ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE, A Love Song for Latasha, and Parable of the Sower
Featuring a podcast episode with A.G.
Welcome to the forty-fourth installation of The Q : your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations.
Album
ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE by BROCKHAMPTON
BROCKHAMPTON let the story of their group get bigger than their music. They went from being fun disruptors of a corrupt industry, to so thoroughly entrenched in the ugliness of the industry that their music became taboo itself. Their last album GINGER was overwhelmed by the mythos they created for themselves. The members of BROCKHAMPTON felt reluctant to embrace the constant drama that they were embroiled in, yet that made the drama become absolutely unavoidable and it permeated through every track. Thankfully, BROCKHAMPTON’s newest project ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE moves past the anger and brings them back to what they do best. ROADRUNNER is full of summer-ready, bangers, innovative production, and creative song structures.
Film
A Love Song for Latasha directed by Sophia Nahli Allison
In historical contexts, Latasha Harlins’ name is inseparable from her tragic death — a victim of another racially-motivated shooting in a country that continuously fails to acknowledge that the cost of racism is someone’s life — and more. However, to remember someone solely for their end is de-humanizing, as their life existed independent of such an inconsolable and unjust event. Like others who have died in the hands of an unjust system that does not seek to protect its people, Harlins was someone’s daughter, niece, classmate, and best friend. She was a lively girl who woke up each morning with a day full of possibilities.
Book
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
When I first picked up Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) I could hardly put it down; I was entranced. I felt a mix of adrenaline and excitement akin to rubbernecking a car accident as I drove, white-knuckled on the highway. How did Butler manage to paint a world set in the future that is so eerily similar to the world we are living in today while maintaining that element of science fiction that keeps me turning the pages? And, once I started noticing these chilling similarities, I couldn’t stop. So much of the world that Butler has created holds a clear parallel to the past, present, and potential future. This is truly a cautionary tale that may come true if we are not careful.
Playlist
Teresa’s “April ‘21” features serpentwithfeet, Tei Shi, and Mustafa
Teresa’s favorite track: “Yours Truly” by Mello Music Group
Description: Summer is almost here and this playlist prepares you for ~better~ days ahead!!
Podcast
Episode #44: Orange Soda and an Interview with A.G.
On this week's episode, Sam and Teresa interview A.G. over a glass of orange soda. A.G. is a London-based DJ, radio host, and producer. Not only is she a familiar face at local night clubs in London, but her voice is also recognizable as the host of the popular MnM Show on NTS and Rinse FM, The Grime Show on Rinse, and as co-host with BBC AZN Network's Manara on their show Beauty Blender. Her most recent project, 333, was released in February of this year. A.G. talks to Teresa and Sam about blending genres, DJing in quarantine, as well as her love for Pokémon.
