Hey Fam, 

It has been a week. As always, there’s no shortage of headlines. Things for Dallas sports fans have gone from bad to worse with Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury. Travis Kelce announced he’s returning for another season after last year left a bad taste in his mouth. Time will tell if the Big Yeti has anything left to give. Daredevil is out on Disney+. I’ll say it again…watch it. We have to take a minute to commend LeLongevity. LeBron James hit a new milestone in his historic career crossing the 50,000 point threshold. Saquon Barkley recently signed a contract extension making him the highest paid running back in the history of the NFL. I was ready to pay him myself after the backwards hurdle quite frankly. This is my feel-good story of the week. Good things do happen to good people.

Finally, I have a bone to pick with USPS. The Oscars were last Sunday and once again my invitation to the Carters’ Gold Party got lost in the mail. I had my fit ready and everything :’) No worries though. I’m going to do the next best thing and post the pictures like I was there because the people of God stepped out. My condolences to those of you who were invested in either half of the Aaron Pierre-Teyana Taylor coupling. They look locked in.

Now that I’ve aired my grievances for the day, let’s dive in!

Keep Your Sexy Songs

If you had a pulse and were under the age of 65 in the last calendar year, you probably heard about the rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. It was not good…for Drake. Towards the end I honestly considered petitioning the refs to implement the mercy rule because I felt so bad for Aubrey. Then he actually did that when he sued Kendrick and Universal Music Group essentially for hurting his feelings. Euphoria is my favorite product of the beef and I have zero qualms turning it up now. 

Nobody really questioned if Drake would recover. His catalog is deep and he’s demonstrated a willingness to reinvent himself over and over. In fact, I think people were excited for Drake’s comeback. Because what do you do when you get knocked down in a fight? Pick yourself up and knock the other guy out.

In this case, my expectations were for an album with limited features on the level of Take Care. 

Before this beef, Drake was The Guy. HNIC, if you will. His job was to show Kendrick and his “friends” who were dancing on stage at his funeral in LA that coming at the crown has a price. Remind us why you’re the biggest name in rap. Wipe Kendrick off the charts because your follow-up project was so good the songs are individually occupying the top spots on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Instead, we got $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. [Hold because I might be sick.] Not only is this album entirely skippable. It’s a collaboration project with PARTYNEXTDOOR. Drake basically said:

The songs on this album blend together into a pretty sleepy ordeal. I was eight songs in before I heard something interesting (Pimmie’s Dilemma). Nokia is absolutely the best song on the album (track 14). Truthfully, that’s only because of the production. It still leaves a lot to be desired lyrically.

This project feels like Drake felt he had to say something but wasn’t ready to put out the project he knows is required of him to reclaim the throne. And to be clear, I love PARTYNEXTDOOR. However, the quality of this album feels like Party just wanted to get Drake on a project for a discounted price. They both could have and should have made better projects on their own. 

The fact that this album is charting on the Billboard 200, while none of its songs are, tells me everything I need to know. People are listening to the album out of curiosity because Drake is who he is. Then, they realize it’s incredibly mid and don’t listen again.

Do better Drake. I won’t hold y’all though. I’m still listening to the pre-CLB catalog. That body of work can’t be touched. 

Mutt

When’s the last time you checked on Leon Thomas? The Backyardigans? Victorious? Insecure?

It’s my immense pleasure to tell you he’s doing quite well. Leon’s making his bones in music these days. He’s a solo artist and half of production duo The Rascals. His sophomore album Mutt dropped last fall and it’s been on repeat for me lately. Leon also graced the Tiny Desk stage last month to promote it. I’d highly recommend you see for yourself. 

For my money, Leon is one of the most talented people in the industry and I think people are starting to take notice. You can watch him perform and tell he’s pulling from a real, vulnerable place. It’s made even better by his incredible voice. What do I mean? Leon has phenomenal control. He sings the way you’d play an instrument. It’s highly-technical and seemingly  effortless almost to the point of being mechanical, except he’s still so expressive.

His art has the raw emotion that only sing-songwriters can offer. It also has incredible polish. The production is ridiculously good. However, this comes as no surprise. What most people don’t know is Leon has quietly established himself as one of the most successful producers in popular contemporary music. 

Leon got his start making hits with his Victorious co-star, Ariana Grande. His fingerprints are all over early tracks like Honeymoon Avenue, Tattooed Heart, and Santa Baby. They teamed up again for Ariana’s monster album, Positions, on the tracks Nasty and Safety Net.

[Side note: It’s NO mystery why Positions is so good. The producers and songwriters that worked on it include Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Leon Thomas, and Priscilla Renea (Muni Long). Today, each of them are venerated songwriters and rising solo artists in their own right. Ari had an embarrassment of riches to help her bring Positions to life.] 

Aside from working with Ariana Grande, Leon has worked with other major artists including Toni Braxton, Drake, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, and Kehlani. Of course, he won a Grammy for his work writing and producing SZA’s hit song Snooze.

You might notice as you peruse Leon’s discography that he shares a lot of credits with Kenneth B. Edmonds. Yes, it’s THAT Kenneth Edmonds. One of Leon’s primary mentors is music legend and super-producer, Babyface. I’m telling you he’s the real deal.

Don’t waste anymore time not being a Leon Thomas fan. Scroll back up and watch the videos linked above. Then, the next time you’re alone in your house or car, put on Breaking Point. After you wipe your tears, you’ll probably want to play it five more times. Thank me later.

Best What?

The 97th Academy Awards were both historic and surprising. Paul Tazewell made history as the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design (Wicked). Anora upset a number of favorites, nearly sweeping the major categories. 

• Best Picture

• Best Director

• Best Original Screenplay

• Best Film Editing

• Best Actress

Sean Baker made history as the first person to win four Oscars in one night for the same movie. He also tied Walt Disney for most awards won in a single ceremony. 

Congratulations to all of the winners. Perhaps predictably, I’m focused on the history that didn’t happen Sunday. Cynthia Erivo (38), was nominated for Best Actress (Wicked), and a win would’ve made her the youngest person to achieve the EGOT (winning all four major performing arts awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).

I can’t stress enough how much, in my very biased opinion, she deserves to be a member of this elite club. Truthfully, I don’t know if there’s a better singer than Cynthia Erivo alive right now. And she brings it every time! 

Wicked is no exception. The music of the film is notoriously challenging, but the way she did it you would’ve thought Cynthia was breezing through her ABCs. Cynthia also brought wonderful depth to her interpretation of Elphaba. As a matter of fact, I think I just talked myself into watching again tonight. 

Here’s the thing:  I figured Cynthia wasn’t going to win because the Oscars have a problem. 

The Academy doesn’t like musicals, or anything fun really. This includes other genres like Horror and Superhero films. 

The thought is that the narratives aren’t as strong and genre films don’t allow actors to have as dynamic performances as with Drama. This is like if someone said Cabernet Sauvignon is the only wine worthy of winning a prize because the other varietals aren’t as complex.

The issue is they aren’t trying to accomplish the same thing!

Well, they are, but not in the same way. All films want to entertain an audience. Drama films, however, often have ‘higher’ motives like education and social commentary. Genre films generally strive to make the most entertaining version of a subcategory. They want to give the people what they want. 

I don’t agree that choosing the latter inherently makes a movie worse. The assumption is that films and filmmakers can’t maintain their artistic integrity and simultaneously be concerned with how a given project will be received. 

This is a stupid argument. Every choice made on set is to evoke a stronger response from the audience. If anything, genre films have an advantage over Dramas because they know more about their audience and, accordingly, can make better choices to evoke the desired response. 

The work is not better or worse. It’s just different. Many Hollywood folks will respond by citing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as an example of what’s wrong with genre films. “They’re lazy and formulaic.”

Ok, so? (I disagree by the way.) Why does one franchise disqualify every other movie from serious consideration? Don’t you want people to see your movie? Isn’t the industry in crisis because people have stopped going to movie theatres?

Popularity isn’t held against projects under consideration for the major awards in other mediums (Music, Television, and Broadway). In fact, it’s somewhat of an indicator of the likelihood to win. I’d even argue that the winners of the other awards have more cultural staying power for this reason. 

The focus of voting Academy members should be on whether a film has substance. 

Not all superhero movies are devoid of complex storytelling. And not all musicals are superficial. Just don’t nominate the ones that are basic. However, if a movie gets to the point of being a finalist, it should warrant everyone’s fair, careful consideration.

No one should care about the kind of movie or performance that should win. How about the best one?

I think the definition of “Best” should consider the audience’s response. It’s for an audience that these movies are made in the first place. Why go through the entire creative process with fans in mind and then disregard them for awards season? If you want to be picky, do it with the SAG Awards.

Valuing audience feedback is an acknowledgement of fans’ support and more effectively cycles money back into studios to make more meaningful projects. There is a middle ground between making exactly what an audience wants to see and a movie that tells a compelling and interesting story. 

To exist in this middle ground is all I ask of you, Hollywood. Will Shrek 5 be a serious Best Picture contender? Probably not. 

Wicked was. And Cynthia should have her EGOT.

The Last Word

Fans always get to have the last word. Give us your take. Reply to this message for the chance to be featured.

Here’s what you had to say about Vol. 004: