Chaka Khan criticized modern female popstars for 'doing any and every damn thing on stage' while trying to sing, suggesting they are compensating for vocal weaknesses.
In §46, Kant defines genius as "the inborn predisposition of the mind through which nature gives the rule to art" (5:307). Because beautiful art cannot be created according to fixed rules, the artistic genius is a kind of channel for the way beauty appears spontaneously in nature. (My slideshow includes Angelus Silesius's "Die Rose" on this point: "The rose is without why.") For Kant, genius has a talent that cannot be learned or taught, and it cannot give an account of itself.
Picture Reshona Landfair in 1996 at 12 years old, when she met the R&B superstar R Kelly (real name Robert Kelly). Her world, she says, seemed like a buffet spread out before her. She was a popular girl, a seriously talented basketball player and the youngest member in her words, the pint-sized girl rapper of 4 The Cause, the singing group she had formed with three cousins.
While taking a break from her musical career, Tifrere founded the nonprofit organisations ArtLeadHER and Art Genesis in 2016. ArtLeadHER provides visual-arts education and exhibition opportunities to women and teenage girls, while Art Genesis helps organise shows for emerging and underrepresented artists.
On TikTok, many people are pulling beauty inspo from these cute (and slightly creepy) toys, which were originally released in 1972. Blythe dolls have big eyes, pouty lips, and perfect makeup, plus really fun outfits, hairstyles, and accessories. Because there are so many versions of the doll - think a Fenty-level range of skin tones - it's said that everyone has a Blythe that looks exactly like them.
Rap music has long been framed as a genre of excess: too loud, too violent, too vulgar. From its beginnings, it has been associated with anger, confrontation, and a form of hypermasculinity that leaves little room for alternative expressions. In France especially, rap has often been perceived as the voice of male youth from working-class neighborhoods, carrying narratives of struggle, rivalry, and domination.
The staff of Pitchfork listens to a lot of new music. A lot of it. On any given day our writers, editors, and contributors go through an imposing number of new releases, giving recommendations to each other and discovering new favorites along the way. Each Monday, with our Pitchfork Selects playlist, we're sharing what our writers are playing obsessively and highlighting some of the Pitchfork staff's favorite new music.
Rockie does kinda feel like the album Donna Hayward would make if she could pursue her musical ambitions: She'd be influenced by Julee Cruise, for sure, and probably Chromatics, and Sky Ferreira, and what could be more Badalamentian than the cloudburst of synth that opens "On Our Knees"?
Chances are, if the Atlanta rapper sounds like they have a loogie stuck in their throat, I'll probably like them. B5 and Zeeball? Yep-"Heist" might be the biggest omission from our Best Rap Songs of 2025 list. Rroxket? I still listen to his zooted-out regularly. Before I get carried away, let's add Bby Kell to that list. Her new tape, Straight Pop, is cool as hell-it reminds me of Glokk40Spaz back when his bread and butter was belligerent dark plugg.
In the men's sections of Black beauty supply stores, his airbrushed mug and smizing hazel eyes are plastered on nearly every package: brushes, afro picks, curl sponges, curl cream, velvet durags, satin durags, silk durags, uh, turban durags. Sometimes I'll just walk into the shop to closely examine his mannerisms on each cardboard box.
The rapper, known on his tax form as Charles Wingate and known by his old Harlem associates as Charley Rambo, made his name in the rap game during an all-too-brief run in the 2000s, as one of the most colorful members of Jim Jones' Byrdgang, his solo offshoot from the Diplomats (although due to his growing up with rappers Cam and Mase, Max is like honorary Dipset).
