Today: October 23, 2026 Coverage Photos

MDY STUDIOS Live music, food, Black culture, tech, and media.

Chance the Rapper at 713 Music Hall, Houston

Saturday at 713. Stix on drums, Peter Cottontale on keys. Blessings turned the room into a choir.

Afroman at Echo Lounge, Dallas

Quentin Moore and Jo La Fo opened. Then the flag fit, the jeweled cup, and Because I Got High. Echo Lounge got the bit.

Wale and Smino at South Side, Dallas

Third and last Texas date on Everything Is A Lot. South Side Ballroom was packed. Same tour as Stubb’s, different…

Shonda Rhimes Just Locked Another Five Years at Netflix

Shondaland stays exclusive to Netflix for television and film — and the deal keeps going into games, merch, and live…

I Hope a Love Like This Never Finds Me.

I had a great time with Obsession. I also spent the whole back half going please do not let anybody love me like that.

I Read the Book. I Watched the Movie. I Have Feelings About Both.

Indifferent. Could have lived without the movie existing. Amanda Seyfried deserved better material.

Beyoncé Reopened B’Day and Put Selena on It

Twenty years after her birthday album, the deluxe puts Houston on the spine: Slim Thug was already there. The Selena…

Before the World Blows, Dallas Heard Erykah Badu First

She and The Alchemist finished a sixteen-track record in Dallas and Los Angeles. Last Wednesday she played it on vinyl…

What Dolly Parton Left Black Culture — and What She Practiced

She died Tuesday in Nashville at 80. The catalog was country. The method was how she treated people when the hit left…

Score Hit Home. I Couldn’t Wait.

The hype got me before Reel. A second-chance love story that will not skip the bipolar, the Harlem Renaissance, or the…

That Cover Lied To Me And I’m Still Not Over It

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

A Twisted Fairytale With Real Emotional Depth. I Was Not Ready.

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

The Soul Train Awards Are Coming Back. CBS Has to Carry Them Too.

BET taped the last one in 2023, then paused the franchise. November 27 it returns from Chicago — on BET, and on CBS for…

Gladys Knight Is Easing Off the Road. Dallas Is Still on the Calendar.

The Empress of Soul is not retiring. She is choosing fewer nights. Riverfront Jazz Festival still has her name on…

Texas Is Not a Layover

Texas dates keep getting used as a hallway between coasts. The buildings will take the money. The cities are not the…

The Room Versus the Record

A live night moves a body with other bodies. A record lets the feeling be repeated, paused, and survived. Both are…

Going to the Show Alone

A solo ticket is not a last resort. It is how a lot of people learn the room — and sometimes, other people — without…

The Analog Week: Books, Records, and a Walkman Against the Noise

People are going back to objects that cannot ping. A novel, a record, a cassette. The point is not nostalgia. The point…

The Fold 8 Was Already the Book. Duo Is Apple Catching Up.

Samsung’s compact Fold 8 has been on people’s radar since July. Apple just put the same passport on a keynote and asked…

Apple Folded the iPhone. The Hinge Is Two Grand.

Duo is a passport that opens to 7.6 inches and starts at $1,999. The slab still ships. The fold waits until October.

The Catfish Is Wearing Their Own Face Now

Credential catfishing does not steal a likeness. It builds a job, a degree, a roster spot — and sells the trust that…

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Black women authors

This One Hit Different And I Can’t Fully Explain Why

Let Me Write This Gently, My Baby by Lisa Marie Lovett

January 21, 2026

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Moody Studios is an independent digital magazine in Austin. We write about live music, food, Black culture, and the tech that follows people into the room — how a night, a record, a plate, or a product actually lands.

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Chance the Rapper at 713 Music Hall, Houston
The Fold 8 Was Already the Book. Duo Is Apple Catching Up.
Apple Folded the iPhone. The Hinge Is Two Grand.
Score Hit Home. I Couldn’t Wait.
The Catfish Is Wearing Their Own Face Now

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