The Guide #237: Fab 5 Freddy, the street artist at the heart of New York’s creative zenith

In this week’s newsletter: A new memoir by Fred Brathwaite offers an insight into the city’s emerging underground scene in the 70s and 80s – and shows us the power of subcultures in difficult times Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereHello everyone, I’m Coco Khan, covering for Gwilym Mumford, and this week, as the sun started to peep out from behind the clouds, I counted five Jean-Michel Basquiat T-shirts on passersby during a park walk.Sure, I may live in a trendy London borough – but it’s still hardly surprising, given that the name and works of the New York artist whose roots were in graffiti have been licensed to fashion brands from Next, Primark and Uniqlo to Supreme and Saint Laurent. It’s hard to imagine that the artist – who died at 27 of a drug overdose, and whose signature slogan SAMO© (Same Old Crap – a criticism of consumerism, and the commodification of art, with a playful copyright mark) – would approve of the Basquiat name being on keyrings, tote bags and clothing. But hey, what do I know – I’m just another purist bore still upset that Ramones T-shirts are worn by millions who couldn’t name a song, when the Ramones themselves did not care.Still, the hope is that such merchandise connects new audiences to the artist’s work and graffiti as an art form

From The Drama to Malcolm in the Middle: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

R-Patz and Zandaya star in a romcom with bite, and the lovably dysfunctional family is back in a revival of the turn-of-the-millennium comedy hitThe DramaOut now It is hard to imagine a more zeitgeist-flavoured proposition than Zendaya and Robert Pattinson starring in a dark romantic comedy from A24 – and frankly we are here for it. The pair play a couple whose relationship is tested by the revelation of brand new information during their engagement. Directed by Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario).Kim Novak’s VertigoOut now The notional star of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterly ode to obsession is James Stewart, but it is the image of Kim Novak in her iconic dual role that endures. Documentarian Alexandre O Philippe sits down with the actor as she discusses her career in general and her iconic work on Vertigo in particular

Post your questions for DJ Shadow

It’s almost 30 years since DJ Shadow released his era-defining debut album, Endtroducing….., and as is the way of the nostalgia industry, it had a lavish 25th-anniversary reissue five years ago, remastered at Abbey Road studios. It was such a success that Shadow has decided to repeat the process and clean up his “pre-album and non-album” catalogue. In May comes The Mo’Wax Singles 1993-1997, a box set featuring eight 12ins with all the Californian producer’s singles for James Lavelle’s label, plus alternative mixes and brand new art

Colbert on Trump’s shifting tone on Iran: ‘It’s a military strategy known as starting a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle’

Late-night hosts touched on soaring oil prices from Donald Trump’s war in Iran as he backs down from solving the crisis in the strait of Hormuz.Stephen Colbert opened Tuesday’s monologue with an acknowledgment that for the first time since 2022, gas prices have soared to more than $4 a gallon. “I mean, who could’ve seen this coming? Just two days ago gas was a reasonable $3.98,” the Late Show host quipped. “Yesterday it was $3

Chatting dating, jazz and the Harlem Renaissance: the exclusive supper clubs where Black women nourish community

Dimmed lights and the honey-like vocals of R&B singers greeted guests at Sost, a restaurant in Washington DC, in late December. Though they entered as strangers, the 11 Black women attendees hugged each other before taking their seats. The ambiance was intimate and soulful, with a sparse table setting in a private room that boasted deep red walls. Crystle Johnson, the founder of Kinory, a dining community for Black women, led the group in a moment of silent meditation.As an icebreaker, everyone shared who they were without talking about their profession

‘After one gig, someone stole my car with my dole money in it’: Morcheeba on how they made The Sea

We’d made our first album and were waiting for it to come out. But we wanted to carry on writing more stuff while we were in the mood. I even cut Christmas dinner short at my uncle’s in Brixton, London, so we could get back to the studio. We would work until we passed out, then I’d sleep underneath the mixing desk with my head in the bass drum, as that’s where the pillow was.One night in early 1996, my brother Paul and I stayed up all night drinking vodka, trying to write as many songs as we could, and we came up with much of the Big Calm album