ACROSS
1 Suggests, with “of”
7 Cashbox feature
11 Wagner’s “__
Rheingold”
14 Uses Blue Apron,
say
15 Baseball family
name
16 Space bar
neighbor
17 “Epic fail!”
20 Lady Gaga’s “__
It Happens to
You”
21 Presidential
nickname
22 Makeup remover
23 Put out
25 Like some cheddar
28 “Ghostbusters”
actor
30 Shanghai-born
ex-NBA center
31 German : Kopf ::
French : __
32 Does really well
34 U.S. intelligence
org.
36 “I don’t believe a
word!” ... or, the
truth about this
puzzle’s circles
42 Deborah’s “The
King and I” 
co-star
43 Clearly presented
45 Removed
49 Nation SE of
Cyprus
51 Item on a chain,
perhaps
52 Electrical backup
supplies
55 One may be
broken
56 Afghanistan’s
national airline
57 Northwest
Passage explorer
59 Word with hole or
holder
60 Two of the three
founders of the
Distilleria
Nazionale di
Spirito di Vino
64 Bridge action
65 Brown family
shade
66 “I’m on board”
67 Década division
68 Food buyers’
concerns
69 Scary flier

DOWN
1 English hunters
2 Polynesian catch
3 Unable to
increase
4 Mo. hours
5 Christchurch
native
6 Common animal
kingdom tattoo
subject
7 Bowler, e.g.
8 Cakes go-with
9 In a way, in a way
10 One unlikely to
experiment
11 Uses a 
22-Across on, 
as tears
12 Come-hither
quality
13 Dear
18 Hot
19 “__ serious?”
24 Pantry stack
26 Picks a fight
(with)
27 Civil rights icon
Parks
29 Red __
33 Calculating
35 Chip shot path
37 Ripsnorter
38 Bit of Christmas
morning detritus

39 Thickening agent
40 Flip
41 Goes around
44 SEC powerhouse,
familiarly
45 Runner’s woe
46 Shag, e.g.
47 Part of Q.E.D.
48 Like some court
motions
50 “Feel the __”:
2016 campaign
slogan

52 Iconic Rio
carnival 
activity
53 Like
54 Nasser’s
successor
58 Physics units
61 Fight cause
62 Mozart’s
birthplace, now:
Abbr.
63 Natural 
resource

By Jeffrey Wechsler
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/03/17

02/03/17

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Friday, February 3, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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6 — Friday, February 3, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

For most regular, moderately 

funny folk — depending on where 
you situate yourself on the spectrum 
— everyday things are either tucked 
away as memories or simply seen 
and forgotten (perhaps for the more 
conscientious bunch 
out there, they are 
recorded in a diary). 
But for some, like 
clever-minded 
comedian 
Steven 

Wright, the day’s 
monotony presents 
a different kind of 
opportunity.

“Whenever 

anyone wakes up 
in 
the 
morning 

until they go to 
sleep at night, thousands of pieces 
of information go past them, and 
some of those pieces can be moved 
around into jokes,” Wright said. “I 
just get jokes from noticing things.”

Wright, who has been cracking 

people up on stage for over three 
decades, is most known for his 
signature 
deadpan, 
monotone 

delivery, 
which 
almost 
seems 

to border on indifference. The 
unexpectedness of a tightly packed 
punch line — in the midst of a blank 
face and lethargic demeanor with 
the added flair of a Boston accent — 
has kept the crowd on the edge of 
their seats through the years.

“I didn’t really think about it until 

someone wrote an article about me 

in the Boston paper after I’d been 
doing comedy for about two years,” 
Wright said about his well-known 
comic style. “That’s the first time I 
saw the word ‘monotone.’ No one 
ever said that to me personally in 
my whole life, then I read that, and 
it has just followed me my whole 
career.”

Being a comedian was something 

Wright 
had 
long 

aspired to be and 
continued to pursue 
as an undergraduate 
liberal arts student.

“It 
was 
my 

dream, it was my 
goal and my life to 
be 
a 
comedian,” 

he said. “So, a year 
after I graduated at 
college in Boston, a 
club opened up, and 
as soon as I knew 

it was there, I started going to the 
open mic nights.”

After three years performing 

at Ding Ho’s Comedy Club and 
Chinese Restaurant in Cambridge, 
Wright was booked for his first 
“Tonight 
Show” 
appearance. 

Producing such a roar from the 
audience, he was invited back the 
following week.

“It was surreal. Of all the things 

I’ve done in my career, that’s still 
my favorite,” Wright said of his 
debut, “going on that show that 
first time.” 

In addition to standup, Wright 

went on to star in multiple films 
and TV shows. He earned himself 
a Grammy nomination in 1985 for 

his debut album, I Have a Pony. 
The sequel, I Still Have a Pony, 
was also nominated in 2007. Since 
2014, Wright has been a producer, 
director and guest star of the 
FX series, Louie, whom Wright 
describes as “brilliant.”

Despite his many detours from 

the stage, including doing the 
animated voice for the upcoming 
animated film, “Emoji,” standup 
remains Wright’s passion and forte.

“To be in a scene is good, but it 

doesn’t have that edge of danger,” 
Wright said. “You can do it again 
and again there’s no one really 
looking at you. But on stage, all 
that energy you get from the crowd 
makes it dangerous and exciting.”

Despite drifting askew from the 

spotlight of stardom, which Wright 
once occupied, he continues to act 
as a legacy and hall-of-famer for 
comedians and the public alike, 
making frequent appearances on 
the stage. For Wright’s performance 
this weekend, audiences can expect 
“eighty minutes of surrealism — a 
weird hour.”

Wright didn’t hesitate to 

impart some of his own career 
wisdom: 
“You 
never 
know 

what’s gonna happen — don’t be 
afraid and don’t stop yourself 
from 
at 
least 
attempting 

whatever 
thing 
comes 
into 

your head,” Wright shared. “If 
it works it works, if it doesn’t it 
doesn’t. At least you tried.”

Wright will bring this fearless 

attitude with his comedy to the 
stage this Saturday.

GRACE HAMILTON

Daily Arts Wrtier

Steven Wright

Royal Oak Theatre 

(18+ event)

Saturday, February 

4th @ 8 P.M. 

Tickets available 

online

COURTESY OF STEVEN WRIGHT

Wright to visit Royal Oak

300 ENTERTAINMENT

Migos’ sound defines 2017

Culture, in singular. Anti-

establishment 
skaters, 
dads 

from 
the 
Bronx, 
fraternity 

stoners 
and 

mall-shoppers 
who just really 
like 
memes. 

From the overly 
active 
Twitter-

users 
in 
Vans 

Sk8 Lows, to that Dale from 
Accounting who is actually a 
huge Public Enemy fan — we’re 
all The Culture.

Every now and then there is 

an event that grabs all of “our” 
attention: a cultural singularity 
of sorts that matters to anyone 
who matters. A few months ago 
it felt like we were all listening 
in one room when Frank Ocean 
finally released Blonde; before 
that, Kanye West had us all 
legitimately considering the 
merits of a Tidal account. 
Regardless of our personal 
denominations and sects, we, 
The Culture, collectively tune 
in to select artifacts that will 
be debated in the barber shops 
of our time. Hate it or love it, 
you’ll at least listen.

Migos, the familial Atlanta 

trio 
comprised 
of 
Quavo, 

Takeoff and Offset, have had 
their 
thumbprints 
all 
over 

the sphere of popular culture 
worldwide. 
Though 
they’ve 

only managed fleeting moments 
of crossover success between 
YRN and now, it remains 
undisputed that they’re largely 
responsible for popularizing 
the sound of “now.” As Coke 
has become synonymous with 
all off-brand, inferior sodas, 
Migos now-iconic triplet flow 
has 
become 
the 
automatic 

association of your favorite 
struggling rapper.

Constantly 
teetering 

between the perils of Troy Ave 
and the consistent hit-making 
of Future, Migos seems to have 
ascended to greater cultural 
significance 
without 
ever 

really changing what they’ve 
been doing for the past four 
years. They’ve survived the 
fatal Drake remix, witnessed 
blatant 
flow-thievery, 
and 

probably couldn’t care less. 
With the eyes of the world (and 
more 
importantly, 
Twitter) 

watching, Migos’ latest effort, 
Culture, is their most polished 
and accessible project to date. 
At 13 tracks and 59 minutes in 
length, every last detail feels 
deliberate.

Like a red carpet event, the 

album inevitably kicks off 
with the obligatory DJ Khaled 
feature. 
Though 
his 
mere 

presence 
“Culture” 
is 
the 

audio equivalent of hearing 
“Attention Walmart shoppers” 
in the club, it legitimizes 
the fact that Migos have 
embedded 
themselves 
into 

a position of longevity. The 
feature typically reserved for 
blockbuster events is more of 
a trophy than anything else. 
It’s the victory lap before the 
race has even started; it’s an 

announcement that “Culture 
album coming soon,” on the 
intro of the Culture album 
while 
playing 
the 
Culture 

album. They will no doubt go 
on to be preserved in the great 
pantheon of artists who have 

shared 
a 
studio 

with DJ Khaled, 
which 
will 

dubiously exclude 
the likes of The 
Beatles, etc.

The 
album 

doesn’t really kick into life until 
after the formalities; “T-Shirt,” 
like all Migos songs, is an 
exercise in timing and humor, 
but brings with it an unusually 
pensive edge. Finishing each 
other’s sentences and often 
entire 
verses, 
they 
deviate 

from their triplet staple in 
favor of a more staccato and 
stop-start flow. Takeoff plays 
as the undercover MVP with 

an 
absolutely 
showstopping 

verse, ghosting out screaming 
“country 
grammar, 
n*****, 

straight out Nawf Atlanta !!!!”

“Call 
Casting” 
feels 
like 

a more traditional return to 
their 
Southern 
roots, 
with 

Zaxby’s 
references 
and 
an 

organ so crisp you can almost 
hear the Pyrex boiling in 
the kitchen. The production 
is 
particularly 
interesting 

because most of their Southern 
musical references have been 
explicitly 
rapped, 
whereas 

here they shoutout the likes of 
Andy Milonakis on a beat that 
wouldn’t be out of place on a 
UGK project.

The momentum builds to an 

inevitable peak in the form of 
“Bad and Boujee.” This has got 
to be the best four-track stretch 
of their entire discography 
so far, stemming back to that 
run on YRN from “Versace” 
to “Hanna Montanna.” The 
album seems to have taken note 
from the Cheef Keef model, 
kicking the door in with a 
relentless barrage of heaters 
— the difference here being 
that quality control has limited 
them from overflowing with 
another 22-track tape.

Earlier this month at the 

Golden Globes, Donald Glover 
took the stage to accept his 
award for Best TV Comedy, 
somehow finding a way to 
thank the Migos for making 
this song along the way. The 
memes alone have cemented 
it in the history books, and 
even that damn Lil Uzi verse 
already sounds iconic. We get 
it, “Fight Night” and “Versace” 
were big, but this is massive. 
This is bigger than basement 
parties and blunt cruises; this 
song bangs in Nigeria. The last 
time we saw a single propel a 
rap album to such ridiculous 
heights 
was 
probably 
Lil 

Wayne’s “A Milli” in 2008.

Gucci Mane provides the 

only 
blessing 
that 
matters 

in Atlanta with a feature on 
“Slippery”, weaving in and out 
of the beat without even having 
to try to mimic the Migos. It’s 
not a classic Gucci appearance 
by any means, but he brings 
with him an air of authority — a 
stamp of approval that only he 
can offer.

The album closes with “Out 

Yo Way,” which is a fittingly 
uncharacteristic Migos outro 
for an album unlike anything 
else they’ve ever released. It 
borrows twinges of tropical 
synths from “Pick Up The 
Phone,” which featured Quavo 
and fellow album appearance-
maker 
Travis 
Scott. 
They 

alternate between sing-song 
rapping 
about 
cocaine 
and 

appreciating 
women 
within 

the same verse, reminiscing 
on 
days 
when 
they 
was 

“trappin, cappin’ all through 
the hallway.” Though Culture 
is unique in its brevity and 
newfound 
position 
in 
the 

limelight, it remains as absurd 
as anything Migos have ever 
released.

The main takeaway from 

Culture is that Migos have 
added 
an 
edge 
to 
their 

creative process, transcending 
what 
once 
prevented 

uncompromising 
mixtape-

talents like DMX and Lil B from 
crossing over — a transition 
we’ve seen in the past few years 
with 
fellow 
Atlanta-native 

Young 
Thug, 
who 
recently 

released 
similarly 
polished 

projects in Slime Season 3 and 
Jeffery.

It’s not so much that the 

Atlanta music scene is being 
gentrified for the palette of a 
larger (and whiter) audience, 
but 
rather 
that 
the 
most 

senior figures on the scene are 
maturing and further refining 
their releases. This is a city 
which still claims Lil Yachty 
and Rich The Kid. Atlanta is 
still Atlanta — Migos have 
simply claimed the biggest 
house on the hill. In the words 
of DJ Khaled, Culture is the 
soundtrack to “repping the 
culture from the streets,” but 
it’s novelty lies in the fact that 
“Nawfside” Atlanta actually 
is what Western youth culture 
looks and sounds like in 2017. 
If you’re not with it, then 
congratulations, 
you 
played 

yourself.

SHAYAN SHAFII

Daily Arts Writer

Culture

Migos

300 Entertainment

Every now and 

then there is 
an event that 
grabs all of 

“our” attention: 

a cultural 

singularity of 

sorts that matters 

to anyone who 

matters

INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR ARTS?

WANT TO CULTURALLY ENRICH 

YOURSELF?

Email us at arts@michigandaily.com for an application. Any questions or concerns? 

Don’t hesitate to reach out?

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