YR Media’s Best Arts + Culture Stories of 2023
Our top Arts + Culture stories of 2023.
(YR Media)
This year was full of iconic cultural moments from “Everything Everywhere All at Once’s” sweep at the Oscars to Barbenheimer weekend. Here’s a short list of some of our top arts and culture stories from 2023.
‘Everything Everywhere’ Hit Home For Me
By Audrey La Jeunesse
I have never cried harder in a movie theater than when I watched “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” I remember thinking I was just extra emotional that day, but then turning to my friends on either side of me, both with matching tear-soaked cheeks.
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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’: Is it the Best Spider-Man Movie?
By Knives Nguyen
Five years after the revolutionizing, Oscar-winning animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” hit the theaters, we finally have our hands on its sequel and it astonishingly beats its predecessor in every category. With an incredible storyline, unforgettable characters and of course, beautiful animation, many viewers are calling “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” a masterpiece of a movie.
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Nzinga Imani Talks Advise, Body Positivity and Acting
By Ariyana Griffin
Nzinga Imani stars in Tyler Perry’s hit show “Sistas” and the spin-off “Zatima,” which can both be streamed on BET+. She shared with YR Media her journey to the big screen as well as her role when it comes to spreading body positivity!
Imani always wanted to be a performer and a singer, but she did not know how much her life would change when a high school teacher asked her to join a musical. “I didn’t know anything about musicals at the time, and I absolutely fell in love, got completely immersed in that and theater in general,” she said. She even studied theater in college and became involved with it on campus, including being the drama club president.
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Being Black in Horror Isn’t a Death Sentence, It’s Empowering
By Ivelisse Diaz
I’m hypercritical of all horror films — always paying close attention to the solidity of the plot and the quality of the acting. If a film is able to instill a sense of terror, I’m captivated. While I love the genre, I have never been a fan of its lack of diversity, and its long history of misrepresenting and even completely excluding Black people.
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Appreciating Bay Area Artists: Jwalt
By Sydney Wanguhu
As hip-hop continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, it baffles me how influential the genre has become within our day-to-day lives from fashion, our lingo and even other music genres.
Growing up, hip-hop was everywhere. I distinctly remember riding in the back of my dad’s car listening to all of the greats from Lauryn to Ye, or waking up to my mom cleaning the house blasting Mos Def and Mary J. Blige, which I’m sure is a similar memory for many of us … including Oakland rapper Justin “Jwalt” Carter Walton.
Read the rest of the story here.
Remembering the Big ‘Cloud’ in the Sky
By Noel California
In the Oakland/Bay Area, residents are mourning the untimely loss of 25-year-old Conor Hickey Jr., a native of the Town. Most of the world knew him as his acting alias ‘Angus Cloud’ from HBO’s “Euphoria.”
The people in his town better knew him as Conor aka the ’Condor’ Conor — a multifaceted artist who was into visual arts, music and skateboarding. He’s a notable Oakland School of Arts alumni. He was also low-key and always had a good time with friends. The magnitude of this loss has left the city in denial as everyone is forced to congregate under unfortunate circumstances and grieve. Such an intense void was left behind.