by Emmett Robinson Smith | Dec 15, 2016 | Culture, Music
He’s back, ladies and gentlemen. The Weeknd, or should I say Starboy, has swooped from his Toronto high-rise and laid his new album, Starboy, at our collective doorsteps, its cover popping with Tarantino- esque fonts and a looming shadow of Abel Tesfaye donning a...
by Emmett Robinson Smith | Sep 8, 2016 | Culture, Music
Frank Ocean has always had an air of mystery surrounding him — a reserved cool, a magnetic solitude. Watch him stand off to the side, eyes down while he sips on an anonymous beverage in Odd Future’s iconic “Oldie” video. His gaze is also downwards in the video for...
by Emmett Robinson Smith | Jun 8, 2016 | Culture, Music
Toronto band Young Empires just finished their extensive U.S. tour following the release of their debut album The Gates — a trek that included a stop in Victoria on May 18. The Martlet caught up with singer Matt Vlahovich on the phone ahead of their show to get the...
by Emmett Robinson Smith | May 17, 2016 | Culture, Music
When Drake first came into the spotlight, it was on the back of his single “Best I Ever Had.” The song, which reached Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, was simultaneously heartfelt and tongue-in-cheek, corny and relatable, kind of douche-y but kind of sweet. In...
by Emmett Robinson Smith | Mar 24, 2016 | Culture, Music
I was rooting for you, Macklemore. When you won Best Rap Album at the Grammys over Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Drake’s Nothing Was the Same, Kanye West’s Yeezus and Jay-Z’s Magna Carta, I thought, “Hey! It’s not your fault!” When you texted Kendrick...