Arts & Culture

TEST SPINS | Earth, Wind & Fire: ‘I Am’

By |

Last Saturday evening we celebrated a national holiday. You know which one — the 21st night of September! This past summer, I had the opportunity to see Earth, Wind & Fire (the group responsible for “September”), along with the band Chicago, in concert. I’ll be honest — I enjoy some Earth, Wind & Fire songs, but I’d been trying to get tickets to see Chicago for years, and Earth, Wind & Fire just happened to be a bonus. Chicago was (unsurprisingly) amazing, but I walked out of that concert as a newly minted Earth, Wind & Fire fan.

Arts & Culture

WILLIAMS | Light in Boston

By |

I was depressed in Chicago when I did the interview. I sat bleary-eyed in front of my computer screen trying, and so desperately failing, to look as animated as possible. The position was as an assistant for a high school journalism program at an Ivy League university. My job would be to invite speakers from the journalism industry, coordinate travel and lunches, shepherd the students around campus and ultimately scaffold the program from conception to execution. “What stories have you been following in the news?” the interviewers asked.

Dining

Supporting Black Owned Vegan Eateries Across the U.S.

By |

Significant changes need to occur to move towards an anti-racist society. One small, but impactful, step we all can take is to support Black owned businesses. According to a study by the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, Black owned businesses have not only had a more difficult time accessing capital, but they have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington Post noted the “number of working Black business owners fell 40 percent amid coronavirus.” As many small, Black owned businesses are struggling, it’s important to seek out and support them now and in the future. Numerous Black owned plant-based restaurants exist throughout the country.

Arts & Culture

TEST SPIN | G Herbo — ‘Sessions’

By |

Sessions contains a featureless compilation of recently released singles with a handful of new songs as well, focusing on more conscious subject matter than much of his previous work.

Arts & Culture

Test Spin: CupcakKe — Ephorize

By |

Ephorize, CupcakKe’s newest album, does not deliver a message or follow a theme based on the tracklist alone. It requires listening, but does not make a chore out of it, as the album is filled with fun and clever bars. CupcakKe, a female rapper from Chicago, has been in the spotlight since her 2016 mixtape, Cum Cake. After that, her 2017 album, Queen Elizabitch kept her momentum with its consistency and uniqueness. CupcakKe is nothing like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj or any other highly popular female rappers.

Columns

SCAZZERO | The Cubs Are Still in It

By |

By SOPHIA SCAZZERO

Earlier this year, I wrote a column on how the Mets have been having a record breaking and whirlwind year. Today, I am writing about another team that is poised to have another landmark year, the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are my hometown team and though I have not followed them religiously, it is almost impossible to ignore the reputation the Cubs have in the Major Leagues. Their miserable luck for the past 100-plus years is infamous. The TV show Scrubs had a killer line in illustrating the agony of being a Cubs fan with, “How depressing is it being you?

Uncategorized

Sweat, Beats and Playboy Bunnies: Lollapalooza 2009

By |

Flying high over Tupelo, Mississippi, with America’s hottest band … and we’re all about to die.
No, that isn’t how it happened, but, like ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, I’ve always wanted to start an article that way.
The part about being in a plane was true. And the thunderstorm visible from my window seat was eerily reminiscent of Almost Famous, blasts of electricity continuously ripping through the sky outside, off past the starboard flank of the aircraft. I wasn’t, however, touring the country with a bunch of up-and-coming rock stars, though I had been in the midst of some just a few hours earlier.