2015 has seen an unprecedented rise in LGBT musicians breaking all sorts of boundaries. From Sam Smith to Adam Lambert to Years & Years to Who is Fancy? to MNEK to the incredibly infectious songs from Fox’s hit show Empire, LGBT artists are breaking through mainstream barriers, and Parson James is next on the ever-growing list…
After spending 2013 in a successful guest spot as Elliot “Starchild” on Glee‘s penultimate season, and 2014 touring the world as the frontman for the one of the world’s greatest rock bands, Queen, Adam Lambert is finally releasing new music. Lambert’s new single “Ghost Town,” produced by Max Martin and Shellback, the genius minds behind hits such as…
Sam Smith is finally becoming the gay icon we all deserve. Not only did he take home four Grammy’s at last awards, three of which were in the major categories — Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year — but he’s finally taking a stance on LGBT rights and using his…
Iggy Azalea was one of the most successful breakout rappers of 2014; she also represents the best (i.e., worst) example of cultural misappropriation. Since before the conception of her mainstream career, she has openly and bluntly made derogatory remarks about various races, subsets of people, and has made a career out of cartoonishly imitating ghetto…
On “Just Like Me,” the opening track to Betty Who’s highly anticipated debut album, Take Me When You Go, she sings, “So if you think you’re falling apart / and I’m the only one you’ll call / if you keep reaching for me in the dark / and can’t stand it any more / then…
On August 4th, 2014, Nicki Minaj dropped her latest single, the immediately catchy “Anaconda,” which samples Sir Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 classic “Baby Got Back.” In the song, Minaj raps proudly about her large derrière and all of her male suitors due to her, um, assets. The cover art (below), which shows Minaj squatting with her back to…
No words. Just listen. Mary Lambert is the profound singer who was largely responsible for the success of “Same Love” last year post-SCOTUS and the fight for marriage equality. She continues to fight for equality, this time on the body image-front. Once you get over the surprise of the spoken-word “Body Love Parts 1 & 2,” it’s not…
Mainstream pop music isn’t always about sex, love, and booze. More often than not, if you listen closer, it’s about so much more, especially where female pop singers are concerned. This is a problem. 5 Stereotypes of Women in Pop Music: They’re shallow. Their music is shallow. And fluffy. And shallowly fluffy. All they sing…
Some of you might have heard about Meghan Trainor, the 20 year old musician from Nantucket who has written songs for Rascal Flatts and Sabrina Carpenter (the girl who plays spunky best friend Riley on Girl Meets World), among others. If you haven’t heard of Trainor, well, you’re about to because her debut single, “All…
Freddie Mercury may have passed away nearly 23 years ago, but his spirit is 1,000% present as Queen takes the stage with American Idol finalist the bone-chilling-jaw-droppingly talented Adam Lambert on their new international tour, billed as Queen + Adam Lambert. Walking into the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, it was impossible not to feel the energy…
Are you ready for ALL the feels? Just press play: John Legend’s new music video for “You & I (Nobody in the World) is exactly the message that needs to infiltrate pop culture: that women of all shapes, sizes, and colors are beautiful. The video is exquisite in it’s stylistic simplicity, yet packs one helluva…
2013’s Song of the Summer was the mostly unexpected, hugely inappropriate “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, a song that both raced to the top of the charts, despite Thicke not having a hit since 2006’s “Lost Without You,” and glorified rape and promoted rape culture at the same time. Don’t believe me? Check out the…
Originally Published on May 27th, 2014; Updated on June 24th, 2014 “I’ll just sit right here and sing that good old school shit to ya/I won’t fool ya” Mariah coos on the first verse of “Dedicated,” a breezy throwback jam to 1980’s hip hop featuring hip hop heavyweight — and probably one of the last…
Originally Published on April 7th, 2014; Updated on June 24th, 2014. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Minds Were Blown. Altered. Changed forever. On April 6th, 2014, Lady Gaga performed at Roseland Ballroom, the penultimate show before the iconic venue closed forever EVER. On April 7th, Gaga performs the final show before embarking on her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball tour. Arriving at…
Originally Published: October 2nd, 2013; Updated: June 24th, 2014 In September of 2013, the #powerhouse #popstar that NOBODY FUCKING KNOWS ABOUT, Natalia Kills, released her second album: Trouble. And this is a goddamn problem because this album is pure pop perfection (#alliteration) and everyone I express this sentiment to says: “Who is Natalia Kills?” And…
Originally Published: August 14th, 2013; Updated: June 24th, 2014 As a writer trying so desperately to get published and make my mark, I can stand to learn a lot from Lady Gaga. I know what you’re thinking… But I’ve spent a lot of time over the last three days listening to, obsessing over, and analyzing Mother…
Originally Published: May 15th, 2013; Updated: June 24th, 2014 I have an obsessive personality. I think it has to do with growing up with G-Money, my crazy-ass grandmother. She had a passion for collecting dollar store trinkets, an unbridled love for greasy fried food (Burger King was always her personal fave and when she’d take…
On Saturday night in Central Park, my homegurl Mariah Carey performed with the New York Philharmonic for the MLB’s All-Star Charity Concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy. I didn’t get to go because I already tickets for Cinderella on Broadway, but I wish I did because she performed one of her most rare cuts, a song…
