Last Call with Jimmy Kang, VP of Wu-Tang Management
Sarah Connell Sanders
Correspondent
Jimmy Kang has worked in the entertainment business for nearly two decades. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Kang views Worcester as a rich hotbed of underground hip-hop talent. Kang was thrilled to strike a recent distribution deal with Sony Orchard, a music distribution platform that he believes will elevate his artists’ reach and pave the way for their mainstream success. The Orchard became a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment in 2015. According to their website, “The Orchard is a leading music distribution company operating in 45 markets worldwide with a comprehensive artist and label services offering including full-service marketing, sync licensing, video services, transparent data analysis, advertising, rights management, digital and physical distribution and more.” Kang’s Worcester outpost operates on Pleasant Street where he also owns the retail shop, Exclusives Music Me
Sarah Connell Sanders
Correspondent
This year for the holidays, my grandmother gave me her personal copy of the family cookbook. Some lineages pass down jewels, candlesticks or fine China. We hold dear our recipes for snickerdoodles and Great Nana Lucille’s pecan butter balls.
Grandma never eats what she bakes grandpa, on the other hand, we lovingly refer to as the Cookie Monster. The year 2020 was enough for her to declare she was too old for the kitchen, but grandpa’s sweet tooth endured. Guess who was left holding the (flour) bag?
My first few attempts at preserving grandma’s sweet legacy were feeble. An explosive bread dough and a batch of deflated shortbread left me searching for professional guidance. I didn’t have to look far. Two local women sensed my baker’s bat call and took me under their proverbial wings.
Sarah Connell Sanders
Correspondent
“It’s like we’re on that reality show, Love is Blind, ” I shouted through the wall.
“You mean the one with the woman who lets her dog drink out of a wine glass?” he yelled back.
“Yes. That’s the one.”
I heard his muffled sigh through the door.
“It could be worse,” I said, “I could be Kathy Bates in Misery. ”
“Not funny,” he replied.
“I’ll leave you to your puzzles,” I told him and walked down the big lonely stairs to wander the rooms of our big lonely house.
My husband tested positive for COVID-19 nine days ago, but we had learned of his exposure to the virus five days before that. All this is to say, I haven’t smooched his handsome mug in two weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful his symptoms are moderate. I don’t even mind leaving cute little love notes and trays of soup outside his door. But, I sure do miss him.
Last Call with Maddie’s Dash Cams
Sarah Connell Sanders
Correspondent
Mother-daughter team Aly Forson Whalen and Madison Whalen began handing out dash cameras to Black and brown men over the summer. They asked no questions about income. There were no expectations attached. Madison simply wanted to help, “keep dads safe,” in any way she could.
On her Facebook page, Aly wrote, “Madison and I love our Black Men and need them to come home safe to continue to support our community; we cannot continue to endure the slaughter of our family units.” Donations rolled in and soon the Whalens teamed up with local philanthropic organizer Woodrow Adams Jr. of 508 Forever Young to expand their reach. Together, Adams and the Whalens intend to distribute 75 more cameras this January at Scoop Drip on Millbury Street and Michaelangelo’s Barbershop on Green Street.
Sarah Connell Sanders
Correspondent
Today, hip-hop holds plenty of pop appeal, but in high school, it escaped me. I grew up listening to Elvis Costello, Indigo Girls, and I’ll say it Jewel. Literally, so much Jewel. (Thanks for that, mom.) Little did I know, one of my Doherty Memorial High School classmates was already forging a path for Worcester to become the epicenter of New England’s hip-hop scene. His name is Egbert Pinero.
Egbert “Eggy” Pinero moved to Worcester from Puerto Rico at one year old. By 12, he was obsessed with hip-hop, idolizing underground rappers like Cross Movement, the whole Rough Riders crew, and notable boom-bap artist Nas.