a new difficulty level on top of all that, so you can really put your high level weapons and armor to the test. Nioh came incredibly close to being a casualty of development hell. The game was announced in 2004, looking nowhere near the game that it is now. Lots of struggles and stumbles led to Team Ninja being brought on 8 years into the game and everything started essentially over. However, that move was ultimately the right one, as Nioh sits as an exciting action game with tons of depth and plenty to master. Fans of the Souls games will find something to love here, with plenty of differences to keep things interesting, and action game aficionados will appreciate the difficulty and flow of combat. Nioh is a fantastic title well worth your time.
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Beast in the East
Written by Jesse Seilhan
One of video gaming’s biggest strengths is its ability to immerse in you a foreign culture. Movies, music, and literature can transport one’s mind into another city, country, or universe, but games let you interact with the people of those lands, often controlling somebody different than yourself. And while controlling a space alien and deciphering glyphs or translating ancient texts is cool, simply traveling across the Pacific Ocean to 1980’s Japan allows for a much more relatable experience. The Yakuza series has been doing this for years, but Yakuza 0, new to the West but released in Japan a few years ago, has made the case for more period pieces in video games with its robust campaign, multiple playable characters, and addictive combat. You may have never thought about Japan in the 80’s but after a few hours in this game, you’ll be looking for a time machine to visit the real thing. The Yakuza series has always been a sweeping epic, tying in different eras of Japanese culture with multiple playable characters, a deep combat system, and a personality unlike anything else. Yakuza 0 is the prequel to the series, actually released a few years ago in Japan but just recently localized and translated for fans here in America. It tells the tale of two men, Kiryu and Majima, intertwined in the Japanese mafia while trying to avoid the perils that crossing them brings. Kiryu has been framed for murder and is trying his best to take revenge on the fellow Yakuza that set him up, while Majima is looking to get out from under the thumb of organized crime while managing a nightclub. While swapping between two characters might seem like it can get confusing, each chapter is dedicated to one or the other and wraps up neatly, so you don’t really need to remember too much when switching to the other. Yakuza solve problems with their fists and you’ll spend the majority of your time in this game doing just that. Luckily, the combat is both deep and entertaining enough to make each random battle worth the effort, stringing together awesome combos and flashy “heat” moves to finish off opponents with style. Plenty of periphery objects can be wielded as weapons of destruction, but your regular old fisticuffs are useful as you have multiple fighting styles and stances to choose from. The standard brawler styles make for standard combat, but crazier ones involve more grappling, defense, and even a baseball bat. Throw experience points into each aspect of their skill trees to boost their damage and unlock special moves. Also, experience points are just money, so you can take to the casino to double your earnings and unlock that shiny new flying dropkick you’ve had your eye on. But if you come across the hilariously-named Mr. Shakedown strolling down a dark alley, he can literally beat all of the experience points out of you and leave you crying. It’s a risky system but the rewards are worth it. The real charm to Yakuza are the side missions. Not since The Witcher 3 has a game created so many organic and interesting side stories that encompass the widest swath of people and plot lines. From helping a dominatrix get tough to putting an end to an illegal panty ring, your stiff heroes will often find themselves wrapped up in some hilarious nonsense. You don’t get a ton of choice in how you want these scenarios to play out, but the writing is so good that you won’t really mind. The main plots are also good and sometimes heavy handed, but the overall drive is clear and almost every character makes sense, no matter how dense they are. The voice work is excellent, the translation is stellar, and this 1980’s Japan will come to life each and every time you interact with someone. Ultimately, your love for Yakuza will come down to if you can appreciate Japan for all its complexities. The humor is very specific, as is the dialogue, but even if you aren’t laughing along the way you’ll still have a great time throwing dudes into cars and smashing traffic cones on thugs. The graphics are good enough for a modern open world game and the music is very charming, but the whole package makes up for any gaps in quality you may find along the way. You do not need to know anything about the series or its characters before beginning this game, so give something a little weird a try this year and pick up Yakuza 0. You will not be disappointed.
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Written by Jesse Seilhan
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Nintendo’s new Switch console needs some new toys, as the glory that is the latest Legend of Zelda game can’t last forever. So the beloved Mario Kart series is of course on its way to the console/handheld hybrid, but instead of taking the time to develop a whole new game, the Wii U edition of Mario Kart 8 is making the jump up with a few new bells and whistles. While not new, all of the DLC that was released for MK8 is included, including new vehicles, maps, and modes. Actual new content includes five new racers, the ability to hold two power-ups at once, and a reworked battle mode reminiscent of the classic MK games. Throw in some enhanced visuals, the built-in portability, and the Switch’s as-of-yet undetailed online mode, and this might be the best way to play the latest racer from Mario and friends.
MLB The Show 17
America’s pastime is back for another annual entry of The Show, Sony’s exclusive baseball franchise that has proven to be just about everything a fan could want. Sony’s San Diego studio is heading back to the mound with the standard cast of upgrades (performance, graphics, animation) while expanding the beloved Road to the Show mode. While already an RPGesque experience, complete with quests, leveling up, and player choice, you can now equip rituals that help before a big game or stat-boosting perks that help with clutch moments during your performance. It’s hard to reinvent the wheel every single year, but putting Ken Griffey Jr. on the cover should hopefully inspire the team to make a game as great as the ones he used to star in decades ago.
Yooka-Laylee
If you have a fondness for the whimsical platforming that Rare used to make in the 90’s, this game is for you. Former developers from the Banjo-Kazooie era are back with a new musically named duo, a chameleon named Yooka and a bat named Laylee, built to work together to overcome obstacles and foes. This game harkens back to the glory days of collecting a billion items throughout your adventure, something games like Assassin’s Creed have taken to a whole new level (and not necessarily for the better). Like a good version of this type of game, it does have two-player co-operative gameplay and even has some versus modes for up to four people. While this seems like a love letter to a very specific moment in time for gaming, people with kids or a fondness for the N64 might be interested in what a new one of these can be in 2017.
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