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...
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 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’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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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,...
“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...