Today’s Features
Talks Releasing His Best Song Ever
“I think I just wrote my best song ever.”
These words, spoken by TikTok’s generic text-to-speech voice (you know the one), are the first thing you see and hear in a TikTok post uploaded on July 19th, 2022 by user @jvke. The 21 year-old singer/songwriter/producer earnestly looks at the camera, instructs you to “wait for the drop,” hits the space bar on his computer’s keyboard, closes his eyes, and starts to play the air piano. The rest of the video sees JVKE lip-syncing, swaying and spinning to the first verse and chorus of his latest creation “golden hour.” The song had dropped just four days prior, and it’s clearly one that JVKE is proud of.
Is Pop Perfection In ‘All 4 Nothing’
Lauv, the pop sensation behind hit songs including “I’m so tired…” and “I Like Me Better,” is preparing for the release of his second studio album, ‘All 4 Nothing,’ later this week. Admittedly exceeding his expectations, the artist sees the project as a self-explorative work inspired by a challenging time; not only in his life but in the world as a whole. We recently had the opportunity to gain more insight into the creative process that inspired the album.
On The Beauty In The Madness
On July 15th Bay-Area R&B/hip-hop singer Rexx Life Raj dropped Blue Hour, his most intimate album to date, via EMPIRE. The twelve-song project is an honest retelling of Raj’s mental state in the immediate aftermath of his mother's passing. Raj is often praised for his world-building, however, he takes it to the next level on this project.
Toronto native, Lauren Isenberg, known professionally as renforshort, is a dynamic singer-songwriter at the inception of what is sure to be a lengthy, successful career. The artist has carved out her own distinct sound in the alt-pop space that features vulnerable lyrical content backed by infectious and energetic guitar-forward instrumentals. Furthermore, the cathartic release of her songwriting allows for extreme relatability for listeners.
A project nearly two years in the making, MICO’s ‘second thoughts EP’ marks the latest chapter in the artist’s coming of age story. From navigating teenage love and heartbreak to the uncertainties of being an independent musician, each track offers a distinct relatability that bodes well with his predominately Gen-Z audience. In our recent conversation, MICO shared his goal of reaching the full potential of the punk-pop sound. And as ambitious as this may seem, the artist has achieved such here to perfection — a swinging dose of 2000s nostalgia along with a ton of personal flair.
Fernandina, Florida’s flipturn has blossomed into a household name amongst indie music fans since originating out of a garage in 2015. The band is characterized by infectious, movement inducing instrumentation paired with emotionally stirring, introspective vocals. Followers of flipturn are quick to emphasize the importance of experiencing the band live where they transport listeners into a musically induced trance.
By Matthew Meyer
“Cypress”, the new dreamy pop EP from Sarah Kinsley, is the release that she just finished performing for audiences across the country, redefining her image to her fans.
The EP hit streaming services on June 10, a year following her viral release of “The King,” which has exploded to almost 30,000,000 streams on Spotify since. The artist said the pop anthem, “completely took over my life.”
When I first met Wazo, the 23-year-old artist noticed me listening in to his conversation with another stranger. It was in French, in the darkness of a late-night party, and he was decked out in a balaclava, a silver nose piercing, Chrome Hearts, and several beautifully torn and sewn pieces (which I later found were the work of Wazo’s friend and collaborator, Fendi, who also acts as a stylist). I had seen Wazo perform a set of rage music the week prior at Elevate, an underground events company in DTLA, among churning, sweaty bodies, and neon strobes. I was curious about him but slightly intimidated by his aesthetic.
Makeup Abilities Are The Foundation of Her Success
Faced with the daunting diagnosis of Colitis, a chronic gastrointestinal illness causing inflammation in the colon, Sydney Morgan found herself bed-ridden in a hospital her junior year of high school. Instead of taking pity on herself or lamenting the situation, the now 19-year-old social media star used her ongoing battle with Colitis to grow and harness her talents.
By Eli Goodwin
Anime has been on a long-winded journey of shedding its stigma and cementing itself as an integral part of pop culture. One TikTok user has most certainly played a role in this: Huda Noor. At only 18 years old, Noor (@hudanoor07) has amassed over 730k followers doing what she does best: sharing with the world her love of anime.
By Kenneth Tse
In less than a year, Jake Gould has turned a pandemic pastime into unprecedented viral fame. The recent college graduate moved back in with his dad in 2020, allowing for many of the shenanigans that play out on his TikTok account, @jakesfunny. The two often trade humorous jabs in the form of prank videos which continue to blow up on the app. Content including the “How Long Until I Get Disowned” series and his infamous erectile dysfunction billboard has earned him nearly 39 million likes and a quickly growing fanbase.
By Eli Goodwin
In an app defined by trends and sounds and building ideas off one another, it takes a really special type of creator to make it completely on your own: without the trends, without the sounds, and certainly without ideas that are even slightly unoriginal. Jenn Melon does just that; At only 19 years old, Melon has over 915k followers and almost 47 million likes on her TikTok account.
By Kenneth Tse
Stephen Kramer Glickman has many things to celebrate in 2021. For starters, the longevity of his podcast The Night Time Show, which celebrated its 200th episode on July 3rd. Next, the milestone of his TikTok account surpassing an impressive 1.5 million followers and 23 million likes. And, of course, who can forget Glickman's continued icon status for his role as Gustavo Roque on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush.
18-year-old Andy Jiang is one of the internet’s most popular storytellers. The TikTok content creator is a leader in his niche, sharing history’s most interesting and newsworthy moments with an audience of over 3.2 million.
Francine Ng is simply in a league of her own – the 23-year-old Chinese American TikToker has built up a community of over 760k followers! Her life as an influencer came as a complete accident and is in fact the product of the COVID-19 pandemic. After returning home from studying abroad in Japan, Francine self-quarantined for 3 weeks in her family’s guest room.
Talks New Music, Vulnerability, and Family