Arts

the fidipgan Dat"ll
michigandaily.com
New Student Edition
2 Chainz plays A

2 Chainz during his action-packed Ann Arbor concert

The superstar
rapper performs
an energetic show
at Hill Auditorium
By ADAM THEISEN
Daily Arts Writer
APRIL 11. 2014 - "Put your
hands up if you believe in God,"
2 Chainz screamed into the
microphone in the opening
minutes of Thursday night's
show at Hill Auditorium. At
least 90 percent of fans put
their hands up as 2 Chainz -
formerly known as Tity Boi,
born Tauheed Epps - launched
into "I Do It," one of the hard-
est-hitting songs on last year's

killer LP B.O.A.T.S. II: Me
Time. Throughout the night,
the packed three-decker crowd
of students at Hill pogoed and
danced to every song, shouting
2 Chainz's lyrics back at him
and finishing his sentences
with roof-raising energy when-
ever called on to do so.
Bursting onto the scene
a few years back with hits
like "Mercy" and "No Lie," 2
Chainz hasn't receded from
the spotlight since. Dropping
successful single after success-
ful single, he has cultivated an
adoring fanbase, one that loves
his enjoyable escapism, deca-
dent beats and quotable lyrics.
Dressed in mostly simple,
non-flamboyant clothes,
except for his titular gold

chains, the 6'5" Epps dominat-
ed the crowd, shaking the place
all the way up to the top deck
with his incomparably char-
ismatic brand of hip-hop. As
he moved from hit song to hit
song, fans got wilder and wild-
er. The audience was glued to 2
Chainz's energetic stage move-
ments all night, never staying
still for more than a moment
and making waves on the rol-
licking main floor.
Thanks to two massive-sell-
ing albums and tireless feature
work, 2 Chainz is now one of
the most beloved and success-
ful rappers in the game today.
However, this superstar is no
up-and-coming young gun. 2
Chainz didn't even have a solo
record deal until he was 34

years old. Proving those who
think rap is a young ;man's
industry wrong, 2 Chainz has
lit up the scene with his suc-
cess. Thursday's show at Hill,
the culmination of SpringFest,
only proved 2 Chainz's .com-
mercial clout.
Throughout the night, 2
Chainz threw smash after
smash at his adoring fans, play-
ing to the first few rows and
projecting himself all the way
up to the nosebleeds. Prac-
tically every song has had a
long run on radio within the
past two years: "Bandz a Make
Her Dance," "Birthday Song,"
"Feds Watching" and "No Lie"
just to name a small few. Beats
from superproducers like Mike
See 2CHAINZ, Page 2D

TV REVIEW
'Game of Thrones' Finale

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son Four finale of ing through attentive earbuds.
monster HBO hit 4 dozen new Buzzfeed lists go
live, listing "twelve times Daen-
mostly satisfying erys Targaryen was the baddest
bitch." "Game of Thrones" has
closer even surpassed "The Sopranos"
as HBO's most-viewed series,
By CHLOE GILKE and crashed the HBOGo site
Daily Arts Writer more times than I'd like to count.
"Game of Thrones" is a Gregor
NE 18, 2014 - Spoiler alert; Clegane-size cultural phenom-
eview contains major spoil- enon, fueled by the fact that its
r every season of "Game of hungry viewers must spend most
es" and the "A Song of Ice of the year waiting for three
ire" book months of million-dollar fiery
Sdeath spectacular.
ce its In many respects, "The Chil-
le incep- Ga O dren" was a satisfying capper to
'Game of a whirlwind season. Some char-
"s" has ThrOfleS acters ended the season by start-
e more Season 4 Finale ing down new paths - Tyrion
ust a TV HBO escaping in abarrel, Arya trading
During Jagen's coin for a spot on a ship.
"season, Beloved characters (Sandor Cle-
tire dor- gane, Jojen Reed) lost their lives,
y floor can fall silent on a and there was no shortage of
ay night, with the exception cathartic villain deaths (Tywin
clash of steel on steel play- Lannister was slain on the toilet).

A few storylines that have been
languishing all season (Jon Snow
and Bran Stark's dull adventures
north of the Wall), received a
new jolt of life. And the emotion-
al appeal of the show is as strong
as ever, as Daenerys heartbreak-
ingly chains her beloved dragons
and Tyrion faces another family
betrayal.
But amid the excitement,
there was a palpable sense of
hesitance and fear. Sure, this sea-
son of "Game of Thrones" was
action-packed, but how long can
it sustain this degree of vigor?
Although Lady Stoneheart, a res-
urrected and vengeful Catelyn
Stark, was supposed to appear in
this episode (as per the pages of
George R. R. Martin's "A Storm
of Swords"), she was notice-
ably absent. Fan favorites Sansa
Stark and Petyr Baelish were
entirely missing from the last
two episodes of the season. And,
the tragedy of poor Reek has
remained undeveloped for sev-

eral weeks. Obviously, the writ-
ers are choosing to save some of
the events of the third "Song of
Ice and Fire" book for future sea-
sons, but underlying that deci-
sion is a troubling thought. As
GRRM takes his time writing the
sixth book in the series, there's
a very real possibility that the
show could catch up to the events
of the novels, and "Game of
Thrones" could run out of mate-
rial to adapt.
The finale was also a showcase
for another flaw that haunted
the fourth season. Jaime Lannis-
ter, former chivalric Kingslayer,
has never been the same since
his disturbing rape of his sister/
lover. Again, the violence of this
scene was not present in the
book, and continues the disturb-
ing tendency "Game of Thrones"
has toward gratuitous sexual
assault. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
did wonderful work with the
additional material he was given,
See GOT, Page 3D

B-SIDE LEAD
The story of the Safe Sex Store

S3 promotes sexual
health and pleasure
among campus
community
By EMILY PITTINOS
DailyArts Writer
FEB. 26, 2014 - My first time
entering the Safe Sex Store (S3)
was on my 18th birthday. A
group of other freshmen and
I wanted to celebrate my new
legality by doing something
new and adult, so we stumbled
through the glass door and into
a wonderland of sexual delight.
Rows of brightly colored vibra-
tors in all sizes and shapes
saluted us from their plastic
stands. Giggling nervously, we
ran our hands through a buck-
et of Magnum condoms, their

gold wrappers glinting in the
sunlight that poured in from
the giant glass windows facing
South University. We sheep-
ishly eyed edible underwear.
Varying versions of the Kama
Sutra lined the bookshelves;
they were mysterious to me,
packed with secrets that felt
forbidden in other places but
seemed to proudly sing, "I'm
sexy and I know it," in this par-
ticular space.
We didn't stay long that day
- beef stroganoff was waiting
for us in the dining hall - but
I continued to think of S3 as
a place of adventure. I hardly
returned, but I liked the idea
of the store's presence. It was
exciting to be inside; it seemed
like a place of silly fun. When-
ever I walked by, I cracked a
little smile.
But S3 is actually much more
than an emporium of dildos

and flavored condoms.
BethAnn Karmeisool, a
vibrant woman in her early
40s with a new set of braces
and easy passion in her voice,
started the store in 1995. It was
the tail end of the AIDS crisis,
which began in the late 70s and
killed hundreds of thousands
of people before anyone fully
understood how the disease
was even spreading. Though
hope was slowly approaching
people were learning how to
prolongthe disease's transition
from HIV to full-blown, lethal
AIDS with incredibly expen-
sive and often harmful drugs -
fear was everywhere.
"People were afraid to hug
each other. People were afraid
to kiss each other," Karmeisool
said, her voice's bright tone
flattening into one of sadness.
"20 years ago, when I'd be in
a group of people and I'd say

'What is your number one fear
regarding your sexual heath?'
They would .say, 'HIV, con-
tracting HIV.' People were
afraid to die."
Most of the hysteria came
from a misunderstanding about
the disease. People were get-
ting bad information - many
thought AIDS could be con-
tracted from poppers, toilet
seats and skin-to-skin contact
- which led to panic amongst
even those who were low risk.
At the time, Karmeisool was
23 years old with a job incor-
porate America. She was mak-
ing plenty of money; she owned
her own house and had two
nice cars. But she was stunned
that people were still contract-
ing and dying from a disease
that they could easily avoid if
armed with the right facts. She
wanted to help save those inno-
See S3, Page 5D