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ARTS & CULTURE
LOWKEY LISTENS
Every month, Lowkey Listens showcases five tracks to listen to from five different artists. For September, read about and listen to Jon Waltz, Shy Kids, Martin $ky, Brockhampton and Jakob Green.
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@HardyNFL
PHOTO FROM SOUNDCLOUD
At some point, you've probably been in that state of drinking too much, then lying down at the end of the night and thinking. "Shit, what am I doing?"
Though it's clear this song revolves around a single girl for Waltz — a lost relationship — it can be related to a situation, school or just life. Sometimes those thoughts run wild in solitude.
PHOTO FROM SOUNDCLOUD
"® OCK K E T S" - SHY KIDS
To me, that's what this song represents, and it all comes over a minimal beat, which allows listeners to focus on Waltz's lyrics. Produced by Zayd, this slow-flowing, moody track came out about six months ago, and since then, the Memphis-based artist has been quiet on social media.
Also of note: Waltz is only 19 years old. There's no word on a future project from Waltz, but you can listen to his seven-track EP from last October if you dig him.
Best line: "Got people that can vouch right now / But, they ain't really people, they just demons in my house right now"
The talented Chicago MC links up with Brooklyn rapper Kirk Knight, who starts the track off right with a very clean verse.
Martin $ky follows up his debut EP, Everywhere But Here, with this string-heavy track, which he produced.
"BK2CHI" — Martin $ky ft. Kirk Knight
Though the beat stays mostly repetitive with its thick bass and strings, the distorted rhythm is almost haunting. It's definitely an interesting listen.
Best line: "They been running out of styles and your boy got a lease."
“®ockets”—Shy Kids
I've always got to mix it up and throw a feel-good pop song in the mix. The Toronto band also creates short films, and the video for this up-and-down, energetic track is absolutely incredible.
The indie band made the video for this track over nine months with over $600 worth of candy — which the video is entirely composed of.
"The idea for the video came about when we started thinking about what eating cake signifies," the band said in an interview with Noisey. "This sweet sugary poison that you ingest that makes you feel so good. What consequences there are to live in a world made of that substance."
Best line: "Nothing's gonna change it, gonna change my world / Change it, all the fake shit / All the habits that we're breaking"
This track takes the lead on the band's newest project, "Lofty!"
"Dirt"-Brockhampton
The All-American Boy Band has done it again. Hot 97's Ebro debuted the track on Beats 1 Radio. Ebro was so captured by the first verse that he replaced it live.
Seven members of the group collaborated on this track, including Brockhampton general Kevin Abstract. The best way to describe the Brockhampton's sound — especially with "Bet I" and this new track — is "mangled banger."
The lyrics on "Dirt" range from harsh to personal to humorous, all over a constant piano and synth-infused beat. Brockhampton's next release is expected to be Abstract's "Death of a Supermodel."
**Best line:** "I'm off it I'm off it I'm off and dreamin' bout it / I'm nauseous I'm nauseous it hurts to think about it, ahhh"
— Kevin Abstract
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"2004 Freestyle" - Jakob Green
Jakob Green dropped an album right in front of us. The teen from Lexington, Ky., has been releasing very lowkey heat for about a year now, and his project "BEFORE HIGH SCHOOL" is now complete.
The two latest tracks, which wrapped up the album, include this freestyle and "kinfolk." Green, though young, has a very mature voice that fits perfectly on his tracks, which tend to be heavy on bass and hi-hat - a very 2015 sound.
Green is different than any rapper in 2015; the internet birthed him and is now supporting him. Now, he's released a project and is making headway without doing a single local performance.
Best line: "She's so adorable, intoxicating / Rappers throwing money just to prove that they made it."
Banned Books Week celebrates freedom to read
MADI SCHULZ
@Mad_Dawgg
The cover of "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh. The novel was considered a controversial banned book when it first published in 1964.
This year, "Banned Books Week" is between Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. Although some might view this week as celebrating illicit or inappropriate behavior, the literary community might view it as something different.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Think: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "Catcher in the Rye," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the "Harry Potter" series and "Captain Underpants."
All of those books are widely read and critically acclaimed. Well, maybe except for Captain Underpants. But what these books also have in common is that they're often shrouded by controversy and land on the American Library Association's banned books list.
Banned Books Week is considered a "high holy week," said Lawrence Public Library event coordinator Kristen Soper. She explained that the week is an "international celebration of reading what you want."
The ALA states, "a challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group," while a banning is "the removal of those materials." The ALA also stipulates that in a challenge, someone actually has to attempt to get the material removed, not just complain about them verbally.
Between 2000 to 2009, the Office of Intellectual Freedom reported that 5,099 books were challenged, according to American Library Association.
Of these challenges, reasons given include: "sexually explicit material, offensive language.
unsuited of age group, violence, or homosexuality. Other reasons for the challenges included satanic themes, anti-family or religious view points" according to the ALA.
Although the reasons given might make the books seem ill-fitted for a classroom setting, University English professor Mary Klayder said she believes in the benefits of teaching materials that can be found in controversial or challenged books.
"There are just too many objectionable things in the world and I think books help us understand them. Books are a
The University continues to teach material that challenges students, and not just in English. Klayder said other departments such as History, Anthropology, and Ethics classes often look at social issues that can be illustrated through novels and essays. And when professors teach different viewpoints, there will always be those who challenge the ideas of others.
way for us to explore what the problems are and what those issues are," Klavder said.
"I think people will always challenge books," Klayder said. "People get threatened
Three years ago, the Lawrence Public Library started asking local artists to submit trading card designs pertaining to banned books. This year, in partnership with the Lawrence Arts Center, the Library has received more than 30 submissions from professional and amateur artists, as well as school students. From these submissions, seven will be chosen for each day of Banned Books Week.
when people think differently from the way they think; and we don't, I think, have enough confidence in people's critical abilities or in teaching people to think critically."
The seven chosen designs will be printed on a large poster, and then small trading cards will be distributed throughout the library to its patrons. Each card will be revealed day-by-day, beginning on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at the Library's Banned Books Week kick off. The past two years have seen impersonators of "Mark Twain" and "Edgar Allen Poe" reveal the first banned book trading card, but this year "Jay Gatsby" will reveal the first card.
Childhood favorites frequently top lists of banned books.
In 2012 and 2013, the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey topped the top 10 list, according to the ALA. The reasons cited were "offensive language and unsuited for age group." Also frequently on the list is the world-wide phenomenon that is the "Harry Potter" series. The complaints against the series include "anti-family, occult/Satanism, religious viewpoint, violence," according to the ALA.
— Edited by Kelly Cordingley
List of frequently challenged books for 2014, according to the American Library Association:
Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: "depictions for bullying"
1) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2) Persepolis. bv Mariane Satrapi
Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: "promotes the homosexual agenda"
3) And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons; gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: "politically, racially, and socially offensive," "graphic depictions"
5) It's Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: "alleges it child pornography"
6) Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples Reasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. Additional reasons:
4) The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: "contains controversial issues"
7) The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group violence
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: "date rape and masturbation"
8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky.
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The information on this list was compiled by the American Library Association and is shown how it appears on the ALA website.
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