Item World: Slug on 'Kanye West,' Meryl Streep teams up with Diablo Cody and more

As with just about everything related to the man who made Kim Kardashian an honorable woman (ahem), Minneapolis hip-hop vets Atmosphere have caught an unusual amount of flak for their song "Kanye West." In an interview running in Sunday's Variety section, Atmosphere rapper Slug said, "I was completely naïve how many people were going to form opinions having not even heard the song," featured on the new Atmosphere album "Southsiders" (this week's No. 1-selling hip-hop album on iTunes). Some naysayers thought it was either a slam or an endorsement of West, but the lyrics have nothing to do with him "other than it's about passion, and the trouble being passionate can get you into," said Slug, whose songbook also includes "Bob Seger" and "Rick James." Many thought Atmosphere was trying to ride the coattails of "Kanye West" Google searches, but Slug said if that had been his intention, "then I definitely would've called it 'Jay-Z' instead."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Diablo Cody's next feature arrives next summer with a top star and terrific director attached. TriStar Productions will release "Ricky and the Flash" June 26, 2015. The comedy drama stars Meryl Streep as a woman who abandoned her family to find fast-lane fortune and fame as a rock star. Decades later she returns, trying to reconnect with her estranged kids, one of whom is navigating a rocky divorce. Jonathan Demme ("Stop Making Sense," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia") will direct.

COlin Covert

Although he told touching stories on everyone from B.B. King to Gram Parsons — the dude has a résumé that reads like a rock 'n' roll bible — Leon Russell managed to choke himself up during his sold-out concert at the Cedar Cultural Center last weekend when he got to talking about Twin Cities-based Starkey Foundation. The country-soul veteran and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who suffers from hearing loss, noted Starkey's good efforts in providing hearing aids in Third World countries as well as in his own life. "I'm not Third World," he quipped, "I'm barely in the world." Russell went on to sing a version of the gospel standard "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" that was absolutely out of this world.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Trampled by Turtles didn't get an invite to this year's New Orleans Jazzfest, but they managed to make their presence known with a rollicking set at one of Crescent City's best-known bars. The Minnesota band impressed a packed crowd Saturday at Tipitina's, an Uptown club favored by nearby college students and hipsters, just a couple hours after Bruce Springsteen rocked the main festival. The Boss didn't jam with Turtles, opting instead to make a surprise appearance at a Dr. John tribute. As much as I.W. would have liked a little more Bruce, we were just fine hanging with our home team.

Charles Hubbell, who sharpened his acting teeth on Twin Cities stages, got a key part in "Walking With the Enemy," a World War II movie now in local cinemas — Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Nazi Holocaust. A plum baddie role, but he played it for much longer than expected, Hubbell told I.W. Seven months after auditioning in L.A., he got a call. Could he get to London in two weeks? Then he shuttled between Minneapolis and Bucharest for several years, working on his accent with some University of Minnesota teaching assistants in between. "Each year I would be sent back for reshoots or additional scenes," he said. "It wasn't until last year that the celebrities [including Ben Kingsley] were brought on for the final push to completion. That was a complete but welcome surprise."

Graydon Royce

The Minnesota Opera has co-commissioned an adaptation of the bestselling Civil War novel "Cold Mountain," with music by Pulitzer-winning composer Jennifer Higdon. It's the latest in a string of new operas with modern cultural roots that Minnesota Opera has been involved with over the past several years — including "Doubt," "The Manchurian Candidate" and "The Shining" — through its $7 million New Works Initiative program. The story of a Confederate Army deserter making his way home, Charles Frazier's saga won the 1997 National Book Award and was made into a movie starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in 2003. Partners in the commission are the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia. The production will get its premiere in Santa Fe in the summer of 2015, and will be presented by the Minnesota Opera sometime in 2018.

kristin tillotson

Walker Art Center's artist-designed minigolf course returns for summer 2014 with fresh novelties (chickens, snake, gumball machine) and old favorites including a giant maze, a gopher hole, a watering can and garden gnomes playing foosball. Plan to wait for tee times. The course will be open daily from May 22 through Sept. 1 (closed June 20-22 for Rock the Garden). Tickets for 18 holes are $18 adults, $15 students, $13.50 ages 7-12 and include admission to Walker's galleries.