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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Saturday 27 July 2019

'Orange Is the New Black' offers fans a way to give back

By MARK KENNEDY from prison, protect immi- in our work are these cross-
Associated Press grants' rights and end mass roads where people who
NEW YORK (AP) — The Netf- incarceration. don't necessarily encoun-
lix series "Orange Is the New The fund, named in honor ter one another are forced
Black" isn't content with of show character Poussey to. Great drama ensues.
leaving behind a legacy of Washington, will spread And comedy. And human-
good television. It wants to out every donation equally ity."
do good in the real world, to eight already-existing Tara Herrmann, an execu-
too. nonprofit groups. The an- tive producer and writer on
The series' creative team nouncement comes on the the show, said the idea for
said Thursday it has formed eve of the Friday premiere the fund came from peo-
a fund that will support ad- of the series' seventh and ple over the years asking
vocacy groups pressing for final season. how they could give back.
criminal justice reform and Washington, an inmate The fund was established
women re-entering society portrayed by actress Sami- with $50,000 in seed money
In this file image released by Netflix, Uzo Aduba, left, and Samira from the show and is sup-
Wiley appear in a scene from "Orange is the New Black." ported by GoFundMe.org.
Associated Press "It's really a call to action to
ra Wiley, is a fan favorite "Orange Is the New Black" is our fans," Herrmann said.
whose sudden death at loosely based on a memoir "There are people out there
the hands of officers in by Piper Kerman, a Smith who feel like, "Now what?
the fourth season stunned College graduate from a What can we do? You've
many viewers and was a patrician family who served given us the story, we see it,
nod to the recent cases of 13 months in a Connecti- we want to make a differ-
African-Americans killed in cut federal correctional ence.' So hopefully this is a
police custody. institution on drug-related place to go," After reading
Wiley said she's honored to charges. The show, cre- Kerman's book, Herrmann
have the fund named after ated and written by Jenji said she and Kohan were
her character and happy Kohan, became a show- immediately attracted to
to have the show embrace case for actresses of color the world behind bars that
real social responsibility. and brought issues around few people explore and
"It's just a TV show, at the race, sexuality and criminal the way humor and love
end of the day, but it's justice to the fore. could exist in such a cruel
changing people's minds "The legacy of the show, system. "These were wom-
and hopefully with this fund I hope, is empathy. That, en who were surviving in a
it will be changing people's and a normalizing of di- world that is doing every-
lives — getting them the versity, which reflects real thing to keep them down.
education that they need, life," said Kohan. "The world And the way they're surviv-
getting them the health is not one color or one so- ing is the tribes that they're
care and the mental health cio-economic class or one creating and the support
care that they might need," gender. I think what we've system they're setting up,"
she said. come to appreciate most Herrmann said.q

Cuco brings layers to lo-fi love songs on 'Para Mi'

By RAGAN CLARK about keeping tabs on his
Associated Press current state of mind, but
Cuco, "Para Mi" (Interscope also "trippin' off the tabs in
Records) my room," as he confesses,
Love songs may be known "I don't know why baby but
for their traditionally jovial I'm feeling blue."
tone, but on Cuco's full- Darker imagery in "Far
length debut he gives his Away from Home" is cush-
love ballads a darker tone. ioned with synthesizers,
"Para Mi" has lighter mo- fuzzy electric guitar, angel-
ments and a chilled-out ic whirling and chimes that
hip-hop vibe, but it is Cu- flutter in the background This image released by
co's searing, often darker as Cuco sings, "I'm rotting in Interscope Records shows
imagery that leaves an im- the image of my head." "Para Mi," a release by Cuco.
Associated Press
pression. In "Ego Death in Thailand,"
The 21-year-old Los An- the music is spacey, ambi- down by the bedroom
geles artist Omar Banos, ent and sunny as his voice production-style beats that
known by his stage name echoes, "Don't look away drop in. And while the al-
Cuco, has landed himself look through my eyes/Every bum is thematically and
between indie pop and G- breath you take another musically coherent, the
funk hip-hop with his lazy, part of me dies." record would benefit from
relaxed and psychedelic Though the album is a a standout song, one that
album. strong debut, admittedly breaks the trancelike ef-
Even the drug references it feels cluttered at times. fect created by Cuco's lo-
laced throughout nev- "Best Friend," for example, fi production. "Para Mi" is a
er cheapen the record. starts strong with a Latin mu- promising start for a rising
"Keeping Tabs" is not only sic intro, but feels bogged artist.q