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City Voices
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WORCESTERIA
Joyner Lucas, left, and Mark Wahlberg appear in the music video for “Zim Zimma.” PROMOTIONAL IMAGE
Joyner Lucas hangs with Wahlberg, Lopez and Diddy in video
Veer Mudambi and Victor D. Infante
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
A pandemic didn’t slow Joyner Lucas down much, did it? While most of us barely got to see our friends in real life, Lucas was mingling with an all-star crowd over this past year, at least judging from his recordings and videos. First of, Will Smith put out a remix of Lucas’ song “Will,”wherein Smith replied classily to Lucas’ hero worship. Then, in April, Lucas dropped the music video for “Ramen & OJ,” a collaboration with rapper Lil Baby which centers on the idea of being unable to return to the person he was before he was rich and famous. Now, he’s out with a new music video for his song “Zim Zimma,” from his 2020 album, “Evolution.” The song itself is pretty much an upbeat club banger, with a great hook. Really, it’s the video itself that’s of interest. The frst part has Mark Wahlberg “borrowing” Lucas’ BMW, and giving a demonstration of typical Boston driving. The second part has Lucas hilariously asking to borrow comedian George Lopez’s car ... one which he never lets anyone touch and refused to sell to Jay Leno! Lastly, Lucas races in tiny toy cars with rapper Diddy. The video, directed by Lucas and his longtime video collaborator Ben Proulx, might not be one of Lucas’ deeper works, but it’s defnitely a good time. (VDI)
Your handy guide to Worcester food pantries — When a 10th grade U.S. history class tries to address an issue as part of a State Civics project, we know it is serious and widespread. The project required students to identify and address a specifc need in their community — the class chose food access. Their simple and elegant solution, called “The Community Cupboard” brochure, was a student-led efort in which they gathered the names, addresses and requirements for places to access food, then entered the infor-
FIRST PERSON
Help support ‘starving’ artists
Parker Carlin
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Since art is a beautiful gateway to creativity, design, attraction, and captivation and local businesses seek to attract customers, their relationship should become symbiotic and consequentially support one another through artist support and expressive decorations; restaurants especially like to decorate their walls, and artists make a living of of essentially selling their decorative creations. One of the best ways for artists to keep from “starving” — as the saying goes — is for local businesses to showcase the work of local artists in their establishments by allowing any customer to buy the works that are displayed around them. This is exceptionally benefcial for restaurants as customers spend prolonged amounts of time sitting and enjoying the environment around them. I have been to restaurants before that adopted this practice and it made the experience far more enjoyable and lighthearted. Not only did it give me something to look at while I ate, but it made things personal. Being an artist myself, I greatly appreciated knowing that the art on the walls were from people in the community like me who want to be able to sell artwork to local people who would appreciate it more than shipping precious works across long distances. Furthermore, imagine going out to eat and being able to add a piece of beautiful art to the tab along with a good meal, both made by someone nearby. It would beneft the artists, the businesses, the customers, and the community as a whole.
Parker Carlin lives in Uxbridge.
POETRY TOWN
Robert Eugene Perry
That ’70s DJ named it Wormtown, just trying to ignite the punk rock scene — but every city has a seedy underbelly, so the politicians and the admen objected, yet Watch now! Worms push through the offal, offering fecundity to the soil, bringing new life to arid landscapes. A decade later I moved to the city, greeted by the “Wormtown Rocks” scrawl next to Rick’s Café Underground, another place those wonderful worms were at work. Underground artists, musicians, poets rise and fall, decades pass they leave their mark or not, no city is to blame for ignominy or fame — Now we stole “The Woo” from England our sister city, hoping to woo the bankers, pumping up the urban renewal, white washing our graffitied past — Leaving a hollow sound where once there was a roar. Some of the veterans of the Wormtown movement gathered at Ralph’s Rock Diner for their 30th reunion in 2008. The moniker “Wormtown” was coined by Lenny Saarinen, better known as Mayor L.B. Worm.
JIM COLLINS/T&G FILE
Robert Eugene Perry is a poet and author of several books, his most recent collection of poetry, “Surrendering to the Path,” was released by Human Error Publishing in 2020.
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DON LANDGREN FACING OFF OVER DUFFY FIELD
Lucas
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mation into a database. People can’t use resources if they don’t know they’re available. “People might go across the city not realizing there are nearer options,” said Mike Papagni, a history teacher at South High School. Setting up a food pantry or soup kitchen is only the frst step — the second is getting the word out. The pamphlet by the students lists the locations of all food pantries, soup kitchens and other places in Worcester where residents can access food. It’s no secret that food insecurity is a problem in this city and issues such as urban food deserts, poverty and homelessness are all contributing factors. While a number of good Samaritans have taken steps to counter this by providing free food to those in need, the question still remains of how to make sure that this help reaches the people who need it most. “I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished to help the Worcester community,” said Papagni. The pamphlet will be available at various points around the city, such as the Boys & Girls Club, Worcester Baptist Church and local eateries, within the next few days. (VM)
Radio Goo Goo: Is anyone surprised that DJ Matt Siegel, of Kiss 108’s “Matty in the Morning,” was back on the radio the day after he apparently quit in an epic meltdown because he was asked to stop making jokes about the fact that pop star Demi Lovato has come out as nonbinary, and is using genderneutral pronouns? Actually, it seems more people were surprised he was still on the air. This was the frst time he had any public attention in years! As to Lovato, I’ve admired them since I reviewed them at the DCU Center, so much so that I was drawn to go back and look at my 2014 review, where I write (and please excuse the retention of the original pronouns), “‘Happiness and healthiness is a choice,’ she said, ‘and I’m living proof,’ referring obliquely to her much-publicized troubles with substance abuse, bulimia and bipolar disorder, which caused her to take a brief hiatus from her career while she sought treatment. It was a prosaic, vulnerable moment that was greeted with empathy and cheers.” I found Lovato an interesting and inspirational fgure then — and a particularly important one for young women — and I still do. (VDI)
