'Hip-hop was pure - then the agenda changed'

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( July 29, 2023 [View in browser](   Hi, and welcome back to the weekly IndyArts newsletter. I'm Louis Chilton, filling in while Jessie is on a much-deserved holiday. It's been a sad week in the world of culture, with the death of Irish singer Sinead O'Connor on Wednesday. I recommend this [beautiful tribute from Helen Brown.]( "So she was messy. Confused," she writes. "But I don’t think she was capable of telling a lie. In between the mess was an extraordinary, smart, but damaged human searching fiercely for a truth to cling to." Elsewhere this week, there's still been plenty of talk of "Barbenheimer", with Barbie racing past $500m at the global box office and Oppenheimer not too far behind. The new releases this week are more of a mixed bag: Australian indie horror Talk to Me [impressed The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey](, as did the [inventive new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adaptation](. Less compelling was The Beanie Bubble, which [squanders a good cast on a bland real-life toy story](. Sinead O'Connor was 56 when she died (Getty) There's been plenty more stuff from the Indy culture team this week. TV critic Nick Hilton [wrote about The Witcher](, and the gaping hole that Henry Cavill is now likely to leave. Nicole Vassell [spoke to the creator and star of the BBC satire Dreaming Whilst Black](. Will Pritchard wrote this [very interesting piece about musician's unions]( – and why music artists aren't taking to the picket line like actors currently are. In my weekly column The Moment, I also [raved about the new season of the FX comedy Dave]( – it's fab. Thanks for reading, more stuff below. Jessie should be back next week. Louis [@louischilton](   What to do this weekend Books | [Tom Lake by Ann Patchett]( Tom Lake is set in the pandemic, when Lara Kenison, now 57 and living on a cherry farm in rural Michigan, slowly reveals to her three grown-up daughters the story of her affair with Peter Duke, a Hollywood superstar. By the conclusion of the dazzling novel, the reader ends up knowing more than the daughters. Secrets are withheld in a story that offers small plot twists and revelations that pack the power of a defibrillator shock. Martin Chilton | Chief books critic [@martinchilton](   TV | [Good Omens]( How do you top the end of the world? That’s the task for Good Omens season two (Prime Video), which picks up where the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett novel left off: with Armageddon averted and a fragile truce established between Heaven and Hell. But, as dramatic stakes go, slaying the Four Horsemen with a flaming sword doesn’t leave you much wiggle room to crank up the pitch, and so, instead, Good Omens goes back to what it does best. A biblical buddy comedy of epic proportions. Nick Hilton | Chief TV critic [@nickfthilton](   Film | [Talk to Me]( Demonic possession is so much more of a pain these days. Not only are you getting flambéed by the spirits beyond and puking pea soup by the bucket, it’s now almost guaranteed the whole thing will end up on TikTok. It’s a concept that must have come naturally to Australian YouTubers-turned-filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, whose neat and nasty debut Talk to Me should hopefully dispel the Boomer notion that everybody on the internet is a talentless hack. Clarisse Loughrey | Film critic   Film | [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem]( After several failed live-action attempts, it seems as if Hollywood has finally realised that 6ft tall, nunchuck-wielding, roided-out reptilians shouldn’t ever exist outside of animation. Thank god. When the foam latex masks of the Nineties live-action films graduated into Michael Bay’s uncanny CGI creations of the 2010s, responses shifted from mild unease to full-blown horror. Tipping its hat to that inauspicious past, with a brief blast of Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap”, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem blends a hyper-aware but affectionate love of the franchise’s past with the look and lingo of the present. It’s learnt all the right lessons from the current Spider-Verse craze. Clarisse Loughrey | Film critic   Books | [Cheri by Jo Ann Beard]( Jo Ann Beard, who was born in Moline, Illinois, in 1955, excels at describing pure sensory experiences and there is much to treasure in a new publication of her previously released essays and non-fiction narratives, The Collected Works of Jo Ann Beard. The pieces, from The Boys of My Youth and Festival Days, even include a joke about the “lizardy sound” of Mick Jagger. One of the works in the compilation is Cheri, which has also been republished as a single volume, and which is dedicated to Cheri Tremble (1950-1977), a woman who died from cancer. Martin Chilton | Chief books critic [@martinchilton](     [The Saturday Interview – Ice Cube]( [Oscars image]( Ice Cube: 'Hip-hop was pure – then the agenda changed' (Supplied) Will Pritchard [speaks to the hip-hop pioneer and NWA alumnus]( about antisemitism, performing with the greats, and where his politics lie today. Ice Cube performing last month (Getty) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… Despite his credentials, Cube doesn’t feel like an elder statesman of the scene. He still has his idols. “I grew up adoring Run DMC, they was to me the biggest and the best rap group of all times,” he says, a touch of childlike excitement creeping into his voice. This August, he’ll join them – along with Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and others – for a showcase marking hip-hop’s 50th anniversary at New York’s Yankee Stadium. The geographic location is deliberate – The Bronx is acknowledged as the genre’s birthplace – but the Google Pixel sponsorship and 46,000-capacity venue are two clear signs of how far the sound has grown since DJ Kool Herc started slotting together funk breaks at block parties in the Eighties. “To be able to share a stage with them, is [a kind of] pinch-yourself moment. Even at this time in my career, I still get a kick out of rubbing elbows with some of the greats.” [Read the full interview here](   Weekend Shelf-Care Weekend Shelf-Care Janina Ramirez Dr Janina Ramirez, the cultural historian, broadcaster and author, contributed a written introduction to the new limited edition of Beowulf, published by Folio. The classic text is translated by Seamus Heaney, and the edition features illustrations from Clive Hicks-Jenkins. Ramirez is known for hosting series on the BBC including Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez and Art on BBC: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as Lost Worlds and Hidden Treasures for Apple TV+. She has also authored books, including last year's Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It. A book I recently read and loved is… The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule by Angela Saini. Angela was writing this at the same time as I was writing Femina. While I was using new developments in DNA analysis, science and technology to discover how women have been written out of textual documents, she was using similar techniques to uncover the roots of inequality across centuries. It is a fascinating and necessary read! My three fantasy literary dinner party guests would be… I'll go for characters rather than authors. I think Gandalf would provide excellent entertainment, Dracula could bring a sense of threat yet glamour to the proceedings, and the Goddess Freya could keep the men in check. Plus, she'd bring her chariot pulled by giant cats, so I'd have pets to play with as well. Not finishing books: my stance is… Absolutely!! Life is too short for bad books. Time is too precious. I've sat through bad films, bad theatre productions, bad music events, bad dinner parties. In each case I've resented the time I've lost. If it's a case of closing the covers and moving on, I'm all for it. My writing routine is… Non-existent. I write when I can. I juggle parenting with my lecturing work, filming and public events. Writing happens when I can make it happen - often in the early hours when the house is quiet and I'm not bothered by emails or phone calls. When I do write though I plunge deep in and can focus for hours on end without a break. Sometimes I'm amazed that my books get written at all, but they are all there waiting to come to the surface when they get the chance. The Folio Society edition of 'Beowulf', translated by Seamus Heaney, introduced by Janina Ramirez and illustrated by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, is exclusively available from foliosociety.com. Enjoy a year of unlimited digital access for just £99 £20 ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   [INDYBEST]( / [BEST BUYS]( [12 best changing robe for camping, outdoor watersports and beach days]( These [insulated, waterproof coats]( keep you warm and dry (and bang on trend). [Shop now]( Trending: [9 luxury hand soaps to make your bathroom feel like a hotel](       OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Climate News]( Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week]( Simon Calder’s Travel Week Twice a week Written by Simon Calder [Join now]( [Climate News] Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week] Simon Calder's Travel Week Twice a week Written by Simon Calder [Join now](   The Independent proudly partners with [Refuge]( and the [National Domestic Abuse Helpline](: 0808 2000 247 If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Download the free Independent app Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Culture_Newsletter_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 14-18 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AH. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.