It has been just over two years since SURL, a pop/rock band, debuted. Although they are fresh-faces in the South Korean music market, Ho-seung, Han-bin, Myung-seok and Do-yeon have already won over not only a domestic audience but also gained a decent European fanbase. In September of 2018, SURL released their 1st official song called […]
Nomadland is a curious beast; a sobering look at the ramifications of an ageing, expanding workforce in the gig economy following the 2008 recession, critical of the corporations who have forced people into this position, while also feeling at first glance like it’s pulling some of its punches. At least, that’s how this writer interpreted […]
Dancing has been a way of life for Jay Kim, a former 1Million Dance Studio choreographer and contemporary dancer, since he was 13 years old. Known for his artistic choreography for K-pop idols such as Taemin of SHINee, Luhan (former member of EXO), The Boyz, Jay Park, and an emerging group called KAACHI, Jay Kim […]
The London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF) celebrates its fifth edition in 2020. In keeping with the times, LEAFF presents a unique approach to the festival’s programme between 10th and 13th December. LEAFF 2020 opens with the gripping Korean box office hit, BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS, directed by Kim Yong-hoon which was awarded the Special Jury […]
What really happens to idols after leaving their K-pop groups? Following several years of training and sometimes years of performing, regardless of their level of fame, the future is often bleak. There are various reasons for why idols part ways with their companies, but from what one has seen, it is often because of the […]
When Bol (Sope Dirisu) and his wife Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) arrive in England for the first time, they are coldly greeted by a board of gloomy detention custody officers who offer them a dreary congratulations as they’re released into the country on bail as asylum seekers. Fleeing from their home in South Sudan, Bol and […]
Neo-soul is believed to have originated in the mid-1990s with the exquisite work of Tony! Toni! Toné! and with D’Angelo’s debut album, Brown Sugar, released in 1995. While Tony! Toni! Toné! was well-known for their soul and R&B sound in the late 1980s, it was their 4th album, the last one they made as a […]
The criminalisation of same-sex relationships in Africa is commonplace. In 2013, 38 African countries made homosexuality a crime under the law. Opposition to people of different sexual orientation has become more and more visible, with Kenya being one of those countries where homosexuality is criminalised and socially unacceptable; if convicted, a person could face up […]
R&B, like many other musical genres, has evolved over the years. Originally having its roots in blues, jazz and gospel, with time, it embraced a mixture of pop and soul with elements of hip-hop. And with many new emerging talents on the horizon, the R&B music market is experiencing a huge boom – just look […]
Winner of the Oscar-qualifying Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Best Short Work at this year’s ImagineNATIVE festival, Moloka’i Bound is the story of Kainoa (Holden Mandrial-Santos), a formerly incarcerated man who is trying to reconnect with his preteen son, Jonathan (Austin Tucker). Showing up out of the blue one day outside Jonathan’s school whilst Jonathan is […]
