The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, March 7, 2017 — 5
Kodie Shane is just eigh-
teen years-old — while she is
seasoned enough to remember
owning a Walkman and the
self-titled Ashanti album on
CD, she is still young enough
for Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV
to be the first album she paid
for with her own money.
Nowadays, Shane pays for a
lot with her own money.
“I’m about to go get me two
iPhone Pluses ‘cause these too
small,” she says, holding three
recent models of the Apple
smartphone, her eyes con-
stantly switching from screen
to screen, while sitting back-
stage at the Loving Touch in
Ferndale, MI, where we had a
chance to chat during the tail-
end of the tour for her Zero
Gravity EP.
Kodie Shane is tinier than
you’d expect in person — small
enough that “tiny” truly seems
like a fitting word — but she
has grand dreams and a roar-
ing personality, a combination
that she expects to grant her
a long career in “modeling,
movies, (and) clothes.” 2016
was a breakout year for the
hip-hop diva, as her connec-
tion with Lil Yachty’s Sailing
Team proved fruitful for both
parties through the success of
their collaborative song “Sad.”
As Shane explains, 2017 is set
to be even bigger.
Kodie Shane is wearing a
blacked out sweatsuit while
we chat, having come straight
off her tour bus and hardly had
time to orient herself to the
night’s venue, but her sneakers
say Saint Laurent — she still
walks like a full-fledged pop
princess.
Here are some excerpts from
our conversation, which have
been re-arranged for clarity:
***
First and foremost, how’s
the tour been?
Super lit actually. Way more
lit than I thought, so, I’m excit-
ed.
How much longer are you
going to be going around?
Detroit, Chicago, Oakland
and LA, then we’re done. So,
like a week.
What has been the most
fun thing about going on
tour so far?
I like seeing different people
everywhere. I think it’s amaz-
ing how there are so many
people in the world that look
different.
Do you think that mov-
ing from Atlanta to Chicago
(during
your
childhood)
affected your sound at all?
Obviously
hip-hop
has
a
locality element to it.
I never know what to say
when people ask me if a cer-
tain state influenced my music.
I don’t feel like Atlanta makes
me make this type of music; I
don’t feel like Chicago makes
me make this type. I’m just
making music. I’m not really
thinking about it any type of
way — I’m just putting it out.
If I go record in New York,
it will probably make me feel
different when I’m recording.
It will probably give me a dif-
ferent energy. But just because
I’m from Chicago doesn’t mean
I’m going to make Chicago
music. You know what I’m say-
ing?
Just ‘cause I move to Atlanta
doesn’t mean I’m gonna start
making different music. If I go
to LA and record, it will prob-
ably give me a different energy
than when I record in New
York, but it doesn’t mean I’m
about to go make an LA song.
Where I’m from has nothing
to do with the music I’m mak-
ing, but I definitely think if I
go to different cities, I can get
different vibes and stuff like
that.
Is there a particular city
right now that you’ve been
having a lot of fun creating
in?
I actually never even have
time to record in different cit-
ies when I’m there, but I love
LA.
What are your next plans
as far as projects go?
I’m working on my album
right now, so I don’t really
want to say too much about
that ‘cause I don’t want to give
it away, but that’s pretty much
it. It’s album time right now.
Mentally, has that been
different at all than your
previous work?
Album? Yeah. I kind of want
to make, like, some bigger
music I think. That’s the word
I’ve been using, but every time
I use that word nobody gets it.
I just want to try to make some
bigger songs.
I’m recording all the time.
I’m actually having, like, with-
drawals right now ‘cause I
haven’t recorded since we’ve
been on tour. Hopefully I can
get some studio time in LA.
Do you have any ideas that
you have always wished you
could enact that — now the
you’re being put in a position
where anything is possible
— you’re excited to finally
carry out?
Nah, anything I wanted to
do, I just did, so if I want to
make a pop song, I just do it.
I want to do movies, or
modeling. That’s something
I always wanted to do. I’m
not about to be doing just any
movie (though). Like, it’s got to
be a fire movie. I got to be like,
‘Damn, if I’m not in that movie,
I still want to see it!’ You know
what I’m saying?
I’m not doing a low budget
movie. It’s got to hit all the-
aters at once.
A blockbuster?
A blockbuster! I need a
blockbuster. I’m not going
straight
to
Netflix.
Even
though that’s beasty, though.
I’m just saying.
For real: Modeling; Movies;
Clothes. The whole thing.
You design?
I mean, I will.
I read online that Coach K
[who manages Gucci Mane
and Young Thug] and you
had a sort of musical rela-
tionship. Did he mentor you?
A lot of people inspire me,
but I never really had a mentor.
I just knew (Coach) when I was
younger. He knew my producer
— Matty P.
I definitely feel like people
have helped me out — I’ll never
take that away from anybody.
I’ll always give the credit, like,
(Lil) Yachty helped me, Coach
helped me. Nobody ever, like,
taught me how to do anything.
Yachty could be like: “I took
her on tour! That’s my little
sister.” But he could never be
like: “I taught her what she
knows.” You know what I’m
saying? N*ggas ain’t teach me
nothing.
What are your plans for
the summer?
Turn up even more. South
By Southwest, all of that.
You’ve been before?
South By? Yeah, but this
year is about to be my turnt
up year. Last year was a really
good year for me. This year I’m
turnt up. Wait until you see
what stages I’m doing.
Hell yeah. I’m excited to
see.
You gon’ be — N*ggas gon’ be
like — DAAAANG she lit!
Nothing little this year. All
big shit this year. Big shit this
year. Big stuff this year. Big
things this year. Big ‘tings this
year. Nothing little. No little
South By Southwest stages.
No little money. No little noth-
ing. I’m about to go get me two
iPhone Pluses ‘cause these
(smaller sized ones are) too
small.
What are you gonna do
after the tour, when you
finally have some time to
just kick it?
I’ll probably not be doing
nothing for a week once we
get off tour, then I’m going
straight to, I don’t know — I got
too much shit going on. I got so
much going on, bruh!
I like Hulu.
What do you watch on
Hulu?
“Clarence.” I like cartoons.
The colors keep me going.
Well, I guess you’ll just
have to turn up extra hard on
your birthday this year then.
I’ll be nineteen, I probably
won’t do nothing this year. I’ll
probably go to dinner this year.
I’ll probably be able to pay for
it now. My people. Dat way.
The family way.
SALVATORE DIGIOIA
Daily Arts Writer
A Conversation with Kodie Shane:
Preparing for SXSW & a big year
SALVATORE DIGOIA/DAILY
On the heels of hit mixtape ‘Big Trouble Little Jupiter,’
Kodie Shane ruminated over her career, present & future
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Jordan Peele laudably directs sharp,
thrilling and hysterical ‘Get Out’
A young African-American
man walks down an idyl-
lic street in the middle of
the night and
finds
himself
followed
by
a
white car blast-
ing polka music.
“Get Out” opens
with this gem
of a scene, and
like the opener
of any great film, it encapsu-
lates everything the audience
needs to know about what will
follow. It’s foreboding, creepy,
funny,
uncomfortable
and
Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”)
directs the hell out of it.
“Get Out” is so well-round-
ed that it’s hard to nail down
exactly what the star aspect of
the thing is. In his directorial
debut, Peele shoots the afore-
mentioned scene in a single
gut-twisting shot whose fluid
motion and point-of-view styl-
ings bring to mind horror clas-
sics like “Halloween” and more
contemporary films like “The
Conjuring.” For a first time
director, he has an astonish-
ingly assured hand. Even the
smallest of camera movements
during an otherwise peaceful
dialogue scene are immedi-
ately disquieting. The use of
sound, especially in its some-
times sudden absence, adds
to the deeply uncomfortable
atmosphere that he spends the
entire runtime cultivating.
It’s
impossible
to
dis-
count the strength of the
leads though. Daniel Kaluuya
(“Sicario”) is absolutely com-
manding in the lead perfor-
mance as Chris, a Black man
who
goes
with
his
white
girlfriend to visit her family
upstate. In the beginning, it
is a mostly under-
stated
perfor-
mance made up of
Chris’s ticks as he
deals with a near-
constant
barrage
of
unintentional
racism. As the plot
thickens, Kaluuya
transforms Chris into more of
a classic horror protagonist,
desperate in his quest for sur-
vival and able to communicate
the depths of his character’s
inner thoughts with little more
than a glance.
Props must also go to Brad-
ley Whitford (“The Cabin in
the Woods”) for turning on
a dime between affable and
creepy. Lil Rey Howery (“The
Carmichael
Show”)
nearly
runs away with the entire
movie, though, in a comedic
performance that lands the
laughs every time. “Get Out” is
classified as a horror-comedy,
and Howery allows Peele to
bring his already clear-cut tal-
ents as a renowned funnyman
to the screen without detract-
ing from the thrills.
It is worth noting that while
“Get Out” has been market-
ed as a horror film first and
foremost, it operates more as
a psychological thriller than
anything else. There is little in
the way of classic “scares” here,
and while Peele’s commitment
to creating an unnerving mood
for his film is admirable, the
pacing does tend to drag at cer-
tain points.
Still, Peele is a confident
storyteller, as evidenced by
the series of reveals that dot
the film, peeling back the lay-
ers of the plot while simul-
taneously adding new ones
to the subtext. Some of these
twists work better than others;
they all land, but where one
in particular is foreshadowed
throughout the movie and
should prove enjoyable during
the inevitable repeat viewings,
others feel much more sudden
and even borderline silly. It’s
certainly not enough to ruin or
even really dampen the experi-
ence, but there were stronger
directions to take the story
that would have had the same
thematic effect.
All of this, even the flaws,
adds up to a deeply uncomfort-
able, unsettling movie expe-
rience, and that’s the point.
Peele clearly wanted to cre-
ate a film that confronted and
deconstructed the racism per-
vasive in modern society, and
on that level, “Get Out” is a
resounding success. It’s in the
dialogue, the little racist pokes
that add up to something more
sinister over time. It’s in the
performances, the effect that
even the most unintentional
jabs have on the characters and
the audience. And nowhere is it
more evident than in the direc-
tion, the lens through which
we are forced to watch and
reckon with the myriad mod-
ern prejudices that many still
face today.
JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer
“Get Out”
Rave Cinemas,
Goodrich Quality 16
Universal Pictures
Comedian Jordan Peele tackles pertinent issues of race and
society in horror, balancing comedy, fear and commentary
INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR ARTS?
Email arts@michigdandaily.com for an application.
FILM REVIEW
‘Drunk’ is a charming, wacky release
MUSIC REVIEW
Thundercat has never been one
for the spotlight. Born Stephen
Bruner, the (nearly) all-purpose
musician has made a career out
of
complementation,
whether
it be with similarly-acclaimed
producer
Flying
Lotus
or
even
Kendrick Lamar.
His own first two
studio
albums,
The Golden Age of
Apocalypse (2011) and Apocalypse
(2013), were both promising, and
Drunk, released Feb. 24, continues
the solid streak.
Its 23-track length, which at
first can be mistaken as intimi-
dating, is soon realized to be an
extended trip; a palpable weird-
ness ushers the listener along with
an unrushed walk-in-the-park
type feel, if that walk in the park
was an intergalactic ride through
the funk-infused Thunder Galaxy.
Still, Drunk feeds on features
— “Show You the Way” arguably
wins the entire album, bolstered
by surprise appearances from
Michael McDonald and Kenny
Loggins, while the potent “Walk
On By” immediately follows with
a Kendrick Lamar verse. The pair-
ing that gave To Pimp a Butterfly
its iconic sound is just as power-
ful in this reunion. Thundercat
cheeks a resonating sentiment
(“At the end of it all / Nobody
wants to drink alone”) and, of
course, Lamar does his shit.
At times the project seems like
it’s operating drunkenly, or maybe
tripped out, or maybe both. “Cap-
tain Stupido” lives on ever-chang-
ing tempo and irrational dialogue
— “I feel weird / Comb your beard,
brush
your
teeth
/ Still feel weird /
Beat your meat, go
to sleep” — but it
works.
Thunder-
cat has showed us
before how to embrace and utilize
the weird (see: “Wesley’s Theory,”
the first track on Lamar’s Butter-
fly) and in “Jameel’s Space Ride,”
an otherwise provocative track,
he intertwines spontaneity with
actual implication, squeezing in
an assertive “Fuck yeah” without
regard for stricture.
The looseness of the album
should not be confused for a lack
of cohesion; Drunk thrives on the
melodic agreement from track to
track. It’s refreshing, really, to be
part of this prolonged adventure
without ever feeling overworked,
or stale, or even bored. Each
track brings with it an unfamil-
iar sound, albeit one that lends
itself accordingly to the feel of the
album.
If not taking itself seriously is
the ethos behind this release, a
Wiz Khalifa verse seems very fit-
ting. Wiz does his shit too, which
is OK, because this is a track, and
an album, about cheekily doing
things — love things, groove
things, rebellious things, things of
the like — with an air of buoyancy.
Hence, Wiz, and hence, “Drink
Dat.”
It has become a signature for
Thundercat, this buddy-buddy
style of both swerve and some-
times
subtle
commiseration.
Drunk, grounded in its under-
tones of R&B, soul, and funk, cre-
ates an aura of obscurity. It proves
that, sometimes, the lines need to
be blurred.
JOEY SCHUMAN
Daily Arts Writer
Drunk
Thundercat
Brainfeeder
At times the
project seems
like it’s operating
drunkenly, or
maybe tripped
out, or maybe
both
ARTIST INTERVIEW