“I call her lesbian Santa Claus because at the end of the dinner she disappears and she comes back with Chaka Khan.” Joy Oladokun is retelling the story of the first time she met her personal idol Brandi Carlile. At Newport Folk Festival a few years ago, Oladokun recalls, “I’ve …
Read More »Luh Tyler Has a Flow That Is Wise Beyond His Years
Luh Tyler, at the ripe age of 17, has already had some of rap’s biggest names, and his personal idols, slide into his DMs. “When Drake followed me… I didn’t even know he followed me,” says the precocious young rapper, who approaches the notion of a global superstar following him …
Read More »Lola Brooke Wants People to Feel as Powerful as She Does When Playing Her Music
Hip-hop‘s blazing newcomer Lola Brooke is getting used to taking up space, living rent-free in people’s minds, and holding even more real estate on their playlists — and she wants everyone else to feel as powerful as she does. The rapper, who broke through last year in a major way …
Read More »The Exhilaratingly Fast Rise of NewJeans
I n the short but exhilarating story of NewJeans, there’s one date that stands out above all the rest: July 22, 2022, the day they went from being unknown teens to one of the buzziest groups in the world. “I knew that it would be a date of excitement for …
Read More »Welcome to Young Miko's World
Young Miko is relaxing on a Saturday afternoon when I reach her on Zoom. Given that she’s about to kick off her first-ever world tour in Guatemala later that night, it’s hardly a regular Saturday, though. “I’m resting as much as I can,” says the Puerto Rican artist, 24. “I’ve …
Read More »GloRilla Knew She'd Get Here
W hen GloRilla arrives at a Hollywood bowling alley, she’s clearly off the clock, cozy and happy to be among familiar faces. No cameras, no fans — just her team, the two friends she came with, and a handful of security to ensure it stays that way. She’s relieved, at …
Read More »The Outrageous Thrills of Model/Actriz
T HE REGULARS AT THE BROADWAY have no idea what’s about to hit them. Model/Actriz frontman Cole Haden, 26, stands onstage in a sequined tunic, cutoff shorts, a weathered baseball cap, and a glorious mustache, looking a little like Freddie Mercury if he lived off the L train. It’s 8 …
Read More »Otoboke Beaver: Loud, Misunderstood, and Loving It
Kyoto, Japan’s Otoboke Beaver are a force of nature onstage — four larger-than-life hardcore punks, blazing through sets with idiosyncratic wrath and sarcasm. But when they pop in for a translator-guided Zoom interview, they’re resting at their apartments between dates on a Japanese tour. Accorinrin, the band’s howling frontwoman, reclines …
Read More »Sudan Archives Is Rewriting the Rules From Her Basement Studio
If you’re looking for the future of music, you might want to check first in Sudan Archives’ L.A. basement. “I don’t really see myself being in anyone’s studio,” the singer says over Zoom while smoking on her living room couch. “You got to come to my house, you got to …
Read More »Reneé Rapp Is Ready for Her Pop Moment
R ENEÉ RAPP HASN’T BEEN sleeping well. The past six months have been a bit of a sleep-deprived haze for the singer and actress, full of weird or straight-up horrific dreams. Most of the time, she’s being booed off a stage. Once, she dreamed about murdering a person she had …
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