Channel Orange Being Watched On TV By Woman With Book

Still Thinking So Far Ahead: 10 Years of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange

By the time Frank Ocean detonated a coming-out bomb on Tumblr (peak 2012 internet culture, as it were) a week shy of...
SZA performs "20 Something" During COVID-19 Quarantine

No Longer “20 Something”: SZA’s ‘CTRL’ Five Years Later

In a 1974 interview, the legendary British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading said this: “Black women don’t sing sweet because they haven’t been brainwashed...
Kendrick Lamar in car in music video for "Element"

Kendrick Lamar Knows He’s Not That Special

Cause really I'm just a nigga that's evil and spiritual - Kendrick Lamar, "Poe Man's Dream" (2011) It's...
Spotify Loud and Clear 2022

Spotify’s ‘Loud & Clear’ Obscures “Professional” Artist Earnings

There aren't many large tech companies as transparent with their data as Spotify. The bar is pathetically low, but Spotify clears it...
Illustration of Renouncing Poptimism: Man Praying To Pop Artists

Growing Up and Renouncing Poptimism

“You are in for an extended period of time when the basic structure of your life is subject to some inevitable and...
NCT Hollywood SM Congress

NCT Hollywood and SM’s Race into the Metaverse

The third major stage in K-pop's culture technology model, as designed by SM boss Lee Soo-man, is exportation. Like the creation of...
Radiohead Perfume Genius Queer Romance

Two Songs, One Convo: Radiohead’s “True Love Waits” and Perfume Genius’ “Alan”

If you’re like me — fraught with the anxiety of getting older and realizing that you’ve yet to achieve even a fraction...
Do It For Demon Album Cover

SahBabii’s Life Philosophy As Heard in ‘Do It For Demon’

Do It For Demon is a serious departure from the sounds and subject matter that have come to define SahBabii. The acute...
Friends That Break Your Heart Vegan

James Blake’s ‘Friends That Break Your Heart’ and Friends That Help Mend Mine

I remember being utterly floored upon hearing James Blake’s “The Wilhelm Scream” for the first time. Its cascading and crescendoing bass lines,...
Macklemore Sesame Street

“180” S1 E3 – Are White People Guests in Hip-Hop?

For the 180 podcast episode, listen here. To keep up with 180, subscribe to the 180 RSS Feed. This...