Taylor Swift becomes biggest female artist of all time in the UK
Taylor Swift has now become the biggest female artist of all time in the UK, with the most UK No 1 albums ever. The record means she has officially surpassed Madonna. The rise and cultural dominance of Taylor Swift continues with no real end in sight. She has just broken...
Current in Media
Hawk Tuah girl returns after crypto scam controversy
Haliey Welch went viral last year for her ‘hawk tuah’ TikTok interview moment. Since then, she’s amassed over 2 million Instagram followers, launched a podcast, and faced controversy for a pump-and-dump crypto currency scheme. She’s now returned after two months offline. ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl is back, everyone! 22-year-old Haliey Welch...
The artist vs person debate at the heart of the Emilia Perez scandal
Backlash against lead Karla Sofia Gascón points to the morality minefield of consuming an artist's actions alongside their work. Karla Sofia Gascón is the first trans woman to be nominated for Best Lead Actress at the Oscars for her role in Netflix underdog Emilia Perez. I use the term underdog because...
Exploring Reggaeton’s roots and political history
Reggaeton is widely recognised by its uptempo beats and raunchy lyrics, but there is another side to the genre we see less often. Through live events and powerful lyrics, reggaeton artists have used music as a tool to call out political corruption, discrimination, and to generate a feeling of...
Kendrick Lamar wins five Grammys for ‘Not Like Us’
The smash 2024 summer hit ‘Not Like Us’ has taken home five Grammys, making it the most prolific diss track of all time. If anyone was in doubt as to who won the rap beef last summer, the Grammys just put the final nail in the coffin. This year was...
Green Day swap ‘American Idiot’ lyric for Elon Musk’s name
While performing in Elon Musk’s home country of South Africa, punk band Green Day replaced a lyric from ‘American Idiot’ with his name. Elon Musk has been causing controversy this week as he steps into his new role as Administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency. During his speech at...
Snoop Dogg hit with backlash for Trump pre-inauguration ball
Rapper and entertainer Snoop Dogg was hit with criticism for performing alongside Nelly, Soulja Boy and others at the first ever ‘Crypto Ball’ in Washington, D.C. Snoop Dogg has been hit with a wave of criticism after appearing at the first ever ‘Crypto Ball’ in Washington D.C last week. The event was a celebration of Trump’s inauguration. The rapper was filmed performing his 1990s hit ‘Nuthin’ but a G Thang’...
Are music festivals facing extinction?
With difficulty booking headliners and rising costs, music festivals face their toughest year yet. Music events are often signposts of our year. Memories with friends, seeing acts you’ve only dreamed of witnessing play live. These near-mythic gatherings of collective euphoria are a mainstay of modern culture. But they’re facing a crossroads. What used to promise a steady stream of sold-out tickets has become a risky operation littered with bureaucratic obstacles and...
What men got wrong about the #WomenInMaleFields trend
As they did with the Man vs Bear debate, straight men have once again tried to satirise one of women’s online trends, and it’s only made them look worse. The #WomenInMaleFields trend that dominated social media not long ago satirises behaviours associated with toxic men and the dating habits they perpetuate. The general idea is: women overlay a photo/video of themselves with text quoting a heard-before excuse, as if they were...
Opinion – Blake Lively drama shows we’re still quick to hate women
Blake Lively proves our desire to watch successful women burn is both pervasive and insidious. But are times finally changing? When Colleen Hoover’s wildly successful novel ‘It Ends With Us’ was released as a feature film last year, the media went wild. But besides the dedicated fans who lined up to see their favourite characters on the silver screen, much of the attention shifted to on-set issues. It was somewhat surreal...
