Michelle Wolf at White House Correspondent Dinner

Commentary by Devin McCue, Sumner Newscow — Let’s start this weekend at the point where pop-culture and politics meet.  The annual White House Correspondents Dinner is a yearly event where members of the media and the current occupant of the White House sit down and have a casual roast session.  The ceremony is supposed to show good faith between the two, however, the current President is all but friendly towards many in the media.

At this year’s dinner, comedian Michelle Wolf gave a 19-minute rant that touched on everyone in the room.  She ranged from Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, to MSNBC, to Donald Trump himself.  By the end of her speech, nobody was left unscathed.  This is the mark of a truly great roast.  This event has historically seen some great jokes at the expense of the attendants, but very few have been able to so evenly spread around the jokes and independently address everyone in attendance with such sharp wit and stellar comedy.

Michelle Wolf is an excellent comedian and struck a nerve with her fiery commentary.  No matter your political bent, her routine is a breath of fresh air in such a divided nation and shows that people on both sides of the aisle need a little roasting every now and again.  If you’re like me and can’t get enough of her hilarious stand-up, Wolf also has an excellent special on HBO titled Nice Lady, and has a new show premiering on Netflix next month called The Break. 

Here’s the full WHCD speech here, snowflakes need not laugh. Just a warning… It is adult humor. 

Staying with the political theme of the article, there’s another celebrity making political waves lately.  I’m speaking, of course, about embattled musical genius and celebrity crazy-person, Kanye West.  Kanye has never been a normal fixture in the media, from his public beef with Taylor Swift to his litany of psychotic rants at his concerts.  His fans, however (myself included), have always forgave his lunacy because he makes some of the best music of this generation.

This week, he tweet a picture of a signed “Make America Great Again” hat and claimed that he and the President both have “dragon energy,” which sounds more like a knock-off Monster drink than anything meaningful.  He promptly lost 2 million Twitter followers and several text-messages from prominent African American singers and rappers pleading with him to take back his support for a man who has repeatedly disenfranchised members of the black community throughout his life.

Kanye responded with to these concerns with a song titled Ye vs. the People (Starring TI as the People) where he and TI have a conversation about West’s decision to support Mr. Trump.  He also released a song titled Lift Yourself which stars a great beat, but then Kanye launches into a verbal spout of gibberish that ruins the track.  Kanye’s fans might have forgiven this latest spout of public idiocy, but if these songs are any indication of where’s he’s headed, Yeezus might soon find himself in the pile of has-been rappers.

The most common critique I hear about Culture Cow is that people rarely listen to the rap album. I suggest because they either can’t understand the rapper or just aren’t fans of the genre.  These are understandable concerns, and it’s my sincere hope that my readers will the genre a chance, so I want to suggest Post Malone’s new album, Beerbongs and Bentleys as your introduction to the wonderful world of the rap game.

Post Malone is an unconventional rapper, to put it mildly. He is from Grapevine, Texas with as much talent in singing as he does in spitting bars.  His albums are racked with extended vocal tracks where he doesn’t even rap on occasion.  He also chooses some unconventional instrumental tracks to rap over that often employ steel guitar and other country-music influences.

Post is considered a “mumble rapper” by some standards, but don’t let that distract you from the young man’s incredible voice and obvious musical talent.  Whether you’re a diehard rap fiend, or you’re just dipping your toes in the water of a new genre, Beerbongs and Bentleys is a great album and deserves your attention; my favorite tracks are Spoil My Night, Zack and Codeine, Psycho, Better Now, Ball for Me, and Same Bit***s.

Finish your weekend with some laughs with another of the great comedians of the times, John Mulaney.  His new special, Kid Gorgeous, shows off Mulaney’s great writing talent as he guides his crowd at Radio City, New York through a hilarious and well-choreographed special of his design.  If you’ve followed Mulaney through his career, from his first two stand-up specials, to his Broadway show (reviewed by Culture Cow), to his animated program (also reviewed by Culture Cow), you’ll recognize his brand of humor of taking the seemingly mundane story of his upbringing and transforming it into a side-splitting masterpiece.

John also takes a sidestep out of his comfort zone and comments on the fierce political atmosphere we’re all living in today (recognize a theme in this article?).  Check out Kid Gorgeous after you’ve had your fill of Michelle Wolf this weekend if you’re still in need of some laughs.

Meme of the week

I unfortunately can’t look at every meme that dominates the internet every week, so if you see a meme and think it should be the meme of the week please send it to: SumnerCultureCow@gmail.com

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