Cognito on Lanterns, massinfluence, photography, Yasiin Bey, & more | Reel Notes S6 Ep. 31

PATREON:   / reelnotes   If you'd like to see full video of this and other episodes, join the Reel Notes Patreon at the Homie ($5/month) tier or higher. You also get early access to episodes, an invite to our Discord server, access to the Reel Talk movie night archives, and more. My guest this week is North Carolina-based photographer, member of the group massinfluence, and co-founder of FroLab, Cognito! We spoke about Lanterns, Watchmen, Westworld, Spike Lee’s Malcom X, charting hip-hop’s growth from the beginning to now, his time managing a Fat Beats location, forays into event promotion, fashion, and photography, documenting rappers from Black Star to MF DOOM, and the photos at the center of Yasiin Bey’s recent reissue of his 2009 album The Ecstatic. Come fuck with us. The reissue of The Ecstatic on vinyl, CD, and cassette tape, as well as the deluxe edition vinyl paired with a book of Cognito's photos, is all available now via Rhymesayers Entertainment: https://rhymesayers.com/collections/y.... The album can be purchased digitally on Bandcamp (https://yasiinbey.bandcamp.com/album/...) and streamed exclusively via Qobuz. Follow Cognito on Instagram (@cognito333) and Twitter (@FROLAB), and check out his personal website to stay tapped in with all things Cognito. Reel Notes stands in solidarity with American immigrants against ICE and the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti. Please consider donating to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (https://www.chirla.org/), the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (https://www.pcrf.net/), the Gaza Soup Kitchen (https://gazasoupkitchen.org/), The Zakat Foundation (https://www.zakat.org/), HealAfrica (https://healafrica.org/), FreeTigray (https://www.freetigray.com/donate), and/or Hope For Haiti (https://hopeforhaiti.com/). My first book, Reel Notes: Culture Writing on the Margins of Music and Movies, is available now, via 4 PM Publishing. Order a digital copy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Reel-Notes-Cul... Follow me on Instagram (@cinemasai), Twitter (@CineMasai_), Bluesky (@cinemasai.bsky.social), TikTok (@cinemasai), Letterboxd (@CineMasai), and subscribe to my weekly Nu Musique Friday newsletter (https://www.numusiquefriday.com/) to stay tapped into all things Dylan Green. Follow my writing at Hearing Things at hearingthings.co or @hearingthingsco on all social platforms