Amanda Seyfried, star of ‘Long Bright River,’ is glad she didn’t have to put on the Philly accent

Emmy-winning actress Amanda Seyfried sat in the backseat of a patrol car for a ride along with two Philadelphia police officers through Kensington.

Within minutes of the car pulling out of the precinct, there was a slight jolt. A driver had hit the patrol car, and Seyfried watched as the officers handled the situation with “humility” and “discretion.”

“I was asking a lot of questions, and they had a lot of answers about how to treat people,” she said. “The way they communicated, reacted to situations, and the patience they had as humanized police officers. We need to see the good ones, too.”

The actress, who rose to movie stardom after her breakout role as Karen Smith in the original Mean Girls, said the eye-opening tour through the 26th Police District prepared her for a “dream role” in Peacock’s new Kensington-set drama, Long Bright River.

Seyfried plays Michaela “Mickey” Fitzpatrick, a patrol officer who discovers a string of murders in Kensington’s drug market. As Mickey attempts to locate the killer, and find her missing sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings), she confronts dark memories from her childhood spent in the neighborhood.

The series, adapted from Philly author Liz Moore’s award-winning book of the same name, is close to home for Seyfried. The Allentown native grew up 60 miles north of Philly and was sold on Moore’s grounded portrayal of Kensington’s opioid crisis.

“It feels so local and important,” Seyfried said. “It’s a beautiful book that’s grounded in reality, and it’s an important story to tell. The perspective from a beat police officer in Kensington is interesting, and [playing] a female police officer has been a dream of mine. All the elements were there.”

Seyfried said Mickey is one of the more complex and challenging characters she’s had to play. She’s an “unlikable” character, whose past trauma and severed relationships have hardened her personality almost entirely.

“It’s hard to play her because I can’t fall back on a lot of the same tricks that I have when I’m playing a real person,” Seyfried said. “I’m not playing a character that we know. I’m playing a version of myself, and I struggled with keeping the metaphorical hat on. It was tricky.”

Seyfried leaned into their few commonalities. Like Mickey, Seyfried is a mother of two and an admitted control freak. Embracing the character’s dark past was admittedly hard.

“She has a completely different past than I do, and I had to fight to remember what I was, to keep hold of her story. It was a lot of emotional stuff,” she said. “It was a totally new uniform for me, metaphorically and as a literal police uniform.”

Moore’s presence on the set, Seyfried said, made it easier. The book is drawn from the novelist’s own experience of volunteering in Kensington, as well as her family’s history with addiction.

Moore’s involvement helped bring Philly to their filming location in New York City. As executive producer and co-creator of the series, Moore recruited local community members like Franciscan priest Father Michael Duffy and Philly rapper OT The Real for roles in the show. She also tapped organizations like Savage Sisters Recovery and the House of Grace Catholic Worker, which added to the show’s authenticity.

“We brought Philly to us,” Seyfried said. “I’m really proud of the people who never acted before that are in the show. I’m proud of the strength that Liz had to keep everything in line with Philly, and to bring us all together to put a spotlight on this neighborhood.”

When things veered off-center, Moore stepped in as the Philly aficionado. “Whoever was directing the episode at the time, she would always bring us back to Philly because Philly is a character in and of itself.”

To makes things a little easier, Seyfried wasn’t tasked with mastering the Philly accent. But Cummings, Seyfried’s Saudi Arabia-born and Australia-raised costar, didn’t have a choice.

“I don’t know what the [accent’s] elements are,” Seyfried joked. “It’s like things are [pronounced] a little wider … I definitely think that Mickey not having an accent is really funny, and it goes to show just how much of an outsider she’s felt her whole life.”

But Seyfried is barely an outsider. Filming the series and connecting with the Philly people on set brought back memories of her days in the city, from sleepovers at the Franklin Institute, visits to friends at Temple University, and nights dancing on tables at Center City’s Finn McCools.

She’s hopeful the limited series draws awareness to the issues in Kensington, while also highlighting the city’s beauty.

“I’m in awe of the city, and how it moves and operates. I understand the good and the bad, and in some way I feel like I’m coming home a bit. I can’t help but feel a kinship to the city,” she said.

“Long Bright River” streams on Peacock.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

The two-man Philly shop responsible for some of the iconic ‘Severance’ furniture

Outside the elevator doors of Lumon Industries’ severed floor, Severance‘s Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) awaits the arrival of Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and the company’s other “microdata refiners.”

The young deputy manager sits on a green bench, which has made its way to the AppleTV+ series from Columbus, Ind., by way of a Philadelphia shop.

While audiences kept an eye out for stunning revelations, furniture dealers and Rarify founders David Rosenwasser and Jeremy Bilotti squinted their eyes for a sharper look at one of their finds.

Miss Huang’s seat was a modified version of the John Behringer 1961 Link Bench the duo scored in Columbus, which they called the “mecca for modern architecture.”

“That was the first piece we saw sequentially that we were like, ‘Oh shoot, there it is!‘,” Rosenwasser said. “We knew it was a cool piece, but we didn’t know what it was going to be.” Reupholstered in green for the screen, the bench is one of several Rarify finds seen throughout the second season of the superhit TV show.

After years restoring and selling one-off vintage furniture pieces, the MIT and Harvard grads merged their interests in architecture, manufacturing research, and vintage furniture four years ago. The result was Rarify, the designer-led furniture and lighting dealership that sources hard-to-find furniture, refurbishes, and then sells them.

Last year, Rosenwasser and Bilotti opened their Bella Vista showroom at 735 Bainbridge St., while their larger collection is stored in a 80,000-square-foot warehouse in Lebanon, Pa.

“It was always something that was built from the ground up,” Bilotti said. “It started off as restoring just one single huge chair, which is wild to think about.”

The self-proclaimed “vintage furniture nerds” hand-picked the 1960s midcentury conference tables, desktops, prism lounges, and finely-crafted credenzas that fit the dark and ambiguous world of Severance creator Dan Erikson.

“They look almost futuristic, but they are also sort of vintage and retro in the same way,” Bilotti said. “There was intentionality behind what the decorators were doing, and the furniture and design of the spaces, the architecture, contributes to that in a very intentional way, which we really love.”

The furniture helps define the unsettling labyrinth below the surface of the Lumon Industries building, where Mark Scout, his coworkers, and partial love interest, Helly (Britt Lower), transform from their everyday selves (outies) into their Lumon identities (or innies).

Along with Miss Huang’s bench, other Rarify collectibles that made it to the show include a $15,500 Washington Prism lounge, ottoman, and table set by David Adjaye that finds pride of place in the muted and haunting home of Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry).

A Gerald Luss credenza ($19,950) stands in Burt Goodman (Christopher Walken) and husband Fields’ (John Noble) home, in a scene that was shot in the actual Gerald Luss House in Ossining, NY. There was also a full suite of Jens Risom and Florence Knoll pieces at the fictional Ganz College, where Mark and his wife, Gemma Scout (Dichen Lachman), first met and worked.

But the biggest shock came seeing one of their finds at the center of the explosive season finale.

The baby crib at the center of “Cold Harbor,” where Gemma Scout is forced to confront one of her last (and most traumatizing) memories, also came from Rosenwasser and Bilotti. And yes — spoiler alert — they spotted the oak-colored crib in an earlier episode in Mark and Gemma’s house before it moved inside in “Cold Harbor.”

“I didn’t really process the crib,” Rosenwasser said. “It didn’t really hit me because you couldn’t see it that well [earlier in the season]. And then on the last episode, it’s like, ‘there it is!’”

The Severance team, they said, even designed a custom box for the crib with “COL d’ARBOR” written across.

Bilotti and Rosenwasser found the crib by designer craftsman Charles Webb in Cambridge, Mass., after a lengthy search. When the Severance team wanted two of them, the duo scrambled to find one just in time for production “somewhere in the Midwest.”

The level of detail interwoven into the show’s story lines also went into its set design and decoration, Bilotti said. Both of them, he said, were thrilled to play a part in the three-year project.

“It’s wonderful for us as people in the furniture and design world to see such public interest in these pieces … We hope that we’ve made a tiny impact, and maybe educated some people, too,” Bilotti said.

Bilotti and Rosenwasser caught the attention of Jeanelle Marie, Severance‘s assistant set decorator, thanks to word-of-mouth and a series of viral videos of showcasing their restoration process and growing vintage collection.

After the pair collaborated with Marie on the Kaley Cuoco-led series The Flight Attendant, they met the then newly-assigned Severance set decorator, David Schlesinger, who had previously crafted sets for Knives Out, Hustle, The Equalizer 2, and Leave the World Behind. In February 2023, Rosenwasser and Bilotti showed Schlesinger their 15,000-plus collection in their Central Pennsylvania warehouse.

Once Schlesinger left, the duo started receiving “urgent” phone calls and emails from the show’s set decoration team, requesting hard-to-find items that weren’t in high circulation. The inquiries set the partners off on deep dives looking for pieces that could furnish the vague world of Severance, which blurs the line between the past, future, and present.

“They were looking for the best of the best that hadn’t been widely covered in culture and media,” Rosenwasser said. “If you could buy it from a furniture store today, it was a lot less appealing.” The ones that made it onto set, he said, were often in short supply.

Billoti and Rosenwasser sourced the pieces and shipped them to the shooting locations in central New Jersey or New York’s Hudson Valley.

“There were super-specialty things that were really unique, and they would need 10 of them. It was quite a challenge,“ Rosenwasser said. ”But we scoured the interweb, and by luck, there were other ones out there.”

For every item that made it into the show, Bilotti said, there were at least two more that didn’t. That list includes a John Nyquist desk chair, Lehigh Leopold end table, Lewis Butler coffee table, and an assortment of other fittings.

For Bilotti, Severance has become a version of AMC’s Mad Men. “The set of Mad Men was so integral to the identity, that made it a hit TV show. The same goes for the Bell Works headquarters, Gerald Luss House, and the other architectural works that Severance is filmed in. The furniture is a part of the lore of the story."

Is a third season collaboration in the works for Bilotti and Rosenwasser?

“We’re crossing our fingers,” Bilotti said.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

How a Kennett Square sandwich maker became best buds with Mark Ruffalo, thanks to ‘Task’

It was February 2024 and a normal workday for Michael Bertrando at Kennett Square’s Sam’s Sub Shop when his phone rang. The sandwich maker saw an unfamiliar number flashing on the phone screen. He usually avoids them but decided to answer this one.

It wasn’t spam. A Heery Loftus casting agent was asking if he’d be interested in being a stand-in for actor Mark Ruffalo in the HBO crime drama, Task.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t want to do it at first because of the sub shop,” Bertrando said. “But it’s a good opportunity, obviously. So, I took them up on the offer.”

Later that month, he appeared for camera tests at Sun Center Studios in Aston, where he met Task directors Jeremiah Zagar and Salli Richardson-Whitfield. By the beginning of March, Bertrando had landed the biggest acting gig of his career.

Bertrando has appeared in commercials for Mercedes, McDonald’s, Nintendo, Oscar Meyer, and other international brands. After traveling the world as a professional clown, he worked the improv comedy circuit in New York and Chicago. He eventually moved back to Kennett Square to help his aging parents run the family’s sandwich shop, leaving him with little time to pursue acting.

“You get to a certain age and your family’s getting older, you have your parents to think about, and we have the family business. I kind of got bogged down,” Bertrando said.

Years ago, he would’ve jumped at the Task role, but he wasn’t sure he could simultaneously work on set and manage the shop. He is glad he agreed.

“It fuel-injected me,” he said. “After talking to Ruffalo and the other crew members, the experience really put a flame under my ass.”

As Ruffalo’s stand-in, Bertrando shadowed the actor, who plays FBI agent Tom Brandis in the Delco-set, cops-and-criminals series.

Every day Ruffalo was on set, Bertrando was right beside him. He performed stunt work for Ruffalo, and the two bonded over their Italian heritage, Bertrando’s travels as a professional clown, and their common start in theater and commercials.

“Ruffalo just talked me up so much,” Bertrando said. “He would be watching me on the monitor, and then say, ‘Michael, I’m going to steal what you just did there.’ And then I’d joke and say I was his acting coach.”

With encouragement from Ruffalo, Zagar, and creator Brad Ingelsby, Bertrando auditioned for a speaking role and landed the role of “FBI Officer No. 1″ in episode five, which premiered Sunday.

He was thrilled, of course, but he had one other goal in mind. Bertrando wanted to spotlight Sam’s Sub Shop.

Off camera, Bertrando introduced Ruffalo and the rest of the crew to the delights of his hometown, including specialty hoagies and cheesesteaks from the 80-year-old eatery, which is owned by his mother, Sandra Bertrando. Her father, Sam Frabriso, opened the shop 80 years ago. Her husband, Bert Bertrando, Michael’s father, helps out, mostly chatting with customers or slicing tomatoes.

“Ruffalo and [the crew] were fascinated with the stories about my mom, the crazy customers, and everything else,” he said.

Ruffalo ordered Sam’s Sub Shop for the crew, and Bertrando gifted hats and other merch to the wardrobe and production design departments in hopes they could land some screen time.

“I played two angles,” Bertrando said. “I had my acting angle, and then I had my family business angle. I kind of succeeded in both, and it was a great experience all around.”

Along with Wawa coffee and Rita’s Italian Ice, Sam’s Sub Shop menus appear throughout the series.

A photograph of Bertrando and Ruffalo eating the shop’s subs adorns the deli’s entrance walls. When Ruffalo asked what people say when they pass by the framed image, Bertrando said, “People keep asking me how I know Paul Rudd.”

The opportunity didn’t come without sacrifices for Bertrando. He was sleep-deprived for most of the six-month-long production, working 18- to 20-hour days between the set and the shop.

Some Fridays, he was on set until 4 a.m., then opened the shop at 6 a.m. But Bertrando has no regrets. His renewed love of acting has already materialized into new projects.

“If [Zagar and Ingelsby] come to town again, I want to make sure I have something to show them, too, since they were so supportive of me. You can’t lose these connections,” he said.

After Task wrapped production last year, Bertrando returned to the comedy stage. He’s currently testing new material at open mics for a future comedy special, tentatively titled “I’m Not Mark Ruffalo.” He also starred in a short film called Magnet Brain that won the best film award at 48 Hour Film Project — Philadelphia. And he is writing, shooting, and acting in a short film about his family deli.

He credits Ruffalo and the rest of the Task crew for reigniting his passion for acting and comedy. As for a worthy “thank you” gesture, Ruffalo has already offered a “terrible” suggestion.

“He wants a buffalo mozzarella sandwich [named after him] because it rhymes with Ruffalo,” Bertrando said.

“It’s not happening.”

“Task” airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

A year of leadership shifts later, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office is charting new successes

In the Philly film world, Sharon Pinkenson was a trailblazer among trailblazers.

As longtime executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, she made Philadelphia a destination for Hollywood productions. This led to the filming of classics like 12 Monkeys and Silver Linings Playbook in the region and cleared the path for future films, true-crime shows, documentaries, music videos, and commercials.

When Pinkenson stepped down from the film commission in November 2024, after three decades at the helm, it fell upon longtime employees Erin Wagner and Nicole Shiner to carry forward the work of their charismatic mentor.

It’s been a year since they stepped into their roles as co-executive directors, and Shiner said the 20 years they spent under Pinkenson’s wing have begun to pay dividends.

“Having someone who’s been in the position for so long, and who had such a grand reputation and did so much for the community, it’s been hard coming in after her,” she said. “But the good news is, [Wagner] and I have been here for 20 years. We have a lot of institutional knowledge about how to move forward.”

The past year, she said, has drawn expected challenges. Among them is the loss of longtime film office director Joan Bressler, whom Pinkenson hired six months after becoming executive director. Bressler retired in August after 30+ years at the film office.

“She ate, slept, and dreamed of local film,” Wagner said. “She is an amazing woman who ran every program the film office had.”

Without the film office’s most tenured and recognizable leaders at the helm, Wagner said, the duo spent the past year reintroducing themselves to government officials, Hollywood executives, and members of Philly’s film community. The goal was to establish themselves as trusted resources and to showcase their “fresh, down-to-earth approach” as film office leaders.

“We talk up our local crew, our tax credits, our locations, and just remind people that we’re a short drive from New York. We’re close to D.C.,” said Wagner, who has spent many years as the film commission’s production coordinator. “We have an international airport, and we have some of the hardest-working crews in the film business. Don’t discount us.”

“[Pinkenson] taught us very well,” she said. “But at the same time, we’re different people and a different generation, and we just want to remind people that we’re here to help.”

Producer Nancy Glass, who has spearheaded several true crime shows filmed in the region, said Shiner and Wagner have been integral in making her projects come to fruition.

“They are very active and very helpful. They have time for everybody, and that’s really impressive.”

As the new faces of the film office, Wagner and Shiner have made use of their strengths. “I think we really do balance each other out,” Shiner said.

While Wagner handles the “new world of politics,” Shiner has taken on the financial side of the operation. She oversees available tax credits, finance fees, and other operational costs associated with the nonprofit organization.

Wagner’s connections with local crew members have been a boon.

During the filming of the HBO crime drama Task, 777 Pennsylvanians were hired as local crew, cast members, and background players for 177 days. Shiner said the production accounted for a $230 million economic impact on the region.

“We already know how great Philly is,” Wagner said. “The rest of the world’s finally catching up. Even though some of the projects may not have been filmed here, they may have come down for one or two days. But that puts our crew to work, and that’s what we’re happy to see.”

The duo are also building programs in direct support of emerging filmmakers.

Shiner and Wagner have entrusted Daniela Galdi, the new director of filmmakers, with relaunching the long-running Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition.

The competition, now called the Joan Bressler Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition, in Bressler’s honor, is open to all screenwriters who submit a screenplay for a feature-length project or original TV pilot that can be shot in the Greater Philly area. All genres are welcome.

The final deadline for the competition is Nov. 20, and the top winner will be awarded $10,000 to fund their future Philly-set project.

In the new year, they also plan to develop training workshops and hands-on programs to keep local crew members equipped with the latest production technology and techniques, ensuring they have the skills necessary to work on upcoming productions.

“Film is always changing,” Shiner said. “There’s always new technology, and if we don’t keep up and provide that education, those workshops, and the opportunities for people to learn about their craft, our workforce will suffer.”

The yearlong transition, Wagner said, has been “eye-opening” and “humbling.” She’s optimistic about the duo’s relationships with county partners and local legislators, and she’s thrilled for the future productions coming to town.

“I think that these people see a future in film and television and media and workforce development with us, and they see that we’re knocking on doors and don’t plan on leaving,” Shiner said. “We want to forge our own legacy. Not only follow [Pinkenson’s] footsteps, but create our own.”

While they remained tight-lipped on projects coming to the Greater Philadelphia area, Shiner and Wagner teased that there will be something big for the region’s true crime junkies.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

The West Philly rapper whose work has landed on ‘Abbott Elementary.’ Twice.

When Philly artist Amir Bey Richardson first uploaded his rap songs online in 2010, he was told his music was “too corny” to garner an audience.

“I definitely had friends who encouraged me, but I had other friends who used to call it ‘bus driver rap,’” Richardson said. “Or they said, ‘Too many people rap. Get out of here.’”

Today, Richardson is a go-to musician-for-hire for major network shows, including for the Emmy-winning, Philly-set comedy series Abbott Elementary.

Richardson, who goes by Bul Bey, knows his music doesn’t have the same musical edge that has long defined Philadelphia’s hip-hop sound. But he makes up for it with his more soulful and personal hip-hop records that speak to his West Philly roots and connect with a wider range of rap fans.

“Philadelphia is one of those cities where rapping is held to a higher standard, so I had to listen to my heart,” he said. “I was an artist whether I wanted to be one or not.”

While his sound didn’t match that of his contemporaries, he believes it sets him apart from other Philly artists.

On the Oct. 22 episode of Abbott Elementary, Richardson’s 2024 track “Elbow Deep” can be heard in the background as characters Gregory and Janine (played by Tyler James Williams and show creator Quinta Brunson), set the vibe for a friendly hangout.

“I lost my mind when I heard it,” Richardson said. “There are some explicit moments in the song, but when I saw the scene, it all made total sense.”

This was the second time Richardson’s music was placed in the hit series.

Back in February 2022, Richardson sent an “awkward” introductory message on LinkedIn to Abbott Elementary music supervisor Kier Lehman. Among the tens of tracks Richardson pulled from his catalog to include in that message, the 2014 single “Where I’m From” struck a chord with Lehman.

In early 2023, the Grammy-nominated music supervisor reached out to Richardson to request the use of “Where I’m From” for season two, episode 19, of the show.

Richardson said he’s still processing the achievement. “Sometimes I go back to the episode just to make sure it wasn’t changed,” he said.

That song placement, Richardson said, arrived at a “time of desperation.”

After a decade of making music, Richardson was at a creative crossroads. He was confident in his musical talents, but it felt like there were limited avenues to showcase them. “I felt very lost and desperate,” he said.

He stumbled onto Abbott Elementary like everyone else. Only he paused the TV to find Lehman’s name in the credits and reached out to him months later on the networking platform.

While he’s now “embarrassed” by his direct message to Lehman, the eventual song placement was the first time Richardson was ever paid for his music.

“That was definitely me crossing a threshold,” he said. “And in my mind, I was like, ‘I have to do that again.’”

It would be two years until that would happen. Earlier this year, Lehman reached out to Richardson to use “Elbow Deep.” Richardson approved immediately.

In the meantime, that first placement opened several creative doors.

Between his role as an event coordinator for the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, Richardson dropped a pair of collaborative EPs with producers Sam Live and Patrick Feliciano. He also contributed music to WHYY programs, such as Albie’s Elevator and The Infinite Art Hunt, and served as host of the Franklin Institute’s So Curious podcast.

He was even tapped to narrate a Skechers ad featuring Sixers star Joel Embiid, showcasing his abilities as a voice-over talent.

It’s all been a surprising path, Richardson said. One that has inspired him to pursue avenues that meld his love of music and Philadelphia.

“It let me know I had a narrower view of what I could do as an artist,” Richardson said. “I wouldn’t say I’m doing unconventional things, but it’s more of a wider range.”

His goal is to be a more notable name for big-budget shows and eventually land a placement on a blockbuster film. He currently has his sights on Sony’s animated Spider-Man multiverse saga, which Lehman served as the music supervisor for in 2018.

For someone who started out making songs from his college radio station at Pittsburgh’s La Roche University, and now sees his name on TV screens, Richardson has learned to avoid limiting his art and musical reach. And to the friends who previously doubted his abilities, he’s proving his music can take him places he’s never been, including prime-time television.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

Kendrick Lamar, SZA go full speed at the Linc for the ‘Grand National Tour’

The victory lap continues for Kendrick Lamar. The Compton rap star has journeyed a path few have blazed in hip-hop history.

He sparred with global phenom Drake and came out with a slew of No. 1 hits, five Grammy wins in 2025, and a record-setting Super Bowl halftime performance that will be dissected by hip-hop scholars for years to come.

But Lamar’s behemoth, “Not Like Us,” is only a glimpse into his true musical powers.

Aside from his 22 Grammys and a Pulitzer, the 37-year-old artist has drawn tens of thousands of concertgoers for an already record-breaking stadium tour.

Lamar and R&B supernova SZA generated $9 million for the opening concert of their "Grand National Tour” last month in Minneapolis, making it the highest grossing hip-hop show in music history.

The tour’s momentum remained immaculate at Lincoln Financial Field for Lamar and SZA’s stop in Philly on Monday night.

As DJ Mustard played a a 30-minute set by DJ Mustard, who played classics like “Swag Surfin’” by Fast Life Yungstaz and “We Are Young” by fun., thousands of fans slowly trickled into the stadium.

As the stadium lights flickered, Lamar rose onto the stage. He kicked off the show inside his now-trademarked Buick GNX, rapping the GNX album opener “wacced out murals,” embraced in smoke.

The show featured short skits of Lamar arguing with a lawyer-like disposition, mocking Drake’s recent attempts to take legal action following last year’s grudge match.

Even SZA, born Solána Rowe, gets in on the action. She’s seen correcting the off-camera lawyer’s pronunciation of her stage name in one video, then countering accusations that she has sought dysfunctional relationships for creative purposes.

That fiery intro set the tone for the show, which was adorned with hits from his platinum-selling GNX and SZA’s repackaged deluxe album, Lana.

Once Lamar closed out the first of eight acts with “tv off,” SZA rose to the stage with the same GNX, but perched on top of its moss-covered hood. While Lamar’s “squabble up” and “m.A.A.d city” reflected his rugged Compton roots, SZA basked in sultry tunes like “Love Galore” and “Broken Clocks” as a labyrinth of vines, praying mantises, butterflies, and other bugs flashed across the background screen.

The five-time Grammy winner was in full bloom, showcasing both her roaring vocals and sleek dance routines. While there were moments that seemed off pitch, she recovered as smoothly as her outfit changes.

Decked in knee pads and low-rise safari shorts, the “Scorcese Baby Daddy” singer serenaded the crowd with dazzling slow jams like “Kitchen” and hard-hitting tracks like “Low.” She took her bug fascination to new heights during “Garden (Say It Like Dat),” hopping on a giant mechanical ant she affectionately named “Anthony.”

Lamar’s performance remained sharp, calculated, and grounded. He attacked songs like “Like That” and the showstopper “Not Like Us” with unnerving intensity, while balancing the cunning bars with party records like “peekaboo” and SZA-assisted duets like “All the Stars.”

While the artistic contrasts between Lamar and SZA could alienate crowds, the pair found the perfect equilibrium throughout the nearly three-hour concert.

Lamar’s lyrical performance was impressive throughout the show, but moments like the Playboi Carti cover “Good Credit” and the sequencing of “Count Me Out” did stifle a bit of the momentum. But with over 50 songs shared between the two artists, most performed in full, there was bound to be a break in the action.

As the stadium tour journeys across North America and Europe, their Philly stop proved to be a balancing act with an Olympic-level landing. The concert was a melding of two performers, who are as electric together as they are on their own stages.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer

How Future & Metro Boomin Became Trap Music's Greatest Duo

The musical bond between Future and Metro Boomin blazed new paths in Atlanta's rap scene, and transformed trap music into one of music's most expansive exports. The duo first connected on the cult "Karate Chop" back in 2013, and have been on an unrelenting hit streak ever since.

Future's auto-tune-soaked melodies and Metro's ominous trap production has formed an inseparable linkage and some of the biggest records of the past decade. From "Honest" to "Jumpman" and 2024's "Type S**t," the pair have blossomed into music's most in-demand hitmakers and influencers. 

Metro, born Leland Wayne, went from aimlessly sending beats as a teenager from his St. Louis home, to becoming one of the industry's most versatile music producers and a GRAMMY-nominated solo artist. Meanwhile Future, born Nayvadius Cash, has evolved into an international draw with a myriad of No. 1 records, multi-platinum albums, and GRAMMY wins under his belt. 

The two stars have continued to ascend in lock-step, with a new medley of booming street hits and club anthems arriving with each collaboration. But 2024 was their most expansive year to date. The duo cranked out We Don't Trust You in March, and the sequel, We Still Don't Trust You, just weeks later. 

Backed by the Kendrick Lamar-assisted hit "Like That," — and the seismic rap feud it ignited— We Don't Trust You debuted atop the Billboard 100, marking Future's second-largest opening week and Metro's biggest ever. Its follow-up, the more melodic-leaning We Still Don't Trust You, also claimed the No. 1 spot. Together, the joint projects earned the duo four nominations at the 2025 GRAMMYs, including Best Rap Album (We Don't Trust You) and Best Rap Song ("Like That"). 

Future and Metro have hit an artistic zenith unmatched by most rap duos, and it doesn't appear their streak is slowing down any time soon. As their legacy continues to grow, look back at the genesis of their artistic union over the years, and the series of hits that have formed in their wake:

2013

Before Metro became a top-end producer, he was a 17-year-old beatmaker with hopes one of his beats would fall into the hands of a mainstream artist. One faithful email to Brick Squad rapper OJ da Juiceman got him an invite to his Atlanta studio. With permission from his late mother Leslie Wayne, Metro made the eight and a half-hour voyage from St. Louis to the trap music capital. She continued to chaperone him almost weekly until Metro moved to Atlanta full-time to attend Morehouse College in 2012. 

The first-year college student split his time in the classroom and in the studio with Juiceman's mentor Gucci Mane. He eventually crossed paths with Future, who ascended from the disbanded Atlanta group Da Connect and became his own musical entity. Future started meeting up with the teenage producer daily, and the "Tony Montana" rapper hopped on one of Metro's zippy trap beats. He laid down drug-sunken lyrics to the thunderous, heavy-synth instrumental that became 2013's "Karate Chop," but Metro wasn't convinced it was a worthy single. 

"I had no clue from all the records we've done, that [that] s**t just sitting in the studio would be the one. But these days, the people and the streets produce the singles and they was fuckin' with it," Metro said in a 2013 interview with XXL.

Despite Metro's initial hesitancy, the remix featuring Lil Wayne became the lead single of Future's 2014 album, Honest, which featured three other songs from Metro, including the title track and "I Won" with Kanye West. The success of "Karate Chop" convinced Metro to drop out of college and capitalize on the rising momentum. And the musical alchemy between the rapper and producer only strengthened over time.

2015

By 2015, Metro and Future were no longer fighting for attention. The spotlight was keenly focused on the two artists, who, along with figures like Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan, were at the forefront of a booming, melody-infused trap sound. The proof of their collective powers was Future's trap masterwork DS2 and What a Time to Be Alive, an entertainingly disjointed mixtape with Canadian-born superstar Drake. 

Following the release of 2014's Honest, Future dropped a trilogy of album-quality mixtapes. The first was Monster, a darker and more brooding project that saw Future return to his previous form. Metro executive produced the mixtape, and was credited for crafting "Radical," "Mad Luv," "Wesley Pressley" and other tracks.

The duo carried the momentum of Monster into Future's DS2, widely considered the rapper's masterstroke of bleak, self-medicated drug tales and fiery trap hits. Metro, alongside fellow Atlanta trap architects Southside, Zaytoven, and Sonny Digital, handled the bulk of the project. Some of the tracks he produced included the strip club anthem "Freak Hoe," the tranquilizing "Rich Sex," and "Where Ya At" with Drake. 

After the recording session for "Where Ya At" wrapped, Drake and Future began working on the collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive.  Drake flew to Atlanta for six days with the hopes of recording a handful of songs, but Future's relentless work ethic prompted the Toronto native to match his tenacity. 

The 11-song mixtape surprisingly dropped in September 2015, and fans immediately swarmed to Metro-produced tracks like "Digital Dash," "Big Rings," and "Jumpman." The latter became a top 20 Billboard hit, and Metro's Future-assisted producer tag, "If Young Metro don't trust you I'm gon' shoot you," became the industry's most recognizable calling card.

2017

Just when it felt Future's smoldering hit streak was beginning to cool, he released back-to-back albums FUTURE and HNDRXX in February of 2017. The two projects teetered between pop-inspired tunes and heavy-handed street records, and Metro was the unsurprising maestro behind the biggest song from the two records. 

The Metro-produced "Mask Off" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Future's highest charting single at the time of its release. A remix of the track, which samples Carlton Williams' "Prison Song" from the 1978 Selma musical, featured Kendrick Lamar. 

The massive hit encouraged generations of hip-hop fans to chant the song's drug-filled hook "Percocets (ya), molly, Percocets (Percocets)." And while Future's HNDRXX takes a more R&B and bright-eyed musical approach compared to the dreadful trap sound of his previous works, Metro was credited for the album opener "My Collection" and closer "Sorry."

2022

After five years without a collaboration, the super-duo linked back up for Metro's "Superhero (Heroes & Villains)." Future's gravelly and unpolished delivery contrasted the song's more cinematic and orchestral production. It was the first single off the producer's comic book-themed album, Heroes & Villains, which echoed an evolutionary turn for the producer-turned-solo artist. 

His transition from rugged trap sounds to grander production was first demonstrated on 2018's Not All Heroes Wear Capes, but his second album and expansion into film showcased it at a larger scale. Metro went on to produce Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack, which featured A$AP Rocky, NAV, Travis Scott, Don Tolliver, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and his other frequent collaborations.  

In the years since their last record, Future was also expanding his musical reach. He cranked out joint projects with Young Thug, Zaytoven, Juice WRLD, and Lil Uzi Vert, and released another collection of projects while taking a few momentary breaks in between. "​That's because I'm happy," Future said of his occasional hiatuses in a 2022 interview with GQ. "I'm genuinely happy with life. And there was a time where I was only happy when I was on the stage, and in the studio. Like it was my escape." After an album-less 2021, he followed up the next year with I Never Liked You, which earned the rapper his eighth chart-topping album and a GRAMMY win for the mega hit "Wait For U" with Drake and Tems. 

Metro wasn't credited on I Never Liked You, but the "Puffin On Zootiez" emcee circled back with his musical companion later that year. The two reunited on other tracks from Metro's Heroes & Villains album, including "Too Many Nights," "I Can't Save You (Interlude)," and ""Lock On Me." And while it may have seemed like Future and Metro disbanded during the five-year stretch, the producer said they never stopped working together.

 "It's crazy, public perception makes it look like we went our separate ways," Metro said in a 2023 interview with Gangsta Grills Radio. "But neither one of us really went nowhere. It's just about the right moment, and I feel like God just brought this moment together."

2024

More than a year before the release of their joint albums, Future hinted at a potential project with his long-time collaborator. In January 2023, the rapper reshared an Instagram post that read, "Future x Metro OTW with the album of the year." But the subtle endorsement failed to highlight how big the joint effort the following year would be. 

In March 2024, Future and Metro confirmed a two-part album release in a 44-second trailer. The duo is seen hopping out of luxury SUVs in the desert, with the late Mobb Deep rapper Prodigy providing the video's contentious narration.  "A lot of f**king garbage ass rappers running around. These n****s ain't supposed to be rapping, man. This game is meant for a select few." 

The first in the series was We Don't Trust You, a 17-song project that combined Metro's cinematic production with Future's street poetics. Kendrick's verse on the single "Like That" sparked a series of diss records between Lamar, Cole, and Drake, with the Comtpon rapper declaring, "Motherf**k the big three, n***a, it's just big me." 

The result was weeks of musical exchanges between the three artists, including a Drake-directed instrumental from Metro called "BBL Drizzy," which the producer encouraged fans to rap over for a chance to win a free beat. The hotly-contested battle, paired with songs like "Type S**t" and The Weeknd-assisted "We Still Don't Trust You," pushed both albums atop the sales and music charts. 

The pair capped off the year with a 27-date North American tour and a handful of nominations at the 2025 GRAMMYs.

2025

While Metro and Boomin went home from the 2025 GRAMMYs empty handed, the duo’s influence remains undeniable. Between the No. 1 records and recognition redefining modern trap music, they have influenced a new generation while staying true to their signature sound. With undeniable chemistry, their legacy is already cemented — but their reign is far from over.

– Grammy.com

Keke Palmer and Tierra Whack bonded over a secret pregnancy

Keke Palmer met Tierra Whack over a game of spades at Jackie Chan’s house in South Philly.

Trust me, the story gets even better.

They started arguing with Rihanna when Eddie Murphy showed up to diffuse the situation.

And if all this sounds too good to be true, that’s because, well, it is.

“All right, we play too much,” Palmer joked to the Fitler Club crowd. The newly published author stopped by on Thursday for an event presented by Harriett’s Bookshop and sponsored by the Fitler Club and The Inquirer. Whack interviewed Palmer about her book, Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative.

The real story? The actress, singer, and KeyTV founder met Whack at Alicia Keys’ house in 2023, bundled up in a puffer coat, which she took off to reveal a baby bump. She was months away from giving birth to her son, Leodis “Leo” Jackson.

Whack kept her lips sealed on the secret pregnancy, and the two multi-hyphenates have built a special bond over the past two years. “I love you girl,” Palmer said as she walked over to hug the North Philly native. “I love you, too,” Whack said.

“I’m here, no payment or nothing,” Whack said to the crowd in the Fitler Club ballroom. “This is my girl.”

Palmer’s memoir delves into her days as a child actor, and the lessons she’s learned on her journey to becoming an Emmy-winning entertainer, entrepreneur, and mom of one.

“Kids bring perspective,” she said. “I have to make sure this baby is good, and then I have the rest of the day. It’s helping me understand what’s really important.”

Palmer and Whack spoke of their love-hate relationship with musicals and their fondness for ’90s and early 2000s sitcoms like The Jamie Foxx Show and The Parkers. And like the rest of us, Palmer can’t get enough of the Apple TV+ thriller Severance. “It’s so good, I had to go back and re-watch season one,” she said.

By the end of the evening, Whack had seemingly found a name for her next project.Whack of All Trades.

“If that’s the next album, I need a feature,” Palmer said.

– The Philadelphia Inquirer