Music

City on Lock, an album cover, features a number of different squares in purple and pink full of portraits of Black women and scenes of Miami

Cultural Disruptors: City Girls Flip Misguided Stereotypes into Their Superpower

by DeMicia Inman
July 7, 2020 at 10:36am
City on Lock is their ethos at its finest—taking the stereotypes stacked against them as bold, Black women who demand good sex and long money, and flipping them into their super power.  Read more »
illustration of queer country artists (from left to right) Orville Peck, Patrick Haggerty, Amythyst Kiah, Karen Pittelman, and Lil Nas X along a fence in front of a rural scene with lavender stalks lining the ground

Sound Out: Coming Home to Lavender Country

by Kim Kelly
June 18, 2020 at 9:51am
Queer country artists have been making their voices known for decades. Read more »
J. Cole, a lightskinned Black rapper with locs, sits onstage in a white t-shirt

Petty, Egotistical Barbs Overshadow J. Cole’s Important Message

by Evette Dionne
June 17, 2020 at 3:05pm
Holding people, including Black celebrities accountable for their inaction or misguided action, isn’t an attack or an attempt to create undue separation between Black men and Black women.  Read more »
Artist Dua Saleh, a Black nonbinary person, wears a cowboy hat and a neon hoodie and looks in the mirror.

Greater Expectations: Through Music, Dua Saleh Nurtures Personal and Political Identity

by Mary Retta
June 16, 2020 at 10:08am
 “My brain was manufacturing new language because I was refusing to be seen as a woman.” Read more »
fans cheer as K-Pop group BTS performs in Central Park

More Than Stans: Stop Dismissing the K-pop Fandom’s Political Power

by Emma Kelly
June 11, 2020 at 1:24pm
Anyone who’s paying attention to how K-pop stans use social media aren’t surprised that they’ve mobilized on behalf of a larger social movement.  Read more »
Four women lean on each other in a sepia-toned photo. They wear fur and look at each other, smiling and laughing.

Audible Anger: Women in Rock Validate and Honor Anger

by Ellie Sharp
June 3, 2020 at 12:12pm
The very emotions rock centers, like anger, desperation, and full-bodied passion, are often weaponized against women. Read more »
Kehlani, a light skinned Black woman, has short black hair parted down the center. She sings on stage while wearing a white turtleneck.

Done Searching: Kehlani Powerfully Conquers Growings Pains on New Album

by DeAsia Paige
May 27, 2020 at 4:21pm
Kehlani has always worn her heart on her sleeve. Read more »
Harry Styles, a white man with longish wavy brown hair, looks up at the sky with a smile on his face. On his left is a Black woman with her eyes closed; on his right is a white woman looking away from the camera.

So Wonderful and Warm: In “Watermelon Sugar,” Harry Styles Centers Women’s Euphoria

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
May 21, 2020 at 1:25pm
In “Watermelon Sugar,” women’s sexual bliss is the entire event. Read more »
Summer Walker, a Black woman R&B singer with long black hair, poses against a colorful purple background

Leave Summer Walker (And Her Nose) Alone

by Evette Dionne
May 18, 2020 at 12:42pm
Instead of condemning Black women, like Summer Walker, who choose to alter their bodies, we should interrogate how the world made their existence in their inherited bodies hostile. Read more »
Portrait of comedian and writer Rekha Shankar in front of a dark red background surrounded by falling plastic donuts

BitchTapes: Soundtracks from Fantasy Films

by Rekha Shankar
May 15, 2020 at 10:17am
In this BitchTape, Rekha Shanker takes us on a fantastical journey, shining a light on soundtrack-born songs that help us suspend disbelief. Read more »

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