Tha Wolf on Wall Street, Minari, and The Stationery Shop
Featuring a podcast with New York Lab.
Welcome to the thirty-fourth installation of The Q : your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE….As The Q expands, we are looking for more people to join our wonderful team! If you are interested, please check out the slide deck below detailing the various roles and experiences open for applications.
Album
Tha Wolf on Wall Street by Your Old Droog and Tha God Fahim
What happens when two of the most controversial rappers on the planet team up while they’re in their creative primes? It turns out that they create one of the most relaxing yet motivational releases in recent memory.
Film
Minari directed by Isaac Lee Chung
Minari is excellent, not due to the story’s classic-ness, but because it cuts through broad visibility and portrays a very specific experience — one rooted in Chung’s inherent understanding of the dynamics between self and family, of attempting to call a piece of land you were not born in “home,” and of building a life that feels grounded — no matter how foreign that concept sometimes feels.
Book
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
Through The Stationery Shop, Marjan Kamali inspires us to explore the beautiful mystery of our fate. Roya Joon and Bahman Aslan remind us that our futures are not necessarily our own, and that true love prevails over the barriers of time, space, and social class.
Playlist
Sam’s “Snow Day” features Nick Hakim, Cleo Sol, and Solange
Description: “Whenever it snows, I love to soundtrack the falling flakes with the most soothing R&B and soul I can find. This playlist kept me company while building snowmen this week, and it will be blasting when we get another few inches of snow today.”
Podcast
Episode #34: Hawaiian Punch and an Interview with New York Lab
On this week's episode, Sam and Teresa interview Lundon Avery, Zach Bernagene (Gosha Guppy), Samori Coates, and Isaiah Shimkin of New York Lab over a cup of Hawaiian Punch. Founded in 2018 by Samori Coates, Zuri Campbell, Muhummad Elbadri, Isaiah Shimkin, Nate Antoine, Gosha Guppy, and Kenza Ikli, New York Lab is a label that aims to create a space for Black people to creatively express themselves in a way they want. They recently signed a collaboration with United Masters, and currently have four artists under their belt: Mavi, Gosha Guppy, OPB, and Lundon Avery. The team at New York Lab talk to Teresa and Sam about building a label with some of your closest friends, launching music during quarantine, and the gatekeepers of the music industry.
Favorite Tweet
Thanks for reading! But wait, before you go, we have a deal for you. If you share our newsletter on social media and tag us, we’ll enter you in a raffle for a $25 Amazon gift card. Deal? We’ll message the winner in two weeks with the gift card!