Music

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 »
A black album cover with "Fiona Apple" and "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" in a purple font and a close up of Fiona Apple's face.

Making Fetch Happen: Fiona Apple’s New Album Is a Story of Resilience and Rebirth

by Vanessa Willoughby
May 15, 2020 at 9:00am
Apple’s latest release is a refusal to relinquish control of her own story. Read more »
Siena Liggins, a Black, masculine lesbian, looks directly at the camera. Her dark hair is braided and comes to her shoulders, and she wears layered denim on denim and sits relaxed on the ground.

Siena Liggins Hates Being Told What to Do

by Lindsay King-Miller
May 14, 2020 at 9:26am
“I hate my voice,” the pop singer says. Read more »
Doja Cat, a South African woman with short, brown hair, performs on stage in a red outfit

Dr. Luke is Overshadowing a Woman’s Accomplishment. Again.

by Evette Dionne
May 12, 2020 at 4:39pm
Though Dr. Luke should be a pariah in the music industry, he’s instead credited as one of the producers on “Say So.” Read more »
Digital collage of female rappers, luxury brands, gold, with a solar system background

Black Barbie in Bulgari: Revisiting Hip Hop’s Ghetto Fabulous Era

by Brooklyn White
May 11, 2020 at 10:35am
Though ghetto fabulousness doesn’t quite look the same as it did in 1997, its influence lives on.    Read more »
Adele, a white woman with short, red hair, bends over and belts into a microphone

Our Response to Adele’s Weight Loss Says More about Us Than Her

by Evette Dionne
May 6, 2020 at 2:50pm
The body-positive movement limits its scope to individual people’s always evolving bodies rather than the systems that turn weight loss into headline-making news. Read more »
Maia, a singer songwriter, wears a flowing white dress and gold eyeshadow with her light brown hair parted in the middle. She looks into the camera, which appears artfully smudged.

Channeling Confidence: mxmtoon Sings for Queer Teens—and for Herself

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
April 29, 2020 at 2:21pm
“I have this platform where I can see my own audience reacting to who I am and feeling safe to express who they are as well.” Read more »
a feminine person wearing an orange dress looks through an open hole in rocks at the ocean

Mixtape to My Heart: Music as a Function of Vietnamese Memory

by Kim-Anh Schreiber
April 20, 2020 at 9:55am
Music needs minds and media to carry it, but it doesn’t need bags. Music can’t sink boats. Read more »

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