Bring On The Heat!
It's official summer, and things have been heating up on Love Island USA Season 8, MEOVV, and so much more as we head into July!
June has been a month of Fiji antics that need to be unpacked, the irrational fear of falling victim to the Backrooms, and experimenting with teaching young generations the wonders of podcasting this summer at my job. Without further ado, here is my June wrapped in a nice bow for you!
Culture Edit: Love Island USA Season 8 Begins and Chaos Ensues
Love Island USA is back for the summer and kicked off at the beginning of this month. On May 28, the first batch of 10 singles were revealed to the public that included Aniya, Beatriz, Kenzie, Melanie, Trinity, Bryce, KC, Sean, Sincere, and Zach ahead of the season’s June kickoff.
Since its start on June 2, the Islanders are now in the midst of Casa Amor, but this does not include the drama that has ensued beforehand with new bombshells entering the Villa, tensions between couples like Melanie and Sincere, and more. Compared to what I caught last year during my watch of Season 7, this season has even more twists and turns with a cast that is more messier than the last.
All of the latest episodes are available to stream via Peacock. If I manage to hold onto the show until the July 12 finale and the Islanders do not continue to test my patience, we’ll unpack the season next month for sure.
Now Playing: BITE NOW EP by MEOV
It’s been a deep dive back into the K-Pop genre this month as I haven’t had enough of MEOVV’s BITE NOW EP. The EP has a run-time of approximately 15 minutes and features five songs in total.
In the midst of finding my favorite groups in this generation of K-Pop, my first introduction of MEOVV was their debut single, MEOW, released in September 2024. Since then, I did not tap back in until the latest release the start of this month.
For this EP, it’s notably what MEOVV is known for: sleek, mysterious, and dripping with confidence. Each song plays with genres from EDM, classical trap, soul-pop, and alternative-R&B effectively while maintaining cohesion. From now on, this will stay on repeat as I go into July and is a contender to be added to my CD collection. My favorites from this include “Hit ‘Em,” “DDI RO RI,” and “In my hands.”
Latest Screens: Backrooms, Slanted, and Faces of Death
June was a month of screening new movies that I’d missed at the beginning of this year and one that was recently released at the end of May.
The first screen of this month was “Backrooms” released at the tale end of May of this year. The film follows Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed architect and furniture store owner, who stumbles into a portal of an endless dimension of empty rooms known as the Backrooms. This was one of the my first (and hopefully not last) screening in the sub-genre of liminal space horror, and it ultimately shows the complex nature of the human experience. In the film’s real world, the characters are seen dealing with the ups and downs life can put in the cards but ultimately showcases the difference on how certain humans process and deal with their trauma. It’s evident most between Clark and his therapist Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) as tensions in the film come to a head. While we see Kline deal with her traumas in a more effective way, it also shown how Clark’s trauma became the key of his undoing. This is a strong debut for Kane Parsons for sure, and I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future outside of the YouTube lens.
The second screen of the month was “Slanted,” which has been in my watchlist since March of this year. The film was released in theaters on March 13 and follows a insecure Chinese-American teenager, Joan Huang (Shirley Chen), who undergoes an experimental cosmetic surgery that transforms people of color into white individuals. For the rest of the film, Huang turns into Jo Hunt (McKenna Grace). After infiltrating the popular clique and winning the crown, the win isn’t all what she thought it would be and mourns her ethnic features when the surgery goes awry. The film was one of the more serious yet satirical watches of the year as it continues to speak to the deeply-rooted issues with Eurocentric beauty in American culture for those who have migrated here or were born and raised here. We have one movie about age with Substance and now, we have Slanted with changing races. There’s one missing here, but I’ll have you guess that reader.
The last screen of this month was more disappointing for me but did have a message that is applicable to today’s Internet culture. “Faces of Death” debuted in April 2026 and focused on a digital content moderator, Margot (Barbie Ferreira), who discovers disturbing videos that appear to recreate death scenes from the original 1978 movie, “Faces of Death.” In the beginning, the film’s plot in the beginning was engaging overall with the suspense in Margot seeking to figure out if these videos were real or fake. It was easily to tell that this was meta-horror, especially post-watching the Scream franchise that is deeply rooted in this sub-genre. However, by the end, the movie seemed to drag at certain points yet the message was clear of how the Internet can be a dark place from those posting videos to those commenting and sharing said videos as we know. For this film, however, I have seen better films in this sub-genre and will not have to watch it again.
Be in Touch!
That’s a wrap on June here at Culture Yap with Layla B-C!
I’m in the midst of a newsletter revival as I have been spending much-needed time with loved ones, enjoying the nice weather, taking on new opportunities like panel speaking, and getting my bearings on my summer tutoring and camp schedules. Trust, there will be more coming from me now that I’ve adjusted to my new schedule, and in the meantime, be in touch!
mam i genuinely want to talk to u about something can u please care to have a chat with me.
Love the articles