The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, February 8, 2018 — 5
Rich Brian may have just
surprised everyone.
Born and raised in Jakarta,
Indonesia, he rose to internet
fame under the name “Rich
Chigga” with the viral music
video he created for his song
“Dat $tick,” a decent song that
suffered
from
not being able to
decide whether it
was a joke or not.
He’s an unlikely
success story: He
learned both how
to speak English
and how to rap off of YouTube
as an adolescent, and he only
turned 18 a few months ago.
With
Amen,
along
with
the name change, Rich Brian
is clearly trying to be taken
more seriously. If he tried
and failed to pivot away from
his comedic roots, he would
risk going the route of Lil
Dicky and plummeting into
irrelevance. However, if he
totally abandoned his past as
a “meme rapper” he would be
flirting with losing the very
fanbase that got him popular
in the first place. Rich Brian
was walking a tightrope — he
had to balance his viral fame
with his artistic output — and I
think Amen can be considered
a successful exercise in doing
so, in spite of its flaws.
There are some exceptional
tracks
on
this
record
—
“Glow Like Dat,” “Cold” and
“Arizona” are among the best
songs on the album — and any
one of these would represent a
substantive development from
the “Dat $tick” days.
Certain tracks demonstrate
a
knack
for
careful
experimentation that could
yield interesting results in
times to come: “Introvert”
is
worth
discussing,
light
yet dissonant with a driving
groove and featuring fellow
88rising member Joji, another
internet
star
attempting
to
transition
to
being
taken
seriously as an
artist.
“Flight”
is also unique, a
pulsating
synth
core draped with gentle bells
and a reverb-soaked hook.
“Little
Prince”
and
“Arizona” are both much more
atmospheric
and
peaceful
than the rest of the album,
with smooth hooks lent to
both by relatively unknown
vocalists (NIKI and AUGUST
08, respectively).
The album had its share of
low points: “Attention” was a
little disappointing for having
the big-ticket Offset feature;
the beat was serviceable but
it felt like Offset phoned it in.
For most of his verse he was
spitting like he was reading
his bars off of a teleprompter.
Maybe I’m just tired of him
after having to sit through all
of Culture II last week. I don’t
know, either way the track
didn’t grab me.
This is an album where the
production really does the
heavy lifting, which would be
an indictment of Rich Brian
if he didn’t also produce
most of the album. Given his
rather repetitive and often
monotonous flow, I might
wager that he is actually more
talented as a producer than
he is as a rapper. His bars
can straddle the line between
funny and lame (“Every week,
I be on her face, she think
it’s Cetaphil”), and while his
singing voice is not technically
proficient, it has character,
redolent of Kid Cudi’s singing
style. However, at the age of
18, he still has plenty of time
to improve upon his weak
areas, and I would look to his
next project as an indication of
whether Rich Brian is a flash
in the pan or if he’ll be around
for good.
‘Amen’ a surprising risk
from young’un Rich Brian
JONAH MENDELSON
Daily Arts Writer
Courtesy of Rich Brian
FILM REVIEW
With
recent
popularized
animated
pictures
like
“Paddington 2” and “Cars 3”
on the market, “Bilal: A New
Breed of Hero,” an animated film
about enslavement and religious
tyranny taking place 1,500 years
ago is an undeniable hard-sell
for modern audiences. However,
versions of this storyline have
in fact sold before, and have
successfully
awed
modern
viewers. Take the remarkable
masterpiece that is “The Prince
of Egypt,” a film about Moses
and
the
oppression
of
the
Israelite people. Though the
concept sounds rather dry, the
film holds the attention of the
audience until the end through
a
rhythmically
captivating
soundtrack
and
impressive
character
growth.
Despite
following a somewhat similar
narrative to “The Prince of
Egypt,” “Bilal” falls far short of
its potential.
Taking
place
1,500
years
ago in a religiously corrupt
and
slavery
ridden
portion
of the Middle East, “Bilal”
begins with the uprooting of
protagonist Bilal’s world as his
home is invaded, his mother is
presumably killed and he and
his sister are sold into slavery.
The remainder of the film
tracks Bilal through his journey
from childhood to manhood.
Increasingly
intolerant
with
the societal oppression he faces,
Bilal ignites a flame within
the hearts of his tyrannized
community
and
sparks
a
rebellion
against
the
slave
masters. Despite its startling
and emotional beginning, the
remainder of the film steadily
loses its momentum, lacking a
pulse entirely by the end.
However, to the film’s credit,
the quality of the animation is
truly mesmerizing. The vivid
reds, golds, blues, purples and
browns used throughout the film,
the motif of sand and the slow
motion and flashback sequences
undeniably add to the cinematic
beauty. The flashbacks, which
often transport the audience
into Bilal’s memories of his
mother, who serves as a guiding
voice within him throughout the
movie, are especially impactful.
These moments function as
marking points, indicating the
growing resistance within Bilal
as his intolerance to his figurative
and literal chains develops. Also
praiseworthy is the film’s telling
of a story more diverse than the
typical animation flick. Even
though the film is set far in the
past, it holds some relevance to
the current political climate, and
its introduction of an unfamiliar
narrative about a Middle Eastern
(rather than white) hero to
American audiences is welcomed
and extremely refreshing.
Though
components
of
“Bilal” do hold some value, its
overall quality is overpowered
by
mishaps
in
character
development,
unengaging
and
bland
dialogue
and
oversimplification.
Despite
his physical aging throughout
the film and his progressive
internal
dissatisfaction
with
his
maltreatment,
Bilal’s
character evolution is deficient
and he comes off as bland.
Partly to blame for this is the
surface level, black and white
relationships
that
Bilal
has
with the characters around
him. This is a film with no grey
characters, and by extension, no
questioning of who is righteous
and who is evil. Obviously, the
man in the black and red garb
with narrowed eyes and a smirk
on his face is villainous, and of
course Bilal and his companions,
who dress mostly in cream
and tan colored clothing, have
stunning eyes and soothing
voices, are the upstanding guys.
This lack of complexity makes
characters incredibly intangible,
and
prevents
viewers
from
investing any real emotion in
them. Tied to a lack of depth is
a shortcoming with dialogue.
With so much of the film
consisting of repetitive, back-
to-back moments of struggling
and overcoming, dialogue and
character growth are placed
toward the backburner. The
conversations had by characters
do the bare minimum, enough
to keep the plot going, but not
enough to actually make viewers
care about what is being said.
“Bilal”
is
best
described
as a big ball of unharnessed
potential. On the plus side,
the film enlightens viewers to
an empowering, unique and
inspiring true story. At the
same time, however, it misses
the mark by failing to tell that
same story in a non-generic and
though-provoking manner. By
the end of the film, viewers are
left dissatisfied and wondering
whether the seven dollars they
paid at the box office were worth
it, or if they could have obtained
equal
entertainment
from
looking up the story of the real
Bilal online for free.
MUSIC ALBUM REVIEW
If David Fincher directed
“Carol” (2015) in an Ortho-
dox Jewish community, it
would look a lot like “Dis-
obedience.” Based on the
novel of the same name by
Naomi Alderman, “Disobedi-
ence” tackles homosexual-
ity within the confines of
the isolated and restrictive
Ultra-Orthodox London
community of Hendon. The
trailer evokes the pace and
tone of a thriller filled with
forbidden passion and desire
while touching on the more
nuanced themes of the con-
stricting boundaries of the
Orthodox Jewish world.
When Ronit (Rachel Weisz,
“Denial”) returns to the
community that exiled her
for her sexuality to mourn
her Rabbi father’s death,
she encounters her former
lesbian lover, Esti (Rachel
McAdams, “Spotlight”).
Since their affair, Esti has
married Ronit’s cousin
and her father’s successor,
Dovid (Alessandro Nivola,
“American Hustle”). The
film, directed and adapted
for the screen by Chilean
director Sebastián Lelio (“A
Fantastic Woman,” which
happens to be nominated for
Best Foreign Language Film
at the Oscars this year) is
yet another step in the right
direction for representation
of homosexual love stories,
even Jewish homosexual
love stories, on screen. We
have come a long way from
“Kissing Jessica Stein”
(2001) in terms of Jewish
homosexuality with a bond
beyond stars of David and
circumcisions with Elio and
Oliver in “Call Me by Your
Name” (2017). Hopefully,
“Disobedience” will serve to
provide a similar lens of vis-
ibility to those underrepre-
sented stories in Hollywood.
Similarly, “Disobedience”
sheds light on the equally
underrepresented world of
the Orthodox community.
The year 2017 saw A24’s
Yiddish film “Menashe,”
taking place in New York’s
Hasidic Williamsburg with
real-life Hasidim and Netf-
lix’s documentary on life in
that community in “One of
Us.” Hopefully, in addition
to providing visibility to the
underrepresented, “Disobe-
dience” will tell a story of
intimacy and passion that
has yet to be told.
– Becky Portman,
Senior Arts Editor
TRAILER REVIEW:
‘DISOBEDIENCE’
“Disobedience”
Curzon Artificial
Eye
CURZON ARTIFICIAL EYE
Amen
Rich Brian
88rising Music
‘Bilal: A New Breed of Hero’
fails to deliver on potential
SAMANTHA NELSON
For the Daily
With Amen,
along with the
name change,
Rich Brian is
clearly trying to
be taken more
seriously
The internet star’s viral music video dictates his new release
Viewers are
left dissatisfied
and wondering
whether the
seven dollars they
paid at the box
office were worth
it
About halfway through the first
episode of “The Trade” — a new
five-part docuseries on the opioid
epidemic from Showtime — we
meet Jen Walton, whose sons,
Skyler and Avery, are addicted to
heroin. “Skyler would walk over
my dead body to get his drug,” she
says, almost matter-of-factly.
It’s
a
moment
of
weary
resignation, and “The Trade” is
full of those. There’s Don Miguel,
the boss of an opium poppy field in
southwestern Mexico, confessing
that he knows heroin is a harmful
drug, but it’s the only way to make
a living. And Detective Mark
Edwards
in
Columbus,
Ohio,
busting small-time dealers and
beginning to realize that nothing is
changing.
“The Trade” is an unvarnished,
character-driven examination of
the opioid epidemic told through
the lives of those it touches, and
director and producer Matthew
Heineman (“City of Ghosts”) —
whose
previous
documentary
subjects include violent drug cartels
and Syrian citizen journalists —
isn’t one to shy away from difficult
themes or complicated people.
Heineman is given unbelievable
access
to
his
subjects:
law
enforcement officials, heroin users
and growers. The result is intensely
cinematic, and at times, when we’re
frighteningly close to someone
shooting up heroin or stirring vats
of chemicals, it can be easy to forget
that this is all unscripted.
‘The Trade’ is incomplete
MAITREYI ANANTHARAMAN
For the Daily
SHOWTIME
TV REVIEW
“Bilal”
Goodrich Quality 16
Vertical
Entertainment
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