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Lifestyle/Reviews

Joey Bada$$: the young rapper speaks his mind

With the very tense political and social climate in America today, many artists have taken the initiative to base their work on amplifying their injustices and those of their people. With the release of his third studio album, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, New York rapper Joey Bada$$ put together an album that exemplifies that theme in a way where most others haven’t been able to. On his previous albums, Joey’s style has been a hard-hitting, 90’s style of rap, with a flow that was very hard and emotional. On All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, he changes this up. Not only does he come in with a lot of melodic singing on “For My People,” “Temptation,” and the hit single “Devastated,” but he shows off his classic New York influence on “Rockabye Baby,” “Super Predator,” and “Ring the Alarm.” Joey’s main theme on this album is his view on the current climate for African-Americans in the… Keep Reading

Lifestyle/Movies/Reviews

All action in “Fate of the Furious”

From the series inception in 2001, the ‘Fast and the Furious’ has become Universal’s greatest franchise. It delivered financially once again as the 8th film in the series generating the largest opening weekend earnings of all time with $532.5 million globally in the box office. “The Fate of the Furious” departs the story away from the Brian O’Conner (previously played by the late Paul Walker) while staying true to the action that made the series famous. Opening with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) honeymoon in Cuba, the movie quickly jumps into scenes of fast driving and aggressive action. Dom quickly defeats Raldo, a man seeking to repossess his cousin’s car, and chooses to give his current car to his cousin. This seeks to emphasize Dom’s commitment to “family” which is a topic repeatedly touched on in the previous films. Dom faces a huge obstacle when approached by Cipher… Keep Reading

Lifestyle

eSports expand across campus

Across the country, sports have embedded themselves as a primary part of college campuses, with students participating both as players and fans. In recent years, eSports, or competitive video gaming has risen in popularity. To date, 12 college varsity eSports teams are officially operated by universities, with some players receiving athletic scholarships. Teams primarily compete on popular PC games such as DOTA 2 and League of Legends (LoL). Countless more teams are operated as student clubs. St. Cloud State also has a student-run eSports organization lead by its President, Justin Schmidt, after being founded almost five years ago by Kevin Angell. Schmidt is a double major in Biomedical Science and Communications Studies with a plan to become a chiropractor. Much of the clubs success Schmidt attributes to the help of his fellow members and officers. Initially, the club centered exclusively around LoL, but quickly expanded into other games as well.… Keep Reading

Lifestyle/Movies/Reviews

Belko Experiment: Not for the faint of heart – or anyone

After seeing the trailer for, “The Belko Experiment” I was definitely expecting some dark and/or gory moments. The movie portrays a government office in the middle of nowhere, where the workers get too-good-to-be-true benefits, and they all have a “tracking device” in their head. However, nothing could have prepared me for the gore I witnessed. The film’s plot takes shape through a voice over the loudspeaker in their 80- person office building, telling the workers that if 30 of them aren’t dead within the next hour, 60 of them will be dead. The workers all laugh as if it’s a complete joke, until large, metal doors that are unbreakable come down over every window and door in the building, trapping the workers inside. At first, everyone besides a few believe that this has to be an elaborate hack or prank. That is – until the killing starts. The first death… Keep Reading

Lifestyle/Music

Kendrick Lamar’s new album: what we know and what to expect

After releasing the EP untitled unmastered in early 2016, rap and music fans alike have been starving for new music by the king of the rap game – Kendrick Lamar. And, in a surprise, he has recently released two amazing singles, and has announced an album that will be released on April 7. On March 23, the rap industry was shook up, as Kendrick Lamar dropped a new track out of nowhere. That morning, Kendrick had deleted all of his prior Instagram posts, and he uploaded a single image with the Roman numeral “IV”, which many thought signified that his fourth album would be coming. Instead, that night, Kendrick dropped a new track titled, “The Heart Part Four.” This song was one of Kendrick’s most unique that he has ever released. The song starts off with an easy-going, pop type of vibe. After the first chorus, the beat switches to… Keep Reading

Gallery/Lifestyle/The Shot

Guillermo del Toro gets spooky with ‘At Home With Monsters’ exhibit at Mia

Guillermo del Toro’s, “At Home With Monsters” exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) was more than a traditional art exhibit with only one theme and one focus. And it was more than just monsters. It invoked the inspiration and beauty behind peculiar, quirky and horrific characters. “Where does creativity come from?” Was the goal behind the exhibition, Kayin Feldman, President of Mia and the spark behind this carefully curated exhibit said. From a purely visual perspective, the “At Home With Monsters” exhibit is a collaboration of del Toro’s immense collection of art, movie props, books, artifacts, comics and sculptures from Bleak House – his two-story “man cave” in Los Angeles that houses over 10,000 items, collected over his entire lifetime. Looking in further, the exhibit is really a collection of influence and vision that del Toro has had throughout his life. He worked closely with Mia to curate… Keep Reading

Events/Gallery/Lifestyle/The Shot

Skate Unity Fundraiser creates art and opportunities for area skaters

The Skate Unity fundraiser, hosted by The Youth Shelter Supply (YSS), started on March 24 and ran through Saturday evening, April 1 at The White Horse in downtown St. Cloud. For the 11th year, the event marks an opportunity for local artists to showcase their skills while helping others in the community. YSS handed out blank skateboards for artists to design on and the finished products were put up for sale during a silent auction all week. All of the money raised from the auction this year will go towards the St. Cloud Skate Camp – a free summer camp for kids learning to skate. We caught up with some of the artists to find out more about their motives and designs. Art was something which was long a part of many of the artist’s lives, and the event gave them an opportunity to further express themselves. Madison Holler, a… Keep Reading

Lifestyle/Movies/Reviews

Ghost in the Shell: factory recall recommended

For a good number of people, the 1996 film “Ghost in the Shell” (GitS) is classic dystopic cyberpunk. A movie about investigating terror plots and internal political chess games in an age where you can ‘physically’ move on the internet; it can easily be said that it is a movie for those people who like their movies to have an intellectual meat to their fantasy. For fans of the series, there is only one real debate in the community that resurfaces: ‘Which is better, subtitles or the English voice dub. The reboot/remake/homage clip show that is “Ghost in the Shell” (2017) decided to attempt to bring both camps of the debate together. What results from this combination is just one example of a growing hypothesis that the movie development team had little to no idea what they were doing outside visuals. I am certain that, outside the actors’ costs, the… Keep Reading

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