Arts & Culture

The Ugly Truth: Lessons In Perfectionism

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Upon viewing the rather uncensored Saltburn, as Rosamund Pike proclaimed her “complete and utter horror of ugliness,” I couldn’t help but reflect on my own musings of perfectionism. Though rooted in external aesthetics, Pike’s aversion served as a gateway into a broader, more insidious struggle — one that transcends the surface and subsists across various aspects of our lives. Beyond the glitz of Hollywood, this pervasive dilemma infiltrates the minutiae of daily routines, casts a shadow over academic pursuits and propels us into the relentless pursuit of a self-constructed ideal of success. As I grapple with my journey as a recovering perfectionist, Pike’s revelation resonates deeply. It speaks to the relentless pursuit of unattainable standards — chasing straight A’s, maintaining a buzzing social life, fitting into size two jeans and securing an impressive work position for my age.

Arts & Culture

Slowthai’s ‘UGLY’ Is Anything But

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On March 3, after a two-year wait, British rapper Slowthai finally released his third studio album UGLY, the successor to 2021’s Tyron. With its raw, introspective content and meshing of hip hop with a punk-focused sound, UGLY checks all the boxes for a hard-hitting, genre-bending record that will undoubtedly and deservedly draw critical acclaim for its ambition and emotionality. By the time Tyron dropped in early 2021, I had only vaguely heard of Slowthai from rumblings that had started from his debut album Nothing Great About Britain. That project was highly regarded right off the bat, so Tyron had a fair amount of hype behind it, which I would say it lived up to. Throughout its runtime, Tyron fairly consistently stays in the mold of a conventional, trap-influenced project, but this element of mainstream conformity doesn’t take away from it being a high-quality album.