Pussy Riot Released From Prison
Two members of Russian all-women punk band Pussy Riot were released from prison two months early, after having spent nearly two years behind bars for performing a punk-infused protest in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. The act brought hooliganism charges against three of the band's members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich. Shortly after their sentencing Samutsevich was freed. Both Tolokonnikova and Alekhina, released just before Christmas day, issued a statement claiming their release to be a publicity stunt by the Kremlin, prompted by the impending Olympics in Sochi that have drawn stark criticism from world human rights leaders for the imprisonment of the band members, as well as noted repression of gay rights. For now, the pair have pledged to help inmates and continue working toward their progressive movement. Watch more on the story below.
[Via The Guardian]
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[RH First Glance] Taylor Bennett
Alright, let's get it out of the way. Yes, Taylor Bennett's brother is Chance. Yes, that Chance; the rapper. With that out of the way we can get on to more important aspects of Taylor Bennett's life, such as his sold out debut headlining show last Friday at Reggie's Rock House on Chicago's south loop that had fans lined outside in the freezing rain.The 17-year-old high school senior took the stage to his frenetic "Speed Racer" after a solid lineup showcasing the next wave of Chicago hip-hop to flow from the city. As a packed crowd at Reggie's rapped and sang along to songs like "Heartbreaker" and "Dear Daddy" before turning up to "Rolling With The Gods", it became readily evident that Taylor Bennett is not happy being known only as Chance's brother. Friday night, he looked like he was ready to make his own moves going into the new year.
This year, artists in Chicago had reason to be pressed and hopeful at the same time as they collectively watched Chance rise from the guy down the block to one of the biggest stars in the country. Perhaps no one had a closer front row seat to the experience than the younger Bennett. While there's always competition with an older sibling, Taylor has set out to carve out his own lane in hip-hop with a unique blend of pure rhyming talent, personable nature and thoughtful prose. To be sure, things are very different for Taylor than his brother. Through his success, more eyes are on the younger Bennett, who received a write up in XXL recently and has become a regular on blogs across the country. While Chano was able to come up under the radar, Taylor has been squarely on the map of a lot of rap fans for a minute now. With all the attention, nerves and pressure would be easily understandable, especially for a 17-year-old, but Taylor's not sweating. I had a chance to catch him on the phone after his show, as he was working on his next project, Mainstream Music, to chop it up real quick about living in and out of other people's shadows, growing up in Chicago, his mixtape-The Taylor Bennett Show and more. Check out our Q+A below.
Rap Genius Comes Under Fire For SEO Practices
Hip-hop reference tool Rap Genius has come under fire over the past week as reports of their using shady SEO practices to drive traffic to the site has come to light. A host of media outlets reported on the issue, with Google giving a nod to being aware of what the site that recently rolled out "Rap Stats" is up to. Today, Google flexed and punished the New York-based Rap Genius by removing the site from the top of any of its search results pages and a search for the website only returns third-party sites talking about RG.
According to the L.A. Times, "Google took down Rap Genius after it was revealed that the lyrics website, which received $15 million in funding from Andreesson Horowitz last year, was offering bloggers exposure through its social media accounts in exchange for links to its website on their music blogs." Apparently, the site was trading unique views for access to its social media numbers-a fact that was revealed by Tech entrepreneur John Marbach who posted his findings here.
We'll see what effect this has on Rap Genius, which should bounce back quickly with that nice nest egg. More interestingly, it brings up an issue we could be facing moving forward in the Internet age of blogs and websites. Google made a statement, both in what practices are acceptable and how much clout they truly yield in the overall cyber universe. A check of other search engines shows that Google is alone in the ousting, but it is notable nevertheless. We'll keep an eye on this story as it develops, but it looks like RG is going to miss out on a lot of Beliebers looking up Journals lyrics in their new Christmas snuggies. Oh, well.
[via LA Times]
[Trailer] Draft Day
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Sports films are always a mixed breed. On the one hand, there are the super dramatic Oscar bait films (re: The Blind Side); on the other, there are laughable jokes of films (re: Thunderstruck)... of course, on the proverbial other other hand, there's Space Jam, which was cinematic perfection. Striking a balance between drama and comedy in a critically-acclaimed sports film can be hard, and I've personally yet to see one that captures the full effect.
Draft Day is being billed as a dramedy, but this first trailer definitely paints it more as a suspenseful drama than anything, akin to films like Margin Call. Kevin Costner stars as Sonny Weaver, the general manager for the Cleveland Browns. With the NFL Draft approaching and all hopes for the Browns' future in his hands, Weaver must do everything in his power to ensure the team's long-term success. Unfortunately, the Browns' coach doesn't see eye to eye with him as they are shown to be constantly butting heads.
Draft Day will be in theaters on April 11th.
[Video] The Save Money Christmas Cypher + New Songs
Few collectives in music had a bigger rise in overall reputation than Chicago's Save Money team. In honor of a 2013 that saw projects from Vic and Chance, as well as Brian Fresco's Mafioso, a Save Money compilation and a steady slew of singles that increasingly unique. In honor of all this and Christmas, some of the team got together for a special cypher video just for the holidays. Joey Purp starts things off before handing off to Kami De Chukwu, Tokyo Shawn and Vic Mensa, who caps off the short video, shot by the girls of Verluxe.
In other Save Money news, we also got new tracks from both Vic Mensa and Dally Auston that can be heard below. Vic's "Crazy" is a lost cut from his 2010 Straight Up EP and was released around Christmas as a loosie single, as is Auston's "Great Gatsby".
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TIME Names David Guttenfelder Instagram Photographer of the Year
Photos by David Guttenfelder
When it comes to Instagram, you will find photos of just about anything you can imagine. There are those that really push the boundaries of mobile photography; then there are those that document their lives to share with the world, as is the case with the Associated Press's Chief Asia Photographer, David Guttenfelder, who gives us a look at life in North Korea. He was recently titled the Instagram Photographer of the Year by TIME magazine for documenting his life in North Korea, giving us a glimpse into a country so many in the outside world have not seen. Here are a few images that he has captured, and if you'd like to see more of his journey, check out his Instagram account here.
[Via Time]
