The shooter appeared to have fired from approximately 200 yards away – from the rooftop of a nearby building – causing panic among attendees as Kirk collapsed amid chaos. Despite a person of interest initially being detained, authorities later clarified that no suspect is currently in custody. Investigations are being led by the FBI and ATF.

Across the political spectrum, leaders denounced the violence, offering condolences and urging unity amid growing concerns about political extremism and hostility.

His Final Words and the Irony of Context

Moments before being shot, Kirk was responding to an audience member’s question about mass shootings involving transgender individuals. When corrected that the number was five over the past decade, Kirk interjected with: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”  – an ambiguous retort that immediately preceded the fatal shot.

There is no indication these were his literal closing words, but symbolically, the line punctuated the event at the shocking moment of his death.

Kirk’s Gun Politics: A Legacy of Controversy

Kirk wasn’t just a conservative youthful megaphone – he was also a bold advocate for gun rights. A vocal Second Amendment proponent, he endorsed the use of armed guards, detectors, and other security measures in schools as a response to mass shootings. After the 2023 Nashville school shooting, he controversially stated that gun deaths are “an unfortunate but acceptable cost of preserving Second Amendment rights,” likening them to automobile accident fatalities. This comparison drew intense criticism, particularly from gun-violence prevention groups.

Ironically, the same ideas rooted in defending free speech, campus engagement, and a muscular approach to gun policy framed the setting in which he ultimately met his violent end.

Political Violence: A Growing Crisis

Kirk’s assassination – the second high-profile shooting at a political event in recent years – underscores a grim trend: an escalation of political violence. His death follows a series of attacks targeting public figures across the political spectrum, including attempted assassinations, shootings of lawmakers, and assaults on public officials. The campus environment – once largely a forum for debate – has become a stage for deadly confrontation.

Reflections: What Does Kirk’s Death Teach Us?

1. The Cost of Rhetoric and Security Posture
   Kirk’s adamantism on gun rights and security – a posture advocating armed defense in educational spaces – does not shield from political extremism. In fact, it reflects a deeper paradox: the very ideological fervor that fuels activism may also inflame oppositional acts of violence.
2. Campus as Combat Zone
   Universities have long been spaces for intellectual challenge and exchange. But the shift from debate to danger—where voices, especially divisive ones, are met with lethal force – marks a disturbing evolution in how we conduct political discourse.
3. Rethinking Safety and Engagement
   Kirk’s death is a grim reminder that any approach to civic engagement must reckon with safety and ideological antagonism. Robust protocols, mental health interventions, and a recommitment to de-escalation – not just defense – are urgently needed.
4. Legacy and Memory
   For his supporters, Kirk’s demise is a martyrdom of conservative youth culture and defiant free speech. For his critics, it exposes the need for a more empathetic and less confrontational political framework that values human life over ideological triumph.

In Summary

Charlie Kirk’s death on September 10, 2025, was both a political assassination and a tragic punctuation to a career defined by uncompromising advocacy on guns and conservative values. His last utterance – “Counting or not counting gang violence?” – stands as a stark symbol of today’s fraught politics, where every argument can become a battleground, and every public appearance a potential flashpoint.

Might we learn to temper our rhetoric with empathy, our events with safety, and our political passions with a profound respect for human dignity? That may be the only legacy worth building in the wake of such loss.

The post Campus Chaos: Charlie Kirk’s Last Words and the Dark Side of America’s Gun Debate appeared first on KIMU.

Venus Fly is my favourite track on Grimes’ Art Angels, so I was so happy to see it come to life via this 7-minute opus (premiered via TiDAL) last week! It’s a bigger production than the other videos from this Grimes era, and of course, features the incredible spirit that is Janelle Monáe.

I particularly like how the video was gracefully positioned by Grimes, almost with a disclaimer where she said, “sometimes it feels futile to be making art in this cruel and extreme political climate, but some of the brightest moments of the last few months for me and for a lot of you, i suspect, have come from seeing @janellemonae ‘s amazing and positive vision of the future, especially when we are being introduced to so many possible dystopian futures.”

The post Watch Grimes and Janelle Monáe in Venus Fly appeared first on KIMU.

So why YouTube? What exactly is the issue here? This double standard is nothing less than homophobia. Mykki just Tweeted “Our society grants hetero privilege to parade overly sexualized images of women for a cis male gaze yet Queer imagery is policied, demeaned.”

In addition, I am completely in support of Mykki’s vocalisation on the fact that black publications such as VIBE, BET etc. refuse to cover his or most queer POC’s work – another archaic stigma that queer and politically skewed artists of colour have to deal with because they don’t fit into white mainstream media or “traditional” hip hop media’s idea of what works.

Anyway, that said, the video for Loner is a visually enigmatic work of art that pushed cultural and marketing boundaries and every single person involved should be so proud. Let’s hope this YouTube ban is lifted and if anything just generates more press and talking points for Mykki.

In the meantime, watch it on Pornhub (cos new experiences are fun).

Next up my girl Lola Coca has delivered her latest video – this time for E G O EGO – full of progressive sass and intelligently constructed across sonic and visual lines (as with everything she’s released since Bad Girlfriend), Lola is truly a future pop star.

Last but not least, in an intelligently reworked response to the proverbial phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, Michelle O Faith responds by telling The Line of Best Fit “Every bad situation doesn’t have a saving grace. Things can’t always be turned around. I wanted to write a song about the dark cloud with no silver lining. About being wronged on such a scale that there is no wriggle room for remedy or consolation.”

“I can’t make Lemonade out of this / You’ve left me only pips / I choke.”

With tribal drums and an almost Kate Bush esque vocal tenacity, I have completely fallen in love with Michelle and what she stands for and I think you will too.

The post Visual Tendencies: Mykki Blanco’s Loner, Lola Coca’s Ego and Michelle O Faith’s Lemonade appeared first on KIMU.

Desiigner’s performance in the video is by far the highlight – with facial expressions that are unique but also set the tone for the song perfectly. You can watch the video on TIDAL or Pitchfork, annoying, but yeah.

The post Panda, Panda, Panda, PANDA appeared first on KIMU.

Also, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Iggy Azalea’s comeback, but from a music industry perspective it’s proving against the odds with a really subtle approach to significantly more pop direction. Team arrived today accompanied by a dance video which is beautifully constructed with a really diverse cast of insanely talented dancers. I still don’t agree with her attitude a lot of the time, but this is a legit pop track and she’s delivering her signature rapping and JLo/Gwen-esque singing for the chorus which previously would have been given to someone else like Charli XCX or MO which makes sense considering the message of the song is “I got me” in line with Digital Distortion being her response to well, everything. The track features twelve writing credits including Bebe Rexha (super star) and Lil Wayne.

The post Sonic Tendencies: ANOHNI’s Drone Bomb Me and Iggy’s Team appeared first on KIMU.

I always felt that Music To Watch Boys To felt like the natural sequel to one of my favourite songs on Born To Die – This Is What Makes Us Girls – a track that I really connected with. The references to Blue Ribbon on ice, the narrative of Lana with her girlfriends, the cinematic summer sound. Remember the version that Dior used for their show back in 2011 of TIMUG? The dream.

MTWBT is certainly one of the standout tracks on Honeymoon – it has luscious and thick production – thank you Rick Nowels and Kieron Menzies and lyrically so unbelievably poetic, so I think the entire world had big expectations for an equally enigmatic video to accompany and holy shit it happened.

Directed by Kinga Burza, the video sees a familiar Lana – almost a caricature of everything she has stood for to date – the floral details, the flowing locks of hair, the cinematic wonderment. It has a dark and slow motion stylistic tone that is essentially portrait art meets conceptual reality painting a literally and surreal image of the track. The highlight is Lana, through and through – High By The Beach saw a more solemn vision of the deity whereas Music really sees a softer and more playful side that we last experienced in videos like Carmen and even early Lizzie Grant unreleased material. It is a beautiful piece of visual art that sits alongside the song in the most wonderful way. Also, who doesn’t want a West Coast tattoo across the back of their neck?

The post Lana Del Rey’s Music To Watch Boys To appeared first on KIMU.

I’ve been addicted to Halsey’s New Americana since it first came out without the epic album production (that version quickly disappeared). Lyrically and sonically it could now well be a Jeff Bhasker produced track for Born To Die or Natalia Kill’s Trouble – it is actually produced by Lido. When you have a song on repeat for months and the video surfaces, there is always a sense of almost nervousness – Halsey has beyond delivered with the action-packed cultural statement on the dystopian potential of the New Americana directed by Jodeb. Enjoy!

The post Halsey’s New Americana appeared first on KIMU.

FKA Twigs just released her newest EP, M3LL155X with a rather stunning set of videos to accompany. The brilliantly constructed sixteen minute short film includes all of the tracks on the EP – my personal highlight being the appearance of Michele Lamy who is also set to feature in one of ASAP Rocky’s upcoming videos.

The post FKA twigs – M3LL155X appeared first on KIMU.

I don’t want to spoil it with the one iconic GIF that is going to live on the internet forever (so it is under the cut). Here’s the video for Lana’s High By The Beach. It’s pretty as fuck and the moment is symbolic on so many levels. The video is directed by Jake Nava and produced by Ben Cooper who are frankly genius because the opening shot, the post-moment beauty shot and the ideals of the camera work and the looped sequences are beyond words. Congratulations guys.

The post Video: Lana Del Rey’s High By The Beach appeared first on KIMU.

The post American Horror Story: Hotel – Front Desk with Lady Gaga appeared first on KIMU.