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Parisian rapper PLK has been a personal favourite of mine for a long time. With a unique blend of melodic flows, great instrumentals and high level lyricism, he has quickly become a staple of the French rap genre. In 2023, he put out an innovative interactive mixtape called 2069, which he made and produced on Instagram Livestream in direct interaction with his fanbase. I personally loved 2069 and highly recommend it, so I was very excited when PLK announced he was releasing another album in February of this year. With 31 tracks and features from big names like Gazo and Hamza, the did not disappoint and is sure to have at least one song for everyone. Usually, such prolificacy is a bad sign in music since it often means that artists are making filler songs to meet a studio quota. However with Chambre 140, this is not the case. With a mixture of hyped up anthems and low-key vibey tracks, PLK checks all the boxes here and delivers a great final product. Every verse and chorus on every track is well written and delivered with passion, and all the beats are mixed to a high quality. I’m not joking when I say I could not find a single song I didn’t like. However, if I had to pick which songs I liked best from the album, I’d say: EA7, Il pleut à Paris, Dangereux and Bikini Bottom. CS

Essential viewing

Taiwanese gangster Charles Sun heads to California to protect his mother and younger brother, who’ve been hiding out in Los Angeles, after a mysterious enemy tries to kill his father, the triad’s godfather, and starts coming after the entire family.  has family drama, martial arts action, a few real plot twists, several laugh-out-loud moments and charming observation of the cultural differences across the Pacific. On Netflix. AG

Anti-corruption activist, Russian opposition politician, and now martyr. The Oscar-winning documentary (2022) opens--and closes--with questions related to Navalny’s hypothetical death, made all the more chilling by the man’s death on 16 February 2024. The film, which follows Navalny’s poisoning by the Russian state with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020, is full of suspense and you might even think that it’s a Hollywood action film (that phone call with the Russian chemist is nearly unbelievable). But it’s all true, and carefully documented by both the filmmakers and members of Navalny’s team. The man himself is witty and passionate, articulate and moral, engaging and accessible, both in his videos where he exposes corruption related to Putin’s regime and in the documentary itself. During the scenes where he’s interviewed by the director, Navalny sits at a wooden cafe counter, as if he’s talking to the viewer over a cup of coffee. Was he too idealistic with his belief in a “beautiful Russia of the future”? In any case, he was brave to return to Russia after his recovery, knowing that he almost certainly faced a long prison sentence--and death. Navalny’s last message to Russians? “If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong… The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. So don’t be inactive.” LL

(2010) is a romcom that sees Amy Adams go to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend (following an Irish tradition where women can propose to men on Leap Day, 29 February). Of course, not everything goes as planned and she meets a handsome (and single) innkeeper played by Matthew Goode. Despite mediocre reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and clichés galore, it provides some charming, mindless entertainment and hits all the romance tropes: pretending to be married, misunderstandings that are straightened out--you get what you’re expecting, which is exactly what I love about romcoms. Lovely scenery. And it’s the perfect year to watch it. LL

For foodies

I’ve discovered a new Mexican restaurant in the Grund. The aptly-named Taco Shop serves excellent tacos (I can recommend the veggie, fish and pastor options), as well as burritos and quesadillas. The ordering system was a bit tricky for me to figure out at first (you scan a QR code to read the menu, then select each taco or item individually), but it’s worth the trouble and now I know how it works for next time! They also have a food truck in the Findel airport parking lot. LL