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For Better or For Worse: The Ambitious Finale to Summer Walker’s Trilogy
This in-depth analysis dismantles the “weaker” critique by celebrating the album’s sophisticated duality; its “For Better” self-love and “For Worse” pragmatism; and champions favorites like “FTM” and Situationship” as proof of her fearless artistic growth and the perfect end to an iconic trilogy. Summer Walker’s third studio album, Finally Over It, is a ambitious and…
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Five Years Later: How Ariana Grande mastered the art of an aging album
Ariana Grande released her sixth studio album Positions in 2020 and since then has become a household staple in contemporary R&B. Arguably Ariana’s most vocally powerful album to date even after Eternal Sunshine. When Ariana Grande’s Positions arrived on October 30, 2020, the world was locked down. Theatres were closed, tours were a distant memory,…
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Bad Bitch, Good Girl, Man’s Best Friend
Sabrina Carpenter turns scandal into spectacle with an album that’s equal parts disco glitter, dirty jokes, and pop-star domination. Sabrina Carpenter has always thrived on being cheeky, but with Man’s Best Friend, she’s gone from wink-wink pop princess to full-blown cultural firestarter. Released on August 29, the album arrived with a cover that instantly broke…
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When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Every night, we vanish. Our bodies lie still, breath soft, limbs slack; but we are somewhere else. Somewhere strange, vivid, unexplainable. We fall asleep, and in that falling, we slip into a space not bound by physics and not understood by logic. A space where our minds stretch into impossible places. Where does it begin?…
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Pick Your Power: Performer, Vocalist, or Lyricist; Every Artist Needs a Lane
In today’s fast-paced music industry, standing out means owning at least one core skill, and the greats know exactly what I mean In today’s music industry, it’s not enough to just make noise; you have to master something. With so many artists emerging daily and attention spans getting shorter, the ones who truly stand out…
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Justin Bieber’s “SWAG”, A Comeback Worth Talking About?
I spun SWAG on release night expecting a standard pop victory lap. Instead I got smoky bass lines, diaristic voice notes and the most relaxed vocals Bieber’s delivered since Journals. The record’s R&B-first palette; think quiet-storm keys, trunk rattling 808s and unvarnished confessionals; pulled me in fast, especially on “Therapy Session,” “Yukon” and the deceptively…
they, them, and then some 