Bruno Mars is back! After a long hiatus from releasing music his newest musical group Silk Sonic, co-formed by Aanderson Paak, released their debut album “An Evening with Silk Sonic.” Their long-awaited album landed at number two on the Billboard 200 chart.

In February of this year, Bruno Mars and Aanderson Paak announced that the two formed the band “Silk Sonic” and they were locked in on making an album. They originally formed the group in 2017 as a joke with no intention of making music for the public to listen to.

But one day, Mars stepped into a studio and called up Paak to to actually work on one of the songs they started so long ago. For a long period of time Mars and Paak spent their time just making music for fun because it’s what they loved. Their chemistry was like none other.

“This wouldn’t happen if it didn’t make sense and it didn’t feel natural and organic,” Mars said. The two obviously had a connection that not many others could match and they continued to work together on their album for the next couple months.

On March 5, 2021, the duo dropped the first song they made for the album “Leave The Door Open.” The song was an instant hit. Rolling Stone magazine described the song as “feel-good music” because that's exactly what it was. Mars brought back his old funk style of singing along with Aanderson Paak's spectacular singing voice to tease what the rest of the album would become.

“That song was our mission statement,” Paak said. He wanted that song to shape the entire album and tease the audience to want more.

To make the wait for the album even more intense, they released another gigantic hit “Skate” with a more upbeat rhythm showcasing the duo's ability to produce a funky disco tune with enticing vocals. Mars and Paak sing “Don't be shy, just take my hand and hold me tight,” almost as if they're telling the audience to get ready to dance once the final product is released because they have much more in store for them.

Finally, after months of anticipation and the best advertisement Bruno has done for any of his other albums, An Evening With Silk Sonic finally released. After release the album had a perfect 5 star review on Google.

“One of the best first listens of an album I’ve ever had,” said Betoya Bundu, a BHS senior. “The song that most stuck out to me was Smokin Out the Window. With all of the songs he released beforehand he left such a masterpiece to be left on the final release date, the planning used for this album was phenomenal.”

This album perfectly represents Bruno Mars as a performer. Every lyric he sings sounds genuine and from the heart. There is so much emotion poured into this album, it feels like he never even left the business.

Bruno Mars is the modern funk genius. Every time I listen to this album I expect Marvin Gaye to start singing “Let’s get it on” half way through. He loves bringing us back to the old school setting whilst also including modern hip-hop along with his songs.

This album was no doubt bound to be successful when the groups first single “Leave The Door Open” reached platinum two times. Without a doubt an album to be remembered, and it leaves the audience wondering what will come in the future

BHS on Cancel Culture: Good, Bad, or Something In-Between?

According to BHS students, cancel culture can bring a lot of good, but it can also bring a whole load of bad. Cancel culture has the ability to bring down some of the internet’s most infamous names: for better or for worse.

Ellen Degeneres. Shane Dawson. Jeffree Star. These are just a few of the names of people who were “cancelled” online last year in 2020. Cancel culture has taken the internet by storm over the last few years, causing what some call a movement, and what others call cyberbullying.

“There are many forms of cancel culture,” Rishabh Bagmar, a sophomore at BHS said. “There are those that are politically motivated, culturally motivated, and there are always these social movements and impacts that revolve around a person and idea. If someone disagrees with that person or idea, it gets them cancelled.”

Bagmar has mixed opinions on cancel culture; in some ways, it can wipe away the so-called “stains on society” that are microaggressions against minorities. However, its power can also be majorly misused.

Cancel culture often results in trending hashtags on Twitter and local internet infamy for only a few days, up until the internet moves onto something “bigger and badder.”

“I think it’s kind of pointless in general,” Sofia Hom, a sophomore at BHS said. “What are people going to learn if you just “cancel” them?” She believes that cancelling people doesn’t make any meaningful, long-term change. Instead, those who make mistakes online should be educated so that there may be positive change towards becoming a better influence on the tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of followers some of these celebrities have.

However, when it comes to influencers with larger platforms, there isn’t always “positive” change in the end.

“If they have a bigger platform and they get cancelled,” Hom said, “I don’t think they’re going to take it seriously. They can make up a fake apology and broadcast it and everyone will believe it.” Because of this uncertainty, she believes in being extremely careful when “cancelling” someone.

Cancel culture catches on like wildfire because of its nature, making it possible to end an influencer's career overnight.

“It’s not a sense of deciding whether a guilty person is innocent, it’s deciding whether an innocent person is guilty,” Jonathan Joseph, a student at BHS said. “Personally, I don’t think that the guilty decision should be made at all before hearing everything about that person’s story.”

However, this is not to say that cancel culture is always a net-negative. According to Bagmar, cancel culture can be used to help minorities fight for their rights.

“I think it’s necessary when someone’s being homophobic, transphobic, racist, or anything that’s against sexual orientation,” Bagmar said. According to him, cancel culture can be incredibly powerful as a movement when used against people who, in his eyes, need to be stopped before they cause any more harm.

“I think it’s mostly a waste of time. Although, there are times it works,” Bagmar said.

Then the question remains: How do we know when someone deserves to be cancelled, and when they deserve to be forgiven?

“We don’t,” Joseph said. “That’s the simple answer.”

Each year, Anna Wintour holds an annual ball at the Metropolitan Museum of New York commonly known as the Met Gala. With the theme of In America, September 13 saw an A-list of celebrities and others who hold great influence walk to the venue in extravagant fashion. From the average suit to a four piece outfit, each individual used their interpretation of the theme to portray their identity in America.

To attend the Met, one must be invited (or spend an astronomical amount of money for a single ticket). Only the celebrities with great influence or notability can attend. The Kardashian family, AOC, Rihanna, and other stars were among the invited celebrities.

The Met has been known for being the elite. However, YouTube and Instagram have recently had tables where they could invite their own guests. With this, many influencers have been appearing at the Met: Emma Chamberlain, Eugene Lee Yang, and NikkiTutorials had the most attention put on them.

“I understand wanting to diversify the pool of celebrities, but I don’t think internet influencers qualify,” Nora Crossman, sophomore at BHS, said.

Overall, people have mixed feelings about influencers at the Met. They are not famous to the general public.

“I don't know if she [Addison Rae] should be there... but everyone who showed up had some sort of identity in media and pop culture,” Henry Estes, BHS sophomore, said.

However, the core subject of the Met is the theme. And this year, the subject matter was In America or American Independence.

Surely, many guests dressed in red, white, and blue; some wore sports-inspired garb, others wore historically inspired clothing. Although, the theme was so broad that it could encompass anything, truly.

“America has its flaws. I think choosing America as a theme, especially considering the state of our nation, is bold. These looks should be bold, too,” Crossman said.

America is about identity, and how our celebrities and citizens are able to morph the ideas surrounding normalcy.

“The way I interpret it is that you have to represent yourself,” Estes said. “… America itself is a mixing pot… I liked when people took their culture into an outfit… you can form something and be who you are and be something else.”

America is not just an identity, it is a cultivation of culture - a melting pot of ideas that each individual is able to identify with in some way.

With this consensus, many outfits present at the Met were designed with the guest’s background in mind. For example, the aforementioned NikkieTutorials, a YouTube makeup artist, used her background as a trans-woman to uplift her history.

Her dress [pictured here] was inspired by Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans woman who helped to begin the Stonewall Riots, a key turning point in LGBTQ+ rights.

Mrs. Rose, an English teacher, complimented Nikkie’s look and felt it was extremely thoughtful as it is Nikkie’s history.

Another outfit that was interpreted from identity was Kim Kardashian West’s.

Wearing an all-black, full-body coverup, Kardashian-West walked up the stairs to the Met almost expressionless.

“Do people care too much, is she highlighting something, is she making fun of the fashion world for looking up to and relying on people?” Mrs. Rose said about Mrs. West.

Kim Kardashian symbolized her role in America by wearing essentially nothing. Her outfit was plain, but you could tell it was her. She is such a staple in American culture that she did not have to wear a flashy outfit, it was her; an interpretation by Estes.

Interpretation is the end of fashion. How one looks at fashion and sees its symbols creates conversation. Especially at the Met, when there is a theme, celebrities must interpret how they affect society.

Naomi Osaka wore a dress inspired by her Haitian and Japanese descent, symbolizing her identity. Billie Eilish was portraying an old Hollywood look; Timothee Chalamet made a more casual yet formal appearance. Amanda Gorman, who shook America with her poem The Hill we Climb, took inspiration from the Statue of Liberty, walking into the ball as a symbol of America.

These people were the chairs of the Met Gala, and they hit the nail on the head because In America can be interpreted as so many things; these people capitalized on that.

“The Met Gala is fascinating,” Mrs. Rose said.“It’s American in itself; people interpret the theme how they want. It does not matter the theme, the looks can be so widely different. This year being America highlights the American Individualism found throughout our society.”