Earlier this year, alt-indie artist 2hollis completed his Leg Two tour, and now, he’s preparing to go overseas to perform in Asia and Europe. Before he goes, though, he’s dropping off a follow-up to his January single “Afraid.”
The new song, “Style,” is in line with his prior releases, embracing a brash, glitchy sound reminiscent of the dubstep wave of the early 2010s. It’s very bass-forward, but the artist alternates between groovy rapping (think G-Eazy) and singing on the chorus. In the accompanying music video, 2hollis puts the focus on his physique, with his torso filling the frame, and half-adorned by a white T-shirt.
In a recent interview, 2hollis denied that he was going for a “mysterious” image, instead comparing himself to a character in a movie. “I’m not really trying to be mysterious,” he said. “2hollis is a character, and a character wouldn’t be so forward and 100% out there and readable and relatable. Like, your favorite character from a movie — you wouldn’t see Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle on Instagram being like, ‘Oh yeah, today I’m going to this store, what are y’all doing?’ I like to keep it a little theatrical.”
You can watch the video for 2hollis’ “Style” above.
This year, he’s launched a new endeavor: a beverage line called Yacht Water. Partnering with his Quality Control manager Coach K and Sneaky Pete Spirits, Yachty announced the new drink with a humorous video on social media. In it, he acknowledges that “I don’t really like alcohol” — a nod to his straight-edge image — although he admits he’s “tried them all,” but doesn’t like the taste. This is cheekily illustrated with an opulent table set with glasses of wine, beer, and other such libations, before they’re all pulled away on a tablecloth. He introduces Yacht Water, which consists of tequila, lime juice, sea salt, and sparkling water.
The canned cocktails will come in three flavors, per Beer Street Journal: Jalapeno, Key Lime, and Sunrise, which adds orange juice to the mix. Each 12-ounce can is 5.8% alcohol by volume, and they should be available at retailers now (although your local availability will almost certainly vary). You can find more info here.
The 2004 indie film Garden State has long been considered a watershed for the indie scenes in both film and music. Written and directed by Zach Braff, and starring him, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ian Holm, the film was a box office success, and its soundtrack, which Braff curated and featured rising indie bands like The Shins, Remy Zero, Iron & Wine, and even early Coldplay, won a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Pictures, Television or Other Visual Media.
On March 29th, a benefit concert in Los Angeles will reunite most of the soundtrack’s bands to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary (albeit a year after the fact). The concert will feature Cary Brothers, Colin Hay, Frou Frou, Iron & Wine, Remy Zero, The Shins, and Thievery Corporation, will special guests doing pop-ins throughout the evening, and Braff promising some behind-the-scenes footage and stories about the film’s creation. The concert is raising funds for the Midnight Mission, a Los Angeles homeless shelter and service provider.
Best of all: If you’re not in Los Angeles, or otherwise can’t attend, the concert will be streaming beginning April 6th on Live Nation’s Veeps app. 48-hour access tickets are available now for $19.99 before the stream goes live on April 6th at 9 PM ET. You can find more info here.
The focus on fractious rap beef over the past year has produced some strange side effects, and Kendrick Lamar dragging Drake during the Super Bowl might just be the least of them. Yesterday, we had “Cookie Monster pajama white girl” beef, as Bhad Bhabie and Alabama Barker took their feud over a man to the booth, and now, we’ve got “moody Torontonian emo R&B singer” beef between PartyNextDoor and Tory Lanez, two of that genre’s originators.
Or do we? After dissing Tory Lanez in a preview of a new song, Party later retracted his comments via social media, explaining that he was merely reacting to secondhand information — or even thirdhand, the way these rappers jump out the window over garbled games of Telephone. “I was told about what you said without hearing your video for myself,” Party wrote on his Instagram Story. “You didnt say anything that I wouldn’t say myself, now that I seen it I was wrong. City is stronger together.”
So what exactly did Tory say that set him off, and isn’t Tory supposed to be incarcerated for shooting Megan Thee Stallion anyway? (Yes, yes, he is, and he won’t be out for some time.)
Well, because it’s 2025, and literally nothing isn’t worth posting anymore, the “feud” apparently stems from a jail call with Tory leaked by one of his associates. During a boasting session, the “Say It” rapper/singer told his friend, “PartyNextDoor showed his best work of 2025, Drake showed his best work of 2025, The Weeknd showed his best work of 2025… Now it’s time for me to come out.” His comment apparently refers to Some Sexy Songs 4 U, Drake and PartyNextDoor’s joint album, which debuted at No. 1 this past week, along with an exceedingly optimistic appraisal of Tory’s own plans for the future.
It seems Party may have misinterpreted the message, and took his mistaken grievance to the studio. In the snippet, which he shared to Instagram, Party opens the song with this delightful missive: “I’m not y’all n****s friends. Stop saying my name.” The lyrics also contain such slags as, “You said I sound like Young Thug, you know you sound like me.”
It seems that whatever the issue was, it’s been cleared up.
In their gritty video for “Colossal,” The Alchemist, 2 Chainz, and Larry June blow up the New York City skyline, and prepare for their appearance on The Tonight Show. As usual, the too-cool-for-school trio remains characteristically calm about the carnage they cause, with the explosions only prompting more stoicism from our boys.
“Colossal” is the fifth music video from the group’s newly released album, Life Is Beautiful. The rollout has also included the videos for “Bad Choices,” “I Been,” “Munyon Canyon,” and “Generation.” You can’t say they don’t know how to promote a project.
Meanwhile, The Alchemist remains as busy as ever. The ever-productive producer also recently released a joint album with Yasiin Bey called Forensics, named after their group and building on the chemistry they established with their Christmas livestream, Money Christmas. In his frequent Q&As with fans on Twitter, Alc has remained cagey about his remaining future projects, but you can bet even odds that he’ll continue to crank out more heat for his who’s-who list of rap friends, which includes Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, Freddie Gibbs, and more.
Watch The Alchemist, 2 Chainz, and Larry June’s “Colossal” video above.
Life Is Beautiful is out now via The Freemind Records/ 2 Chainz/ ALC/ EMPIRE. You can find more info here.
Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. The last week of February is another banger! This hasn’t just been the strongest month for sneaker releases this year, this has also been the strongest month in recent memory. We can’t think of a single month in the last two years that has been this consistent. This is great news for sneakerheads and very, very bad news for our wallets.
This week, you’re going to be hit with some pretty hard choices. Do you throw your money at the latest Union LA Jordan collab? Keep things simple with the Black and Varsity Red Jordan 12? Try your hand at some classic Adidas designs, or hit up New Balance for its latest Joe Freshgoods collab? There are frankly too many great sneaker drops this week to choose from. Even if you’re a brand loyalist.
It’s times like this that we’re glad we don’t rank this weekly list! Let’s dive into the best sneaker drops this week and where to find them.
Union and Jordan have joined forces once again to deliver us what is easily the most hyped sneaker of the week. Dubbed the “Chicago Shadow,” this sneaker features the classic red, white, and black Chicago colorway with some Noir notes on the collar. The sneaker isn’t quite as bright and loud as the OG Chicago, offering a more muted take on the famous colorway.
Rounding out the design is some exposed stitching (a Union classic) and dual branding.
The Union x Air Jordan 1 Chicago Shadow is out now for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair at Union or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
If you’re looking for something a bit futuristic (by way of 99), the Air Max SNDR is dropping a new sleek Silver and Anthracite colorway that looks straight out of an Aaliyah video. The sneaker features a stretchy neoprene upper, those iconic SNDR panels, Air Max cushioning, and Nike Air tech, which adds a floaty feeling to your step.
The sneaker is releasing in a women’s exclusive size range, so if you’ve got big feet, you’re out of luck.
The Nike Women’s Air Max SNDR Silver and Anthracite is out now for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
If you missed out last week on Joe Freshgoods’ latest with New Balance, you have another shot this week with the New Balance general release. The 992 Aged Well features premium Made in USA construction sporting a lightweight mesh upper with pig suede overlays and reflective details throughout,
Rounding out the design is a co-branded tongue and JFG branding at the heel, and five — yes five — different pairs of laces.
The Joe Freshgoods x NB Made in USA 992 Aged Well is set to drop on February 28th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $229.99. Pick up a pair at New Balance or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
Adidas Anthony Edwards 1 Core Black/Silver Metallic
If you’ve got big feet and are looking at the Air Max SNDR with envy, relax, Adidas has its own futuristic shoe that will scratch that cybernetic itch. Best of all, this sneaker is actually from the future, well… the present. But hey, good enough!
The AE 1 features a lightweight textile build over a BOOST midsole with Lightstrike cushioning. This week, the sneaker drops in a mix of black and Silver Metallic tones. It’s the sort of sneakers we imagine people living in space would wear.
The Adidas Anthony Edwards 1 Core Black/Silver Metallic is set to drop on February 27th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair at Adidas.
Leave it to the Canadian sportswear brand Sporty & Rich to give the Adidas Spezial the care and craft it deserves. For this collaboration, the brand took one of Adidas’ most iconic silhouettes and outfitted it with some premium construction, including a smooth leather build, textile lining, and dual branding.
The sneaker is dropping in three muted spring-ready colorways, like Dark Green, Night Indigo and Shadow Red.
The Sporty & Rich x Adidas Handball Spezial is set to drop on February 27th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair at Adidas.
Beautiful. Need we say more? This Air Jordan 12 features a premium full-grain leather upper with Air Zoom Cushioning and a simple two color design that combines black and Nike’s iconic Varsity Red. It’s a no-brainer pick-up for Jordan heads and anyone who likes striking design.
The Air Jordan 12 Black and Varsity Red is set to drop on March 1st at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $210. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
The Nike Total 90 in Metallic Silver and Black looks straight out of T2. This 2000’s era sneaker sports a quilted upper, asymmetrical lacing, and a rubber sole with a glittering metallic finish.
Nike has all sorts of soccer cleats that we’d love to get flat-soled versions of. Hopefully, the Total 90 is a sign of things to come.
The Nike Total 90 Metallic Silver and Black is set to drop on March 1st at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $110. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
After a long, long break, one of the best shows on TV is back. Severance picks up where season 1 left off, with Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Helly Riggs), Dylan (Dylan), and Irving (Irving Bailiff) trifling with the severance barrier, “leading them further down a path of woe,” according to the cryptic Apple TV Plus synopsis. There are so many mysteries left to answer: what’s the deal with Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman)? What’s the deal with Seth Milchick (series MVP Tramell Tillman)? And seriously, what’s the deal with the freaking goats?
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels have been attached to some of the best TV comedies of the last 30 years, including Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, and The Office for Daniels and Beavis and Butt-Head and Silicon Valley for Judge. They also co-created King of the Hill. Their latest collaboration is producing Common Side Effects, a surreal Adult Swim animated series about the “world’s greatest medicine” from creators Joseph Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock). Episodes will stream the next day on Max.
A new season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is coming later this year, but don’t forget about Rob McElhenney’s other excellent comedy series. Mythic Quest season 4 (also the show’s final season) brings everyone — including McElhenney’s Ian, Charlotte Nicdao’s Poppy, and Danny Pudi’s Brad — back together at Mythic Quest HQ, where they’ll confront “new challenges amongst a changing video game landscape as stars rise, egos clash, relationships bloom and everyone tries to have a little more work life balance.” I’ll miss Ian and Poppy’s Don and Peggy-like fraught yet platonic relationship the most.
Clean Slate is one of the final projects from the late Norman Lear, the creator and/or producer of All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and Maude. The comedy follows Alabama car wash owner Harry (played by George Wallace) who learns that his child, who he thought was his son, is actually a trans woman named Desiree (Laverne Cox). As per Prime Video: “Her homecoming brings together a hilarious cast of friends, coworkers, and love interests, as Desiree and Harry try to get it right the second time around.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is the fourth Bridget Jones movie, but the first to feature a character being killed off-screen while doing humanitarian work in Sudan. No spoilers! Otherwise, the rom-com follows Bridget (played by Renée Zellweger) as she raises her young kids with help from her friends and former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).
The White Lotus returns with a new location (Thailand) and a new group of talented actors playing emotionally- and spiritually-empty rich folks. The cast includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Blackpink’s Lisa, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood. “I do feel like the other seasons were a rehearsal for this one,” creator Mike White teased.
Is the Count Orlok voice the new Bane voice? Judge for yourself with Nosferatu, the latest film from The Lighthouse and The Northman director Robert Eggers. The gothic tale is creepy, sexy, and has wonderful performances from Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe. It’s great, unless you don’t like rats. Then maybe skip it.
Shockingly, Zero Day is Robert De Niro’s first starring role in a TV show. OK, maybe that wouldn’t be shocking 30 years ago, when movie stars didn’t “do” TV, especially streaming shows (also, they didn’t have streaming shows 30 years ago). But it’s still surprising it took this long. Zero Day is a six-episode political thriller starring the two-time Oscar winner as a former U.S. president who is tasked with investigating a deadly cyberattack. Is there nothing Bobby D can’t do?!?
There’s a Peaky Blinders movie coming out soon, but before then, creator Steven Knight has a new show on Hulu. A Thousand Blows is about the world of underground boxing in 1880s Victorian London, as well as the all-female crime syndicate Forty Elephants. The cast includes Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty, Francis Lovehall, and Stephen Graham, giving the show a Peaky connection.
You know what time is it? It’s Reacher o’clock. In season 3, the big guy meets an even bigger guy. He also “hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out,” according to the Prime Video synopsis. “There, he finds a world of secrecy and violence and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.” Every episode is basically the same, which is to say, they’re all a lot of fun.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Max)
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a.k.a. the Lord of the Rings anime, is set approximately 200 years before Bilbo Babbins discovers the One Ring. The plot of the animated film tells the story of Rohan king Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, Héra, who must summon the will to lead the resistance against an enemy intent on total destruction. The War of the Rohirrim received mixed reviews from critics, except for the stunning animation, which was universally lauded.
The Venom trilogy (an objectively funny collection of words) comes to an end with Venom: The Last Dance. There’s sadly no Michelle “I’m Sorry About Venom” Williams, but Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock / the Looney Tunes-inspired voice of Venom. This time, they’re on the run and forced into a “devastating decision.” Is it not giving horse and frog Venom their own spin-off movie? Because they deserved one.
3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Netflix)
Paramount
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the most purely enjoyable big-budget movies of the 2020s. So I will never understand why it underperformed at the box office. The people weren’t ready for Chris Pine’s melting face, I guess. But hopefully enough people watch Honor Among Thieves on Netflix that a sequel gets the greenlight. Do it for Jarnathan.
Mindy Kaling’s comedy empire expands with Running Point. The series stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a high-powered executive who is unexpectedly put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. The cast also includes Scott MacArthur, Drew Tarver, Max Greenfield, and the suddenly-everywhere (which, to be clear, is a very good thing) Brenda Song.
Assuming you’re not too heartbroken from Challengers getting snubbed, the 2025 Oscars are this Sunday. Will frontrunner Anora win Best Picture? Could Timothee Chalamet upset Adrien Brody for Best Actor? And can Flow please, please, please win Best Animated Feature? There’s one question we can already answer, however: where can I watch the Oscars? For the first time, the ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien, is streaming on Hulu.
Iceland is only about a five-hour flight from the East Coast of the United States, making the island nation a getaway that’s not too far from home. The Iceland Airwaves festival routinely provides a good reason to check out Reykjavík, and now the gears on the 2025 edition are starting to turn.
This year’s festival goes down from November 6 to 8, and the first wave of the lineup was unveiled today (February 27), highlighted by Kenya Grace, Fat Dog, and Jasmine.4.t. Tickets and travel packages are on sale now via the festival’s website.
Uproxx’s review of the festival’s 2023 edition reads in part, “Iceland Airwaves is the perfect festival for adventurous travelers who want to discover new music and culture in a unique way. It pulls back the curtain on how a country is able to foster such a wide variety of music and the arts and offers a chance to witness performances you’d never be able to see stateside.”
Check out the 2025 lineup so far below.
Iceland Airwaves 2025 Lineup
Antony Szmierek (UK)
Babymorocco (UK)
Colt (FR)
Daniil (IS)
DEADLETTER (UK)
Elín Hall (IS)
Emma (IS)
Fat Dog (UK)
Flóni (IS)
gugusar (IS)
Hasar (IS)
ian (US)
Izleifur (IS)
Jasmine.4.t (UK)
Jelena Ciric (IS)
Kári Egils (IS)
Kenya Grace (UK)
KUSK + Óviti (IS)
lúpína (IS)
Magnús Jóhann (IS)
Mermaid Chunky (UK)
Milkywhale (IS)
Night Tapes (UK)
ratbag (NZ)
Saint Pete (IS)
Snorri Helgason (IS)
So Good (UK)
Sunna Margrét (IS)
Superkoloritas (LT)
superserious (IS)
The Orchestra (For Now) (UK)
The Scratch (IE)
Tófa (IS)
Valdimar (IS)
Vtoroi Ka (KG)
Joe Keery has managed to really excel in two distinct wings of show business: He came to prominence in the acting world thanks to Stranger Things, and while making music as Djo, he had a viral hit last year with “End Of Beginning.”
On the Djo front, he has a new album, The Crux, set to drop in April. We’ve heard a few songs from it so far, and today (February 27), he has shared “Delete Ya.” It sees Keery wishing he could forget somebody who has set an impossible standard.
A press release indicates the new album differs from Keery’s previous “bedroom recordings centered around synths” and now “spotlights lush guitars and instrumentation reminiscent of late 60’s and 70’s pop.” Thematically, the release notes, “What begins as a meditation on the dissolution of a relationship winds its way back to self-resilience, and a celebration and recognition of the importance of nurturing community. These themes are reflected in both his lyrics and in the collaborative spirit of the music, with contributions from his family and lifelong friends lending the album a warm energy mirroring the bonds at the record’s core.”
Listen to “Delete Ya” above.
The Crux is out 4/4 via AWAL. Find more information here.
In middle school, I was warned to stay away from Jay, Florida. Located within the panhandle, the legacy of Jay is synonymous with its history of being a “sundown town” known for its mass exodus of Black residents in the 1920s. Although I was unaware of what this meant as a teenager, the close proximity between Jay and my hometown flooded my body with terror every time I entered Santa Rosa County, in fear that I would see remnants of a sign that says “N*****, don’t let the sun set on you in Jay.”
In 2019, I moved from Pensacola to attend Florida A&M University, a public historically Black university in the state’s capital. In less than one semester, I quickly learned more about North Florida’s appalling history of segregation and racial discrimination, thanks to books like The Pain And The Promise: The Struggle For Civil Rights In Tallahassee, Florida that documented Tallahassee’s almost eight-month bus boycott.
North Florida’s history of violent race relations stretches nearly 150 miles away to a historical marker that stands to honor the victims of the Rosewood massacre that occurred in 1923. Less than an hour away, a similar plaque commemorates The Newberry Six that were killed in 1916, in addition to three other Black victims of lynching in Newberry. Even though these two tragedies happened in the early 1900s, the horrors at the Dozier School For Boys continued well into the 20th century, and the reform school didn’t close its doors until 2011.
Researchers from the University Of South Florida led the investigation on the school grounds and found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths, in addition to documentation that revealed emotional abuse and torture. Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Nickel Boys is fictionalized based on the Dozier School.
Directed by RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys is an adaptation of Whitehead’s novel and opens in a Jim Crow-era Tallahassee as it follows Elwood (played by Ethan Herisse). After being falsely accused as an accomplice to car theft, he is sent to the Nickel Academy. There, Curtis befriends Turner (played by Brandon Wilson) and shyly introduces himself as a native of Frenchtown.
The brief mention of Frenchtown, Tallahassee’s historically-Black neighborhood, and Elwood’s aspiration to attend a colored college left me with an uneasy, indescribable feeling that echoed in my head for the remainder of the movie. This vicinity of Florida that I hold close to my heart has such a hidden history of racial violence, and Nickel Boys left me wondering what hasn’t been explicitly shared in Florida’s classrooms or textbooks.
Toward the beginning of my conversation with Ross, I mention my Southern upbringing and short-tempered defense for Florida, to which he self-identifies in solidarity as a fellow “defender of the South.” Ross’ father was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Ross himself lives in Alabama, which influenced his portrayal of Alabama’s Black Belt in his Oscar-nominated documentary Hale County, This Morning, This Evening.
He then references an excerpt from James Baldwin’s Nobody Knows My Name, in which Baldwin expands upon the complicated insider/outsider relationship that Black Americans have with the South. Ross’ vision of the South as a “cul-de-sac for Black American identity” is transparent to all that have watched the documentary, and it is continued with each second of Nickel Boys.
From the scene of the Black schoolteacher recalling his encounters with white supremacists to the unconditional love from Elwood’s grandmother (played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), Nickel Boys approaches a fundamental lens of Florida’s Black community. As if these moments aren’t already tear-inducing, cinematographer Jomo Fray does an excellent job to visualize the first-person point of view for both protagonists.
In addition to these gut-wrenching moments, clips from Sidney Poitier’s The Defiant Ones and archival footage sourced from the Florida Memory Project are woven throughout the film to truly encapsulate the devastating forensic findings at the Dozier School For Boys. Upon my first watch of Nickel Boys, one of the chilling moments that caught my attention was an alligator.
In Florida, one of the first things you’re taught as a child is how to zig-zag out of harm’s way if you encounter an alligator. Regardless of how you feel about the reptile, it’s difficult to not recall the depiction of Black children that originated with the term “alligator bait.”
Ross intended for the imagery of the alligator to move past symbolism, and instead, resemble another type of systematic violence. “It becomes this lurking metaphor for the powers that be, and the sort of reptilian blindness with which systems deal with folks that are similar to us,” he said.
Beyond the silver screen, alligators received their big moment in 2024. Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter featured “Alliigator Tears,” which was less about the animal and more about the idiom of faux sympathy tears. In the fall, Lana Del Rey quietly married Jeffrey Dufrene, a Louisiana alligator tour guide. And the full-circle moment to emphasize the relationship between Floridians and alligators occurred when Tampa-born rapper Doechii posed with Coconut, an albino alligator, for the cover of her third mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal.
“I think it’s beautiful the way that Doechii is ‘reclaiming’ these things, because coming from the ‘swamp’ or coming from the country are levied on us as a pejorative,” Ross said, in praise of the Florida rapper. “When, in fact, there are so many beautiful things that emerge from those cultures and experiences that allow one to navigate the world in ways that give one an edge, or help one know themselves in ways that other people don’t know themselves.”
Although Doechii hasn’t blatantly saved the alligator from its status as an intimidating creature, the public may have developed a sweet spot for the reptile as Doechii’s glamorous gator merchandise covers her fans, also known as the Swamp.
In 2023, she told Tampa Bay Times reporter Gabrielle Calise that she’s “making [the swamp] a thing by branding it as this magical land. I’m feeding into my fantasy of whatever I want people to think Florida is about.” She continues to share that the alligator is her favorite animal, applauding their intelligence and survival tactics.
From a North Florida girl to a South Florida girl, I agree with Doechii that alligators are misunderstood, and perhaps, it’s an “if you know you know” thing. And as the Swamp Princess, Doechii’s endless love letter to rep her Florida roots arrives at a time when the Sunshine State desperately needs it.
Ironically, the timing between the Doechii’s Grammy win and the critical acclaim of Nickel Boys comes when Florida is in the news for all the wrong reasons: Governor Ron DeSantis targeting DEI programs, the removal of critical race theory, and climate disaster. These unapologetically Black projects offer a hope to a bolder, brighter representation of Florida. And this time, it centers Black Floridians.
“I think she’s a phenom,” Ross says about Doechii. “I just love how unapologetic and how singular her voice is and how conceptually she approaches her art and her platform.”
Describing the Nickel Boys press tour as a nonstop blur since September, Ross says that it’s an “unbelievable kind of relief” to receive the Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
“There are so many people that go into making a film, and it starts with the creatives, but it also needs money, and it needs producers and to like this film as seen is written that way. To have it nominated and to have the story elevated to that space where everyone will come across the Dozier School For Boys story like they will come across Colson Whitehead to nickel boys. Yeah, just so appreciative and relieved that everyone who kind of trusted in what we could accomplish, it came through.”
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