Des

A fantastic month with so many new favorites in film and music!!! Will be doing this again next year 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

A ★★★★½ review of Butterfly in the Sky (2022) A wonderful way to end my BHM first time watchings. Spending it with the man who made the kids love to read. A Black having such a profound influence on education and pop culture is real history withi...

Feb 28:
Album - AlunaGeorge - I Remember (2016) (4.5/5)
Faves: In My Head & Mediator

Ellie Goulding and AlunaGeorge are related musically… and that’s perfection to me.

Movie - Butterfly in the Sky (2022) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8Z7jw3

A ★★★★½ review of Mississippi Masala (1991) The diaspora love story crossover of a lifetime. A story not shy to share those hard parts of clashing cultures in a country that fights so hard against them. It tugs on the wig of the “crabs in a bar...

Feb 27:

Album: Kara Jackson - Why Does The Earth Give Us People to Love? (2023) (5/5)
Faves: no fun/party, free, & title track

The lyrics are so vulnerable that I just need to sit in a dark room to listen.

Movie - Mississippi Masala (1991) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8Z7buD

A ★★★½ review of The Case of the Elevator Duck (1974) Nancy Drew and Benoit Blanc are shaking in their boots when he comes around.

Feb 26:
Album - Hannah Jadagu - Aperture (2023)(4/5)
Faves: Six Months, Shut Down, & Warning Sign

Beautiful incredible debut. Adored the entire album - chefs kiss indie production!

Movie - The Case of the Elevator Duck (1974) (3.5/5) boxd.it/8Z6NUx

A ★★★★ review of Bone (1972) Social satire to the maximum extreme - I dug it! A home invasion that goes a different direction makes me think of Villains (2019).

Feb 25:

Album - Joy Oladokun - Proof of Life (2023) (3/5)
Fave: Sweet Symphony

It was cute I don’t know if this was for me though. Great features!

Movie - Bone (1972) (4/5) boxd.it/8YWfyR

A ★★★★½ review of Black Girl (1966) I’m a prisoner here. The dream of the greater life with an opportunity to good to be true. Reminiscent of the north in the US’s covert micro aggressive style at first interaction disguised in pleasant...

Feb 24:

Album - Tall Heights - Neptune (2016) (4/5)
Fave: Two Blue Eyes

I love a progressive indie folk pop type beat. Could definitely throw them in my rotation with Angus & Julia Stone.

Movie - Black Girl (1966) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8Wvpc5

A ★★★★½ review of Coffy (1973) Coffy is the color of your skin, Coffy is the world you live in. Pam Grier, vigilante extraordinaire. Coffy, the only one who is going to do something about it! Black women continue to take matters in...

Feb 23:
Album - Raye - My 21st Century Blues (2023) (3.5/5)
Fave: Escapism & The Thrill is Gone

I respect her pen! Such a talented woman. Some of the songs, meh, but overall she’s really a force.

Movie - Coffy (1973) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8WgO8H

A ★★★★½ review of Sisters in the Struggle (1991) Incredibly insightful and real discussing the reality of Black women's experience of different hues and sexualities within an Anti-racist movement. The truth is that, as they have stated in the docume...

Feb 22:
Album - Adrianne Lenker - Songs (2020) (3/5)
Fave: half return

Okay lowkey TikTok soundtrack. It’s cute though! Very bedroom dream pop.

Movie - Sisters in the Struggle (1991) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8VYC6j

A ★★★½ review of Dolemite (1975) I decided to watch this after catching "Dolemite Is My Name". I think that affected my viewing because it is like having seen the behind-the-scenes before actually clicking play on the flick. I feel l...

Feb 21:
Album - Karen Carpenter - Karen Carpenter (1996)(4/5)

Fave: Guess I Just Lost My Head
I think I’m in love with her. A solid solo effort that helped separate her from her brother. What a voice on her!

Movie - Dolemite (1975) (3.5/5) boxd.it/8VWFV1

A ★★★★ review of Dolemite Is My Name (2019) Looking at the credits of this film, is the same feeling that I got when I found out who directed my beloved Pootie Tang. How is Mr. White Man directing something that is so important to Black culture...

Feb 20:

Album - Bread - Bread (1969) (4/5)

Fave: It Don’t Matter to Me

Happy to have found them - I love their music! Cool ass album cover. Very blues-y.

Movie - Dolemite is my Name (2019) (4/5) boxd.it/8VVVRR

A ★★★★½ review of Cabin in the Sky (1943) A movie my grandma and I would more than likely watch together and have a debrief after (complimentary) The angel on one shoulder and the devil on another, pulling you left and right to claim ownershi...

Feb 19:
Album - Amine - Limbo (2020)(4.5/5)
Fave: Pressure In My Palms

I need to get back into listening to him. You can feel the fun and realness radiating from him.

Movie - Cabin in the Sky (1943)(4.5/5) boxd.it/8VVu6p

A ★★★★ diary entry for Janine (1990)

Feb 18:
Album: The Black Pumas - Chronicles of a Diamond (2023) (5/5)
Fave: Gemini Sun

My god I felt like I was levitating the entire time.

Movie - Janine (1990) (4/5) & Vanilla Sex (1992) (3.5/5) A Cheryl Dunye short film double! boxd.it/8VUTnN / boxd.it/8VUVPz

A ★★★★½ review of Portrait of Jason (1967) Jason is a riot - a story teller like no other. Someone I’d sit and learn from and Kiki with all night long. A self performance that simply draws you in, he is so magnetic. I do think this would’ve wo...

Feb 17:

Album - City & Colour - The Hurry and the Harm (2.5/5)

Fave: The Lonely Life

Nothing profound, cool background music at least.

Movie - Portrait of Jason (1967) (4.5/5) boxd.it/8SgD07

A ★★★★ review of Whitewash (1994) A candid way to show a hate crime based on race to children (and quite frankly adults), and to help build empathy, community, and understanding of the psychological effects that come with these acts e...

Feb 16:
Album - Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
Faves: nothing - CHOP!

Movie - Whitewash (1994) 4/5 boxd.it/8SaLvv

A ★★★★ review of Voguing: The Message (1989) “Clean lines, a good style, no sloppiness.” The art of voguing despite its highlight in Pose, and at times gentrification, not well at that, by others, I still feel is so underrepresented and unseen f...

Feb 15:
Album - Alt J - An Awesome Wave (4/5)
Faves: Intro & Taro

Genuinely don’t know how I haven’t explored them past Breezeblocks. Intro had me ready to levitate, similar to Intro by The XX.

Movie - Voguing: The Message (1989) 4/5 boxd.it/8S9gGv

A ★★★½ review of Medicine for Melancholy (2008) intriguing color grading and indie alt music that perfectly encapsulates this movie in 2008. This was cute, and I adored some of the small moments together to learn about one another. The clear shift ...

Feb 14:
Album - Dora Jar - No Way to Relax When You Are on Fire (3.5/5)

Faves: Ragdoll & Devil Eye

I like her sound!!! The lyrics aren’t overly complicated and she’s fun. Obsessed with her name.

Movie - Medicine For Melancholy (2008)3.5/5 boxd.it/8S8p15

A ★★★★ review of Naked Acts (1996) “You do know that emotional work can leave you a lot more exposed than taking your clothes off ever could?” Naked, vulnerable, and afraid - emotionally and physically. Revealing scenes to “pay dues” a...

Feb 13:

Album: Latto - Sugar Honey Iced Tea (3/5)

Very much fine - I like her sound and I liked a lot of the songs but the ones I loved were singles s that makes me sad that nothing new stood out. Brokey is still so fire

Movie: Naked Acts (1996) (4/5) boxd.it/8PIOeN

A ★★★★ review of Odds and Ends (1993) And if I said this needs a feature length film… Powerful and strong Black queer women in space! #NEED #THAT Overwhelmingly has the indie early 90s feel to it, so filled with care and love in this stor...

Feb 12:

Album: Fontaines DC - Romance (4/5)

Where have they been all my life, this is like the today version of what I’d listen to in high school and I’m obsessed

Movie: Odds And Ends (1993) boxd.it/8Pm3w7

A ★★★★ review of Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970) I actually need less white people to make films about Black people, especially in todays society where there is such a politeness to all interactions in order to not lose everything that most probably...

Feb 11:

Album: Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (3.75/5)

Not Christian or Christian adjacent which shocked me based on the name

Movie: Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970) 4/5 boxd.it/8Plm9J

A ★★★★ review of Losing Ground (1982) Beautiful framing and excellent storytelling. Men in the arts… abolish!

Feb 10

Album: Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk (2.5/5)

It feels like retail stores said yessss let’s get her in the mix! I like that Image song though.

Movie: Losing Ground (1982) (4/5)

boxd.it/8Plgqf

A ★★★★ review of Dahomey (2024) Art personified and the feeling of coming home to a place you no longer recognize. To be stripped of your name, given a number, and sent on your way, going back to people, who look like you, but you c...

Feb 9

Album: Noah Kahan - Stick Season (4/5)
Favorites: Orange Juice & The View Between Villages

So real and raw with the lyrics real story teller shit. His music feels like home.

Movie: Dahomey (2024) (4/5) boxd.it/8NaOTl

A ★★★★½ review of A Place of Rage (1991) “It was a revolution first and foremost inside the minds of us - Black people. First of all, to realize that I was a part of a national community of Black people that had never occurred to me. To say ...

Feb 8

Album: Leon Thomas - MUTT (4/5)
Favorites: FEELINGS ON SILENT & FAR FETCHED

He is beyond comprehension when it comes to talent. The way he fuses old R&B with today without being gimmicky is chefs kiss.

Movie: A Place of Rage (1991) (4.5/5) letterboxd.com/movieswithde...

hi kids! what’s for dinner?

A ★★★★ review of A Well Spent Life (1971) I wonder if Beyoncé has seen this while she was writing for Cowboy Carter… this is Black Country at its finest, and Texan at that! There is a sense of calm and wholeness when I watch this. Simple. And...

Feb 7

Album: The Marias - Cinema (3/5)
Favorites: Hush & The Mice Inside The Room

They bring a fresh sense to dreamy alt pop, but each song didn’t stand out for me which made it mundane overall

Movie: A Well Spent Life (1971) - (4/5) boxd.it/8LDMjl

We made it onto Pop Culture Jeopardy @letterboxd.social !!

A ★★★ review of Black Barbie (2023) This was… fine. A toddler rollercoaster between interesting and uninteresting (I wouldn’t say completely boring). I think maybe I would’ve enjoyed this more arching with my cousin. Thinking of the spe...

Feb 6

Album: Laufey - Everything I Know About Love (5/5)
Faves: Valentine, Just Like Chet, Everything I Know About Love

She is so dreamy, she’s got a sound and lane that isn’t ventured often. Love!

Movie: Black Barbie (2023) - (3/5) boxd.it/8KYMYL

A ★★★★ review of Sparkle (1976) Without Diana Ross and The Supremes, we wouldn’t have Sparkle. without Sparkle, we wouldn’t have Dreamgirls!  I have faint memories of watching this as a kid but for that reason, I would count this as...

Feb 5

Album - beabadoobee - This Is How Tomorrow Moves (4/5)

Favorites: Take a Bite & Beaches

Michelle Branch’s daughter DOWN! I’m so into her sound I need to listen to all her stuff.

Movie - Sparkle (1976) (4/5) boxd.it/8KoRjh

A ★★★★★ review of Putney Swope (1969) If Conclave was a marketing agency and you wondered what would happens after… this is how I picture it all going down. Offbeat, comedic gags that don’t find themselves overdone. There is a through lin...

Feb 4 - absolute banger of a day

Album - Carpenters - Close To You (5/5)
Favorites: (They Long to Be) Close to You & Crescent Moon

Holy fuck I didn’t realize how much I vibed with them. Every track is so dreamy.

Movie - Putney Swope (1969) (5/5) boxd.it/8JJfFx

A ★★★★ review of Quincy (2018) *backlog* Decided to watch this the day after the Grammys where they had a separate in memoriam for Quincy Jones… better known as Q. An immeasurable talent and impact on not just the industry, but the...

Feb 3

Album - Mac Miller - Balloonerism (4.5/5)
Favorite Track: Funny Papers and Tomorrow Will Never Know

Literally cried for half the album… all of the allusions to death literally pained me. Such a lyrical talent.

Movie - Quincy (2018) (4/5) letterboxd.com/movieswithde...

A ★★★★ review of Pure (2021) “No amount of heat can conceal the fact that I was born to be curly, wavy, kinky, and sometimes nappy.” Two Black girls dancing in the church with intention carries so much weight… I couldn’t not cry ...

Feb 2

Album - Siousxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope (2.75/5)
Favorite Track: Happy House

Not too much really stuck for me. I love a synthesized psychedelic moment as much as the next but this mostly falls flat.

Movie - Pure (2022) (4/5) boxd.it/8Iyrb9