The Narcicyst is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper with a searing intellect and a killer sense of humor. Narcy grew up between the UK and UAE, and was one of the originators of the Arab hip-hop movement. He started his musical work in the group Euphrates, but went solo in 2004 when the life of his best friend and bandmate was cut short. Calling himself an “ambassador for conscious Arab hip-hop,” Narcy makes music with the purpose of blowing something up: your mind, sucka. Read More »

Rachel Kramer Bussel hosts a monthly reading series at Happy Ending Lounge called In the Flesh that features the best erotic writers sharing sexified stories. Each month has a different theme — Virginity, GLBT, and Comedy Sex, to name a few — that readers use as a jumping off point for titillating the audience with steamy, lust-filled tales. For hours-long aural sex and free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, In the Flesh provides a treat to all who (ahem) come. Read More »

Zach met Ellie through an ad Zach posted on Craigslist seeking a partner. After just one meeting, they knew they were destined to be together… in a conceptual relationship. Cramming years of coupledom into just ten days, Zach and Ellie created a unique artistic project that had even their closest friends questioning what exactly was going on between them. Ellie documented the project in photos and meanderings on a blog called the Seven Day Conceptual Relationship, and after reading her posts from beginning to end, I had a few questions for the faux pair. View a photo slideshow of the rise and demise here. Read More »

Culture, religion, and sexuality are frequent topics of Sarah Maple’s comedically intellectual artwork. Using provocative images and a whole lot of snark, Maple — who has been called “the heir to Tracey Emin’s throne” — aims to spark conversations through controversy. Whether she’s making fun of pop feminists, or jihadis doesn’t matter. She just wants people to stop being so reactionary and actually (gasp!) think about why her work is so unsettling. Read More »

Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog defend the legitimacy of romance novels in their newly published Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. After years of sifting through smut books in order to find the ones that are worth the $4.99 you’ll pay for it, these two ladies have created a humorous guidebook for the discerning smut reader. And since romance readers tend to fly through five of these books a week, having someone else sift through the junk is like clipping coupons before going to the grocery store; it just makes good economic sense. Read More »

Growing up in the shadow of a very musical family, DM Stith‘s work reflects a sense of isolated darkness and hopeful melancholy that recalls the spirit of the late Nick Drake. Perhaps his first full-length album, Heavy Ghost, is aptly-titled then. When he’s not writing complex electronic folk tunes in his apartment, Stith can be found in a university classroom or at his computer, which once belonged to a member of My Brightest Diamond. The world is a small and funny place. Read More »

Born and raised in Jamaica and living in New York City, Staceyann Chin is a spoken word poet and performance artist. From the spittin’ her words at the Nuyorican Poets Café to her solo performance Border/Clash at The Culture Project, Chin’s work as a has the ability to quickly capture an audience and take them back with her to the hot days of her childhood in poor neighborhoods of Lottery or Bethel Town or Montego Bay, the places that inspired the title of her newly published memoir The Other Side of Paradise. Read More »

Aren’t advertisements supposed to make you want to use a product? Because I recently came across a few ad campaigns for wearing condoms that make the pope’s personal crusade against latex actually seem somewhat appealing. Five of the most chilling visuals — along with our running commentary on where they’re going wrong — after the jump. Read More »

In our current failing economy most people are trying make ends meet however they can. One group that knows financial struggle intimately is independent musicians. Most folks who play music work a day job in order to pay the rent, and in this series, I’ll interview several up-and-coming artists about what they do to maintain their music-making habit.

The band that gets to set the bar is Chicago-based Actor Slash Model, an indie folk duo (Madsen Minax and Simon Strikeback) whose lyrics explore gender and sexuality through the use of humor and universal themes like love and heartbreak. Their bluegrass style conjures images of front porch swings and catching fireflies at dusk, not slinging coffee or giving punk rock tattoos in a basement, but that’s just what you’ll find Madsen doing while Simon does the grad school thing. Read More »

How can people with sight view the world through the eyes of the blind? After being inspired by the work of blind photographer Evgan Bavcar, Partho Bhowmick decided to explore the answer this question. In 2006, he teamed up with the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind in Mumbai, India to provide the opportunity for students — some completely blind, others with partial vision — to communicate their perspectives of the world by teaching them about photography. Read More »