Story from Issue 22.1| The Cincinnati Review
If Cardi B had any doubts about remaking Jay-Z’s 1997 classic “Imaginary Players,” they were probably put to rest by a stroke of serendipity. The 32-year-old rapper recently told Instagram viewers that on the day she got Hov’s blessing to sample his Vol. 1 fan favorite, he texted her manager at exactly 4:44 p.m. — the same time his 2017 solo album is famously named for. Cardi released her 2025 update, “Imaginary Playerz,” last Friday, and it quickly sparked conversation. Some ap...| Okayplayer
title taken from Tommy Pico’s Nature Poem I walked like a rage into the body of my life, which insisted the end of grief camein the fulfillment of desire, but desire, like loneliness, is a hunger it willcome back I muzzled grief I desired with a desire beyond desireI repeated| The Cincinnati Review
Lydia did not vacuum the floors or dust the overloaded bookshelves when the men started returning three years later, in small groups of fifty or five hundred at first. She did not stoop below her daughter’s small white desk, now the centerpiece of the family room, to gather up the tiny construction-| The Cincinnati Review
I remember the summer after Chernobyl for its fertility and vibrant colors. Whether it was due to the high levels of radiation blown toward the Crimean Peninsula by the northern winds, as my family speculated later, or to my grandfather’s tireless efforts to turn a cleared patch of clay into a kitch| The Cincinnati Review
Now you need not die again, but still I wish you were here—Katherine Anne Porter, Pale Horse, Pale Rider My nephew is writing a book, he says, about Martin Luther King, Jr. “Now why would you do that?” I asked him. “Pick a topic without so much competition. Who’s going to read your book?” Ask| The Cincinnati Review - Publishing great literature and art since 2003
New album pre-order, Moogseum performance, thoughts on using samples, Patreon updates including doubling parts and EQing your room, and more!| Learning Modular