{"id":1069417,"date":"2022-03-25T15:16:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T12:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1069417"},"modified":"2022-03-25T15:16:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T12:16:59","slug":"atlantas-season-3-premiere-uses-hip-hop-and-horror-to-make-its-bleakly-funny-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1069417","title":{"rendered":"*Atlanta*\u2019s Season 3 Premiere Uses Hip-Hop and Horror to Make Its Bleakly Funny Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Columns<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Atlanta<\/em>\u2019s Season 3 Premiere Uses Hip-Hop and Horror to Make Its Bleakly Funny Point<\/h1>\n
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Plus more highs and lows from the world of rap this week, including Pusha T\u2019s fast-food diss track and a tribute to the late Maryland MC Goonew.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Alphonse Pierre<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Donald Glover in Atlanta<\/em>. Graphic by Callum Abbott. (Photo by Rob Youngson\/FX)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Pitchfork writer Alphonse Pierre\u2019s<\/em>rap column<\/em>covers songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, weird tweets, fashion trends<\/em>\u2014and anything else that catches his attention.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Atlanta<\/em> is still the best at using hip-hop as a backdrop<\/h2>\n
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The long-awaited, two-part return of Atlanta<\/em> kicks off with a Milly Rock gone wrong. In a characteristically bold troll, the first episode barely features any of the show\u2019s principal characters\u2014only Donald Glover\u2019s hapless rap manager Earn gets a brief \u201cit was all a dream\u201d shot at the very end\u2014but it still maintains the striking mix of dark humor, hip-hop, and harrowing racial politics that the series has made its name on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree Slaps\u201d is a standalone nightmare focused on Laquarius, a young Black student who celebrates his teacher\u2019s announcement that the class will be taking a field trip to see Black Panther 2<\/em> by acting a damn fool. He hits various viral dance-rap moves on top of his desk and up the aisles, while the other kids clap and chant along. After he\u2019s sent to the principal\u2019s office, his mom makes him dance through tears as she lectures him about \u201cshowing out for his white classmates.\u201d Then his grandfather gives him three precise and measured slaps to the face. His white-savior guidance counselor witnesses this, calls child services, and Laquarius is soon living with a couple of white lesbian hippies who already have three nearly catatonic Black foster kids, a situation with real-life roots.<\/p>\n

The episode\u2019s narrative centers around a theme that Glover, the show\u2019s creator, has explored in the past: The unintended consequences that occur when Black people lean on caricatures while performing for white audiences. In previous seasons, this theme has veered toward self-criticism, like when Earn thought it would be worth it for his rising rapper friend Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) to work with Black Justin Bieber\u2014a character and concept that interrogates whether the unruly pop star would be treated the same if he were Black.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Glover\u2019s work has also used horror tropes to get to this point, like in the video for his Childish Gambino track \u201cThis Is America,\u201d which ends with a group of mostly white dudes chasing him into the darkness. That video could be heavy-handed, and subsequently corny, and Atlanta<\/em> isn\u2019t always subtle either. Occasionally the premiere\u2019s critiques are too on-the-nose, and its ripped-from-the-headlines structure is not as clever as they think it is, but the comedic elements go a long way in covering up these flaws. In one of the best scenes, the white couple make Laquarius do yard work in what looks like a mini crop field. One of his new foster parents prompts him to sing a song, and he animatedly starts to recite YoungBoy\u2019s \u201cMake No Sense.\u201d She quickly cuts him off, suggesting a more traditional work song instead. It\u2019s absurdly funny and unsettling at the same time, bringing to mind a less biting version of Jordan Peele\u2019s Get Out<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The second part of the premiere really shines, as it returns us to the characters we know and love\u2014along with Earn and Paper Boi, there\u2019s Earn\u2019s ex Vanessa (Zazie Beetz) and the crew\u2019s tripped-out friend Darius (LaKeith Stanfield)\u2014who are in Amsterdam, where Paper Boi is on tour. This time horror and hip-hop are blended to get at another issue the show has skewered in the past: blackface.<\/p>\n

Paper Boi and Earn are in the Netherlands during the Christmastime celebration of Sinterklaas, when people wear blackface, curly wigs, and thick red lips to play a minstrel-like character named Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). At Paper Boi\u2019s show, the white European crowd is entirely in blackface, so he storms out, and it\u2019s up to Earn to tell the promoter the bad news. Suddenly, the second Paper Boi doesn\u2019t play the game, the promoter\u2019s friendly deposition\u2014he is first seen chumming around with Earn and telling him how people in Amsterdam are so much more tolerant than Americans\u2014is gone. He chases Earn through the venue\u2019s halls, only to pummel a concert-goer in blackface. It\u2019s a surreal, mixed-up, and violent take on performing for a white crowd obsessed with Black stereotypes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But my favorite part of the episode is when Darius and Van stumble into a cult-like residence, where there\u2019s a man on his deathbed. After glancing at the guy, Darius (who is extremely high) thinks it\u2019s none other than Tupac Shakur. Of course, shit goes left. They witness a shocking suffocation of \u201cTupac\u201d that brings to mind the Scandinavian-set horror hit Midsommar<\/em>, capped off with a goofy sync of Pac\u2019s eternal \u201cHail Mary.\u201d The startling moment is fucked-up, and funny as hell. Black horror at its best, alongside a perfect soundtrack.<\/p>\n

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Remembering Goonew with four essential moments<\/h2>\n

Last week, the Maryland rapper Goonew was shot and killed. He was 24 years old. Since his emergence in 2017, he had become one of the signature rappers in the DMV area thanks to his ominous, whispery flow, which sounded like a ghost whooshing through haunted walls. It was fascinating to watch how his music changed over time, from his extremely raw back-and-forths with his frequent sparring partner Lil Dude to smoother cuts that still managed to be spine-chilling. Here are a few moments in his catalog to remember.<\/p>\n

Goonew: \u201c80\u2019s\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in 2017, when I first heard Goonew\u2019s \u201c80\u2019s\u201d on the front half of \u201cShots Fired,\u201d his breakout collab single with Lil Dude, it stopped me in my tracks. The way Goonew crept ahead and slithered through the minimalist Cheecho-produced instrumental was thrilling. I had never heard anything quite like it.<\/p>\n

Lil Dude and Goonew: \u201cQuick Draw\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cQuick Draw\u201d is my favorite track from Lil Dude and Goonew\u2019s debut joint tape Homicide Boyz<\/em>. Goonew pushes the whispering to the extreme here, making you feel like you\u2019re hearing a voice that may or may not actually be there.<\/p>\n

Goonew and<\/strong>Lil Gray: \u201cPimpin\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Goonew always seemed to have a lot of fun on songs with fellow DMV rapper Lil Gray. They\u2019re chemistry pops on 2018\u2019s \u201cPositive Goon\u201d and really comes alive on the funky \u201cPimpin,\u201d too.<\/p>\n

Goonew:<\/strong>Back From Hell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As a solo artist, Goonew\u2019s standout tape is 2019\u2019s Back From Hell.<\/em> The instrumentals are a departure from his go-to beatmaker Cheecho\u2019s spare menace, as producers like Mannyvelli and Sparkheem splash some brightness into his nightmare. On \u201cMoesha,\u201d he flips the groovy Moesha<\/em> theme into a horror show; \u201cWhat It Was\u201d sounds sweet until you pay attention to the lyrics; \u201cDance Party\u201d is a swing. What a tape.<\/p>\n

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ZelooperZ: \u201c2020\u201d [ft. Apropos]<\/h2>\n
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ZelooperZ\u2019s new tape Get WeT.Radio<\/em> is dedicated to his father, and it sounds like the Bruiser Brigade rapper\u2019s spin on the type of soulful records you\u2019d hear on your local throwback R&B radio station. (One track even opens with a clip from Detroit\u2019s V98.7 smooth-jazz channel.) Over a Dilip instrumental that punches up music that could be on a Kenny G record, ZelooperZ uses his murmuring flow to reminisce on relationship struggles and blurry hardships. My favorite part is Apropos\u2019 slick hook, which has the feel of Mr. Serv-On\u2019s sensitive goon choruses from late-\u201990s No Limit tapes.<\/p>\n

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EST Gee and 42 Dugg: \u201cFree the Shiners\u201d<\/h2>\n
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The problem with rap duos is that many of them aren\u2019t really duos at all. Sometimes two rappers with similar sounds and themes get together to make a collaborative album, like Lil Durk and Lil Baby\u2019s overwhelmingly bland The Voice of the Heroes<\/em>\u2014but I wouldn\u2019t go as far as to consider them a duo. On its face, the recent partnership between EST Gee and 42 Dugg seems similarly businesslike: We all know that they\u2019ve only joined together because they\u2019re both under the umbrella of Yo Gotti\u2019s red-hot CMG imprint. Nevertheless, the chemistry between the pint-sized Detroit storyteller and the Louisville-raised ex-linebacker is wildly right. On \u201cFree the Shiners\u201d it even sounds like they recorded their vocals in the same studio session: Dugg\u2019s high-pitched chirps bounce off Gee\u2019s menacing threats, one smoothly passing the baton to the other.<\/p>\n

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Headline of the week: \u201cPusha T Rides Out for Arby\u2019s in New McDonald\u2019s Diss Track\u201d<\/h2>\n

At this point, the bar is so low for rappers shilling for fast food companies that Arby\u2019s recruiting Pusha T to lay down a track dissing McDonald\u2019s fish sandwich is only minorly insufferable. What\u2019s next? Will Griselda get a White Castle deal and replace lyrics about slinging dope with slinging sliders? It all makes me never want to eat out ever again.<\/p>\n

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MarijuanaXO: \u201cTru Story\u201d<\/h2>\n
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Milwaukee duo MarijuanaXO and Joe Pablo turned me into a full-on fan with the stressed-out drug dealing chronicles and odes to brotherly love that filled their Window Service<\/em> mixtape from last year. Ever since, I\u2019ve been checking YouTube regularly for signs of a follow-up, and last week I stumbled onto MarijuanaXO\u2019s solo effort, Bok<\/em>. It has nothing on their joint tape, but it\u2019s good enough to hold me over in the meantime. \u201cTru Story\u201d is a bright spot. The beat layers sputtering drums over synthesizers that might bring to mind George Benson\u2019s jazzy R&B. Meanwhile, MarijuanaXO sounds heartbroken as he details a bitter fallout: \u201cThat\u2019s the game, and I still love him to this day\/But shit will never be the same, nigga tried to smear my name.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/atlanta-season-3-premiere-review\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columns Atlanta\u2019s Season 3 Premiere Uses Hip-Hop and Horror to Make Its Bleakly Funny Point Plus more highs and lows from the world of rap this week, including Pusha T\u2019s fast-food diss track and a tribute to the late Maryland MC Goonew. By Alphonse Pierre March 25, 2022 Donald Glover in Atlanta. Graphic by Callum […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1069418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1069417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1069417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1069418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1069417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1069417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1069417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}