On Tuesday, March 16, a white male shot eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, six of whom were Asian American women.
The victims have been identified as Delaina Ashley Yuan, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Julie Park, 70s; and Hyeon Jeong Park, 50s.
The killer opened fire at a business and then at two spas in northeastern Atlanta. He was later identified by authorities, and his actions have been officially blamed on a possible "sex addiction" (which is not a real condition) that caused him to target the three businesses to eliminate "temptation." An officer also blamed the murder on the fact that he having a "really bad day," leading to further outrage.
In reality, the attacks are a violent continuation of a disturbing trend of anti-Asian hate crimes that have been devastating the United States over the past year.
That the victims were Asian women has led others to cite the frequent intersection of misogyny and anti-Asian racism that often manifests as orientalism and imperialism as a possible cause in the shooting. Regardless of the killer's conscious motivations, his actions resulted in the deaths of six people in a demographic that is already fearful and threatened, and they occur in the context of a rush of anti-AAPI hate crimes that are rocking the nation.
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According to a report by Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Americans have reported nearly 3,800 hate incidents over the past year. 68% involved verbal harassment and shunning, and physical violence accounted for 11%.
This is a nearly 150% increase from 2019, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University. Some of the attacks have been deadly — an 83-year-old man named Vicha Ratanapakdee was recently murdered in San Francisco; a 91-year-old man was shoved in Oakland; a 61-year-old named Noel Quintana was slashed in the face on the NYC subway.
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It's difficult to chronicle the actual number of hate crimes against AAPI communities since many go unreported, but the number appears to be rising, with over 500 committed in 2021 alone.
The day before the attack, Michelle Au — Georgia's first Asian American state senator — issued a statement on the Senate floor in protestation of the rising number of hate crimes. "Recognize that we need help, we need protection and we need people in power to stand up for us against hate," she said.
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Joe Biden has condemned the spike in hate crimes, stating, "They are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong, it's un-American and it must stop." Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke out about the attacks, stating that: "The president and I and all of us, we grieve for the loss. Our prayers are extended to the families of those who have been killed, and it speaks to a larger issue which is the issue of violence in our country and what we must do to never tolerate it and to always speak out against it."
Many blame Donald Trump's anti-Asian rhetoric and his verbal association between COVID and China for the rise in hate crimes. Despite the visible increase and this clear correlation, anti-Asian racism in America is nothing new and has a long and ugly history, though it has long gone relatively unnoticed.
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With #StopAsianHate now trending on Twitter and infographics flooding Instagram, it's easy to see parallels between this movement and the Black Lives Matter movement that spiked over the summer.
Still, most groups advocate for collective solidarity against the deadly violence of white supremacy and racism, calling for people to speak out and learn about the long history and nuances of anti-AAPI racism — instead of just turning this latest horrific tragedy into an online trend.
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It's also vital to remember that sharing information and spreading awareness is only the beginning, and white people need to show solidarity rather than taking any position of white saviorship.
If you want to support the AAPI community, here are some national organizations to donate to. You can also look into local organizations supporting your immediate community.
Stop AAPI Hate is responsible for researching and responding to racism and xenophobia. They are tracking the surge in violence and sharing information with the wider world.
Red Canary Song is a transnational grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers. They are working against police raids and deportations and believe in mutual aid and labor rights regardless of immigration status.
The Asian Mental Health Collective is working towards building a supportive community for Asians struggling with mental health. They are working to de-stigmatize mental illness and to make mental healthcare easily accessible to Asian communities worldwide.
The Asian Pacific Environmental Network fights against environmental racism in Asian American communities and builds power in immigrant and refugee communities.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice offers legal and civil rights aid for the Asian American community. They fight for housing justice, voting rights, workers' rights, and much more.
The AAF is an organization dedicated to benefiting the pan-Asian community and fighting hate crimes directly through outreach, community organizing, nonprofit leadership, and advocacy.
On November 19, southern rap legends Jeezy and Gucci Mane will battle on the season 2 premiere of Verzuz. Fellow Atlanta emcee T.I. was Jeezy's original opponent, but swapping him for Gucci Mane has piqued rap fan's interest more than the original matchup. Because, unlike a majority of the previous Verzuz's battles, this one has a lot of personal history attached.
Many in Hip-Hop believed Jeezy versus Gucci Mane would never happen. Their relationship deteriorated almost instantly after their first time working together. In 2005, their collaboration on "Icy" became a hit in the southern region. Animosity grew when both men were gearing up to release their debut albums and felt "Icy" should appear on their respective projects.
"Icy" wound up on Gucci's album Trap House. Jeezy stated that he didn't receive royalties. Both men have denied that their differences started over the song's ownership, but the tension between the two would make its way to wax shortly.
Deeper Than Rap
Gucci and Jeezy went back and forth taking shots at each other on songs, but it was Jeezy who escalated the situation. At the end of "Stay Strapped," he placed a $10,000 bounty on Gucci Mane's chain. This led to an attempted robbery on Gucci Mane at his home.
On May 10, 2005, five men entered Gucci Mane's Atlanta residence to rob him. A scuffle ensued, and Gucci shot one of the assailants. The unnamed man later succumbed to his injuries.
Later reports confirmed the individual was an associate of Jeezy's as well as one of his artists. Gucci was charged with murder but was acquitted after it had been proven that he acted in self-defense.
A New Gucci Mane
Atlanta's rap scene is often known for its unity, but the chances of Gucci and Jeezy burying the hatchet seemed slim to none. Throughout the years, both men continued to take shots at each other in interviews and on songs. Their entourages also engaged in physical altercations on their behalf.
Upon his release in 2016, Gucci Mane was a different person. A diet change saw him go from an out of shape loose cannon to a zen master with a six-pack. Fans and rappers alike joked how the new Gucci they were seeing must be a clone because the change was so drastic.
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In fact, both men seem to have grown tremendously since 2005, which prompted many within the culture to ask if a reconciliation was possible. While Gucci was incarcerated, Jeezy continued to be one of the leading voices in southern rap. He went from resident trapper to an elder statesman in Hip-Hop.
When asked about the potential of squashing the beef, Gucci and Jeezy didn't rule out the possibility. However, they admitted it wouldn't be as simple as some would believe it to be, even with their newfound maturity.
However, when asked this year if he would appear on Verzuz, Jeezy admitted that the only person he felt would be a formidable opponent was Gucci. But according to Jeezy, Gucci declined the offer. Gucci would tweet that the only way he would do Verzuz is if $1,000,000 was on the line. For many Hip-Hop fans, this signaled that this was never going to happen.
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All that changed on November 14, when Gucci Mane tweeted out that he and Jeezy would lock horns. Fans became ecstatic that the fantasy match was becoming a reality. But once the initial shock subsided, people started to question if the two men would be able to be in the same room given their history.
With over a decade of bad blood between the two of them, tonight's Verzuz battle will be arguably the most anticipated one to date. Both Gucci and Jeezy have engaged in some trash talk via social media. But is this just playful competitive banter, or are wounds that haven't fully healed beginning to reopen?
Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy will take place on Instagram and Apple Music at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.
Hott LockedN just dropped "Fake Beef," a collaboration with his label boss, 2 Chainz.
The release was accompanied by a visual directed by Paige Harmon. It's the latest of the #TRUsday singles, which have dropped every Tuesday since the start of 2020 in the lead-up to the release of 2 Chainz' label T.R.U.'s mixtape, No Face No Case.
T.R.U., which stands for The Real University, is a label founded by legendary Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz in 2019. It "posits a platform for personal success while providing a home to a rising vanguard of hip-hop talent from Atlanta's various zones," according to the press release.
With No Face No Case, T.R.U. has brought together a huge variety of rising and established talents, including Sleepy Rose, Skooly, Quavo, and more to create an intoxicating and heady collaboration, perfect for late nights and filled with equal parts rage and effortlessly undeniable star power.
Thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, it was suddenly possible to watch multiple episodes of a single TV series in one sitting without the interruptions of commercials. As the way we watched TV changed, so too did the kind of shows we watched. Gone was the overabundance of vapid, sugary-sweet sitcoms, and in came the era of political satire, dramatic comedies, and searing commentaries on everything from abortion to Hollywood. Summarily, the 2010s saw a golden age of television. Here are our 50 favorites, with the top 25 and bottom 25 listed in alphabetical order.
The Top 25 TV Shows of the 2010s
Atlanta
Atlanta first aired in 2016, with Donald Glover's Earn learning that his cousin Alfred has released a hit song under the stage name Paper Boi. Since then, the show has followed Earn's struggle to navigate different worlds as he takes over managing his cousin's burgeoning music career while also trying to be a good father to his daughter, Lottie, and to prove himself to Van, his ex-girlfriend and Lottie's mother. The show uses varying perspectives to flesh out the city of Atlanta and the complexities of being black in America with surreal touches that highlight the real-world absurdity. Yet despite the heaviness of much of its subject matter, it frequently manages to be among the funniest shows on TV.
Barry
For anyone who ever wondered whether or not SNL-alum Bill Hader could carry a serious TV show, Barry answers with an overwhelming "yes." To be clear, Barry is technically a dark comedy, or perhaps a crime comedy-drama, but Bill Hader brings a level of unprecedented seriousness to his titular character that oftentimes makes the show feel like a straight tragedy.
Playing a hitman who wants to leave his life of crime behind in order to pursue a career in acting, Bill Hader imbues Barry with an earnestness that makes us as an audience truly want him to succeed. This likability serves to make Barry's violent acts all the more disturbing. Barry's greatest success is its ability to effortlessly fluctuate between the quirks of life as a struggling actor in LA and the violent inclinations of a man who murders for a living and can never really escape that truth. It's one of the best character studies currently on TV and is sure to cement Bill Hader as an extremely versatile A-list talent.
Baskets
Baskets premiered on FX in 2016, telling the story of Chip Baskets, an aspiring clown played by Zach Galifianakis, who is moving back to Bakersfield, California to live with his mother after a failed stint at clown school in Paris. Galfianakis' talent for melancholy slapstick makes the show by turns hilarious and touching, but it's his mother Christine Baskets—artfully portrayed by Louie Anderson—whose simple enthusiasm for small-town life makes the show one of the best of the decade. Watching Christine, Chip, and his twin brother Dale (also Galifianakis) heighten relatable family drama to exquisite absurdity never gets old.
Black Mirror
Nothing would be the same without Black Mirror. Though its later seasons have been inconsistent in quality, its earliest contributions were digital horror at its finest, with some of the episodes being downright visionary in terms of how accurately they predicted the near future. From the nostalgic visions of virtual afterlife in "San Junipero" to the eerie foresight of "Nosedive" and its digital ranking systems, Black Mirror made an indelible impact.
Bob's Burgers
Whatever you've heard about Family Guy or South Park, Bob's Burgers is the true successor to the golden age of The Simpsons. The Belcher family offers an update to The Simpsons' satirical view on middle class family life that reflects how America has changed since the 90s—slightly more urban, with less overt child abuse and a lot more economic precarity. And just as with the best seasons of The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers maintains a touching core of familial love and solidarity amid the absurd hijinks and veiled political commentary. Throw in the added value of the frequently hilarious, occasionally moving musical numbers, and Bob's Burgers easily secures a spot as one of the best shows of the decade.
Bojack Horseman
In terms of the quality of its writing, BoJack Horseman outdid itself season after season. What began as a parody of Hollywood's excesses quickly turned into a searing, and boundary-pushing meditation on depression, addiction, and what it means to change (or to be unable to). Increasingly self-aware and conscious of its hypocritical tendency to obsess over the misadventures of an evil but sympathetic celebrity, thereby glorifying them while criticizing them, BoJack Horseman is the political, devastating, timely, often hilarious show about an animated horse that none of us knew we needed. It's buoyed by the strength of its secondary characters, from the workaholic Princess Carolyn to asexual Todd to self-loathing Diane, and altogether the show takes deep-rooted fears that many share and refracts them in a funhouse mirror that's impossible to look away from.
Broad City
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson began producing an independent web series about their struggles to "make it" in New York City in 2009. Soon, Amy Poehler took interest in the series, and it moved to Comedy Central in 2014. The smash hit comedy was not only laugh-out-loud funny, but a beautiful portrait of a genuinely healthy, supportive female friendship—something TV has historically seen little of. Broad City can be credited for helping to usher in a new generation of female comedy creators and has become a cultural touchstone for millenials.
Catastrophe
Catastrophe, created and written by the show's stars, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, is one of the realest, grossest, and funniest takes on love and the mess of life. Two people entering middle age meet and hit it off, they spend a reckless night together, and when she gets pregnant, they decide to make things work—not realizing how complicated that will be. It's a simple enough premise, but the cutting dialogue and the absurd comedy that plays out as two near-strangers build a life together make Catastrophe one of a kind.
Fargo
Anthology series like True Detective and American Horror Story can be really hit or miss, but in the three seasons that have aired on FX since 2014, Fargo has been consistently great. Maybe it has to do with the leisurely production schedule, the all-star cast, or the near-perfect movie that forms the basis for its tone, but whatever the cause, Fargo delivers murderous midwestern tragicomedy better than any show on TV—and nearly as well as the original. Season three, which followed the rivalry of the Stussy brothers—as played by Ewan McGregor—deserves a particular call-out, with season four due next year and featuring Chris Rock, Timothy Olyphant, and Jason Schwartzman.
Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's stage-play-turned-two-season-TV masterpiece took the world by storm at the end of the 2010s. In the series, the viewer is made into the protagonist's (an unnamed woman played by Bridge) confidante as she uses sex to cope with grief and complicated family dynamics. As the show progresses, the closely protected inner life of the protagonist begins to reveal itself. Many consider the second season to be an essentially perfect season of television, in large part because of the hot priest (played by Andrew Scott). Fleabag is a funny, searing commentary on what it means to exist as a sexual, complicated being in a world with ever-changing expectations of women.
Grace and Frankie
70 is the new 30, or 20, or whatever arbitrary year of life we as a culture are deciding to glorify for no reason, because age is just a number. If you weren't aware that Jane Fonda glowed with money or that Lily Tomlin is our collective spiritual mother, then Grace and Frankie enlightened you. When two septuagenarian women are told that their husbands are gay and in love with each other, the best phase of their lives begins.
Haikyu!!
It's almost 2020, the world is upside down, and yes, an anime about high school volleyball is genuinely one of the best shows of the decade. Haikyu!!, literally "Volleyball" in Japanese, is about the trials and tribulations of the Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball Team. Unlike pretty much every other high school sports anime out there, Haikyu!! takes a relatively realistic approach to...well...high schoolers playing sports. In doing so, Haikyu!! translates the genuine passion that goes into high school sports and the real dynamics of teamwork, better than any other show I've ever seen.
The protagonist, Hinata, isn't a superpowered Volleyball God; he's an extremely short boy who can't reach the top of the net, but works his butt off because he loves the game. Likewise, all the other boys in Haikyu!! have realistic strengths and weaknesses (both on and off the court) that they work to overcome with help from their teammates. Haikyu!! is an exercise in wholesomeness––there are no villains, just other kids at other schools who love the same sport our boys do––and in a decade full of so much bitterness, it's a much needed dose of medicine.
Hunter x Hunter
For anyone who likes long-running shonen anime, Hunter x Hunter is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of the genre. While the original manga began publication in 1998, and a previous anime adaptation ran from 1999-2001, the 2011 adaptation re-started the series from scratch and, most importantly, covered the Chimaera Ant arc (or season––kind of––for you non-anime watchers).
The entirety of Hunter x Hunter is fantastic, featuring likeable protagonists, dastardly villains, and a brilliantly creative power system called "Nen." But there's a reason the Chimaera Ant arc is often considered the greatest shonen arc ever, and that's because it's a total deconstruction of the genre's tropes and conventions. Everything from the "always optimistic protagonist" to "the ultimate evil villain" is turned completely inside-out. The Chimaera Ant arc is intensely brutal and ultimately poignant, making us question the very nature of what makes us human.
Killing Eve
Phoebe Waller-Bridge can do no wrong, and even if she could and did, I'd probably still clap. The combination of Waller-Bridge's cutting wit and Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer's flawless performances makes for a TV show that never quite lets you find your balance before sending you spinning again. It's dark and surreal, while managing to still be deeply human.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Being a professional stand-up comedienne is hard, but being Midge Maisel is wrapping chaos in a designer dress. Created by the fast-talking husband and wife behind Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel created a stage for Rachel Brosnahan to showcase her comedic timing and Alex Borstein to be a solid, deadpan pillar within Mrs. Maisel's world of quippy, fast-talking, energy. Also Michael Zegen (Joel) is dead cute.
Mob Psycho 100
While One Punch Man might be manga artist One's best known series (and is fantastic in its own right), his other series, Mob Psycho 100,is profound in a way quite unlike anything else I've seen. The show revolves around Mob, an awkward, unconfident middle school boy with god-like psychic powers. Any other shonen anime would use this premise as a gateway to epic battles (and there are a few, and their animation is absolutely incredible), but Mob Psycho 100 focuses far more on the coming-of-age angle instead.
See, Mob doesn't like his psychic powers because they make him feel weird. So instead of focusing on the one thing he's innately talented at but doesn't like, Mob tries to improve himself in the ways he actually cares about improving––making friends, talking to girls, working out with his school's Body Improvement Club. If anything, Mob's incredible psychic powers are a backdrop for the show's larger message––that no person, no matter what natural abilities they may have, is better than anyone else. Mob Psycho 100 shows that everyone has their own struggles, and that the only person you should ever hold yourself up in comparison to is the person you were yesterday.
The OA
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's labyrinthine show only ran for two seasons, but it managed to earn a cult following during that time. Deeply weird, profoundly earnest, and full to the brim with observations on the connections between the environment, parallel universes, and technology, the two seasons that we do have are irreplaceable and paradigm-shifting examples of what TV could become, if we let ourselves believe.
Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman's post-grad rebellious stage went from a felony to a cultural touchstone. As Netflix's most-watched original series, OITNB boasted a female-led cast and cutting commentary on race, class, and the industrial prison complex.
PEN15
Those who didn't have a gruelingly awkward middle school experience are, by scientific evidence, simply inhuman. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle tell it best in Hulu original PEN15, which co-stars the real-life BFFs (who also wrote and executive produced together) as 13-year-olds. Here, there's no sugarcoating the calamities of tweenhood, whether they're as trivial as thongs and AIM messaging or as weighty as race identity. All delivered with Erskine and Konkle's razor-sharp wit, it's absolutely hysterical to anyone who's lived past the seventh grade.
Rick and Morty
"To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head."
Okay, so first things first, we need to separate Rick and Morty from the Rick and Morty fandom. The Rick and Morty fandom is so annoying that memes making fun of them are barely distinguishable from the things they actually say. But, to be fair, Rick and Morty really is a great show full of smart writing, surprisingly deep characterization, and the exact kind of bizarre, abstract humor that lends itself perfectly to endless memes. No doubt, Rick and Morty will be the defining animated comedy of the 2010s.
Russian Doll
This tightly-wound and big-hearted thriller stars Natasha Lyonne as a jaded New Yorker who gets caught in a loop in time and has to relive the night of her 36th birthday party over and over again. A perfect blend of humor and seriousness, and riddled with quantum leaps and profound connections, it's as satisfying as it is provocative.
Shameless
We fell in love with the trainwreck family the Gallaghers when it debuted on Showtime in 2011. William H. Macy brought so much toxic charm to the abusive and neglectful father Frank Gallagher that we actually found him, if not likable, then good television. Emmy Rossum managed to cause tears and laughter within the same scene, and the entire cast was as impressive as their characters were appalling.
Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
After the first season of Attack on Titan premiered in 2013, it received so much hype that even people outside of the anime community were raving about it. The show featured an incredibly high-concept premise, following the last surviving humans as they tried to fight back against giant, man-eating monsters called Titans. Had Attack on Titan stuck to that premise, it would have been top-notch action-horror, albeit not necessarily one of the best shows of the decade.
But Attack on Titan turned out to be so much bigger than its initial premise. As the seasons progressed, Attack on Titan reshaped itself time and time again, leading viewers through an increasingly complex, expertly plotted narrative featuring some of the most compelling characters and intensely emotional moments that I've ever experienced in fiction. At its core, Attack on Titan is a deeply thematic contemplation on war, othering, and humanity's will to survive against impossible odds, alongside the moral sacrifices they oftentimes make to do so.
Shrill
It shouldn't be revolutionary for a show to feature a fat female lead, but it is. Shrill, the brilliant Hulu adaptation of Lindy West's memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, gave audiences a badly needed narrative about a woman who is actively seeking to change her life for the better, in ways that have nothing to do with her body. It's funny, it's heartfelt, and it shows a woman getting an abortion and finding it empowering. Woah. Hell yes.
Steven Universe
When Steven Universe first aired on Cartoon Network in 2013, it was a light-hearted and silly children's show with some super-powered action from the Crystal Gems and a lot of silly jokes from their sidekick—the childish titular character. Since then an entire galaxy has been fleshed out around the boardwalk of Beach City where much of the show takes place. Along with the alien gem creatures and their elaborate history, the show has introduced us to a cast of characters that have grown and changed—overcoming insecurities and facing complex questions of love and identity. While Steven matured and developed into a hero worthy of his last name, the show evolved to become one of the best of the decade.
Why does Bill Murray want to work at the P.F. Chang's in the Atlanta Airport?
In his recent appearance on Amy Schumer's podcast 3 Girls 1 Keith, Murray expressed his admiration for that specific branch of the "Chinese" restaurant chain, remarking that it's "one of the great places."
Trip Advisor
Anyone who's eaten at a P.F. Chang's can see the issue with this statement, and if you never have, you can simulate the experience at home with their range of microwaveable frozen meals. At best, it's an underwhelming pastiche of east Asian cuisine. At worst, it's an underpaid service job in the world's busiest airport. Is Bill Murray just being his wacky, random self, inserting himself into random contexts to the surprise and delight of strangers? Or maybe you think he was making some ironic commentary on the hellish existence of corporate service employment. No, no, and wrong. Bill Murray knows something that we don't about Concourse A of the Atlanta Airport.
The DIA is just the distraction to keep us from looking too closely at the real evil airport. Bill Murray has given us the key. He didn't say that the P.F. Chang's there is a great place. He said it's "One of the Great Places." It's time to go full-on Jeff Goldblum-in-Independence Day and crack this conspiracy wide open.
First, the evidence: Coca-Cola and CNN. I dare you to think of two organizations more aligned with elite global power than those. And where are they headquartered? New York? LA? Denver? No. They're both in Atlanta! We've already covered that Atlanta's airport is the busiest in the entire world, with more than 50 million travelers passing through each year. How else would you hide the dark, illicit activity of the Illuminati headquarters, if not through a constant flurry of human activity? ATL is also the hub for Delta Airlines—a famously evil company—and Delta is the triangular Greek symbol for change, as in: "the Illuminati uses the Delta Sky Club in Concourse A of the Atlanta Airport as the control center for changing the course of global events."
Next, Bill Murray. He does whatever he wants at all times and seems to be fully immune to cancellation. He's done some genuinely terrible stuff, yet the whole world loves to fawn over him. Is all that adulation just good will left over from Caddy Shack and other movies where he attempts to murder large burrowing rodents? Impossible. The only answer is that he controls his reputation as a member of the Illuminati, with access to all the Elite Powers and Great Places that membership entails.
And finally P.F. Chang's. Other than the fact that it's not the real name of any person ever, and must therefore stand for Powerful Forces (of) Chang(e), what's suspicious about this location in particular? How about the fact that it opens at 6:30 AM? Every other location I've found is closed before 11:00 AM. Who in the world wants to eat bad fake Chinese food pre-dawn? Not even bad fake Chinese people want that. There must be another purpose!
At this point the only explanation should be obvious, but I'll spell it out so the Powers That Be know that I'm watching them: The P.F. Chang's in the Atlanta International Airport contains a secret entrance into the Illuminati's subterranean headquarters, and Bill Murray was expressing his desire to move up in the ranks and gain access to the highest levers of power. We'll have to wait and see how Beyonce and Zuckerberg and Jonathan Taylor Thomas choose to respond.
Troop Brand's debut, Carpe Diem, has arrived, perfectly set to close out the summer.
The rapper-singer's debut album is, in his own words, "organized chaos." Pulling sounds and concepts from all over pop music, Brand's eclectic and elastic hip-hop/R&B hybrid doesn't try to nail down one sound during its runtime. Instead, the sense of experimentation is what makes Carpe Diem the album that it is: an up-and-coming artist's flex, an attempt to cover as much ground as possible while keeping his soul intact. The result is dizzying fun. Bangers like "Wave" and "Lituation" keep the album's heartbeat up and pumping, smooth heartbreakers "Melting" and "Poison" showcase a confident handle on throwback-R&B, and more contemplative tracks like "Cherry Trees" and "Workin" draw a path from Mississippi to the chaotic present of an artist on the rise. At the center of the project's impressive sonic reach is Troop Brand himself, the charming polymath bringing an old-style musicality to modern hip-hop.
Brand sat down with Popdust to discuss the production of Carpe Diem, his artistic philosophy, his fascinating childhood, and what's carried him all the way to the release of his debut album.
So the album was a big collaborative process?
Yeah, it was a collaborative process, and it wasn't all just for me. Some of the songs that were done—other artists took them for their projects. And the stuff that I felt like, "Oh, this is coming from my heart, from my experiences," those are the ones I wanted to keep for my own project.
You were born in Mississippi, your career's taken off in Atlanta. When you were growing up, who were you listening to that shaped your tastes? Who do you want your listeners to identify you with?
When I was growing up, I was in a family that was split between two extremes. My mom's side of the family [were] heavily religious, always in church, always wanted me in the choir. My dad's side of the family owned clubs and party spots in the city. So from my dad's side, I was listening to all the current hip-hop and the old school juke-joint songs, and my mom's side is listening to all gospel. So I got a good blend, and just from my vocal training and the style I bring, a lot of people say I remind them of a new-school Marvin Gaye. They say "new school" because Marvin Gaye didn't rap, but if Marvin Gaye were still with us right now, and he was in his twenties, and he was listening to rap: That's how I sound.
You pull from so many genres on Carpe Diem: There's rap and R&B and soul, elements of rock and pop, even notes of jazz and disco. What are you trying to achieve when you blend together these different genres?
Most of the time, the hardest part with doing this album was making it sound like an album. I go off of emotions, off of feels. On one record, I may be feeling cocky, like on "Wave." Like that's a record where I'm the sh*t, I feel good, and it's a f*cking great day, I'm feeling amazing right now. Then there are more intimate ones, like "Poison," where I'm feeling like, "This girl is bad for me." They're two totally different tones, and if you played both of those songs back to back, there's probably no way anyone would assume they're from the same artist. So the tricky part was having two songs like that: how to put them on the same album and have the album flow in a specific way. It's organized chaos. I am all over the place as far as the different styles and the different things that I pull from, but I think I bring them home in a good way.
There is a sense of narrative progression going on in Carpe Diem. That's something that's really important to you?
Oh yeah, definitely. I had all the songs; the part that took the longest was actually putting them in a specific order, or putting them in a place where you can digest the entire album and feel like it's a project. One of the things that really helped it out—a lot of people don't know this, but I went to school for theater and set design and writing—so a group of my film buddies and I got together and wrote a screenplay to the entire album. So the album is kind of a soundtrack to this film that I wanna do. I wanna shoot the whole film and maybe do the release in Atlanta, but that's gonna take place after the music. But yeah, [the album's] gonna be set to a film.
So you grew up in the choir, and you're a classically-trained opera singer. Those are two really specific styles of music with their own histories. For a young musician coming up, those must have had a big influence on you.
Yeah, man. My mom was a musician, and twenty to thirty years ago, she was going down a similar path. The only difference was her family didn't support her; they didn't have faith in a music career. My mom had me when she was on tour. I was a little baby going with her. When I got a little older, she would always push me to do music, push me to pursue the talent that I had.
Singing in the church was definitely the start of the path that I'm on right now. As I got older, I didn't like doing it—you know when you're young, if your parents ever make you do something, the older you get, you're like, "I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna do it?" So she had me singing in the choir, and when I got a little older she put me in the opera choir, the Mississippi Boy's Choir. And I did not like it. [Laughs] The older I got, the more I wanted to be cool, wanted to get girls, and be looked at as, "Oh, he's a cool guy." And unfortunately, singing in an all-guy opera choir wasn't cool at the time. I stayed there for four years, and I felt like I got the training I needed. Once every three months, I would drive five to six hours in the mountains in Mississippi, and we'd be up in a little camp area, and we'd be running up and down the mountain singing f*cking opera music. It was crazy. It was all about vocal training and breath training, but it's crazy. It definitely helped me get to where I am now. Now I'm glad.
What's the story behind the name? Did you come up with "Carpe Diem" later in the process, or was that something you had in mind when you went into the studio?
"Carpe diem" was something that always stuck out to me. I don't remember the first time I heard it, but I remember the effect it had on me: "Seize the day." To me, that's one of the most important things, especially as an entrepreneur and independent musician. You have to make the most out of every day. My alarm on my phone says, "Carpe diem," and I have it printed on my mirror: "Carpe diem." It's just a reminder for me to get off my ass and get what I want, because it's not gonna come to me. It's all about making the most of what you have.
Troop Brand - Knocking On Doors [Official Music Video]www.youtube.com
So, on that idea of seizing the day, seizing your moment: Carpe Diem is the story of your come-up. How important was it for you to document that story—what you've been working for, how you got here, what you might have sacrificed along the way?
I feel like everything is a process. A lot of times, you hear about an overnight success story, and most of the time it takes three or four years to make an overnight success. I think the struggles are definitely part of it. You have to have these struggles to help you get where you're going, and they help you become who you are. If you got stuff without struggles, then you really wouldn't value it. It wouldn't mean that much to you. Just having the courage to step into the music industry—it takes a lot, because it's not guaranteed...It's not the easiest field to pursue. And most of the time you won't get support from your family, because they don't understand. Like, "Oh, you're trying to be a singer? You gotta go get you a 9-to-5, so you make some money." It's hard. Investing the time and money into doing this, it definitely makes you appreciate it, makes you value it, [and] it makes you work harder. It's real.
You have this new project coming out, and you're going on tour in support of it soon: It's all happening. What do you want your new fans to know about you and what you're trying to do?
I just want them to hear the music—it's the whole reason I made Carpe Diem. I want people to realize they're not alone in their struggles. Everybody out here, we're all human, [and] we all make mistakes. Enjoy life. And if you see me on the road, let's turn up.