Andrea “Dre” Greene, a young lady from Houston, would do anything for her favourite R&B singer Ni’Jah: max out credit cards, shun her sister’s boyfriend, and even murder the star’s haters. Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) stars as the psychotic Dre in the seven-part satirical psychological thriller that debuted earlier this month on Amazon Prime.

Writers and creators Donald Glover and Janine Nabers wanted to make it blatantly obvious that pop star Ni’Jah is a parallel to Beyoncé. Of course, Ni’Jah’s fanbase’s nickname is the Swarm very similar to Beyoncé stan’s nickname the Beyhive, Dre accidentally bites Ni’Jah just like the rumoured incident with a fan biting Bey, Ni’Jah’s releases “Festival” about her unfaithful husband much like Beyoncé’s Lemonade, and there’s even a Solange doppelganger in the show. The series even begins with the slightly on-the-nose message: “This is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional”.

Though the events are inspired by details and incidents throughout Beyoncé’s career, the examination of fandom culture is of course applicable beyond her fans. “Beyhive don’t kill us, it’s not that bad, it’s actually pretty cool!”, Childish Gamino joked at the premiere of the show.

Glover called Swarm a “post-truth TV show” in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. The Atlanta writer and Janine Nabers assess the dangers of parasocial relationships showing how online fandoms can spring into witch hunt attacks, dox those that diss the star they stan, invade celebrities’ privacy, and even go as far as violence through using Dre as depiction of an extreme case.

Talking to Vulture, Glover said he wanted Dre to be “brutal” and told Fishback to watch Isabella Huppert in the Piano Teacher for inspiration for her performance. However, some of the writer’s comments on how he prepared the actress for the role have rubbed people the wrong way. Glover told Vulture he instructed the actress to: “Think of it more like an animal and less like a person”.

Despite the lack of help she received in interpreting her character’s deeper motives, Dominique Fishback delivers a spine-chilling performance as Dre as she continues further into psychosis as the years pass. The brief connection we get to see between Chloe Bailey (Black-ish) who plays Dre’s sister Marissa and Dre gives us more insight into the softer side of the character but unlucky for us their screen time together is short lived. Packed with gore, tension, as well as dark humour, Swarm is a thriller that keeps its audience engaged with its hooking plot and dramatic performances. 

The show seems to find its groove more as we get further down the rabbit hole. Just as Dre struggles to distinguish between reality and fiction so does the viewer as episode six plunges us into a true crime documentary following a police detective trying to solve Dre’s murders. In a particularly meta, twist Donald Glover himself even gives a red-carpet interview about him making a TV show based on Dre’s life therefore suggesting Dre exists in our world. It’s a mind melt moment nearly as genius as the second half of  the American Horror Story series Roanoke.

A little ironically Twitter and TikTok have been hyped over popstar Billie Eillish’s acting debut as the extremely intense blonde lesbian cult leader Eva who takes Dre under her wing in one of the murder’s more vulnerable moments. She’s just the slice of camp that the show needed.

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_{Words by Molly Sutherland}

^{Header Image by Quantrell D. Colbert}

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Designed to honour the release of the 25th instalment of the legendary fictional spy agent, James Bond; No Time to Die sparks the newest concept of the Adidas ultraBOOST. While both products are due for an early April release, to celebrate the new upcoming collections; We have compiled the ultimate list of the previous best celebrity sneaker collabs, the top 10 to be exact.

10). Donald Glover x Adidas

At number ten we have Donald Glover’s collab with Adidas in April 2019. The company came together with director and musician on remastered designs of the Continental 80, the Nizza and the Lacombe. Not the most outlandish design within the top ten, but makes the list based on adaptability and minimalistic nature.

9). Cardi B x Reebok

In early 2019, new rap princess Cardi B coupled up Aztrek sneakers to endorse their new retro-influenced shoes. With Cardi’s music at the time being motivated by the old school style, this collab was perfect; from the vintage blocky design to the dynamic colourway.

8). G Dragon x Airforce 1

Number eight features K-pop idol G-Dragon’s endeavour with a remake of Nike’s classic Air Force 1. Cleverly tagged with his clothing line’s flower emblem, the “Para-noise” shoes represent a collaboration in its truest sense, making this meshing of formulas one of the decade’s most memorable.

7). Alexander Wang x Adidas

The last of three collections between Adidas Originals and designer Alexander Wang during 2017. While another fashion brand succumbs to the gentrification of skate style isn’t the most innovative; but with inspired colourways like woodsy brown, it was the forest meets the concrete jungle.

6). Vivienne Westwood x Asics

The creative combination of designer Vivienne Westwood and sports corporation Asics hooked up to create an exclusive selection of a dozen shoe designs that dropped in the space of a couple of months. The 2019 releases aimed at legacy tennis shoes,

reinforced by dynamic artwork and faint features. While all hit retailers worldwide, you’d be lucky to find a pair of these in your local shops.

5). Serena Williams x Nike

Queen of sport, Serena Williams completed her comeback for Wimbledon in style with the release of her new Off-White Nike trainers back in mid-2018. The NIKEiD style inspired cleats were painted with pink from top to bottom, straightforward, sleek yet inspirational.

4). Anna Wintour x Nike

The iconic Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour came together with her current brand to remaster the classic Air Jordan 1s. The pair was not only the first AJ1 design to include a female adaptation, but also with Wintour’s backing, the shoe displayed its own emblem of “Edited by Vogue” to represent Wintour the right way.

3). Kendrick Lamar x Reebok

The hookup between Hip-Hop superstar Kendrick Lamar and Reebok started in early 2015. Of course, each drop is interlaced with a strong meaning, much like his music, with colourways normally matching themes against gang violence; each trainer implements conflicting blue and red marks. Even though the shoe is clean, the message of the sneakers bumps it up to third on the list.

2). Pharrell x Puma

Back in 2016, NMDs was one of the most fashionable sneakers around, so it was no surprise that when the word was out that a team-up with Pharrell could be in the works, the anticipation around the drop was immense. With a particular, thick lacing structure within the middle, not to mention the jazzy irregular pattern design of the words “species” and “being”. Much like Lamar’s shoes previously, the aim of this release was not just to design a dapper sneaker, but to promote a far-reaching message.

1). Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1

Just off of this Collab alone, Travis Scott is already one of the biggest celebrity’s in fashion as of today. While he has a tough battle on his hands to beat Virgil and Kanye to the number one spot, but much like Abloh and Yeezy, he has the Midas touch right now, whether it’s in music or fashion, which creates even more assurance to his validity within the creative field as a partner in business. Scott and the Jordan brand are a perfect mesh, we would expect more great things to come from these two as a collective as the year progresses.

Words by Charlie Miller

Graphics by Mehak Jotwani

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