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(04/03/25 1:53am)
The extravagant combination of Baroque Revival architecture, rich laughter, and clinking wine glasses paints a picture: one relaxing evening filled with lively classical music. The lights suddenly dim as four beautifully dressed individuals, each holding stringed instruments, enter the stage. From the tuning of their instruments to the ambiance of the theater, any stranger to the band would expect to be serenaded by intricate classical pieces crafted by 18th century composers of whom they’ve never heard.
(03/02/25 11:27pm)
Bob Dylan is an iconic musician, activist, and Nobel Prize recipient. Often considered the voice of his generation, his contributions to folk and rock music of the ’60s and ’70s are widely understood. But as far as his popularity amongst the younger generation goes, it is safe to say he’s less followed. However, A Complete Unknown, the biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, has established itself as Dylan’s contemporary, Oscar–nominated revival. A lengthy press run complete with Bob Dylan memorabilia, cover albums, and SNL performances—the artist was evidently brought back into the mainstream from some distant, outmoded–but–powerful place. The ease and rapidity of his comeback seems to be a testament to his artistry, but it also begs the question—did Dylan’s music ever leave the conversation to begin with? Fortunately, the answer is close to home. To gain insight into the Bob Dylan phenomenon, look no further than Penn and the existing campus community of long–time fans.
(02/25/25 10:53pm)
“The revolution ’bout to be televised,” warned a man at the peak of his game to a nation in distress on Superbowl Sunday. And real revolution or not, heads were turned and eyes were peeled during a performance that would have Donald Trump evacuating the stadium shortly after. Watching it live, it was hard not to feel like we’d already won the Super Bowl at its halftime show.
(02/28/25 12:35am)
The first month of 2025 brought with it several powerhouse releases for rap. In the mainstream, there was the hauntingly brilliant Mac Miller album Balloonerism, and in abstract and conscious rap, a few big(ish) names showed up with some of their best projects to date. Notably, MIKE’s psychedelically resonant Showbiz!, Ghais Guevara’s densely conceptual Goyard Ibn Said, and Pink Siifu’s industrial odyssey Black'!Antique (a wildly invigorating record that has me thinking society’s progressed way past the need for JPEGMAFIA) were releases to celebrate.
(03/23/25 5:04pm)
Even from a Zoom–window–sized look into Bob Lord’s life, it’s immediately apparent that Lord loves music. The PARMA Recordings CEO joins our meeting from a swivel chair in what appears to be a makeshift studio space, grinning widely and surrounded by instruments, equipment, and music stands. It’s the kind of place where any musician would feel immediately at home; I know I certainly feel a comfortable familiarity upon noticing the clutter. It confirms for me that Lord is indeed the source of the spirit and deep love for music that you can feel behind any PARMA recording.
(03/02/25 11:38pm)
Like all of us, Mac Miller had no idea what he was doing. The rapper was just 19 years old when he released his first major album, K.I.D.S.—just aging out of childhood himself. In college, we often feel like twentysomethings, trying to push through growing pains, deal with complex relationships, and figure out who we really are. Six years after Miller's tragic death, we’re still mourning the loss of the artist who understood that feeling best.
(02/21/25 12:52am)
The year 2024 was an eclectic year for music, from the rise (no fall) of a midwest princess to “that me espresso” to the unfortunate loss of rap legend Drake (he didn’t die, but it really was not his year). From the year’s dynamic and exciting musical landscape, a few artists stood out above the rest and won the top titles at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. Though a tad predictable, the Recording Academy’s decisions accurately depicted the dominant musicians of the year with only a few popular artists left in the dust. But are the night’s losers really “losers” at all? Is the Recording Academy just trying to appease the stan Twitter gods? Regardless, these are the musicians who were rightfully recognized (and unrecognized) for shaping the musical pandemonium of 2024.
(03/01/25 10:42pm)
If you ask a K–Pop stan about the biggest groups currently on the scene, there’s a good chance that the girl group IVE will be among their top answers. Hailing from Starship Entertainment, the six–member band is one of the most popular groups in Korea, in part due to the popularity of IZ*ONE alums Jang Won–young and An Yu–jin. The group also boasts many hits of their own, with songs like “LOVE DIVE” and “I AM” boasting over 300 million streams on Spotify, reaching number one on Korean music charts, and hitting top 30 on the Billboard Global 200.
(02/24/25 6:51pm)
Abel Tesfaye has spent the last five years making highly thematic albums, revealing to us the inner workings of his hedonistic, dark The Weeknd persona. His last two projects—After Hours and Dawn FM—contained highly visual, conceptual imagery, and leaned into this focus, featuring cinema–inspired narratives that slowly depicted The Weeknd's inevitable descent into madness. Regarding After Hours, The Weeknd’s costume designer Patrick Henry, more popularly known as “Fresh,” told Billboard, “When he did this, it wasn’t just Abel anymore. He created a persona and took this guy through a whole experience.” Dawn FM picked up where After Hours left off—inserting The Weeknd into a state of purgatory, followed by a journey towards escape. Hurry Up Tomorrow is the light at the end of this tunnel, offering the same immersive experience. Announcing this album as his last as The Weeknd, Tesfaye lets this infamous persona take his last breaths in Hurry Up Tomorrow. But one question remains: Just how great of a finale is this?
(02/12/25 2:26am)
Last month kicked the year off in a panic: political conflict ripped into our screens, threatening to upheave TikTok, Gen Z’s most cherished marketplace of brainrot. Disregarding the staged melodrama of Donald Trump and CEO Shou Chew’s back–and–forth, TikTok went into meltdown mode; creators delivered teary–eyed goodbyes, reminisced on the app’s quarantine days, and made desperate last–ditch efforts to learn Chinese. But one worry stood out to me in particular: “Where will I find new music?”
(02/17/25 2:25am)
The air is cold and dry. We yawn, stretch tired limbs, and squint crusty–lidded eyes into the bleak sunlight as we trudge down Locust Walk to our 8:30 a.m. classes. It's another day we won’t touch grass or see green. Each week is an endless rotation of Pret coffee, Van Pelt, and classes we can’t stay awake for. It’s February at Penn.
(01/31/25 2:10am)
At first glance, Warehouse on Watts is an unassuming building; its only telling emblem, a bold W hung above the entrance, which can be found just off east of the Broad Line, is tucked behind a row of beauty salons and mobile phone stores. After braving the cold January winds and a lengthy SEPTA ride, you enter the small room. The red lights and hazy atmosphere are a warm, if slightly ominous, welcome. You’re forced to navigate through a billowing, iridescent fog that envelops the crowd as you make your way to the coat check in the corner—the sole disco ball in the room tucked away from the dance floor, suspended elegantly over a rack of puffers and parkas. Oddly placed, though glimmering, it seems too obvious an analogy for the venue. As heads scatter across the floor like pool balls, your eyes are immediately drawn to this little thing of a stage and the great mass of wires and equipment that spill out from under it. It’s a twinkling canvas for the upcoming artists. Though the venue was intimate, the DJs of Madness and Badness—a show jointly put on by DJ@Penn, Shea Collective, and Students of Hip Hop Legacy—filled every inch of the room with sound, taking us across genres over the course of the show.
(02/14/25 5:00am)
If I were to mention “Funky Drummer,” you might furrow your brow in unrecognition, or you might be trying to decipher what combination of sounds could warrant the title. Is the drummer funky because he smells weird? Or is it a nod to his unparalleled groove? Chances are, you wouldn’t recognize the track’s appeal or mid–20th century cultural significance, nor would you be familiar with its creator. In the hip–hop world, the eccentric James Brown is widely considered to be the most sampled artist of all time. Alongside iconic hits like “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” and “Get Up Offa That Thing,” he penned “Funky Drummer” during a successful career that spanned the ‘60s and ‘70s. But if you’re just not cool enough to keep up with Nixon–era disco, chances are you are familiar with its borrowers.
(01/25/25 8:14pm)
2024’s been an unbelievable year for hip hop, and there’s a good chance you already know this. Of course, it’s a colossal one for the culture, with Kendrick Lamar finally dragging rap out of the “Drake era,” but there’s been an endless outpouring of phenomenal records from every other corner of the genre too.
(02/17/25 1:07am)
There was a particular era of indie culture back in the late 2010’s that some might rather forget: Odd Future merch everywhere, an influx of “soft boy” fashion, and suburban youth all over America bumping this zany new boy band called BROCKHAMPTON. They sounded fresh as hell, but they might’ve been the kind of thing you had to just be there for. Over half a decade later, most of the artists that defined this period have moved on to other ventures—but as evidenced by Chasing Moving Trains, there’s one still hung up on it.
(01/30/25 9:53pm)
Sampling has always been at the core of hip–hop. DJ Kool Herc knew it when he threw the first ever hip–hop party in 1973. Back then, sampling was already about who could find the most unique records and mix together the newest sounds. But by the '80s and '90s, production was a whole different game. Wu–Tang Clan started sampling kung–fu films, MF DOOM sampled Marvel villains, and Eric B. and Rakim put out "Seven Minutes of Madness," one of the craziest sampling compositions ever released.
(12/05/24 3:09am)
If you’re a classical music enthusiast like myself, Philadelphia is the city to be.
(01/16/25 12:21am)
A pretty clear line can be drawn tracing Yeat’s musical evolution since he first blew up in 2021. Initially, there was the incredible run of 4L, Up 2 Më, and 2 Alivë: a seamless melding of hungry delivery, bouncy and hypnotic beat selections, and playfully tongue–in–cheek lyrics, half of which stuck in the form of inescapable vocal stims (“I been spinnin’ off these percs like I’m a laundromat”was generational shit). 2023’s AftërLyfe took an abrupt turn, with fewer memorable bars, but a fruitful dip in experimentation and introspection.
(02/17/25 7:32pm)
“Can the basement that they run p*tchfork out of just collapse already,” Halsey tweeted after reading the publication’s review of her 2020 album Manic—a review that said her newest work reminded them of “sitting miserably in the backseat of a Lyft.” This tweet was promptly deleted after Halsey found out that Pitchfork operates out of the World Trade Center. Halsey quickly tried to remedy the issue by claiming she was joking and was attempting to “poke at them back with the same aloof passive aggression they poke at artists with.”
