Watch The "Broad City" Girls' Epic Lip Sync Battle

August 7, 2015, 7:01 am

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photo by Kate Owen

Last night the Broad City ladies finally got to debut their long-awaited lip sync battle, and it was nothing short of fabulous.

Abby and Ilana took to Spike's aptly named Lip Sync Battle to duke it out and determine who's the best at faking it. And even though Ilana's rendition of "It's Raining Men" was quite the vivacious belter (complete with back-up dancers), there's nothing quite like Abby's rump-a-slam-dunk "Humpty Dance." No wonder it's one of Ms. Glazer's "sexy songs."

Watch the madness below.

[h/tVulture]

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10 Feminist Comedians You Should Be Paying Attention To

August 7, 2015, 8:30 am

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It's been a while since the old stereotype that "women aren't funny" was put to bed and thankfully now the "humorless feminist" trope is also meeting its demise. For those of us who have seen Trainwreck and plowed through every episode of Inside Amy Schumer or The Mindy Project, here are ten rising feminist comics whose excellent work can hold us over until Broad City comes back. (Though the following are all women, there are also plenty of male comics fighting the good fight, too!)

[Photo by Kevin Thom via]

Aparna Nancherla

Nancherla is probably best known for her work as a writer and sometimes-performer on the prematurely cancelled FX show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. While she was excellent in her high-energy, politically-charged work on that series, her laidback, observational stand-up is a delight.

Recommended:Woman Are KILLING IT!

Kate Berlant

Whether performing stream of consciousness-style stand-up or passive aggressively battling with John Early (who gave us this summer's best "Corner of the Sky" in Wet Hot American Summer), Kate Berlant combines surrealist sensibilities with a keen satiric eye. No self-absorbed Brooklyn type is safe.

Recommended:Comedy Drop

Cameron Esposito

No one rocks a jean jacket and side mullet quite like Cameron Esposito. A popular stand-up, podcast favorite, and star of Buzzfeed's "Ask a Lesbian," Esposito's profile is on the rise following the success of her recent album, Same Sex Symbol. Her jokes are specific and personal, but her inviting style makes her appeal universal. Plus, she's engaged to the wonderfully funny Rhea Butcher!

Recommended:The Greatest Period Joke of All Time

[Photo by Christopher Dibble]

Nicole Byer

Despite her warm, bubbly persona, Nicole Byer's work is characterized by a sharp wit and keen understanding of coded sexism and racism. Her webseries "Pursuit of Sexiness" (a collaboration with SNL's Sasheer Zamata") is smart, surreal, raunchy, and hilarious. This lady needs her own show YESTERDAY.

Recommended:Nicky Can't Have It All

Megan Neuringer

Actress/comedian Megan Neuringer is EVERYWHERE. Besides appearing on shows like @Midnight and Best Week Ever, she's acted on series like Flight of the Conchords, Fringe, and Strangers with Candy. A fantastic joke-writer, she has contributed to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and her Twitter feed is a goldmine.

Recommended: @Midnight -- "Get a Room"

Phoebe Robinson

Phoebe Robinson's blog is called Blaria -- as in "Black Daria" -- a name that aptly captures her comedic style. Combining deadpan, conversational delivery with succinct, insightful commentary on complex topics, Robinson breaks down the indignities and absurdities of being a black woman in America with wit and an unfailing sense of humor.

Recommended:Mostly True with Phoebe Robinson

Shappi Khorsandi

British stand-up Shappi Khorsandi covers material as wide-ranging as growing up Iranian in the UK and raising two children on her own, all with unflagging energy and razor-sharp timing. Besides her successful stand-up career, Khorsandi also wrote A Beginner's Guide to Acting English, a memoir about her family's flight from Iran and her childhood years.

Recommended:Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live 2014

Emily Heller

Emily Heller has a confident ease onstage, which isn't surprising considering her impressive comedy pedigree: UCB training, writing and performing gigs on network TV, a successful stand-up career, and a Comedy Central special. Never pedantic, Heller's feminism is simply a fundamental aspect of the delightfully dry comic's worldview.

Recommended:Feminism is Not Very Fun

[Photo by Wasi Daniju via]

Nadia Kamil

You may recognize Welsh-Iraqi comedian Nadia Kamil from her viral videos "Pap Rap" and "Nadia Kamil Does Burlesque." Her work -- explicitly political, but couched in her loopy, goofy style -- combats the tired Humorless Feminist trope one sketch at a time.

Recommended:Drunk Driver Safety Advice

Negin Farsad

Negin Farsad owns her own production company, has written and directed narrative and documentary features, worked as a senior policy advisor in New York City, and has two (TWO!) masters degrees from Columbia University. She also happens to be really, really funny. Combining intellectual acuity with endearing delivery, Farsad mines laughs from global politics, gender inequality, and how to say "condom" in Farsi.

Recommended:How dirty jokes can promote equality in Muslim culture

It's Not Just Pig-Fucking: A Guide to Horrible Dude Initiations

September 21, 2015, 9:30 am

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In a scandal that Twitter is both grossly and appropriately calling the Bae of Pigs, British Prime Minister David Cameron is being accused of putting his dick in the mouth of a dead pig. A new, unauthorized biography of Cameron alleges that it was part of the initiation ritual for a secret society at the University of Oxford -- the Piers Gaveston society, which apparently throws a "very well-organized orgy" every summer. 

That makes this story less of a reflection of Black Mirror (though that's certainly an easy and fun way to think about a story involving a prime minister, a pig, and a penis), and more of a look at the things that entitled young dudes do as part of their path to power -- particularly as they move through the education system and its attendant organizations. There's a long history of now-famous men having been a part of these societies.

Consider the infamous Skull and Bones society at Yale, which includes as members everyone from John Kerry to Austan Goolsbee, and which reportedly steals things from other societies (like skulls). It also numbers several presidents, including George W. Bush, whose fraternity, DKE, also notably branded its pledges. Princeton's eating clubs, which have been home to nearly every graduate of the prestigious university, recently came under fire for circulating a rather demeaning video. Outside the circles of political power, Emmy winner Jon Hamm was involved in a lawsuit over fraternity hazing, accused of everything up to dragging a boy around with a hammer... by the balls. 

Look: Even Will Ferrell thinks fraternities should be banned, but that won't solve the problem -- they're a symptom of a broader problem of young, male (usually rich and white) entitlement, which creates avenues to reach positions of power, whether explicit or not, then allows only certain people to travel through them. Think of Viola Davis' speech from the Emmys last night -- that sort of achievement is only possible when the opportunity exists, and these organizations often exist to create barriers to that type of achievement in the first place. Basically, what we're saying is, David Cameron (and the people who maintain the system that produces people like him)... is a pig. 

Exploring Teenage Sexuality, Angst and Gender Fluidity In a New Art Show

September 22, 2015, 4:30 am

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The teenage years are filled with excess -- overflowing emotions, overwhelming changes, overactive pituitaries and, with it, a bubbling of creativity. And while many of us might look at our teen diaries, artwork or photos and cringe, it's these early projects that have an important role in the development of a budding artist's future practice. Juvenilia, a pop-up art show that just finished its run at Teen Art Salon, embraced this young expression of artistic energy by featuring works by teenagers around the country and, in doing so, expanding the way the public views young people beyond the stereotypical angst and naivety.

Curated by Isabella Bustamante, the founder and director of Teen Art Salon, the show aimed to push budding artists into a legitimate realm of art. “By focusing on the early output of future practitioners,” Bustamante says, “we see a formative sensibility that will inform potentially a lifelong practice. Juvenilia surveys how the visual diaries of young creative-types inform a new set of complex social and performative behaviors from the perspective of artists still in transition.”

Photography has always been a medium favored by youth and the works of six photographers from the show stand out as mementos of a time and place in youth culture, touching on sexuality, sensuality, self reflection and the journey into maturity in an age of the Internet. From portraits exploring the fluidity of gender by Stella Mulroney, to a series by Jensen Foerster capturing that crucial time of girl sleepovers, to Lauren Tepfer’s images of objects and places through a dreamy state of observation, these young photographers' talents are way beyond their years. Take a look at images from the show, below.

Jensen Foerster, In The Rose Period 5

Jensen Foerster, In The Rose Period 3

Jensen Foerster, In The Rose Period 4

Jensen Foerster, In The Rose Period 1

Jensen Foerster, In The Rose Period 2

Genevieve Nollinger, Pool Face 1

Genevieve Nollinger, Pool Face 2

Lauren Tepfer, Cinema

Lauren Tepfer, Her

Lauren Tepfer, Reunion

Megan Benesch, Anything for You

Megan Benesch, Before

Megan Benesch, Trespass

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 1

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 2

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 3

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 4

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 5

Stella Mulroney, Femme Fatale 6

RIP Punk Queen Edwige Belmore

September 22, 2015, 7:30 am

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OG punk icon, Edwige Belmore, passed away today and creatives, punkers and fans alike are taking to social media to pay their tributes to the French model/actress/singer and muse. A fixture in the late '70s/'80s nightlife scenes in NYC and Paris and contemporaries with Vivienne Westwood and Debbie Harry, Belmore also fronted the band Matematiques Modernes, modeled for Helmut Newton, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler and was credited as the first to mix high-low fashion after she came onstage for one of her shows in a Chanel jacket and bra.

While details of her passing are scarce, one thing's for sure: the world just got a little less badass.

RIP.

Rihanna's Finance Firm Is Being Sued For Sexist Comments, Said She Is Hot Because She Is "Not Too Dark"

September 22, 2015, 7:30 am

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photo via Emanuele D'Angelo/BFA

Flynn Family Office, which handles financial planning for high-profile clients à la Katie Holmes and Kelly Ripa, is being slammed with a lawsuit from an ex-executive who purports that he was fired for objecting to the office's rampant sexist banter -- which apparently included a comment about Rihanna.

One partner in particular named Alan Kufeld was allegedly a regular motormouth when it came to making gross comments about female appearances re: "sexy" former assistants (one even "lost points in his eyes because she was too dark") and FFO's female clients. Most egregious is probably the comments Kufeld supposedly made about RiRi, saying she was hot because she is "not too dark" -- in tandem with a really enlightening spiel on which "Caribbean nationalities were the most attractive based on skin tone." This all coming bundled along with some other gems about "sex tourism and the relative hotness of Asian women." K.

Really hoping there's another pulp-y "BBHMM" sequel in the works starring Rih v a Finance Firm...

[h/tGawker] 

A History of Missy Elliott's Best Tracksuit Looks

September 22, 2015, 9:01 am

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While Missy Elliott may have been flying under the radar for the past few years, she came back in a major way earlier this year during the Super Bowl halftime show, performing with Katy Perry and flaunting her trademark look -- the tracksuit. With her new stint as a judge on NBC's The Voice, we took a trip down memory lane to revisit some of her best looks that'd make Castro green with envy.

View image | gettyimages.com

Wireless Festival, 2010: You can never go wrong with a classic black suit and Missy gets bonus points for the beaded Adidas logo.
 

View image | gettyimages.com

American Music Awards, 2003: No one can rock a large medallion and a fuzzy Kangol visor better than Missy. No one. Missy was a stunner at the 30th American Music Awards.

View image | gettyimages.com

Grammys, 2003: Still bringing the Kangol + medallion + Adias shell-toes triple accessories smack-down. One-leg-scrunched tracksuit Barbie was one of Elliott's best red carpet moments.

Atlantic

Circa 2004: Dreamy in baby blue, complete with matching shower slides. You cold rock a party that rocks our body, Missy.  


Little Mix "How Ya Doin" Music Video, 2013: Missy was doing Orange Is the New Black before Orange Is the New Black.

[Image via]

MTV VMAs, 2003: Missy's been blessed with a unique skill that makes Narduwar-chic look cool.

[Image via]

BET Awards, 2005: Game recognize game.

"Work It" Video, 2002: The avant tracksuit era. Missy's half-pant and half-short tracksuit feels very Margiela. And she totally worked it.

Super Bowl, 2015: Okay, so this might technically be more of a jumpsuit but we're including it on this list because nothing looks better than a comeback on Missy. She showed off her moves alongside Katy Perry at the halftime show this year and reminded us what we've been missing out on all these years. 

Kanye West Is Afraid of 3D Printing

September 22, 2015, 9:50 am

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In a rare appearance on the latest episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kanye Westencountered 3D printing at Armenia's Tumo Center, and expressed his fear that it might destroy the fashion industry. "This is what I'm afraid of -- because the Internet destroyed the music industry and now, this is what we're afraid of right now with the textile industry," he said, asserting that "there will come a time when people are making their shoes at home." (Check out video of the appearance here.) Even though the time when this use of the technology would be feasible is far, far off -- what is there to be afraid of? From where I'm sitting, at least, 3D printing looks like an easy way of actually instantiating other people's designs and making them widely accessible to lots and lots of people. But hey, I'm not Kanye. If only we could 3D print SWISH.

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There's A New Photo Series Documenting The In-Between Moments Of Porn

September 22, 2015, 10:22 am

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photos by Sophie Ebrard

French photographer Sophie Ebrard, who's shot campaigns for big name clients like Adidas and Rolex, has just come out with a new personal project that is the result of following around porn director Gazzman for four years.

Dubbed 'It's Just Love," the photos give us an intimate glimpse into the quiet, in-between moments of porn sets, where studs iron their shirts and vixens touch up their toenails. Surprisingly subdued in their sexuality, the series a marked turn away from conventional perceptions of porn as garish and over-the-top -- opting instead to show us the softer side of the industry. Check out a few of our favorite shots below, though needless to say, they're still NSFW.

[h/tDazed and Confused] 

There Is Now A Full-Length Art Documentary About Heidi Montag And Spencer Pratt

September 21, 2015, 6:02 am

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photo via Instagram

Remember Speidi -- the reviled reality TV couple composed of former The Hills star Heidi Montag and her husband Spencer Pratt? No? Well apparently some people still do, as there's now a full-length art documentary about the doomed D-listers.

Filmmaker Will Rebein, recently interviewed by Vice's new women's site Broadly, has spliced 150-minutes of found footage to Frankenstein together this malicious masterpiece that digs deep into the world of the sad celebrity-seeking couple. Aptly dubbed Speidi, the film chronicles the tepid rise and rapid fall of possibly reality's most-hated duo -- so hunker down and get ready for an overwhelming 2+ hours of nose jobs and blatant fame-chasing. After all, it wouldn't be "art" if it wasn't depressing, right?

Mr. Mickey's London Fashion Week Favorites Part Two

September 22, 2015, 12:02 am

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Fashion addicts rejoice! It's LFW week and our resident sultan of style, Mickey Boardman, will be presenting his daily fashion week highlights. Avant-garde sihouettes, eye-popping accessories, stylish socialites and well-built hunks: You'll find them all here. So tune in every morning to see the things that make Mr. Mickey flip his wig.

Karen Elson in a giant origami Giles Deacon ballgown! What's not to love?

Peter Jensen's show was inspired by (and styled by) one of Paper's favorite stylists, Shirley Kurata. We can't think of a better muse!


Thomas Tait is super arty and we were happy that this season he actually didn't show in the dark. We could SEE the clothes and they looked great. We particularly liked this architectural jumpsuit.

We're always excited to see neon and Christopher Kane gave us our fix!


Phoebe English is one of our favorite young designers in London. The look is deconstructed but sweet. There's no place like London for this kind of look.

One of our current favorite models- Ella Richards, daughter of Lucie de la Falaise and Marlon Richards, granddaughter of Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards, wearing one of our favorite looks at Burberry.

Burberry loves to have the hippest new musical acts perform at their shows but this season they brought out a legend who's been out of the spotlight for awhile: Alison Moyet. She sounded amazing and looked amazing as she crooned some of her classics like All Cried Out, Whispering Your Name and her classic with the band Yaz, Only You. Kate Moss and I both were singing along to that one. You can see Kate front row with Suki Waterhouse, Sienna Miller, Cara Delevingne and St. Vincent.

Erdem always serves up some beautiful ingenue numbers in his show. He could very well be the new Valentino.


Roksanda Ilincic loves a hard edged deconstructivist look but this season she was feeling a bit softer. Our favorite look was this ruffly pink number.

We can't resist a silver leather jacket and we also can't resist white jeans. Here they are together by Belstaff.

Love Magazine and Miu Miu had a fashion week shindig that attracted this lovely trio: Princess Eugenie of York, Cara Delevingne and Clara Paget.  Photo @WeirPhotos/Splash News

Runway photos via Voguerunway.com

Five Unconventional Illustrators Exploring The Darker Side of Fashion

September 23, 2015, 3:31 am

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illustrated by Jowy Maasdamme

Awe-inspiring faces, swooning silhouettes, jaw-dropping proportions and an effervescent beauty are often the qualities that contemporary fashion illustrators choose to focus on and capture -- however, the following five artists are among the brave few to leave behind conventional aesthetics in favor of critical portrayals that focuses on the darker side of fashion. So check out their work below, because if you really want to capture the ghoulier side of haunted haute-couture, you'd better call one of these guys. 

illustration via Tumblr

Achraf Amiri

According to his website, Belgian-born fashion illustrator Achraf Amiri is "the hidden son of the Addams Family." Known for his morbid take on illustration, Amiri's art provides a brutal, yet alluring depiction of the superficiality that surround today's fashion and entertainment industry. His cartoon-like illustrations feature a disturbing yet enticing combination of sex, violence and surrealism that provides a modern criticism to the traditional misconception of what it means to be in fashion. From Marie Antoinette to modern pop icons like Madonna, Prince and even reality star Caitlyn Jenner, nobody seems to be able to escape the madness of this artist's critical eye, though Amiri's biggest accomplishment is probably his ability to transport viewers into his delirious world of dark self-expression, where the frightening becomes inviting and the horrific becomes poetic. 

illustration via BigCartel

Connie Lim 

California-based artist Connie Lim took the world by storm with her edgy interpretations of Alexander McQueen's A/W 2009 collections. Using fashion as her platform for artistic expression, her goth-inspired sketches feature a striking, edgy undertone that provide the perfect platform for showcasing her unique voice and talents as both an illustrator and fashion designer. For her latest work Deck of Cards, Lim used a range of conté crayons, watercolors, inks and pens to hone in on the characters' emotions, saying that, "I have a personal attachment to the Deck of Cards project...It was a long project that reflects various stages of my life. The first 'Queens' in the series began as a college project but spanned a decade to record experiences and emotions within that time span." And her dedication to this project shows, with each card constituting a unique piece of art that displays Lim's personal ode to the more dangerous and luscious woman.

illustration via Laura Laine

Laura Laine

Using only paper and pencil as her mediums of choice, Laura Laine combines her exquisite eye for detail with an almost unearthly sense of movement and whimsical disproportion. However, Laine's work is not it is not without a sense of animated darkness, a notion that is evidenced by the pale skin and penetrating gaze of her characters. "Even when I draw smiling girls, they're not only happy," Laine explains, "I like it when there's something unsettling and dark about the image and the expression of the character...It's not a morbid fascination but rather an interest in the beauty in something that's not only pleasant, joyful or easy." 

illustration via ShowStudio

Jowy Maasdamme

This self-taught artist describes herself as "wild-eyed and slightly insane", characteristics she definitely has in common with the eccentric personas her art creates. Inspired by nightmares, punk rock and human vulnerability, Maasdamme's work, although not for the faint-hearted, showcases a hauntingly beautiful meets macabre take on beauty and fashion. Maasdamme characterizes her art as "weird, disturbing, sexy, and beautiful" with an outspoken preference for black and white. "To me that feels natural, simple, like night and day" Jowy explains. With an intriguing juxtaposition of light and dark and a rebellious appreciation for the exaggerated, these enticingly disturbing masterpieces provide an inviting mockery of society's standard of perfection. In Maasdamme's own words: "I am only interested [in fashion] when there's a story behind it. I think a lot of people have stories to tell, share, create... It's just that a lot of people don't have the balls to do so anymore in an authentic manner". 

illustration via Ruben Ireland

Ruben Ireland

"Messy and neat, focused and scattered, wild and careful, obvious and subtle, traditional and contemporary," is how Ruben Ireland describes his entire life philosophy. This contradictory approach is also a noticeable influence in regards to his art, which depicts mysterious, almost heroic-looking women, carefully displayed in minimalistic environments. Utilizing a mostly monochromatic palette, Ireland says that his work "has more in common with the moon than the sun, although I tend to see them as both joyful and somber simultaneously." And while often merging the human form with mythological elements, Ireland's work meets at the crossroad of realism, dark fairy tales and ancient folklore.

Grime Time: Meet Rising UK MC Novelist

September 23, 2015, 4:31 am

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Grime is the latest British import to take North America by storm -- just ask Drake, who's been singing the praises of London rapper Skepta, or Nick Jonas, who worked with Stormzy on a remix of his single "Chains." Informed by American hip-hop as well as the frenetic pulse of drum n' bass, the iciness of UK garage and the guttural bass of Jamaican-rooted dubstep, grime assailed the UK mainstream in 2003 with Dizzee Rascal's Mercury Prize-winning album, Boy In Da Corner. 

Now 18-year-old Kojo Kankam, who performs as Novelist, is leading a second wave of young talent that's been taking over London's pirate radio stations -- traditionally a breeding ground for new grime artists. He's already shared the stage with Kanye (who brought several other grime crews onstage for his Brit Awards performance this year) and collaborated with Jamie xx -- but the way he sees it, grime is "not a genre of music at all"; it's a way of life he's been immersed in since age 6. 

"We're fashionable to people now," he says, "but it's just what we do." Read our extended Q&A with the prodigy from our September issue below. 

Grime is obviously so new to American audiences, why do you think it's having this revival in the UK while simultaneously infiltrating America? 

Because of us young'uns. We brought back pirate radio culture, and that is the biggest thing in grime, like on the whole. So we've generated quite a big buzz and got blogs and different magazines in the UK to start paying more attention by doing stuff with people who're not really in my genre, for example [producer] Mumdance. Mumdance, he's got a whole demographic, he's more like middle class white people. And so they all started paying attention to grime -- that was really good for the whole genre. And then, it's like me and Skepta, we'd done radio, we'd done a [radio] show on NTS, and then Skepta just started getting crazy with it. He started dressing sick, his whole energy was just sick. So Skepta started making a lot more music. Us younger ones, we've got control of the whole thing in the UK underground, innit. It's been really influential, man. And because people like Skepta, he's got friends in the US, he's got fans out there. Like he's got the A$AP lot, he's got some other Atlanta people, he's got Drake, obviously he got us a lot of grand coverage. Like when me and Skepta, JME and Meridian Dan did a show with Kanye West at [London's] KOKO.

Did you just fly over to New York for [underground club night] Lit City Rave, or were you recording out here? 

Yeah, I flew over for Lit City and to just make tunes wherever I could get studio time. That's why I flew out and linked up with my boy [Lit City boss and Future Brown member] J-Cush, because he's a good friend of mine, and he really cares about grime. He's been a big part of grime being in the U.S. on the whole. Now obviously you've got the crazy stuff, like you've got Drake fucking with Skepta and all that, but I'm saying that the international link was originally J-Cush. Obviously in the past have gone back and forth from the U.S., but J-Cush, he's over here DJing. And then he's over [in London] DJing. He's really powerful with it. 

Well, you kind of answered my question before about pirate radio and everything, but how did you particularly get into grime? You didn't battle or anything, you did pirates, right? 

Grime in the UK is not like a genre of music at all. You don't look at it like it's a genre. If you're born in certain areas, it's just what everyone does. You've always done it; it's always been like that. We're fashionable to people now, but it's just what we do. Like when we were growing up in primary school, secondary school, we was writing four bars, eight bars, and sixteen bars everyday. Everyone had some lyrics, even the rappers, everyone just had a grime lyric. Grime is just so engraved in the underground in the UK; it's like punk culture. At first the world fully didn't understand it; they thought these people were crazy with their piercings, their tattoos, their mad hairstyles, and then what happened was people just had to accept it like, "Yo, do you know what, there's loads of people like this, and they're on that." That's what grime's like, but for street n****s in the UK, you get me? I got into it literally just from being around home. It was normal. 

And you're from Lewisham [in Southeast London], right? Which is, frankly speaking, known for being not the best of areas of London. Does that inform your work in any way? 

Yeah well, Lewisham's been a mad place from day one. So I'm cool in my end because I've really been respected for the work I've done, so I can walk around and no one is really going to bother me, because that wouldn't be wise. 

I meant that it's been kind of a big year with the general election and everything. Has that influenced your music at all? 

It definitely fucked up London. It made it worse, one-hundred percent. The teenagers like myself are pissed off. We're not happy. We're not happy. London is on the brink of something crazy happening -- and that's not because I'm saying it, it's because that's what it is. I'm just another person who's experiencing it. So I mean, I'm not stirring nothing up, but I'm just telling you we're on the brink of something mad happening, because the [British Members of Parliament], they don't get it. 

You've been called a prodigy and grime's new poster boy. Has it kind of taken you by surprise? How long have you really been doing this, seeing as you're just 18? 

I've been doing grime since I was about six. When I first got real interested in music on the whole. When people say I'm like the poster boy and all of that stuff, I love it. It's warming. I love it because initially that was my goal, just to come in the game and just not really care. There's no rules for me, none, man. Everyone's on some funny stuff, so it's like for me I'm just gonna go do radio, do everything the old-school MCs did and it works. So it doesn't take me by surprise because I've dedicated my life to making this music, you know? And I know every day I get up I make a plan; I stick to the plan; I never lapse. I'm kind of describing it like it's a heist and there's certain procedures you need to go through to get to a certain stage. I taught myself how to do that from young. I listened to all kinds of music, and I'm really technical with how I release music. So now the mass public is agreeing and picking me up. I feel privileged and I like it, and I'm not really going to stop. I'm set up to dedicate my life to this.

Photography by Brendan Freeman 

Photo Assistant: Kristos Giourgas

10 Drag Queens Who Are The Best Looking Men

September 23, 2015, 5:30 am

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The days when average (or worse) looking guys hid out at night in elaborate drag outfits because that was the only way they could get attention are long gone. Today's drag queens are hot men who do just fine without Aqua Net -- they just happen to like performing as hot women when the mood hits. Here are 10 of the best looking drag queens, whether in heels or flats.

RHEA LITRE
He conquered West Hollywood, and fine-boned Joshua Miller works his magic here, too, as the very real-yet-somehow ethereal Rhea Litre. Lookswise, he's a wow.

PEARL
The "been-there" queen from Drag Race's last season, the entertainingly jaded Matthew James Lent, made it to the top three as Pearl, and it didn't exactly hurt when nude photos of the Florida-born performer leaked out. In fact, I bet he got bonus points.

VIOLET CHACHKI AND MISS FAME
Violet (the femme creation of Jason Dardo) won the top prize on Drag Race last time around, and it turns out he's a winner as a man, too. The same goes for California-born makeup artist/singer Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen, AKA Miss Fame, who was on the same season and impressed with her (and his) chiseled features. As a couple of dudes, these two pals are a knockout.

L-R: Calen and his husband, Epiphany and her husband

EPIPHANY
Calen David Tomaszewski has long been a staple on the bar scene for his vocals and personality as drag diva Epiphany -- a saucy character who's also been making trips to entertain the bankrupt folks over in Greece. And Calen happens to be a swell looking figure of a male -- seeing him out of drag is indeed an epiphany.

LEXI THOMAS
A striking Barbie-type gal with great hair, Lexi is a leggy addition to Manhattan at night, and she fills it with expert contouring. I always wondered what she looks like as a guy, and it turns out that Thomas Lee Geren, he definitely adds the "sharp."

PUSSE COUTURE
A feisty drag queen, Pusse redefines couture as she gussies up for lipsynching and shtick. And as Peter Bonavita, he's cute. This Pusse rates.

COURTNEY ACT
Australian showgirl Courtney is actually a good looking guy named Shane Jenek, who's a catch whether in fishnets or not. Courtney's cabaret act includes a lot of gleefully detailed sexual anecdotes from his (and her) life, and they go down very easily for the audience because either way, he's got sex appeal.

IVY WINTERS
Going by the name Ivy Winters, she made her presence known on season five of Drag Race. But untucked and wigless, he's Michigan-born Dustin Winters, and quite an appealing sight for sore eyes. Either way, this is no Winters of our discontent.


DUSTY RAY BOTTOMS
A lively character from Pieces Bar and Boots and Saddle, Dusty turns out to be a terrific looking gent (namely Dustin Rayburn from Louisville, Kentucky) who simply enjoys exploring the other side for fun and tips. But hands off, guys -- he's in a relationship!

Papa Knowles Says New Destiny's Child May Be On The Way

September 23, 2015, 5:42 am

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photo via Getty

Can you handle this? Cause we're low-key freaking out at the prospect of brand new Destiny's Child 10 years after their last album. After all, according to the group's manager/Beyoncé's dad Mathew Knowles, he is "working on a few Destiny's Child projects right now" and is "extremely hopeful that the ladies will come back with an album and a tour."

Papa Knowles is also in the midst of writing an "autobiography of Destiny's Child," with ambitions for a movie/television adaptation at some point -- though don't get too excited, since it's pretty well known that Bey and her dad aren't exactly on the best terms, seeing as how he infamously held a garage sale of all her old stuff to pay those "Bills, Bills, Bills" last year. Hm...well, guess only time will tell.

[h/t Huffington Post]

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Disclosure and Lorde's "Magnets" Collaboration Is Here

September 23, 2015, 6:31 am

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We'd expect Disclosure with Lorde to really pop together, working off the other's slinky, classic house-drenched vibes. But there seems to be very little of that in "Magnets" -- the production of which sizzles along, conforming well to Lorde's languid vocals. Still, its a serviceable track.

Listen below below.

[h/tConsequence of Sound]

Amy Winehouse Film Shown To Thai Youth To Deter Alcohol And Drug Use

September 23, 2015, 6:55 am

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Thai social workers are apparently screening Asif Kapadia's compelling Amy Winehouse documentaryAmy, as part of a program to help "rehabilitate" residents who are there for serious murder and drug-related crimes.

According to the Associated Press, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the Stop Drink Network had 100 Thai teens from a juvenile detention center view the film in the hopes that the heart-wrenching film will deter substance abuse among them. After all, as the Stop Drink Network's Kamron Cheducha said, there are stark similarities between Winehouse's struggle and that of these at-risk kids, explaining that, "these kids think the society labels them as drug addicts, alcohol addicts and criminals. When one hits rock bottom, it takes a lot of courage to fight the loneliness and criticism, like when Amy has to fight the media attention and people around her."

"It's not too late for the students to find their gifts and learn from her mistakes." Cheducha said, adding later that, "Amy lost the battle, but these kids still have a chance." And we sure hope her story helps.

Watch the full trailer for the documentary below.

[h/tDazed and Confused] 

NYFW: BFA By the Numbers

September 23, 2015, 7:30 am

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Some members of Team BFA: (L-R, bottom to top) Dan Otero, Neil Rasmus, Stephanie Ketty, Billy Farrell, Dave X Prutting, James Neiley and Joe Schildhorn[Photo by Sam Deitch/BFA]

It may be a week since NYFW with the circus already having moved on from London and on to Milan but we're still catching our breaths from such a hectic eight days. But it's nothing compared to the crazy schedules and sheer volume of work that our friends over at BFA do when they photograph everything from catwalks to parties, street style to backstage and beyond. They kindly gave us an inside peek into what goes into getting through the week and broke down their NYFW numbers, below:

Number of fashion shows shot during NYFW: More than 125

Number of after-parties shot during NYFW: More than 250

Number of BFA photographers working throughout NYFW: More than 30

Number of Instagram photos posted to @bfa main account: 162

Number of photographs posted to BFA.com during NYFW: More than 50,000

Most Photographed People During the Week:
Derek Blasberg
Gigi Hadid
Solange Knowles
Kendall Jenner
Carine Roitfeld
Jeremy Scott
Anna Wintour
Stefano Tonchi
Maxwell Osborne
Dao-Yi Chow

Number of Sakara Life meals consumed: 650

Amy Schumer, Patti Smith, Serena Williams and More Star In the New Pirelli Calendar

September 23, 2015, 7:45 am

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For many years, the Pirelli calendar has become associated with (often risqué) images of beautiful models and celebrities (just check out these leather-clad, TnA-baring pics from last year's shoot of models like Gigi Hadid, Carolyn Murphy, Raquel Zimmerman, Joan Smalls, Adriana Lima and more) but this year the brand has decided to feature women who are equally as beautiful inside and out. Forgoing the usual crop of models, they've instead tapped icons and role models like Patti Smith, Amy Schumer, Serena Williams, Yoko Ono, Tavi Gevinson, Fran Lebowitz, Agnes Gund, Ava Duvernay, Yao Chen, Natalia Vodianova (the only one who's appeared in the calendar before), Mellody Hobson, Shirin Neshat and Kathleen Kennedy to star in the latest calendar, shot by Annie Leibovitz (who previously shout the cal in 2000). “I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something," Leibovitz said of the shoot. "I wanted to make a classic set of portraits. I thought that the women should look strong but natural and I decided to keep it a very simple exercise of shooting in the studio. This calendar is so completely different. It is a departure. The idea was not to have any pretense in these pictures and be very straightforward.”

The calendar will make its debut in London on November 30th but it will also live on a digital site starting October 20th. In the meantime, get a sneak peek at some behind-the-scenes photos below.

Tavi Gevinson

Amy Schumer and Annie Leibovitz

Yoko Ono

Fran Lebowitz

Yao Chen

Patti Smith

Tavi Gevinson

Natalia Vodianova

Serena Williams and Annie Leibovitz

Serena Williams

What to Catch At This Year's New York Film Festival

September 23, 2015, 8:30 am

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The New York Film Festival, put on by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and now in its 53rd year, is one of the most exciting American cinematic events of the year, bringing together the standouts of highbrow film festivals like Cannes with premieres of major American commercial films and mind-blowing experimental works. While high-profile works like Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg's Cold War flick Bridge of Spies, and Todd Hayne's Cate Blanchett-starring lesbian romance Carol have already generated plenty of buzz, this year's festival offers an endless, diverse array of riches. Here are ten can't-miss events filmgoers can see at Lincoln Center in the upcoming weeks.

The Forbidden Room
The mad Canadian genius behind such cinematic fever dreams as The Saddest Music in the World, My Winnipeg, and Brand Upon the Brain is at it again, and in excellent company. Guy Maddin's newest dreamy adventure features contributions from John Ashbery, Jacques Nolot, Matthieu Amalric, Charlotte Rampling, electro-pop duo Sparks, and Maddin veterans Louis Negin and Udo Kier. It's sure to be one of the most weird, wonderful, and purely cinematic works of the year.
Monday, September 28 at 9:00pm
Tuesday, September 29 at 8:30pm

Heart of a Dog
Multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson (who designed the festival's gorgeous poster) releases her first feature in 30 years with this lyrical memory piece about her belove, piano-playing dog Lolabelle. Both playful and poetic, this deeply personal film by a New York icon is not to be missed.
Thursday, October 8 at 6:00pm

The Doghouse
NYFF's Convergence series continues to blur the boundaries between mediums with another fascinating program of interactive events and illuminating panels that interrogate and expand our notions of how stories can be told. One of the most interesting this year, the free event The Doghouse, is a 360-degree cinematic experiment in which audiences don virtual reality headsets and take part in a family dinner as one of five characters.
Saturday, September 26 at 12pm
Sunday, September 27 at 12pm

Son of Saul
László Nemes' Cannes Grand Prix winner, a harrowing tale of an Auschwitz Sonderkommando (a Jewish prisoner forced to work at the death camps) attempting to bury the body of a boy he believes to be his son, has garnered responses as varied as Peter Bradshaw's glowing review in The Guardian and Manohla Dargis'Times pan, which dismissed the film as "radically dehistoricized" and "intellectually repellent." New York filmgoers can form their own opinions at NYFF's Special Events screening, with appearances from Nemes and star Géza Röhrig.
Tuesday, October 6 at 9pm

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
For cinephiles in search of something a bit lighter, NYFF will host a 15th anniversary screening of the Coen brothers' great comic odyssey, with visits from the brothers themselves, as well as members of the cast and musicians from the Grammy-winning soundtrack. Audiences are encouraged to bring instruments, so break out your banjos, Brooklynites.
Tuesday, September 29 at 9pm

Black Girl
This year's Revivals series features incredible selections, from Akira Kurosawa's magnum opus Ran to the North American premiere of Manuel de Olivera's posthumously released Visit, or Memories and Confessions. However, one of the most fascinating films screening is Ousmane Sembene's first feature, Black Girl. This 1969 story of a young Senegalese maid in France is considered to be the first African film to receive international attention, and remains one of the most visible films from a region often overlooked in American and European film criticism.
Tuesday, October 6 at 8:30pm

Luminous Intimacy: The Cinema of Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler
Two of the great living experimental filmmakers, referred to in NYFF's press as "partners in life and in cinema," Dorsky and Hiler's work speaks in the fundamentally cinematic language of light, color, and movement. All of the works in this expansive series will be screened on 16mm, and the artists are scheduled to appear at all showings of their work.
Various Times HERE 
 
No Home Movie
In this intimate portrait, master filmmaker Chantal Akerman (director of the 1975 masterpiece Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles) presents a portrait of the final years of her mother's life. In a festival known for its auteurist approach to cinema, it's thrilling to see one of the few females filmmakers consistently recognized as an essential cinematic master in the lineup.
Wednesday, October 7 at 6pm
Thursday, October 8 at 6:15pm

Chevalier
With their Filmmaker in Residence initiative, Lincoln Center has been doing wonderful work in encouraging a new generation of female auteurs, from 2013's Andrea Arnold to current resident Athina Rachel Tsangari. This comic, allegorical psychodrama, in which six men on a yacht in the Aegean compete to determine who's the "best in general," is the latest from a filmmaker who got her start as a performer in Richard Linklater's Slacker and has gone on to become one of the major figures of the Greek New Wave.
Wednesday, October 7 at 9pm

Arabian Nights
Portuguese director Miguel Gomes' six-hour, three-part epic uses the classic One Thousand and One Nights as a lens to examine the state of contemporary Portugal and the act of storytelling itself. Highly political and wildly fantastic, and employing every genre and cinematic technique imaginable, Gomes' latest is sure to be one of the most radical and ambitious films of the year.
Volume 1: Wednesday, September 30 at 6pm
Volume 2: Thursday, October 1 at 6pm
Volume 3: Friday, October 2 at 6pm