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Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment

Isaiah Rashad’s ‘The House is Burning’ incompletely embodies its fiery namesake

by Lowell Wolfe on

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More than half a decade has passed since Isaiah Rashad released his dense, jazzy sophomore album, The Sun’s Tirade. While hip-hop music trends come and pass quickly, the release of Rashad’s new album The House is Burning on July 30 proved that he remains in the unique conscious, melodic, lo-fi-style lane of hip-hop that he has carved out for himself. 

The album expands this sound into a more complete and diverse listening experience. However, not all of this growth leads to success, as minor sonic inconsistencies upset the project’s general flow. 

Rashad is at his best when his album’s lyrics are introspective and the production soulful. On its second single, “Headshots (4r Da Locals),” Rashad becomes self-reflective on poetic rhymes such as “I see God when I be ridin’ out / Boy, you always ridin’ round with a target on,” over a beautiful vocal sample. Rashad showcases his skillful breath control and smooth flow on songs like “9-3 Freestyle,” where he raps quickly and effortlessly without sacrificing his voice’s tranquil nature.

While Rashad’s experimentation with trap instrumentals is effective in diversifying the album, his repetitive flow and the heavy percussion on “From The Garden” becomes obnoxious and tiring to listen to, not to mention the unexpected—and unwanted—feature from Lil Uzi Vert. Similarly, Rashad’s attempt at singing on “HB2U” lacks enough harmony or expression to make up for the absence of any solid verses, leaving much to be desired in spite of a mesmerizing vocal sample. While these tracks bring variety to The House is Burning, they take away from its greater enjoyability. 

Overall, Rashad develops both himself and his sound into an album’s worth of hard-hitting and simultaneously lo-fi rap music on The House is Burning. The album’s many highlights, such as “RIP Young” or “THIB,” outweigh its occasional missteps. 

 

Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment

38 Spesh holds back the potential of Benny the Butcher and 38 Spesh’s ‘Trust The Sopranos’

by Lowell Wolfe on

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Riding a train powered by the gritty, imaginative imagery of street crime and new-age lyricism, Griselda Records member Benny the Butcher’s 2020 and 2021 albums have been consistently potent. 38 Spesh, one of Benny’s lesser-known yet widely accredited contemporaries, collaborates with Benny on Trust The Sopranos, an 11-track LP. To the dismay of listeners looking to lose themselves in vivid coke-rap poetry and warped, classic soul and R&B samples layered upon heavy 808s, Benny’s powerful presence is too insubstantial, and the instrumentals too hackneyed, to save this project from its biggest mistakes. 

While both Spesh and Benny possess similar grunge, noir-lyrical aesthetics, they lack the cohesion necessary to give the album a consistent and original texture. For instance, “Blue Money” features an outstanding verse from Benny, yet Spesh’s flow is too slow and his cadence too relaxed—a delivery that is incompatible with Benny’s aggressive, wicked style. Both artists refuse to meet each other half-way, giving the album an eclectic and hastily-constructed sound. Benny’s irregular appearances only compound the rappers’ mutual exclusivity.

All of Benny’s verses are powerfully vivid and focussed, but they only appear on six songs, encompassing a minor amount of the album’s 30-minute run time. Witty, creative lines like “Linked with execs who don’t know where no ghettos at / Where they get hit and bring no purple medals back” on “Immunity” prove that Benny adheres to his high standards when on the mic. Integrating quotes from early 2000s crime TV show The Sopranos on “Spineless,” Butcher mixes mobster and street-thug aesthetics to summate a lavish, calculated, and coldblood lifestyle. These highbrow moments, however, are too far and few between. While the numerous features—including the appreciable performance from Che Noir, Klass Murda, and Ransom on “Price of Fame”—appear to fill in this void, the inclusion of guests is ultimately unsatisfying knowing that Benny could, and should, be on these tracks.  

Spesh’s rhymes are also insubstantial, especially when coupled with half-baked instrumentals like the cliché, retro-soul sampling on “Tokyo Drift.” However, a few beats embody the old school hip-hop vibe that the project strives for; the keys on “Long Story Short” are effectively grim, keeping pace with the lyrics, and the spacey, minimal chord progression on “Silent Death” complements Chase Fetti’s dark performance. 

Overall, Trust The Sopranos has its highlights—specifically Benny the Butcher’s moments—but its tracks are not sonically or lyrically cohesive enough to fulfill the LP’s potential. Too many songs feature forgettable verses which, when coupled with generic instrumentals, become carbon-copies of a coke-rap formula that is becoming a tired hip-hop trope.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

From benchtop to bedside: How tendon-inspired sutures can help heal wounds

by Amelia Stephenson on

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Sutures, the threads designed to close wounds and promote healing, have been used for thousands of years, having originated in ancient Egypt. Since their invention, physicians and scientists have experimented with a wide array of materials, from hemp and cotton to more modern synthetic fibres. New techniques have been developed that improve patient outcomes, reducing infection risks, facilitating the natural healing process, and lessening the appearance of scars. 

The current standard of care for suturing is far from perfect, however; suture materials can slice and damage already fragile tissues or cause inflammation by rubbing against adjacent tissues. This damage occurs because the materials used are dry and rigid, having been developed to bear tension as the wounds close. The rough fibres of sutures also conflict with the soft tissues they interface with, sometimes leading to postoperative complications. 

Zhenwei Ma, a PhD student supervised by Dr. Jianyu Li, assistant professor of McGill’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, looked to the human body for solutions to this problem. Ma led a team of engineers, clinicians, and pathologists to develop the tough gel sheathed (TGS) suture—a new suture technology inspired by the human tendon. 

Ma hopes the bio-inspired design could offer a solution to the drawbacks that traditional sutures present. Like the human endotenon sheath, the next-generation TGS suture is designed to bear tension. TGS’ hydrogel surface is also less stiff than that of sutures currently being used, reducing friction with surrounding tissues. 

“For our TGS surgical sutures, our design is inspired by […] the endotenon sheath, which is both tough and strong due to its double-network structure,” Ma wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune “It binds collagen fibres together while its elastin network strengthens it. This clever design found in nature inspires us to develop a tough double-network hydrogel sheath for surgical sutures with advanced wound-management functions.”

The TGS sutures can be used to deliver medication directly to the wound and monitor healing with near-infrared imaging. The team was inspired by limitations of current medical technology and Ma hopes other researchers will leverage this design to tackle different clinical challenges.

“We [were] inspired by the limitations of existing medical devices and biomaterials used in operating rooms and clinics,” Ma wrote.  “Building upon this platform technology, we are planning to extend the surface functionalization strategy to other fibre-based biomedical devices. Hopefully, this technology will also inspire and be leveraged by other researchers around the world to functionalize their biomaterials-of-interest.”

Although the team is currently working closely with clinicians in local McGill affiliated hospitals in Montreal, they believe this technology can be adapted to different biomaterials to meet distinct needs around the world, such as combatting rare diseases. Ma also hopes that translational clinical research will spark conversations between professionals from different disciplines and lead to out-of-the-box thinking with the potential to revolutionize treatment strategies.

Nevertheless, bench-top (lab-based) research faces a unique set of challenges before it can be translated into bedside use—from testing efficacy in patients to regulatory approval and product manufacturing. 

“As you can imagine, it would literally take a village and years’ efforts to make it happen,” Ma wrote.

With this new technology, innovation at the intersection of human anatomy and mechanical engineering is resulting in the emergence of translational clinical research as a viable strategy to meet patient needs.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that TGS sutures would allow patients to move freely without disrupting their stitches. In fact, sufficient testing has not been performed to confirm this. The Tribune regrets the error. 

News, The Tribune Explains

Tribune Explains: International students’ entry into Canada

by Juliet Morrison on

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As McGill opts for in-person learning this fall, international students are navigating the challenges of entering Canada, such as getting vaccinated, making a quarantine plan, and finding housing options. 

What are the requirements for students to enter Canada? 

As of Feb. 19, 2021, international students with a valid study permit or a study permit approval letter are allowed to enter Canada provided they have a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 hours before arrival. International students, regardless of vaccination status, must submit a precautionary quarantine plan—which details how they would access food and medicine in case the border officials deem a quarantine as necessary—through the ArriveCAN application. Students’ entry into Canada is still ultimately subject to the approval of officials at the border. 

Who has to quarantine upon arrival to Canada? 

As of July 5, fully vaccinated students eligible for entry to Canada are exempt from the mandatory 14-day quarantine, but students who are unvaccinated are still expected to comply with the quarantine. However, to be qualified as “fully vaccinated,” students must have  received their second dose of an approved vaccine 14 days prior to their arrival at the border. 

Canada’s mandatory three-day hotel quarantine will be dropped for all travellers, regardless of vaccination status, starting Aug. 9. 

How have entry requirements affected McGill students? 

Some international students, especially those affected by slow vaccine rollouts in their home countries, have claimed that Canada’s entry requirements have caused them stress. Adam*, U2 Science, explained that their inability to get an approved vaccine in time might lead to an unintended break in their studies. 

“I am facing a lot of problems with my vaccination,” Adam said. “In Iran, only the 50 and above age group can register to be vaccinated [….] I, as a 20-year-old with no medical problems, will not be vaccinated until early November. Not to mention that due to sanctions, the vaccines that are available in Iran are not on the list of approved vaccines by the Government of Canada. 

Yasi Khan, U2 Arts, realized getting a dose of Sinovac at the beginning of the summer in her home country of Pakistan meant she would not be eligible for the quarantine exemption—which she says has complicated her return to campus.

“As an international student, you are kind of on your own to consider all these things,” Khan said. “You have to have all the right documents and vaccines, and you have to be prepared for anything [the border officers] are going to ask you [….] You might get rejected [from the quarantine exemption]. It is just a lot.” 

How is the university supporting international students? 

McGill has dedicated New Residence Hall to international students arriving on campus between Aug. 1-6 who need to complete their 14 day quarantine. Students will be charged $50 per night for a room. The deadline to book a room is Aug 6. to allow for the full 14-day quarantine and for the building’s complete disinfection before residence move-in weekend on Aug. 21-22. 

According to Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, the administration and International Student Services (ISS) have implemented additional accommodations in recognition of the challenges international students may face. 

“There will be an online form available for students who may require academic accommodations at the beginning of the Fall term, and the Office of the Dean of Students will work on a case-by-case basis around academic accommodation for these students,” wrote Mazerolle to The McGill Tribune.

The ISS will be hosting four town halls during the month of August to answer any questions from students regarding quarantine requirements, housing options, and the logistics of arriving on campus. 

Hockey, Sports

Montreal Canadiens face offseason uncertainty after Stanley Cup loss

by Madison McLauchlan & Sarah Farnand on

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After a drought of nearly 30 years, it looked like this might be the year that the Montreal Canadiens bring home the Stanley Cup. In Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, however, the Canadiens’ dreams were shattered by a single goal. The Tampa Bay Lightning, a powerhouse team by all measures, were crowned the champions for the second year in a row under the leadership of McGill alumnus Mathieu Darche, BComm ‘00. 

Despite the disappointing result, the Canadiens’ playoff run rejuvenated the city of Montreal after almost three decades of not making the finals. The run also came as the city was starting to reopen after laying dormant due to COVID-19 public health restrictions and business closures. Now, the team must lick their wounds, avoid losing key players during a tricky offseason, and start all over again in October. 

Coming off of a shoddy regular season (24-21-11) and barely squeezing through to the playoffs, the Habs were the clear underdogs in the first round when they faced off against their long-standing rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The outlook appeared grim for the Habs after three consecutive losses, but they embarked on a redemption arc that stymied the Winnipeg Jets and the Vegas Golden Knights, and brought them to compete in the finals against the reigning 2020 champs. 

Beating the Tampa Bay Lightning was never going to be an easy feat; with a stellar offensive core in players like Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, as well as a world-class goalie whose stats trump those of Carey Price’s, the Habs had their work cut out for them from Game 1. 

Despite the odds stacked against them, the Canadiens never saw themselves as underdogs. Battling extreme emotion during the post-game press conference, players, including Brendan Gallagher, expressed their bitter disappointment in failing to bring home the Stanley Cup. 

“We expected to be here,” Gallagher said, choking back tears. “Regardless of what people thought of our team, [our] expectations were to win this series.”

While returning home without the Cup was difficult for the whole team, it was especially painful for veteran players like Carey Price and captain Shea Weber, who may not have another opportunity to reach the championships. It is their 14th and 16th seasons in the NHL, respectively. 

Recent news of Weber’s injuries is especially concerning, with some sports networks saying that he may be out for most of the season and will not be protected for the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft. 

Losing Shea Weber and his leadership would be a tough blow for the Canadiens, but arguably even tougher would be the loss of starting goaltender Carey Price. Having waived his No-Move Clause, Price will be exposed during the expansion draft to allow the Canadiens to protect their backup goaltender, Jake Allen. Price’s hefty $84 million contract and $11.5 million dollar signing bonus makes him quite pricey for the brand new Kraken team—a factor that may lessen his chances of being selected. However, exposing a starting goaltender, especially after such a successful playoff run, is risky. Jake Wagman, U2 Arts and an avid hockey fan, believes this move is ill-advised.

“Regardless of the chances, I think you need to protect the most important player on the team, [Carey Price],” Wagman said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I would say there is a 50 per cent chance [the Kraken will] take him and […] if they do take him, the Canadiens are in trouble despite having multiple young, promising players.”

Some of the team’s youngest players, like Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, have been serious offensive assets and are looking forward to playing in a full-capacity Bell Centre. Hopefully, that experience will include the support of their captain and starting goaltender.

“The city has been nothing but unbelievable,” Caufield said during his end-of-season media availability. “This is only just the start. The fans deserve a winning team. We gave them a little taste of it this year.” 

Science & Technology

Macdonald campus pollinator project gives native bees what they need

by Sara Chiarotto O'Brien on

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The Native Pollinator Habitat Project, launching in summer 2021, is McGill’s Macdonald Campus Sustainability Working Group’s latest initiative that aims to make the campus more hospitable to native species. Led by Frieda Beauregard, professor in the Department of Plant Science at McGill and curator of the McGill University Herbarium, the project will provide floral resources and nesting habitats to support local bee and pollinator populations. 

Inspired by a study in the Journal of Insect Conservation, Beauregard and her team will set up logs and squares of sandy soil to provide comfortable nesting places for local ground-nesting bees. 

Global bee populations have been in steady decline since the 1940s. A growing awareness of the threats to pollinators has resulted in an increased public effort to support bees, such as installing “bee hotels” on personal property, banning harmful pesticides called neonicotinoids, and cultivating wild plants.

Gail MacInnis, a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University, is studying the impact of urban beekeeping in Montreal on native bee populations in Montreal. According to MacInnis, most of Montreal’s native bees have been neglected by mainstream conservation groups. This is why efforts like the Pollinator Project, which support the unique habitats and needs of native bees, are necessary.

“A lot of people do not realize that around 70 to 80 per cent of our [175] native bee species […] nest in the ground,” MacInnis said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. 

 Unlike the typical depictions of bees in swarms, many of Montreal’s native bee species are solitary and nest in sandy, well-drained, undisturbed soils where they lay between five and 10 eggs annually.

There has been a recent influx of urban beekeeping in Montreal, which has been on the rise since 2008; multiple companies have built profitable businesses selling urban beehives as a tool to support biodiversity. 

 MacInnis explained that native bee species have evolved with complex relationships to local plants. The native squash bee, for example, can only pollinate squash flowers. Though honey bees can also populate these blossoms, they often outcompete local species in doing so, draining local pollen resources and damaging local ecosystems. 

“People have been […] misled into thinking, ‘if I keep a hive in my backyard, this is helping fight bee decline,” MacInnis said. “It is much more likely that [specialized native bees are] going to decline because they cannot just shift to another plant like a honey bee would.” 

The impact of this rise in urban beekeeping on local bees is not yet known, and MacInnis believes that is part of the problem. Unlike Toronto and other major cities, Montreal has no formal system in place to track the location or quantity of honey bees in the city. 

“One of my biggest hopes is that […] we start monitoring our honey bee populations so that we [can] avoid situations where we are putting high densities of hives in the same area,” MacInnis said. “Keeping honey bees to save the bees is like keeping chickens to save the birds.” 

Luckily, supporting native bees through individual action is not difficult if done properly. Those with backyards can make their soils hospitable to ground-nesting bees by mulching less, avoiding pesticides, and planting native flowers like Bee Balm (Wild Bergamot). 

At Mac Campus, the 200 trees project and soon-to-be-planted wildflower meadow are other additions to the Pollinator Habitat Project aimed to support native bees. Through a partnership with John Abbott College, the campus will also be used for educational purposes: Students will be able to study the pollination patterns of insects and share discoveries on iNaturalist, an app that allows image-based sharing of native plants. 

“This project is a small part of other projects trying to make [Macdonald Campus] that much more full of life,” Beauregard said in an interview with the Tribune. 

MacInnis echoed the sentiment, and hopes that members of McGill and the public will embrace the opportunity to discover how they can support the local environments that sustain our native pollinators.

Creative

Change Makers Episode 4: Tori Ford

by Noah Vaton on

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In the fourth episode of Change Makers, Multimedia Editor Noah Vaton speaks with Tori Ford, an award-winning gender health equity advocate, researcher, and entrepreneur on a mission to eliminate sexism, shame, and stigma from health experiences. She is is the founder of Medical Herstory, a youth-led not-for-profit advancing gender health equity.

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Sarah Stevenson’s ‘Before the Storm’ explores the turbulent intimacy of stillness

by Noma Mirny on

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When one enters the Fonderie Darling main hall, they find themselves wandering through an industrial room populated by a family of six colourful hanging wire skeletons. These grand sculptural ghosts—resembling airy animal shells, phantom produce, and woven costumes—are the manifestations of human experiences. Montreal-based artist Sarah Stevenson’s new exhibition, Before the Storm, presents the sculptures. All six phantom fishing wire figures, each differing in size and colour, present a metaphysical figuration of how people experience themselves in relation to artistic space and suspended time. Through her creations, Stevenson explores stillness before massive change, like tranquility before a storm. Her pieces evoke a sharp, almost ominous stillness that is at once soothing and deeply unsettling. The use of fishing wire as the primary medium exemplifies this notion, catching the viewer off guard as they approach the seemingly fluid and string-like creations, only to discover their rigid, contorted structure.

Stevenson’s titles exemplify abstract and organic design concepts: Spike, Spine, Bruise, Nimbus, Burn, and Bean. Displaying a mastery of spatial and colour dynamics, the hanging figurines are almost invisible from a distance, but imposing up close. Within the industrial, factory-like space of the Fonderie, the works intermingle, creating visual illusions as the viewer moves around the room. Varying in appearance but similar in style and material, each figure embodies its title: Spike is a blue ball-base culminating in a pointed spike jolting out on top; Spine is a row of lantern-like lime green fungi dropping into one another to create a cord; Nimbus is a string of large, red beads that form a hanging, cloud-like cornucopia. 

Particularly powerful is Bruise, in which the piece physically shapes space, form, and colour to evoke the experience of the title itself. The sculpture possesses the palette of a bruise—purple and yellow. The wire static shape expands outward from the angular point at its base to create a small, downward-facing cone. At its midpoint, the cone squeezes back inward, with a larger, wobbling sphere bubbling over. Then, the form tightens again like a fist, only to then expand, mushrooming out at the top with the largest segment of the triada round, flattened sphere. At last, the bruise is numb and swollen, spreading through the entire corpus. Through the piece’s drastic highs and lows—displayed in its squeezing and expanding—and the way in which a numb, spacious pain always narrows down to one, sharp point, Stevenson crafts a fascinating manifestation of pain.

Ultimately, Stevenson works magic as an architectural poet, taking individual words and bringing them into three-dimensional space through sculptures that overflow with visual and emotional complexity. Before the Storm manifests time into colourful, diverse shapes that bring viewers into a fishing-line-crafted web of artistic inspiration and creativity. 

Before the Storm is exhibiting until Aug. 22 at the Fonderie Darling located at 745 rue Ottawa Montreal.

McGill, News

McGill Board of Governors member resigns in protest of the board’s refusal to table a motion on equity

by Ella Fitzhugh on

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Former McGill University Board of Governors (BoG) member Ehab Lotayef has resigned from his position as governor over the BoG’s refusal to table a motion that would mandate McGill to create and display an equity statement on campus. Lotayef wrote about his resignation and his experience sitting on the board for three years in an open letter published May 7.

The motion, proposed by the Senate Subcommittee on Racialized and Ethnic Persons (REP), would have mandated McGill to display a statement expressing both a commitment to equity and an acknowledgement of the university’s ties to enslavement and colonialism on campus. The statement was endorsed by 14 McGill groups, including the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS), and Professor Emeritus Charles Taylor.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Lotayef, IT and technical services manager in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, explained that the BoG’s refusal to consider the motion compelled him to resign.

“I tried to make it very clear that this is [not] an exchange about whether you like [the equity statement] or not,” Lotayef said. “The issue is tabling the motion is a process that you should just follow, and the response was a total refusal […] that left no room for me to make a point [other than] resigning.”

Beyond the handling of the equity motion, Lotayef felt that the BoG was sometimes intolerant to dissenting opinions.

“People on the board have three options,” Lotayef said. “Either to be quiet and happy and go with the flow set by the leadership, to stay on and continue to express your point of view, and that is very difficult to do within the environment, or to take a position and resign.”

Lotayef said he encountered other issues during his time as governor, such as not being granted spots on committees in which he felt he had expertise. Lotayef, who joined the board to offer his perspective as a McGill staff member and community activist, affirmed that he would continue advocating for divestment and diversity, among other issues, despite his resignation.

“I have been an activist inside and outside McGill for decades,” Lotayef said. “Being on the board was a means, not a goal, in itself. There are always means to get voices heard and to raise up issues, so this is just a step in one direction or the other. It does not mean that I am going to change my commitment in any way.”

In response to Lotayef’s resignation, Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, pointed to McGill’s current equity efforts.

“The board appreciates expression of commitment towards the principles of [Equity, Diversity and Inclusion] (EDI) by any member or group of the McGill community as progress in these areas requires the engagement of the whole community,” Mazerolle wrote in an email to the Tribune. “There are many ways to express this commitment which do not necessitate [the presentation of] a motion to the board, particularly as these principles have been approved by the board and Senate over five years ago and reinforced through the endorsement of an EDI strategy.”

In an email to the Tribune, Fanta Ly, co-president of the Black Law Students’ Association of McGill—a group that endorsed the equity motion—felt that McGill’s current EDI framework is still not enacting substantive change.

“It is troubling that the highest governing body of a university that continues to document its failure to provide a dignified educational and work environment to underrepresented groups displays so brazenly its disinterest and lack of commitment to transformative equity work,” Ly wrote. “McGill administrators have made it clear that they will not commit to meaningful equity work. To maintain the status quo, they have ensured that only white faces with no vested interests in structural change occupy transformational administrative spaces.”

Creative

Tribune X Musicians Collective Present: Nail Polish Boys

by Multimedia on

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The McGill Tribune Multimedia team virtually joined forces with the SSMU Musicians Collective to bring you a groovy performance by the ‘Nail Polish Boys.’

Nail Polish Boys is a jam band from Montreal, with Tess Buckley on vocals, Atsushi Ikeda on guitar, and Dylan Rochon-Terry on piano. 

Song 1 – Younger Years by Tess Buckley 

Song 2 – This Charming Man by The Smiths

Song 3 – The List by Moonchild

You can listen to Tess’s music here: https://album.link/BS7sfTCQ7g3rf

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