Veronica Esposito

‘It’s all very sad’: Trump’s attack on arts funding has a devastating effect

The president’s steady dismantling of the National Endowment for the Arts has affected organizations across the US with more chaos set to continue

On the afternoon of 3 May, arts organizations around the US began receiving cryptic emails from a previously unknown government email account. The missives declared that these organizations’ missions were no longer in line with new governmental arts priorities, which included helping to “foster AI competency”, “empower houses of worship” and “make America healthy again”.

Lupe Fiasco on his new art project and looking at rap ‘in a deep academic way’

Rapper turned MIT professor is unveiling a project of ‘en plein air rapping’, which is about outdoors-inspired music

“What does it mean to record outside, not just rap outside like a cypher, but actually record outside with the intention of completing a full song completely written and inspired outdoors?” rapper Lupe Fiasco mused while discussing his latest project, Ghotiing (pronounced “fishing”). “What are the limitations and constraints? What do you have to prepare to go into that environment? Onlookers, insects, the weather, noise, any kind of distraction.”