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The Mindset Needed for a Successful Digital Transition
Digital transformation is not a new concept, and South African businesses have steadily evolved and increased their inclusion of digital tools over time, with a faster influx happening over the past three years. The adoption rate has accelerated due to the pandemic. Businesses were forced to adopt new ways of working, and digital transformation forms part of that. In some industries, readily available client options have increased as internet speed has also improved. But how do companies determine what kind of digital intervention is needed for their business and who to partner with? According to Ian Nel, Strategic Planning & Programs Director at Canon Southern Africa, it comes down to people, process and then technology. “Digital adoption starts with understanding the needs of the env...
Westworld Composer Ramin Djawadi on That Epic Lana Del Rey Cover in the Season 4 Premiere: Exclusive
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Westworld, Season 4 Episode 1, “The Auguries.”] The return of Westworld for its fourth season means a whole new set of challenges for series composer Ramin Djawadi, who’s been with the series since the beginning, and thus responsible for the soundtrack’s compelling blend of classical and electronic sounds (not to mention its always exciting covers of pre-existing tracks). “I feel like the show always pushes forward,” he says, in the first of a series of episode-specific conversations with Consequence this season. “With the characters, musically speaking, we always talk about, ‘Okay, do we need new themes? Or are we staying with old themes, and should we arrange them differently?’” Advertisement The season premiere, “The Auguries,” a...
The Long Haul
In the late 1990s, on one of their earliest tours, the Drive-By Truckers nearly met a grisly fate. After a short stay in Lansing, Michigan–during which the local headliners all had the flu and spent the night puking backstage–the band had to make their way to Buffalo, and not even an hour into the drive they hit a blizzard that lasted the length of Ohio. So these Southern boys white-knuckled their way around Lake Erie, up through Cleveland, and finally into New York State. “A sane person does not get thrown off that animal and then want to get back on,” said Mike Cooley, decades later when we spoke in a previous interview. “But we couldn’t wait.” A life of near misses is the subject of their 14th album, Welcome 2 Club XIII. The weirdly wise album takes the band’s history and wonders h...
Welcome to Eaton DC. It’s Such a Lovely Place
During the second half of the 20th century, Washington, D.C.’s K St. had been hijacked by the lobbying industry. As such, a walk down K today might conjure up ideas of sharks in suits swimming around the Capitol, baiting the halls of Congress with money. But in between 12th and 13th St., something different has always occupied the building at 1201 K in the Northwest quadrant of the city. In the 1940s, the address had belonged to a printing press, and in the ‘60s, a bus terminal. Today, it’s Eaton DC, a luxury hotel in the nation’s capital. But unlike most high-end properties, this is not one where the goal is to cater only to elite travelers who leave no mark on the city. Like a printing press and a bus depot, this is a hotel that’s putting out a message and attempting to move people. And ...
The Best Music Projects of 2022… So Far
The first half of 2022 proved to be an exciting one for the music industry. In addition the past six to 12 months of short tours and music festivals, fans were treated to album releases from artists who have largely remained under the radar for almost half a decade — Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Saba’s Few Good Things, Earl Sweatshirt’s SICK! and Rosalía’s MOTOMAMI all dropped in a span of six months. We also had the pleasure of hearing full-length efforts from Bad Bunny with Un Verano Sin Ti, Future with I NEVER LIKED YOU and The Weeknd with Dawn FM, a quick turnaround from Vince Staples who released RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART less than a year before its predecessor and debut albums from Blxst and Ravyn Lenae, who have already im...
Why Yes, the Westworld Cast Has Concerns About Data Privacy After Working on Season 4
HBO’s Westworld is set in a seemingly far-off future, one where a disaster at a high-tech theme park ends up having massive society-wide repercussions. The third season of the series focused on one-time “host” Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) attempting to bring down a malevolent artificial intelligence that’s using peoples’ personal data to determine the course of their entire lives, and Season 4 takes place in the aftermath of that struggle, in a world which thinks itself free of technology’s control… perhaps quite foolishly. In essence, like all stories about the future, it’s really about the present. Specifically our present-day relationship with the technology that helps us and connects us every day… but with its own costs. Speaking with Consequence during a recent virtual press event, the ...
Is Bitcoin the Next Global Reserve Currency?
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How Accurate is Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis? Here’s a Fact Check
Baz Luhrmann has made a career out of bending time and reality to tell stories with a distinctive melodramatic flair. Moulin Rouge! was full of Parisians circa 1900 singing MTV-era pop songs. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet featured 20th century American characters speaking in the original play’s 16th century dialogue. Elvis Presley is one of the most mythologized figures in the American imagination, looming over pop culture via Vegas impersonators and conspiracy theories about his death as much as his music. So one might expect Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis to be about the legend, not the man. But Luhrmann, who began work on the film eight years ago, researched Presley’s life extensively, co-writing the screenplay with longtime collaborator Craig Pearce, as well as Sam Bromell and Jeremy Done...
How a Career in Cybersecurity Can Secure Your Future
Nash Lewis. According to a salary and hiring report by the professional recruitment group, Michael Page, cybersecurity is one of the top in-demand technology jobs in South Africa. Cybersecurity is an issue of critical importance and companies are prioritising hiring talent with the expertise of putting safeguarding measures in place. In response to this, the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority has developed new occupational qualifications to address the growing need for formal qualifications related to cybersecurity in South Africa. Interest in cybersecurity understandably follows increased demand for advanced technology by customers, especially within the fintech sector. With more customers conducting online transactions, the risk for potential cyber-attacks has rapidly increa...
Rap Song of the Week: Dot da Genius Recruits Kid Cudi, Denzel Curry, & J.I.D on “Talk About Me”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. Today, Dot da Genius previews his upcoming album with “Talk About Me,” an all-star collaboration with Kid Cudi, Denzel Curry, and J.I.D. After more than 15 years of being Kid Cudi’s most trusted collaborator, producer Dot da Genius is stepping out with a debut album. If “Talk About Me” is any indication, he’s preparing a red carpet rollout. Touting features from Denzel Curry, J.I.D, and Kid Cudi (of course), he dropped the all-star collab along with a video from Lyrical Lemonade director Cole Bennett. “It feels good to finally make the decisions, decide what looks good, and just get my vision out to the people that supported me all this time,” Dot da Genius said in a st...
Song of the Week: The Beyoncé Renaissance Has Begun With “BREAK MY SOUL”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Beyoncé signals the arrival of her new era with “BREAK MY SOUL.” Beyoncé is not usually here to be relatable. She’s a world-class performer, the kind of artist who can redefine what it means to headline a festival or perform at the Super Bowl; she perfected the art of the surprise release, and is constantly open to exploring new stories, whether it be through a sprawling opus like Lemonade or a cinematic accompaniment like The Lion King: The Gift. She’s also quite a private person, one of the most famous ...
Westworld Season 4 Review: A Welcome Fresh Start With Some Big Ideas to Explore
The Pitch: The third season of Westworld did not have a lot of luck on its side — specifically, the timing of its premiere could have been better, as March 15th, 2020 was not an ideal day to launch a new season of a TV show which, over the course of eight episodes, became a tale of society nearly descending entirely into apocalypse. But even since the first season, Westworld has experienced a lot of critical scrutiny, especially as the narrative has drifted further and further away from its original Michael Crichton inspiration of disaster at a high-tech amusement park for the ultra-rich. (Funny how Westworld literally is a response to one of Jeff Goldblum’s iconic quotes from another Crichton adaptation: “If Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”) So wh...
