Alpha Magazine (July 2020) by Heart of Alpha Ent.

STAND A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED IN NEXT MONTHS ISSUE

TOP 10 SOUTH AFRICAN SONG OF 2020

FILMS, GAMES, MUSIC AND NEWS The Official Heart Of Alpha Magazine Here to bring you quality entertainment and entertainment news for your enjoyment. Read through this magazine for laughs, to see great art from young talented individuals, to stay up to date with the latest entertainment news and much much more

Cover Art: Winter Blues Artist: Nigel “Alpha” Wurayayi

JULY 2020 • VOL. 2

ALPHA E

TOP 5 FILMS OF 2020 (SO FAR)

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN EDUCATE YOURSELF AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IS TAKING PLACE IN SOCIETY TODAY

COLOURISM How society has made it so that the shade of your skin determines how you are perceived

FIND OUT WHICH TEN GAMES YOU SHOULD PURCHASE AND PLAY ON THE NEW PS5

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CONTENTS

3. EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LETTER

6. ART AND CULTURE IN SA 9. EDUCATE YORSELF 12. Colourism in the 20th century

15. FUNNY PAGES 19. THE IRISHMAN MOVIE REVIEW 21. TOP 5 MOVIES OF 2020 24. THE WITCHER 3 GAME REVIEW

27. TOP 10 WITCHER 3 BOSS FIGHTS 30. Top 10 PS5 Games To Play 35. Top 10 South African Songs 36. Top 10 R&B Artists Of 2020 38. Top Ten RNB Songs This Week

40. SPONSORED POSTS 48. OUR WRITERS

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EDITOR’S LETTER

DEAR READER, HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE SECOND EDITION OF THE ALPHA MAGAZINE, PUT TOGETHER BY OUR TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, WRITERS, EDITORS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, PRODUCERS AND PUBLISHERS. HEART OF ALPHA ENTERTAINMENT IS A MULTIMEDIA COMPANY FOUNDED IN 2020 BY NIGEL “ALPHA” WURAYAYI. THE GOAL OF HEART OF ALPHA HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO CEMENT ITSELF IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN A TIME OF DUPLICATES AND UNORIGINAL IDEAS, CREATING NEW AND ORIGINAL CONTENT THAT CONNECTS AUDIENCES ON A DOMESTIC AS WELL AS AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, USING PHOTOGRAPHY, FILMMAKING, BOOK PUBLISHING, RECORD DEALS AND MORE. OUR GOAL WITH THIS MAGAZINE IS TO PROVIDE YOU WITH GREAT ENTERTAINMENT, ART AND NEWS ON A MONTHLY BASIS. WE FEATURE WORK DONE BY YOUNG, TALENTED SOUTH AFRICANS AND WE ARE OFFERING YOU A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED IN THE NEXT ISSUE AS WELL, SIMPLY SEND US AN EMAIL AT heartofalpha@gmail.com. HAVE FUN READING THROUGH THIS MAGAZINE AND FEEL FREE TO SEND US ANY FEEDBACK TO OUR EMAIL. TO BE FEATURED IN NEXT MONTHS ISSUE: EMAIL: heartofalpha@gmail.com. WHATSAPP: +27 62 103 6126 SOCIAL MEDIA: INSTAGRAM: @heartofalpha PINTEREST: @heartofalpha TWITTER: @heartofalpha FACEBOOK: @heartofalpha YOUTUBE: THE ALPHA NETWORK YOUTUBE (GRAPHIC DESIGN): ALPHA GRAPHICS YOUTUBE (MUSIC): SOUNDS OF ALPHA

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BEFORE

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Artist: Nigel Wurayayi

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AFTER

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Artist: Nigel Wurayayi January 2018 | 5

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Art By: Phillip Steyn Pinterest: Phillip Steyn

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ART AND CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA By: Nattrale It is everywhere we are and everywhere we go, in everything we do and in everything we say – it is life. Art. For an uncountable number of years artists had struggled to plant and grow themselves to flourish in their craft. The merging of the business and art world was almost impossible. That was because the authorities and society had denied them the chance and opportunity to do so. Arts and Culture in South Africa in the 20th century are not by any means perfect compared to the ancient history of the arts, however there is improvement. In the essence of gratitude young artists ought to acknowledge the hard work of their forefathers in the arts, and what they have done to build what we call the art, media, and even entertainment industry in itself. At the same time, in the essence of knowing the rights and worth of artists, the progress is coming very slowly. Truly speaking, Arts and Culture in South Africa is not yet an industry, that is only the wishful and hopeful thinking of the South African artists, however, it is still a sector. When we talk of an Industry we talk of specified groups of businesses whereas a sector merely describes a huge segment in an economy. Young artists have different battles to fight which are different to the battles of their art forefathers. Standard procedures that are now religiously put to practice would have been considered to be privileges back then, e.g. – Although not consistently – today’s artists get paid for their craft, and for that reason, people can actually pursue a career in the arts, above it being just a passion. Arts and Culture is gradually becoming celebrated and uplifted in all its variety. Drama; music; dance; visual arts and crafts and poetry amongst many more art forms in their diversity are being boldly explored and appreciated by both artists and consumers of art. For instance, fifty years ago – although almost every art form was known and performed –society and some artists themselves overlooked the importance of the arts. More than a stable career that could bring financial freedom too, it was considered to be just a hobby, a child’s play, something that one could complete in their sleep, not acknowledging that artists are called into artistry just as how teachers are called into teaching or how nurses and doctors are called into medicine.

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We have a rich history of the arts and culture in our country. In actual truth, South Africans are artists as artistry is embedded in us from birth with one of the fundamental art forms being storytelling. Music and dance is intertwined with culture and we as the people are the culture. Of old, in the villages, in the cities, in the churches, in ritual ceremonies, workplaces and everywhere the people have always been connected and united by art. Hence people find it hard to believe that one is to make money out of being a full time performer for it is believed that everyone is an artist and therefore the idea of being paid for it is absurd whilst others believe that more than it being something casual, they are destined for it, and so they strive to merge passion and the need to maintain their standard of living that requires money – making it a business. With the understanding that Arts and Culture in South Africa has become a business over the years, it has prompted for quality and instigated a level of professionalism, creating a system – which is progressive. Although upon reflection one can acknowledge the good acquired throughout the years as aforementioned, artists are still faced with concerning and pressing issues. In as much as artists and art organizations are working hard to make this career as professional as possible, it still highly operates unprofessionally. For example, with thespians regarding auditions in theatre and television productions, there should be officialised audition dates for trained and qualified thespians exclusively where they all have the opportunity to showcase their talents. Instead, a lot of favoritism and nepotism takes place. Secondly, we are living in 2020 and both women and men still find themselves in predicaments whereby they are required to sleep with someone of a higher caliber within their industry so they can progress, or maintain a flirtatious relationship with a superior. It is like taking one step forward and ten steps backwards. Another common problem is that artists are not aware of their worth as they are not taught of their rating and the rating of their art work, resulting in many cases whereby artists have entangled themselves by signing contracts they really knew nothing about, sometimes they earn less than they should and sometimes they are ripped off their money that they have been sweating for.

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Section Name Moreover, in the times of the pandemic (Coronavirus) that is slowly stripping away everyone’s security and stability, artists are being more victimized. Now, more than ever, it is evident that the people need artists more than they are willing to admit. With everyone being obliged to stay in the safety of their homes during the Lock Down period, art consumers are in need of entertainers to keep them company and most importantly, to keep them sane. Musicians and television actors and actresses as well as media personalities, at a time like this are stuck between a rock and a hard place for they cannot earn money when they have not performed, at the same time, they are to look out for themselves too by staying at home, to curb the spread of the virus. However, actors and actresses have been venting out on social media platforms about how their superiors demand them to continue working whilst they have not made any means to protect the actors during this time.

had it not been for the platform. Arts and Culture together with social media is the future and the future has arrived. Most upcoming artists whether known or unknown have studied about their craft, therefore getting into the industry has become more difficult – which is pleasing for one would not have the license to perform any medical surgery without having studied and graduated in medicine - because it has been established that the Arts are not merely a hobby but a profession and one is required to have qualifications of the field they are trying to get into, both theoretically and practically and otherwise. Arts and Culture in South Africa today are a work in progress headed in the right direction.

Nonetheless, I believe the industry is balanced, while artists have a list of things to complain about – a few of which are aforementioned – they also have a list of things to be grateful for. Artists have come a long way with regards to the industry, and there is a lot to reflect on and be proud of. Artists are now being considered as workers, finally! It has been long overdue, with them being considered as workers, they earn a salary and the arts are now an option when looking into careers, also it means the worker’s rights apply to them as well and there is some sort of formation of order, a sense of direction. Artists have the option of freelancing or to be under a contract. Overall, artists are multi talented and are granted the freedom to explore the different worlds of their different crafts. The Arts and Culture have played and keep playing a fair role in creating job opportunities. There are companies that have made money and continue to do so by empowering artists such as agencies. CCIPF and ICASA are one of the organizations that educate signed performers, SAMRO and Share Public companies that educate recording artists of their music rights. We now have art schools that train people about the arts from the foundation phase stage and all the way up to tertiary learning stage, that is a huge achievement on its own. For an artist to study the history of the arts and have a degree to make it official and validate the arts as a profession is a great epitome to aspiring artists. Social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok amongst many more are a force to be reckoned with, one cannot overlook the impact the platforms have made in the past ten years and continue to make. Social media favours artists who persistently showcase their art form, giving them recognition that they would not have had,

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OVERCOME WITH ART: EDUCATE YORSELF By: Galaletsang Tau

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Section Name Film and any other forms of art mimics and represents life. Creatives try to confront and overcome activities of yesterday, today and tomorrow in their work, and we can also see this throughout the revolution of film/ art to date. As aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable ‘films can be, we have to normalise how educational they are: focusing more on the message and the depth of it (To not just look at it but looking through it, the core message). With what is happening right now in the world: racism/systematic racism and police brutality, COVID-19, and the gender-based violence being more active as anyone would not imagine they would. It is safe to conclude that ignorance has played a huge role in film/art viewers and basically the world. Many argue that the outbreaks that are taking place could have been prevented if everyone took it upon themselves to educate themselves and the next person about the movements and the world around them. If enough of us could take action by helping one another and highlight the wrongs that the other person is doing from leaders who lead countries down to your very own siblings, if enough of us could say “black lives matter” and actually mean it, it wouldn’t even be necessary to proclaim it because we would live it, but we don’t – we don’t live it. Yes, of course some people made the efforts, some take it seriously, but most do not, which is why we find ourselves in a new round of the same ball game every few years. The killing of George Floyd has sparked protests around the world. Demonstrators have taken to the streets and to social media to voice the outrage at long standing issues like systemic racism and police brutality and mostly in South Africa, the gender-based violence. In high hopes of the world changing the game – all thanks to technology, people are sharing resources everywhere to help others better understand the issues at hand and to learn how to be allies to whatever it is that one is facing. Here are a few of the many resources to help educate us as to how and why we are finding ourselves in these situations.

Books

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age Of Colour-Blindness By Michelle Alexander: This book challenges the idea that President Barack Obama’s e election welcomed a new age of colour-blindness. Between The World And Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates: Framed as a letter to his son, Coates pursues the question of how to live free within a black body in a country built on the idea of race, a falsehood most damaging to the bodies of the black women and men.

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The Autobiography of Malcom X by Malcom X: In this classic text, Muslim leader Malcom X shares his life story and talks about the growth of the Black Muslim movement. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo: This book explores how white people uphold racial inequality when they react a certain way to their assumptions about race being challenged. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde: Black lesbian poet and feminist winter Lorde shares a collection of essays and speeches exploring sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia and class. The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B Du Bois: In this influential collection of essays, Du Bois, who played a critical role in shaping early 20th century black protest strategy, argues that begging for rights that belong to all people is beneath a human’s dignity, and accommodating to white supremacy would only maintain black oppression.

Films

Call + Response is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. Call + Response goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike, and Starbucks combined. This star-studded film also uses the power of music to send out an inspiring anti-trafficking and anti-slavery message. Sin By Silence is a documentary by Olivia Klaus about Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA), the first inmate initiated the led group in U.S. prison history and shatters the misconceptions of domestic violence, CWAA was created in 1989 to help women inside prison break the silence about the abusers and learn more about what they needed to do to help others stop the cycle of violence. This film has been 9 years in the making. ‘‘Tapestries of Hope’’ is a feature-length documentary by Michealeane Risley that exposes the myth behind the abuse of young girls in Zimbabwe and brings awareness to the effort of the Girl Child Networks Worldwide and their fearless founder Betty Makoni. When They See Us (Netflix): DuVernay’s gut-wrenching – and – essential – miniseries is based on the true

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Section Name story of the falsely accused young teens known as the Central Park Five. Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement (BET): This documentary explores the evolution of black lives matter. The Hate U Give (Hulu with Cinemax) Based on the young adult novel by Angie Thomas: The story follows Starr Carterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggle to balance the poor, mostly black neighbourhood she lives in and the wealthy, most white school she attends. Things become more complicated after she witnesses a police officer killing her childhood best friend.

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Colourism in the 20th century BY: NATTRALE

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Section Name Instances of depression and low-self esteem are not uncommon within the black society, especially the black people of darker shade compared to those of lighter shade. For as long as I have existed, there has always been an exchange of demeaning and hurtful words between the black people of the lighter shade and of the darker shade. It is safe to conclude that the ones of darker shade are often times victim to colourism than the ones of lighter shade. Colourism is the belief that black people of lighter shade are more attractive compared to the black people of darker shade. Colourism affects all black people of all backgrounds, all sexes and all ages. In our homes, community, schools and workplace, there is no running away from it. Ignoring the effect colourism has on us as black people is not helping anyone, instead, horrendous stories of its toxicity are piling up as books in the library. Colourism has mainly rooted and stemmed from the one phase that took over our country like a storm and forever changed us (black people) in innumerable ways. Apartheid. Many African countries have undergone colonialism from the European and Western countries in the not so ancient history. South Africa experienced what we call Apartheid, the Western and European had dominated and governed the country, apart from the many obvious political, financial and economical and abuse repercussions, it also resulted in underlying psychological damage and mental miseducation about how black people perceive themselves and how they perceive others due to how they were perceived. What apartheid did was to leave the black nation believing they are less human and look less human because they look different from the white people. Agreeably so, yes, what we wear does not define us – wearing wigs and the (western) clothes does not make us less of Africans and black people, it does not mean that we are trying to be like the white (western) people. However, the fact is, our hair was considered too curly and bushy, our attire too uncivilized that we needed a whole transformation. Post Apartheid, wearing wigs and wearing their clothes made us slightly acceptable to them, and because we were acceptable to them, we then became somehow acceptable to ourselves. In a way they became our gods, and as “creations of our creator” we aspired to be like them because in them were the “overflowing rivers of life” so in almost all aspects of our life, we became like them. However, truth is we do not look like them, instead of our differences being embraced and adored they were interpreted for weakness and inhumanness and until date, we are working

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hard to liberate ourselves. Initially, our great grandparents had (understandably so) failed to unlearn unnecessary and untrue definitions when it came to standards of beauty with regards to black people and all of that passed down from generation to generation. It gets worse with every generation as the standards become more unrealistic. Now, not only are black people of darker shade made to feel inferior, there are double standards with it, it seems to be acceptable when males are dark shaded but a huge problem when females are dark shaded because women are “supposed to be attractive anyway”. Furthermore, with the knowledge that parents pass onto their children about what they know and what they believe in, it is no wonder why there is a lot of bullying happening in early child development centre’s as well as primary and high schools. If kids are not being bullied because they are big boned or tiny boned, it is because of their height, and believe it or not, because of their dark skin too, as though the high pigmentation and being sun kissed is a sin. This has resulted in a lot of children believing that they are not worthy of being loved, not worthy of being someone great and has mostly affected them in their academic and cultural and extra mural activities. Due to that, many have resorted to using things that they believe makes them feel numb from all the attacks, such as alcohol and drugs. But above all it has affected them psychologically, it has left them feeling completely vulnerable, overly sensitive and desperate for validation, approval and acceptance from their peers. We all know and understand that the early ages of one’s childhood kind of map out the entire life of the child. These kids grow into being adults who live to please people more than pleasing themselves, they live to be connected to the outside world than to be connected to themselves and staying true to their truth. We ought to vow to be the generation that will be mothers and fathers that will play a huge role in attempt to break this phenomenon. We need to teach the young children that there is beauty in every (black) person in all their various skin shades. It is believed that the media industry is to be held accountable for all the wrong things that the youth participate in, it is to be blamed for colourism too, apparently. In contrast to the majority, some are not of the belief that the media industry is in any way an influence to the society, but rather of the belief that all the media does is to expose all that the society does. It is not from the media to the society; it is from the society to the media. So, we cannot blame the

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Section Name the media industry and accuse it of promoting colourism. However, it does partake in colourism like all other industries would partake in colourism with regards to getting a job, and with regards to getting a promotion. The media industry requires for people to look like “perfection” in order for them to be part of it and most times that is being a black person of lighter shade than one of darker shade, which is wrong, I agree. A noticeable trend within the industry is the “black is beautiful” one, the trend irks many darkskinned people, - rightfully so - for in as much as the statement is true, it is not from a genuine place, it is all a publicity stunt. They have not come to fully acknowledge that black people of a darker shade are truly beautiful, they feel pity for the dark shaded people, they tolerate dark shaded people but have not fully accepted them. As aforementioned, the media industry is not the only industry that has misunderstood the definition of beauty. Although unaware, whenever you go to a job interview, your physique and skin shade are part of the criteria as well in the name of “the more appealing you look, the more business we get”. That has always misled people into thinking that that sort of discrimination is okay because it is for business purposes. Which is unacceptable, it all boils down to colourism. This sends a wrong message to everyone, making them to be of a mind-set that their qualifications and knowledge and hard work are somewhat irrelevant when they are of utmost value and when their skin colour should not matter whatsoever. Due to colourism, you can either get hired, promoted, fired and demoted because of how you look, the lighter you are, you stand more chances of being successful and the darker you are your chances of progress and success are close to none. Thus, explaining the increasing numbers of dark shaded people bleaching their skin. Skin bleaching, a term usually confused with skin lightening is the activity a large majority of darkskinned person are engaging themselves in lately. Society once again deems them people of no self esteem – that they do not love themselves for who they truly are. The question is how do we expect them to love themselves when everyone is against them because of their shade. In this day and age, prosperity and financial liberation as well as validation seems to be in being a black person in a lighter shade. If that is the case, knowing that everyone wants to be loved and wealthy, the dark shaded people are willing to do all it takes to get them to where they want to be. One could commend them and consider them to be brave and ambitious people, nonetheless we cannot overlook the dangers of skin bleaching.

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funny pages

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January 2018 | 15

Section Name The Forgetful Couple There was an elderly couple who in their old age noticed that they were getting a lot more forgetful, so they decided to go to the doctor. The doctor told them that they should start writing things down so they don’t forget. They went home and the old lady told her husband to get her a bowl of ice cream. “You might want to write it down,” she said. The husband said, “No, I can remember that you want a bowl of ice cream.” She then told her husband she wanted a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream. “Write it down,”

Submitted by Anonymous

she told him, and again he said, “No, no, I can remember: you want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream.”

A child asked his father,

Then the old lady said she wants a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. “Write it down,”

So his father said,

she told her husband and again he said, “No, I got it. You want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top.” So he goes to get the ice cream and spends an unusually long time in the kitchen, over 30 minutes. He comes out to his wife and hands her a plate of eggs and bacon. The old wife stares at the plate for a moment, then looks at her husband and asks, “Where’s the toast?” Submitted by James Snyman Happy Birthday! During lunch at work, I ate 3 plates of beans (which I know I shouldn’t). When I got home, my husband seemed excited to see me and exclaimed delightedly, “Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight.” He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call. The beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go. It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a garbage dump! I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously. Then, shifting to the other leg, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage. Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on releasing atomic bombs like this for another few minutes. The pleasure was indescribable! Eventually the telephone farewells signaled the end of my freedom, so I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself. My face must have been the picture of innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long. He asked me if I had peaked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not. At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table, with their hands to their noses, chorused, “Happy Birthday!” Submitted by Nigel Wurayayi

Teacher: “Kids, what does the chicken give you?” Student: “Meat!” Teacher: “Very good! Now what does the pig give you?” Student: “Bacon!” Teacher: “Great! And what does the fat cow give you?” Student: “Homework!”

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“How were people born?”

“Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.” The child then went to his mother, asked her the same question and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.” The child ran back to his father and said, “You lied to me!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.” Submitted by Sihle Ndlovu

My friend thinks he is smart. He told me an onion is the only food that makes you cry, so I threw a coconut at his face. Submitted by Mark Anthony Teacher: “Anyone who thinks he’s stupid may stand up!” Nobody stands up Teacher: “I’m sure there are some stupid students over here!!” Little Johnny stands up Teacher: “Ohh, Johnny you think you’re stupid?” Little Johnny: “No... I just feel bad that you’re standing alone...” Submit your jokes to heartofalpha@gmail.com and stand a chance to be featured in the next issue

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FILM

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January 2018 | 17

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CONTENTS

19. THE IRISHMAN (2019) MOVIE REVIEW 21. TOP 5 MOVIES OF 2020 (SO FAR)

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The Irishman: Movie Review By: Emmanuel Naicker

You may be asking...Why is The Irishman considered to be a masterpiece....Because it is a Martin Scorsese picture, there go watch it, review over. If you want any more reasons to watch it, please keep on reading. I would like to say that this is not a sponsored promotion from Netflix, because let’s face it they don’t even know who we are yet. This is just some friendly advice from a Film Lover trying to recommend to you something good to watch if you have the free time, and if you don’t have the free time to watch this film, make some. I do understand that for the general audience, this movie won’t be everyones cup of tea because of its Slow Burn 3.5 Hour runtime. This is certainly a stand-alone film with a plot that most viewers can understand and follow with ease, however I insist that you watch two of Scorsese’s other Masterpieces: Goodfellas and Casino, if you have not already, before you press play on The Irishman. Doing so will give you, the viewer, a much deeper and more impactful appreciation for the film. This is a story of Frank Sheeran, a loyal Mob Hitman during the 1950’s and following decades, as he recalls the most important events from his life. I would like to take some time to express just how special this film is, this is the Very First time that Al Pacino has ever worked with Martin Scorsese, it still seems weird to me that they have not done a movie together until now, given both of their legendary careers. Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa, President of the Teamsters Workers Union and delivers a performance that screams out that he and Scorsese should’ve been working together for the past 20 years, or preferably longer. This is also the fourth time that Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, who plays the main character, Frank Sheeran, have been in the same film together, with the others being The Godfather Part 2, Heat and Righteous Kill. No matter what kind of film it is, it’s always special seeing DeNiro and Pacino play off each other, especially in this movie where their characters are close friends. This also marks a reunion of Martin Scorsese, DeNiro and Joe Pesci who have not worked together since Casino, which was released in 1995. Pesci plays Russell Bufalino, a calm quiet Mafia Boss who is very good friends with Sheeran and Hoffa, in a very different performance from his hot-headed characters in Goodfellas and Casino. There is also a long-awaited reunion for Martin Scorsese and Harvey Keitel as Philadelphia boss, Angelo Bruno. This is their first film together since Taxi Driver which dropped in 1976.

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This film features groundbreaking new de-aging technology used to make the actors appear more youthful and play their characters in their younger years, rendering it unnecessary to use different actors to play these characters at different points in their lives. This tech was developed by the legendary effects company, Industrial Light And Magic, which helped give us Star Wars and Jurassic Park. They created an all new camera dubbed the “Three Headed Monster” by the Director of Photography who worked on the movie, Rodrigo Prieto, who has collaborated with Scorsese on The Wolf Of Wall Street and Silence. The camera is given this name because of its two infrared Alexa Minis working as “Witness-Cameras” for the VFX team, with the primary camera being the Red Helium. All the scenes that did not require the actors to be digitally de-aged, were all shot on film. There is No perfect piece of art, including those that are widely regarded as Masterpieces, even they have their flaws, especially films for games which have perfect scores. Whenever I watch a movie or series, or play a video game or read a graphic novel, I always analyse and critique it to the best of my ability and acknowledge their faults, to make sure I’m being fair with that piece of art and myself. Literally the only flaw I found with The Irishman was that on my very first viewing, it was pretty hard for me to keep track of the names of all these different characters. Admittedly that was a minor problem that was solved apon my future viewing of this film. I would like to say a small Thank You to Netflix for helping this movie get made. This film had a Massive budget of $160 Million and no major Studios like Warner Brothers or Paramount wanted to risk investing in the movie, especially with the current popularity of more fast paced action movies. Netflix really stepped up, they recognized the potential of giving a legendary filmmaker like Martin Scorsese free reign to complete the film the way he envisioned it without any restrictions. Thank You Netflix for allowing this Masterpiece to exist. I give The Irishman a 10/10. If you have any feedback on the film you would like to share or if you have a suggestion for our next film review, please contact us at heartofalpha@gmail.com ENJOY!

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Top 5 Movies Of 2020

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By: Nigel Wurayayi

Does this sound familiar?: You’re sitting at home, bored out of your mind because of the lockdown, scrolling through Netflix or your television guide looking for something good to watch to help pass the time, but you don’t know what to watch....Sound familiar? If yes, then you are in the right place. In this section I will be sharing with you 5 films that I personally consider to be the best films that have been released in 2020 thus far, films that you should watch immediately if you haven’t already.

1. Da 5 Bloods Genre: Drama

Quick on the heels of his Oscar-winning film, BlacKkKlansman, comes another Spike Lee joint. Director Spike Lee’s masterful film is an unflinching look at Black veterans’ trauma from the Vietnam War, in which they were scammed to serve under the presumption that battling a nation of other people of color may finally win them acceptance in white America.

2. Bad Education

Genre: Comedy & Drama. A chronicle of greed, status, and vanity, Bad Education shares more than a few qualities with Martin Scorsese’s financial crimes epic The Wolf of Wall Street, the story of another Long Island striver with slicked-back hair. Trading the stock market for the public education system, director Cory Finley’s wry docudrama, which takes its inspiration from a wild New York Magazine feature from 2004, charts the tragi-comic downfall of Roslyn School District superintendent Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman), a charming and beloved administrator in a rising wealthy area.

3. The Invisible Man

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery. The Invisible Man is a 21st-century take on Universal’s classic unseen specter. Helmed with playful menace by Leigh Whannell, whose camerawork and compositions constantly tease subtle action in the corners of the frame, this slick genre effort finds Elisabeth Moss trying to convince anyone who’ll listen that she’s not crazy, and really is being hunted by her supposedly dead abusive boyfriend. Since said predator isn’t visible to the human eye, however, that’s not an easy task.

4. Artemis Fowl

Genre: Fantasy

Artemis Fowl is a science fantasy adventure film based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Irish author, Eoin Colfer. Although the film does not measure up to the greatness that is the book (or the other seven books in the Artemis Fowl book series), It certainly keeps you wanting more and wanting to see what Artemis will do next. As someone who has read every Artemis Fowl book, I was not too impressed, mainly because I was comparing it to the book. However, if you have not read the book series, you will surely enjoy this film.

5. The Hunt

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Dark Comedy, Adventure. Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are -- or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers. Highly recommended!!

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January 2018 | 21

Section Name

Gaming

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CONTENTS

24. THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT GAME REVIEW 27. TOP 10 WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT BOSS FIGHTS 30. Top 10 PS5 Games To Play In 2020

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Why The Witcher 3:By:Wild Hunt Is a Masterpiece Emmanuel Naicker Firstly, this is not a sponsored promotion from Publisher CD Projekt Red, because let’s face it they don’t know we exist yet. Secondly, this article is entirely a bit of friendly advice from one Avid Gamer to others on why you should buy and play The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt and its 2 Expansions “Hearts Of Stone” and “Blood & Wine”, if you already haven’t, and the expansions are essentials in my opinion. Minor Spoilers for a game that was released in 2015. Fans of The Elder Scrolls series and Lord of The Rings, fans of The Witcher Netflix show or the fantasy genre as a whole will have a lot of fun with The Witcher 3, and I would bet this would change the minds of haters of the genre when given a chance. History & Plot This is the third installment in the video game franchise based off the series of Novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. It is a tale about a monster hunter named Geralt of Rivia on a mission to find his adopted daughter, Ciri, who possesses unnatural Power, as she is of a Special Bloodline. They race against The Wild Hunt, an-other worldly spectral army of Wraiths, led by King Eridan, who wish to harness Ciri’s untamed power for their own survival. Setting & Length This is a Role-Playing Game set in a Massive Fantasy OpenWorld comprised of different areas with different inhabitants and cultures that you can explore. You can travel to various locations, such as the City of Novigrad, The Skellige Isles, No-Mans-Land in Velen, The Royal Palace of Vizima, The Witchers Fortress of Kaer Morhan and a new area added in the second DLC. The world is filled to the brim with a main story campaign of 57 Quests clocking at around 50 hours, excluding the Side Quests and Random Events, which are very well-written and memorable in their own rights. The story world and its inhabitants will be affected by your choices and it is seen in the multiple different endings you can get. The game also had 2 major DLC Expansions released being: “Hearts of Stone” (which adds approximately 20 hours of extra content excluding side-quests), and “Blood & Wine” (which is much more expansive as its adds around 35 more hours of content as well as a completely new Area in the games open World, Toussaint. 5 years after this games release, there are still new hidden details being found by the loyal player-base Gameplay This game is locked in third-person view. The swordplay of the combat is fast and responsive, Geralt carries 2 swords: A Steel Sword for fighting humans and a Silver Sword for fighting monsters. Additionally, he has mastered the use of Witcher Signs, basic level magical attacks such as being able to shoot flames from his hands to set near enemies ablaze,

create a protective shield around him, push ememies away, slow enemies down in an entrapping circle, and even control some enemies minds and turn them into your puppets in combat. Preparation is the name of the game. You cannot simply LERRRROY GENKINS your way to victory, especially on harder difficulties (which I recommend you play on since it is extremely satisfying when you come out victorious). Monster Hunting is a hard but satisfying life for Geralt, and it should be for you too. The same strategy cannot be used on every enemy encountered. You cannot expect to fight a Griffin with the same ferocity and tactics as you would a group of bandits or a Wraith. It is essential to travel all throughout the lands to find more upgrades and diagrams to unlock higher level Armor, Bombs, Blade Oils and Potions, and yes, potions and blade oils are very useful when the right one in used in the right situations. Bombs are good for targeting clusters of enemies, my favourite being the Freeze Bomb. The Crossbow is useful when bringing flying opponents back down to earth so they can taste silver. The more you play, the more you level up and the more abilities you unlock, as most games are. The Witcher 3 innovates on this as you have 12 ability slots but you have many more abilities you unlock and you have to choose which abilities you want to use and combine them with others for different bonuses based on what you’ve put together, combine these with armour pieces that have unique perks for a more unique loadout. This game result in you having different Builds for different situations, further emphasising the point that Preparation is Key. The runewright is a merchant in the game where you can further upgrade your equipment with special enchantments, for example the Range on your sword strikes could be increased by 1.5-1.9 Meters, or an armour Chest-piece can automatically deflect all enemy arrows. Cons There is no such thing as a Perfect Video Game, Witcher 3 comes close but it still has its flaws. If I had to make changes to this game they would be: • The Horse Physics – Geralts trusty steed Roach is ever loyal and a great companion, but she sucks because she is extremely difficult to control. Roach will go where you want her to go but sometimes, she just gets stuck on terrain that she could easily jump over. I would much rather take the Red Dead Redemption 2 Horse Physics with a horse that trips over a stick or a rock instead on one that just gets stuck. • The Lip Syncing – The game came out in 2015 so this is a minor gripe when seeing how well facial technology is being used today but sometimes the lips of the characters don’t fit the words properly but it is something only

January 2018 | 25 heartofalpha@gmail.com

Section Name noticed during some cutscenes . Hearts of Stone The First DLC is a Narrative Expansion which adds an extra storyline to the game which is separate from the Main Quests. Geralt decides to take on a monster contract from a man named Olgierd Von Everec, soon Geralt finds himself in a messy situation and is approached by a powerful man named Gaunter O’Dimm who promises to free him in exchance for helping him settle a debt with Olgierd. It is revealed that Gaunter O’Dimm made a pact to fulfil 3 wishes for Olgierd by proxy and that when it’s done, O’Dimm would own Von Everecs soul, O’Dimm decides to enlist Geralt to fulfil these wishes. This takes Geralt on adventrure to kill a Giant Toad living in the Oxenfort Sewer system, a visit to an old abandoned Mansion, and an Auction House Heist. Blood & Wine The Second DLC is a Gameplay Expansion. The narrative in this however is not neglected, it may be separate from the Main Story involving Ciri and The Wild Hunt, but it is still strong enough to be its own Main Story in literally any other game .Geralt is summoned to the Land of Toussaint by the Duchess Anna Henrietta to hunt down The Beast Of Beauclair. Everything is not as it seems as the story morphs into a murder mystery involving secrets, betrayal and Vampires. It adds as well Mutations, which are new abilities and additional ability slots which offers the player even more freedom in the way they choose to tackle a scenario. E.g. you can now freeze enemies with your wind push ability or you damage will increase based on what potions you’ve ingested etc. With this new land comes New Monster Types, New Armor, and many many many more new side quests. Final Verdict The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt ,and all its included DLC, is legitimately one of the greatest games ever made, hands down. I give The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game Of The Year edition a golden 9,7/10. While playing this you can FEEL all the love and passion the developers at CD Projekt Red put into this project and artform, they respect and value you as the player by giving you a great experience with no microtransactions or shady business practices, and they went above and beyond what we wanted for DLC. Despite its very few shortcomings this game will go down in history as a Masterpiece, an absolute MUST OWN for every self-respecting gamer. It is truly Poland’s Greatest Export...until Cyberpunk 2077 arrives.

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Top 10 Boss Fights in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt By: Emmanuel Naicker So after finishing New Game Plus mode on the Hardest Difficulty: Death March! With Enemy Upscalling On (Sets all enemies to be equal level to you or higher) so basically many of the enemies in this game (Excluding the BOSSES) can kill you in 2-3 hits. I’ve decided to give you my top 10 favourite boss fights in the game. I will rank them according to Difficulty, Atmosphere of the fight, Memorability and my overall feeling of Satisfaction when finally defeating them .I shall be including Entries from the 2 Expansions “Hearts Of Stone” and “Blood & Wine”, because let me be real with you, if you own The Witcher 3 and don’t own the 2 Expansions, you are playing the game wrong, no 2 ways about it. 10. Longlocks Very very long story short...Rapunzel hung herself with her own hair and you have to fight her ghost and a few dozen skeleton knights, yeah...I know. If you don’t kill the Knights they will regenerate her health and she will literally whoop you with her hair.

9. King Eridan I do find it disappointing that I have to put the FINAL BOSS of The Main Story so low on this list, but admittedly he is a pushover compared to the rest, but an absolute pain in the neck in his own right. A straight forward 1v1 duel with him occasionally teleporting far away and using ranged projectile attacks.

8. Ofieri Mage & Soldiers This is the second Boss Fight of the Hearts Of Stone DLCv. After Geralt escaped the messy situation with the help of Gaunter O’Dimm, he is faced with a wizard from a far off land (who is more than capable of killing you himself) accompanied by multiple soldiers. The reasonable thing to do is take out all the soldiers first and leave the Mage for last, and try to use the Mages area of effect attacks against the soldiers by luring them into that trap before diving out of the way. Watch out for when the Mage summons a small tornado, your only options there is to run or die.

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January 2018 | 27

Section Name 7. Imlerith A General of the Wild Hunt. Imagine an 8 Foot tall Dark Elf decked out in full Black armor plate while carrying a giant mace that’s almost as tall as him while wielding a giant shield that’s also taller than him. After you deal enough damage to him he will drop his shield and only use his mace against you, buuuut he starts teleporting while doing so. Best method against him is waiting for him to stop teleporting before throwing a Blinding bomb at him an then chop away. The cutscene you get during his death is extremely awesome, and Geralt gives a Memorable one-liner that I don’t want to say because of Spoilers.

6. The Caretaker This is the first boss you encounter when venturing to the Abandoned Haunted Mansion. An eyeless, noseless gigantic demon in black with a giant shovel, this was a major wake-up call as each of his hits hurt you and restore his health, so learning his attacks and avoiding getting hit is the ONLY viable method of fighting him.

5. Caranthir The senior Mage of the Wild Hunt. According to the story dialogue, he is the most talented Rider Of The Wild Hunt in terms of Teleportation, and it shows in this fight. I try to close the distance on him, get 1-2 swings in and he teleports away to the other side of the arena and starts shooting Ice Orb projectiles at me which can severely mess your mood up. In addition to that, he opens portals and sends in Ice Elementals (Imagine giant walking faceless ice monsters) onto the battlefield, and he wont stop at one. The best strategy was trying to get behind the Ice Elementals and use them for cover when he shoots the Ice Orbs.

4. Iris’ Greatest Fear During your Visit to an Abandoned Haunted Mansion, you have to dive deep into the memories of a Woman named Iris, and face her greatest fear, 6 swords men, each more powerful than the last. You fight them one at a time, granted that you don’t accidentally strike one of them while they are staying still, this wakes them up and you have more problems to deal with in this spooky red saturated dream sequence

3. The Toad Prince This was the First Boss Fight of the Hearts Of Stone DLC. After accepting the contract to slay an unknown monster in the sewers given to him by Olgierd Von Everec, Geralt ventures down to find it and is greeted by a Giant Monstrous Toad. As you would expect a Toad to use its tongue to eat, this monster used it to seriously wreck my day because it broke through my active shield ability in 1 hit and can further one shot me after that. This Toad jumps around alot, duh, this made it literally impossible to try and close the distance on it while avoiding the poison gas around the arena as well as making it a lost cause to try and throw bombs at it, my freeze and fire bombs never hit him despite how large of a target he was. Just like some other fights on this list, after the battle was over and I won, things didn’t go the way I had expected them to.

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Section Name 2. Dettlaff Van Der Eretein This is the FINAL BOSS of the Blood & Wine expansion. After your first encounter early in the DLC, this final confrontation with Dettlaff the Vampire is as BOSS FIGHTY as they come. Lets just say, after this fight, Bruce Wayne isn’t nearly as scared of Bats as he should be. There are 3 stages to this fight, the first stage is where he fights in the manner he did during your fist encounter with him, the second stage of the fight is him going full beast mode and Showing Off his Second Form, which is where he uses his over-powered Bat Swarm attack. He resembled something like a giant bald hairless bat himself, his third form was hallucination-like because he took on a Fully Bloodlike appearance as we fought inside something that seemed like a Giant Heart. This boss however is completely optional, if you make the right dialogue choices, which adds a unique element to this fight outside an ancient Vampire Torture Chamber.

1. Olgierd Von Everec The very first time I saw Von Everec in game, I immediately thought “Wow, David Beckham cameo”. Little did I know that he would give me THE most intense fight of the entire Game. The first thing I can say is, This is NO Monster contract, the BATTLE against Olgierd Von Everec was Duel Of The Fates. This is the 3rd boss fight of the Hearts Of Stone DLC but its more than worthy to be the FINAL BOSS of every other game. This is a 1v1 Sword Fight in the rain at night with a Burning Mansion in the background as Olgierds gang watch on. This is a Test of Patience above all else. I died more times during this battle than with any other boss fight and I enjoyed sitting on the “You Died” screen just to hear the epic boss music in the background, it only occurred to me after dying dozens of times that Defence is the Best Offense in this scenario, while playing smart and trying to read his attacks and stay alive, it probably took around 20 minutes just to beat him once. I cannot properly describe the joy and satisfaction of beating him but after the fight was over, let’s just say things didn’t go the way I expected it would and it caught me totally off guard.

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Section Name

Top 10 PS5 Games To Play In 2020 By: Nigel Wurayayi

You may have heard the jokes, that the Xbox Series X looking like an expensive fridge, and the PlayStation 5 looking like a cheap modem. But really, who cares? The games are what count, and in this department the PlayStation 4 has dominated the Xbox One this past generation, consequently selling tens of millions more consoles. PlayStation consoles have always been known for their fantastic lineup of exclusive games, and Sony revealed a ton of new game trailers during its June 11 event. Here is a list of the top 10 Playstation 5 games that we are looking forward to playing and you should too.

10. Kena: Bridge of Spirits An enchanting story-driven adventure game, Kena: Bridge of the Spirits revolves around finding and growing a small team of spirit companions called the Rot. While you have magical powers and bow at your disposal, you’ll also fight with the aid of a woodland spirit, who seems to travel alongside you in your adventure. The game promises to take full advantage of the next-generation features of the PS5, so hopefully there will be some interesting use of 3D audio and the DualSense controller’s unique functionality.

9. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart An all-new Ratchet and Clank game, Rift Apart looks like a Pixar film come to life. A colorful, kid-friendly platform-shooter hybrid, it was perhaps the best example of the PS5’s new SSD storage system. Sequences were shown off where the hapless pair were seemingly beaming from detailed world to detailed sci-fi world in an instant, a feat that old-school storage wouldn’t have been capable of with the level of detail on display.

8. Ghostwire: Tokyo This supernatural, Japanese cyberpunk title with combat looks reminiscent of Naruto and other Bethesda titles. Ghostwire: Tokyo is a new PS5 exclusive from Shinji Mikami and Tango Dreamworks that sees the city of Tokyo 99% depopulated by a paranormal occult event, leaving malevolent spirits to savage the city and its survivors. It has all the hallmarks of modern Japanese horror, down to creepy schoolgirls and faceless umbrella-yielding spirits dressed like they’re going to work at a Neo-Tokyo bank right out of Akira. You play as one of the city’s survivors who develops superpowers of their own during the mysterious paranormal event, so it’s up to you to defend the city against the forces besieging it using all sorts of paranormal abilities

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Section Name 7. Outriders People Can Fly has confirmed that its upcoming co-op shooter Outriders will land on both PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2020. The new game is a cover shooter that also incentivizes getting out from behind the chest-high walls and wrecking your foes with a number of cool abilities.

6. Cyberpunk 2077 CD Projekt Red has finally confirmed Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to PS5. Those who buy the PS4 version of the game will be able to play it on PS5 as soon as the next-gen console launches through backwards compatibility - with a free update upgrading the game’s visuals. From the makers of The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 is bound to be one of 2020’s biggest releases, having all the makings of an RPG classic. Oh, and Keanu Reeves is in it as a major character, which should be enough to sell more or less everyone. It is definitely not a stretch to call Cyberpunk 2077 one of the most anticipated games in years, and that was true even before anyone knew Keanu Reeves was going to be in it. Developed by the team responsible for the critically-acclaimed The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 aims to be one of the largest, deepest, and most intense sci-fi RPG experiences ever made. Expectations may be high, but what we’ve seen of the game thus far has us feeling very optimistic.

5. Elder Scrolls VI

Bethesda Game Studios is developing a new installment in its acclaimed Elder Scrolls fantasy series. A reveal trailer released during E3 2018 confirmed that Bethesda had begun work on the title, but it appears to still be very early days for the project. It makes sense that Bethesda would return to one of its best-known and most-acclaimed franchises with new consoles coming soon. After all, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has sold a whopping 30 million copies--across nearly every platform under the sun--making it one of the most successful single video games in history. Like Starfield, Bethesda hasn’t said if The Elder Scrolls VI will come to next-generation consoles, but that seems like a sure thing. 4. Watchdogs: Legion Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs sequel, Legion is yet another Ubisoft title confirmed for the PS5. It was originally slated to arrive in March 2020 for the current-generation of consoles, but Ubisoft pushed the game to give the developers more time to “ensure that their … innovations are perfectly implemented so as to deliver optimal experiences for players.” The game runs on the premise that every single citizen of the city is a playable, semi-flushed out character with their own political opinions, motives, and generated actions. The gameplay ranges from loud and boisterous to stealthy tech action, based on your preference.

3. Assassins Creed: Valhalla Ubisoft’s next big Assassin’s Creed game takes us back to the Viking era. You play as Eivor, and your travels will take you across a variety of locations and landscapes. For the first time, dual-wielding comes to Assassin’s Creed, allowing you to tear up your enemies with a newfound ferocity with axes and even shields if you like. This new Assassin’s Creed game leans more into RPG elements, allowing players to build and management settlements, raid towns for resources, form alliances and even customize their character.

January 2018 | 31 heartofalpha@gmail.com

Section Name 2. Horizon: Forbidden West In this PS5 sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn, we see Aloy return in another graphically stunning adventure, which will see the future warrior take on robotic dinosaurs across America. While you can expect to hunt more robotic beasts on land this time around, you’ll also be able to explore underwater and discover more dangerous secrets beneath the surface. It was easily the most visually-arresting game during the PS5 showcase

1. Spiderman: Miles Morales Initially it was thought that Spider-Man: Miles Morales would be a sequel to Insomniac’s critically-acclaimed Spider-Man, however, it’s been confirmed that Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a standalone title of its own. While we don’t know too much about the game, we do know that you you play as Morales as he embarks on a crime-fighting journey after discovering that he has spider-powers after the end of the first game. Additionally, thanks to thanks to the PS5 SSD, you should be able fast-travel across New York almost instantly, and at the same time, the haptic feedback in the PS5 DualSense controller should enhance the feel of the combat.

BONUS!

Bonus: Resident Evil 8: Village

Resident Evil 8: Village is coming to the PS5, and it looks horrifying and ridiculous. The series is getting even weirder as it pushes the present timeline forward with new terrors that go against the grain of the T-virus infected zombies and test tube abominations that longtime fans have come to expect. Set in an isolated village in the mountains, Resident Evil Village has you playing returning Resident Evil 7 protagonist Ethan Winters, who must fight his way to escape what appears to be a cult led by a cast of eerie villains. Also, Chris Redfield makes a return and he seems to be playing the role of a villain this time. Though it’s currently unclear why he’s so antagonistic against Ethan. Regardless, Capcom seems to be taking bold steps away from what we’ve come to expect from the franchise with its next-generation debut. There are also werewolves, witches, and more classic horror-looking enemies, so we’re shying away from just zombies. Resident Evil has been on a killer streak recently, and this game only looks to continue that.

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MUSIC

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CONTENTS

35. Top 10 South African Songs 2020 36. Top 10 R&B Artists Of 2020 38. Top Ten RNB Songs This Week

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Top 10 South African Songs By: Refiloe Makhene

Heart of Alpha Trending 10 ranks the songs that are seeing the greatest gains in popularity each month, measured by the growth in audio streams. Each month, Heart of Alpha publishes an official version of the Trending 10 Chart, covering the monthly period. The list has great hit songs and by the look of it (the below Top 10 South African Songs 2020), it seems pretty clear that some songs wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be leaving the hot list any time soon. South African music is gaining global popularity. Which is your favourite song? Number: 1

Number: 6

Track: Tender Love

Track: Akulaleki

Artists: Sha Sha feat. DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small

Artists: Samthing Soweto feat. Sha Sha, DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small

Number: 2

Number: 7

Track: Umlilo

Track: Umona

Artists: DJ Zinhle feat. Muzzle & Rethabile

Artists: TNS feat. Mpumi

Number: 3

Number: 8

Track: Hamba

Track: Jerusalema

Artists: Q Twinz feat. DJ Tira

Artists: Master KG feat. Nomcebo

Number: 4

Number: 9

Track: Into Ingawe

Track: Lalela

Artists: Sun-El Musician & Ami Faku

Artists: MFR Souls feat. The Squad

Number: 5

Number: 10

Track: Forever Artists: Sithelo feat. Skyewanda

Track: Mthande Artists: Mas Musiq feat. Ricky Rick, Sha Sha, DJ Maphorisa & Kabza De Small

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Top 10 R&B Artists Of 2020 By: Princess Sigidi

This global pandemic is getting to most of us but we should just remember that this time will pass but, in the meantime, don’t worry, we got you. Below is an astonishing list of the top 10 R&B artists of 2020. “Be loyal to your own piece of mind.” Those are words by our famous number 1 R&B artist of 2020. I don’t necessarily agree with all the artists on the top 10 list but what can we say, if you’re good, you’re good. Let the haters be. While I was doing Research what I realized is that The Weeknd is an inspiration to many people. Personally he is an inspiration because he was a school dropout but that didn’t change his life drastically, I mean he didn’t sit around looking all depressed but instead he got up and did what he enjoyed, not knowing that today he would be one of the greatest R&B artists of all time. What I want everyone to remember is that no matter how young or how old you are, you can make a difference, also if you are passionate about the musical side of life then go for it because without music life would be dull.

1. The Weeknd

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known by his stage name “The Weeknd” is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer. The Weeknd has won three Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, and nine Juno Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award. The Weeknd is listed as one of the most successful Canadian recording artist of all time. This man has been doing the most and has been a great role model in many fields such as film, music and philanthropy.

2. Khalid

Khalid Donnel Robinson is an American singer and also a songwriter. He released a debut single that was titled “ location”, and that single surprisingly ranked at number 16 on the US Hot 100 charts and was then later certified quadruple platinum. In 2017 Khalid’s debut studio album titled “American Teen” was released and since then he has just been flourishing.

3. Kehlani

Kehlani Ashley Parrish is an American singer, songwriter and a dancer. Kehlani’s best album released so far is “While We Wait” and features great musicians such as 6lack, Ty Dolla Sign and Dom Kennedy.

4. H.E.R

Professionally known as H.E.R, Gabriella Wilson is an American singer and songwriter. Gabriella’s album titled H.E.R was nominated for five Grammy Awards at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, winning Best R&B performance and Best R&B album. In 2020 she was nominated for five awards, including Album of the year for “I Used to Know her” and song of the year for “Hard Place”.

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Section Name

5. Jhene’ Aiko

Professionally known as Jhene’ Aiko, Jhene’ Aiko Efuru Chilombo is an American singer and songwriter. Jhene’ Aiko has released three studio albums since her career took off. In 2014 she was nominated for the Centric award for the single titled “The Worst” at the BET awards and she won.

6. Miguel

Miguel Jontel Pimentel is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He started his music career at the age of 13. All four of Miguel’s studio albums received exceptionally good reviews from majority of the critics.

7. Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice Brown, professionally known as Chris Brown or Breezy, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. He was the first male artist since 1997 to have his single top the Hot 100 chart. He has won many Awards, including 9 Grammy Awards, 15 BET awards, 4 Billboard Music Awards and 6 Soul Train Music Awards.

8. 6lack

Ricardo Valdez Valentine, Jr, professionally known as 6lack, began his recording experience when he was 4 years old. He began rapping in middle school and even rapped against artists like Young Thug. His music focuses on personal and business relationships. 6lack’s songwriting is mainly influenced by his personal experiences and failed relationships. He has been nominated for several awards, winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B video in 2019.

9. Ella Mai

Ella Mai Howell is an English singer and songwriter. Her singing career began at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London in 2014. In 2019 “Boo’d Up” was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards: Song of the year and Best R&B song. At the 2019 Billboard Music Awards she won 3 awards including the award for top R&B artist.

10. Summer Walker

Summer Marjani Walker is an American singer and songwriter. She made history when her debut album earned the biggest streaming debut ever for a female R&B artist. In 2019 she was nominated for 3 awards at the Soul Train Awards, she won best new artist.

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January 2018 | 37

Section Name

Top Ten RNB Songs This Week By: Valentia Kganakga

1. Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo - Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) Savage love (Laxed – Siren Beat) originally known as ‘’Savage Love’’ is a song by New Zealand music producer Jawsh 685 and American singer Jason Derulo. The song was officially released on 11 June , Following the resolution of sample clearance issues

2. Black Pink- How You Like That

A song by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on June 26 2020, through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records as the first pre-release single from the group’s upcoming debut Korea-language studio album, set for release in September 2020.

3. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande- Rain On Me

A song by American singers Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, from the former’s sixth studio album, Chromatica. It was written by Lady Gaga, Grande, Nija Charles. Rami Yacoub, Tchami, Boys Noize and its producers Bloodpop and Burns.

4. Harry Styles- Watermelon Sugar

A song by English singer Harry Styles from his second studio album Fine Line, included as the album’s second track. Styles wrote the song with Mitch Rowland and its producers Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon.

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5. Trevor Daniel & Selena Gomez – Past Life

Gomez joined Trevor Daniel on the remix of his track ‘’Past Life’’; the lyrics explore letting go of who you were in the past, taking care of your mental health, and promising to be better people you used – all while accepting you cannot erase the journey you’ve been on.

6. Mothica – VICES

TikTok has done more to launch careers over the last year than many record labels. The latest artist to go viral on the app is Mothica. She shared a snippet of a then-unreleased song called ’’VICES’’ and fate stepped in.

7. Justin Bieber – Intentions

A song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber featuring American rapper Quavo from the hip-hop trio, Migos. It was released with a music video on February 7, 2020, as a second single from Bieber’s fifth studio album, Changes.

8. Charlie Puth – Girlfriend

‘’The song is about being persistent,’’ Charlie Puth said about his new hit ‘’Girlfriend,’’ which dropped Thursday, ‘’Letting someone know your feelings for them aren’t going to just go away.

9. Surfaces – Sunday Best

A song by American electro-pop duo, Surfaces, composed of Forrest Frank and Collin Padalecki. The song was released by Ten Thousand Projects and Caroline Records on January 8, 2019 as the Third album single from the duo’s second album Where the light is.

10. Maroon 5 – Memories

A song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released through 222 and Interscope Records on September 20, 2019, as the lead single from their upcoming seventh studio album.

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