FEATURES
How Fans Helped BTS, Taylor Swift and Britney Spears Score Major Victories This Year
When her decade-plus conservatorship was finally dissolved in November after a prolonged courtroom battle, Britney Spears thanked her entire support system — and first and foremost, her fans — for bringing her plight into the public eye. “The #FreeBritney movement: you guys rock,” Spears wrote on Instagram on Nov. 16, the day after a judge freed her from the conservatorship that controlled her life and finances for 13 years. “Honestly, my voice was muted and threatened for so long… You guys saved my life.” The #FreeBritney movement was a yearslong coordinated effort by fans across continents that produced real change — something increasingly commonplace in pop music this year, as music lovers mobilized to encourage artistic freedom, amplify marketing choices and score chart victories. Clea...
Filmmaker of the Year Janicza Bravo on Zola’s Legacy, Directing TV, and Why She Wants to Write Her Next Film on Her Own
Our 2021 Annual Report wraps up with the announcement of Janicza Bravo as our Filmmaker of the Year. You can find all of our awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021 in one place here. A thread that ran through Consequence’s hourlong conversation with filmmaker of the year Janicza Bravo was the concept of what we leave behind in life. This isn’t too surprising, given that both Bravo and this writer were musing about what’s like to be a woman who just turned 40. But what was a bit unexpected was that we got there by way of David Tennant. “The first line of the obituary, I suspect, has been written,” the Scottish actor said a few years ago, commenting on how playing the 10th Doctor of Doctor Who has affected his legacy. When Consequence brought up that quote, it...
The Pandemic Has Changed Movies, But There’s Still Big Bucks in Blockbusters
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with a deep dive into how COVID-19 has changed “event” movies. As December rolls along, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. Spider-Man: No Way Home, which hit theaters in the US on December 16th, is poised to shatter box office records. One of the most anticipated blockbuster films of 2021 (maybe even of the last five years), all eyes are on Peter Parker and Co. to rake in the kind of cash that superheroes typically did in the Before Times. Of course, the film is about to smash said records in a very different world than when pre-production on it began in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic has done astronomical damage to countless businesses, and the movie industry was n...
Best New Tracks: Roddy Ricch, Aaliyah x The Weeknd and More
As the week in music comes to a close, HYPEBEAST has rounded up the 10 best projects for the latest installment of Best New Tracks. This week’s list is led by Roddy Ricch‘s second studio album LIVE LIFE FAST, a collaborative effort between the late Aaliyah and The Weeknd and two new singles from 6LACK. Also joining this selection are Burna Boy and Wizkid, Earl Sweatshirt and Armand Hammer, Benny The Butcher, Boldy James and The Alchemist, FKA twigs with The Weeknd, Lance Skiiiwalker and Bobby Shmurda with Quavo and Rowdy Rebel. Roddy Ricch – LIVE LIFE FAST [embedded content] Roddy Ricch finally delivered his Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial followup LIVE LIFE FAST, enlisting the help of Future, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Takeoff, Jamie Foxx, Alex Isley...
Keanu Reeves’ 10 Most Iconic Roles
The best blockbuster stars have a quality that sets them apart: the funny way that Bruce Willis gets pissed off; the moments of doubt when Denzel Washington bets on himself; and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love of language, his tremendous joy in pummeling enemies with words as well as fists. With Keanu Reeves, it’s his listening. Whether it’s a mad bomber, a flirty stranger, or a messenger from a different reality, Reeves is always utterly convincing as a man who needs to hear more. From the beginning of his five-decade career, Reeves’ characters have been animated by an effortless curiosity, starting with the naive wonder of his breakthrough role, 1989’s Bill and Ted, and continuing through the reality-bending The Matrix. Even his off-screen choices seem bathed in curiosity, includi...
R3HAB Reflects On Storied 13-Year Career, Passion and Purpose
Have you ever been to a party with terrible music? In a social setting, the musical selection obviously plays a critical role in the ambiance and can either liven or dampen the mood. Experiencing the latter is what inspired an ambitious, teenage R3HAB to get into DJing and music production. “I remember when I went to a school party as a teenager, I realized how much music had an affect on the mood,” R3HAB told EDM.com in an interview. “With that, I noticed how important it is to curate [the music] correctly.” 13 years ago—nearly to the date—the Moroccan-Dutch DJ and producer emerged with his first production, “Mrkrstft,” which was eventually remixed by dance music icon Hardwell. The record marked the first of many collaborations wit...
Here’s a Timeline of Tom Holland and Zendaya’s Relationship, Because We’re Chasing Joy Where We Can
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with a Tomdaya timeline, because why not? As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. Look, we all needed a win this year. Happy release week to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is allegedly exciting and fresh and an impressive moment for the MCU and all that. Anyway, let’s talk about two of its leads: Spider-Man and MJ. Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Tom and Z. Tom Holland (a golden retriever who was accidentally transformed into a lovable young man with the gifts of song, dance, and acrobatics) exploded to full-fledged stardom when he was just nineteen years old. The former Billy Elliot switched out the curtain call tutu for an iconic spidey suit in C...
Khalid Says Soulful New EP ‘Scenic Drive (The Tape)’ Is the ‘Perfect Representation of the Person I Became’
R&B sensation Khalid is back with his all-new EP Scenic Drive (The Tape), which comes as a follow-up to his 2018 debut EP Sun City. The Grammy-nominated artist has also partnered with Coca-Cola to launch an all-new TikTok challenge that aims to give BIPOC creators more visibility and recognition. As part of Coke’s TikTok Challenge, which is an extension of the brand’s Real Magic philosophy, Khalid released his tune “Open,” featuring Canadian duo Majid Jordan, to which fellow creative Jalaiah Harmon launched a new “Real Magic” dance to the track. “Growing up, Coca-Cola has always been in my life, and with the release of my EP, it felt like the stars aligned themselves,” Khalid says of his new partnership. “They told me they were fans of my music as much as I’m a fan of them, so it’...
Harry Styles’ Very Merry Harryween
The costumes were on full display: paisley hippie mini dresses, glam cowboys, drag queens, sunflowers (of the Vol. 6 variety), angels, Cher Horowitzs, Britney (mostly circa “Baby One More Time,” but a single “Oops I Did It Again” red latex jumpsuit stood out courageously, a feat among the exceptionally brave), a Fleetwood Mac/Lindsay Buckingham reunion, and countless Harry Styles cosplay cuties — on the cover of Vogue, as Elton John, at the Grammys (on stage and off), in the fictional land of Eroda, in his Love on Tour custom outfits. For two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden, a concert that doubled as a “Fancy Dress Party,” Styles was the sun — tens of thousands of impeccably dressed music fans orbiting his aura, so bright it bled into the outside world. The entire neighborhood of ...
Top 30 Metal and Hard Rock Albums of 2021
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with our Top 30 Metal & Hard Rock Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. After a rough 2020 that saw a global pandemic take over our lives and the concert industry shut down, 2021 was hopefully primed to be the year of the comeback. While live music has returned to a certain degree, it’s been a bumpy ride thus far, as bands deal with COVID outbreaks amidst their camps and fans enter venues with extra caution. One thing we can all still count on is new albums to get us through difficult times, and while 2021 may not have been super prolific as far as new releases, it still proved to be another strong year for the heaviest genre...
10 K-Pop Acts That Dominated 2021
The 2021 edition of our Annual Report continues with a spotlight on some of the best and brightest acts in K-pop. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. 2021 was another major year for K-pop. What was once a niche corner of the music industry has transformed into a formidable sub-genre in recent years, in part because of its depth and diversity of sound. There’s something for everyone under the K-pop umbrella — the catch-all label refers to South Korean groups (boy and girl alike) and soloists who incorporate a mix of standard-raising production, choreography, and packaging. The music itself pulls from so many different sounds that listeners drawn to rap are able to debate sp...
Spider-Man: No Way Home Review: A Daring Narrative Feat With a Lot to Say About the Web-Slinger
The Pitch: It’s very very hard to make specific references to much of what happens in Spider-Man: No Way Home without spoilers. But at one point, while discussing the memory spell that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has agreed to perform for Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Peter voices his concern over his beloved MJ (Zendaya) forgetting that he’s Spider-Man. Doctor Strange then points out that if MJ is only Peter’s girlfriend because he’s Spider-Man, then what does that say about their relationship? It’s perhaps the smartest thing Doctor Strange says in the entire movie, and evaluating No Way Home leads to a similar dilemma. What director Jon Watts and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have done with this film is an unprecedented piece of corporate-produced art. But attempting to ...
