NOLA'S CULTURE NOLA'S CULTURE Does Top Pop Culture Art Imitate Life in New Orleans—or Reflect It?

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It’s downright cliché to begin with some vogue celebrity quote, directly correlated to New Orleans. It is difficult to accurately encapsulate the impact that one city and its inhabitants has had on the world. Hell, New Orleans is over 300 years old, after all— and aging beautifully.

For a city relatively small in terms of its population, it could be argued, with relative ease, for New Orleans having historically the most profound, comprehensive, and widespread impact when discussing popular culture. Cultural shockwaves that reverberate around the globe, penetrating the zeitgeist for centuries causing herculean changes so strong you could physically measure them utilizing a seismograph. New Orleans has gifted us with so much, how could we conceivably ever repay her?

Beyond music, it’s television, it’s film—it’s any and all artistic output that rises from the potholes and flows through us like the mighty Mississippi. We listen, we watch, we read, we share, and we flaunt—as we damn well should—chest out, heads high. With that said, let’s explore some contemporary avenues within NOLA popular culture that never ceases to remind all of us who reside here just how fortunate we are to never have to know what it means to miss New Orleans.

MUSIC: PEOPLE MUSEUM

Enough cannot be said about this band. But if you haven’t started riding the melodic synth pop-art meets New Orleans brass wave that is People Museum, consider this your wake up call. This is plenty ironic, considering the vocals provided by Claire Givens will put you in a trance-like state. The listen is easy, yet cavernous, and soulful. Givens and Jeremy Phipps founded the band in 2016 in the Tremé and have since been accompanied by Aaron Boudreaux on the drums and bassist Charles Lumar II from Solange Knowles band.

Their most recent EP, Destruction of, Vol. 1, is only half a year old and inspired by Louise Bourgeois, a French-American artist most notable for her large-scale sculpture and installation art. Some favorites from their 2021 EP, I Could Only See Night, include “Forever” and “Rush.” The seamless blending of synthesizer and distinctive New Orleans’ influence provided this hip-hop and electronic enthusiast with plenty of subconscious head-bobbing to a refreshingly innovative sound.

TELEVISION: YOUR HONOR

An American drama television series set in, you guessed it—New Orleans. Your Honor stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) in his first lead role in a TV series since BB concluded in 2013. Cranston portrays Michael Desiato, an Orleans Parish Judge who faces an existential crisis when his son is involved in a hit and run accident that leaves the son of a prominent criminal organization’s boss deceased. Director Peter Moffat (The Night Of) wastes no time highlighting the idiosyncratic beauty of New

Orleans. The show features stunning overhead shots of Cranston jogging through Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, their home in the Garden District, the Lower Ninth Ward, and much more. The impact this show had on our city during an especially difficult period. Cranston and co. were frequently spotted throughout New Orleans during the COVID-19 shutdown, handing out bottles of water and conversing with local folk standing in line for food and supplies. The cast and crew have a profound, voracious love for the city and feel intrinsically tied to it. You can stream the first 3 episodes of Your Honor Showtime for free.

FILM: BAD CUPCAKE

Bad Cupcake has begun filming in New Orleans and is a liveaction feature adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s, a popular horror-suspense video game depicting animatronic figurines that, fueled by bloodlust, come alive at night. The film has been picked up, dropped, and picked up again more times than your cell phone on Bourbon Street before Jason Blum from Blumhouse Productions (Insidious, Get Out) got his hands on it.

If you’re a fan of horror you’re all too familiar with