Photo Credit: @tiffanyandco / Instagram In the last few months, alone, both Beyoncé and Lizzo have altered their songs post-release to remove the term “spaz” after ableist concerns were raised regarding the songs “Grrrls” and “Heated,” respectively. Though many Americans seemed shocked that anyone could take offense at the term, the word is considered a… Read more
Photo Credit: Chuck Berry via Universal Attractions (artist management) “Hail, hail rock and roll // Deliver me from the days of old.” – Charles Edward Anderson Berry Rock and roll always had a problem orienting itself from the beginning. It is the musical product of a dozen styles of American music blended through time and… Read more
Photo Credit: CBS.com Have you ever heard the song “McFlurry” by the Sleaford Mods? Banging track. The outro consists of vocalist Jason Williamson mockingly chanting “I’ve got a Brit Award, I’ve got a Brit Award // No Surrender, No Surrender // Animal, five-day bender,” imitating the attitudes of overblown rock stars celebrating dubious awards in a played… Read more
Photo Credit: Collages via Billboard Most people will tell you that the only success that translates financially is “success.” In music, certainly, it’s thought to be almost entirely mathematical: the more records an artist has sold, the more “successful” they are (of course, in recent decades the number of downloads and streams would also have… Read more
Photo Credit: MTV VMAs This year’s MTV Video Music Awards (which aired live on September 12th) tell us pretty much all we need to know about how the state of rock ‘n’ roll is 2021. Actually, we can even go all the way back to 1997: The award category that had once been “Best Heavy… Read more
In 1995, The Simpsons premiered one of its episodes which flashes forward several decades (no, this isn’t the one that predicted the Trump presidency), and among the gags is one about how in the future “the Fox Network turned into a hardcore sex channel so gradually that no one noticed.” While that hasn’t come to… Read more
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ringer illustration It doesn’t even take a million streams on Spotify or three sold out nights at Madison Square Garden to be labeled a “sellout”. Virtually any commercial success in music will inevitably invite claims that an artist has “sold out” and ironically enough, this label is most likely not to come… Read more
Photo Credit: PEOPLEIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES There’s no doubt that technology has changed the way of life for modern people across the globe. From self-driving cars to automated purchases and even media consumption, people have adapted the changing tech into their lives. Entire business models have needed to revamp to keep with the changing times, and the… Read more
It’s a tale that repeats with each new generation: the artist angers the masses by marrying artistic vision with principles. In this millennium, we’ve already witnessed notable examples from popular musicians: The Chicks denouncing George Bush and the Iraq War. Lady Gaga protesting Russia’s ban on homosexuality at a tour stop in Moscow. Beyoncé evoking… Read more