John Norris
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(He/Him)
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Covers:
Music, culture, politics, social activism, LGBTQ+ issues, media, tech
Doesn't Cover:
Most retro or backward-looking pieces, with very few exceptions.
Retrophobe. Writes @ GQ; Billboard; Stereogum; DailyBeast; Esquire; PAPER Ex: MTV News; Fuse; VICE Soc francophile. NYer 4ever. The world only spins forward.
Articles by John Norris
Finn Wolfhard Talks Wilco & the Stones Influencing His New Album – And The Replacements Biopic He’s Cowriting Original
Trending on Billboard On New Year’s Day, millions worldwide tuned in to watch, through many a tear-filled eye, Mike Wheeler of Hawkins, Indiana, put his D&D book on the shelf, and bring to a close one of the greatest cross-generational pop culture phenomena of this century, Stranger Things.
Issues
Under the Radar is pleased to share our election year Protest Issue for 2012, on newsstands now, featuring two covers with Dan Deacon and Tegan and Sara. The issue features major stories on the music of Occupy and gay musicians talking about current queer issues. The issue is now available to buy in the digital/iPad format here. “Of course, they want you to think that you can’t beat them.
Lucy Bedroque & kuru Enter Their Next Era
In early May, VMAN first met two of the most captivating artists to emerge in post-pandemic music, backstage in Brooklyn.
FINNEAS on Scoring the New Season of ‘BEEF,’ Speaking Out & Whether There’s an EGOT in His Future Original
Trending on Billboard Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but come on. The prolific musical polymath, actor and activist FINNEAS O’Connell is already half of the way to an EGOT at the age of 28. Thanks primarily to his generational work with his sister, whom you may have heard of, FINNEAS is already the holder of 11 Grammys.
V Archives: V91 Twigs in Full Bloom
Eusexa: a state of profound, ecstatic euphoria, the pinnacle of human experience. After 11 years and a faulty visa, FKA Twigs is scheduled to perform at the Mojave stage on Sunday, April 12th, 2026, at 8:45 pm. In 2014, V sat down with Tahliah Barnett (FKA twigs), writer John Norris, and photographer Sølve Sundsbø. At the time, she was simply a girl in a London Studio. Singing into a mic facing the wrong way, teaching herself Ableton at night, and editing her own videos at 4 am. A well-oiled machine.
Sofaygo Is Back in the Mix and Feeling the Love
On the final night of February in New York, the streets were still lined with snow from two successive storms, but the frigid cold that had gripped our city for much of the month had abated. And inside the Gramercy Theatre, things were truly heating up. A mosh pit surged and ebbed, a sea of bodies and phones bounced virtually non-stop, and voices shouted and sang along with songs new and not-so-new.
New Album 'Cutthroat,' Rocking Out Again, & Newfound Maturity
It may be Steen whose approach was most different on Cutthroat. For the first time, he did all his lyric writing while recording, ensconced at Salvation Studios in cold and rainy Brighton on England’s south coast last December. Waiting and hoping that the words will come might sound a risky proposition when you’re on the clock, but for Steen it worked. “John would ask, ‘What is the identity of the song?’ And for me it’s very important to have like a sketch, or a direction,” he explains.
EKKSTACY Gets Candid About Substance Abuse, His New Relationship & Going for a ‘Full Band’ Sound on ‘FOREVER’ Album Original
“Forever,” Prince famously declared in the pastor-like open to his carpe diem chart-topper “Let’s Go Crazy” – “that’s a mighty long time.” “Live now,” the Purple One urged us in song, “before the Grim Reaper comes knocking on your door.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news FOREVER is also the name of the fourth project and third studio album from EKKSTACY, the Canadian alt/indie musician who knows a little something about getting crazy and living like...
EKKSTACY Gets Candid About Substance Abuse, His New Relationship & Going for a ‘Full Band’ Sound on ‘FOREVER’ Album
1 hour ago Smokey Robinson is under criminal investigation after housekeepers accuse him of sexual assault An attorney for the 85-year-old Motown singer Robinson has denied the allegations and said he is “confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong." Iconic soul singer Smokey Robinson, who was accused of sexually assaulting four former housekeepers for years in a … 11 hours ago George Clooney Flips Fox News Ambush Into Viral Mockery The movie star had a...
Eem Triplin Is In A Lane Of His Own
Eem Triplin is Gen Z. And he’s a rapper. But he’s not a “Gen Z rapper.” The distinction? That mostly what “Gen Z rapper” connotes nowadays is the post-Carti cohort: ragers whose sound and vibes have as much to do with punk, grunge, mosh pits, and buried vocals as anything more traditionally rap.
Muni Talks: Singer-Songwriter Muni Long’s Star, Now in its Third Act, is Still Rising | Honda Stage
Billboard Women in Music 2025 Being an overnight, out-of-nowhere, breakout teenage star is all well and good, often impressive, and sometimes a story that is frustratingly fleeting. But paying your dues, honing your craft, taking your natural gifts as a singer and songwriter to new heights and finding your greatest success two decades into a career?
The Grammys' Rap And Rock Categories Are Stuck In The Past
If you’ve read a take on the upcoming 67th Grammy Awards, happening this weekend, it may have been something about what a great year it’s been “for women.” And while for me that has a whiff of knuckleheaded condescension about it – every year is a “great year for women” if you’re paying attention – it’s true that it’s been a huge belated breakthrough year for three brash women in pop.
New Jersey Band On New EP 'Come Back Down'
While not as flogged into near-meaninglessness as those ubiquitous descriptors “punk” and “psychedelic,” “shoegaze” is nevertheless hella overused. While it still evokes something broadly knowable in most minds, it’s spawned multiple subgenres: “dreamgaze,” “Nu gaze,” “hazegaze.” I still own an old “Genre” T-shirt by Hipster Runoff’s king of the droll, Carles, that includes the absurd “no gaze” and “crab_gaze.” For their part, New Jersey’s High.
NLE Choppa Is More Than Meets the Eye
It started with a selfie. Bryson Potts—known to the world as platinum-selling Memphis rapper NLE Choppa—was taking a mirror snap of himself that he was especially impressed with. “And the line just came to me: ‘If I was a bad bitch, I’d wanna fuck me too!’” he says.
Armed With His Best Album Yet, Rich Amiri Is 'War Ready'
Honestly, who isn’t war ready, at this point? Or maybe you’re war weary. All things considered, with recent events and the State Of Things, I don’t blame anyone for being on the verge of either strapping up or checking out. But in the case of Rich Amiri, the 20-year-old rapper with the deep and distinctive flow, the timely title of his upcoming fourth album War Ready, out this Friday, is more personal than socio-political.
Private: Putting the BigX in Xanadu: Texas’ BigXthaPlug Takes Brooklyn at Billboard’s Hip-Hop Live
The most eye-popping, brightly-colored space to open this summer in Bushwick, Brooklyn has been Xanadu – “Xanadu Roller Arts” as it’s officially named. The 1,200-capacity roller skating rink, nightclub and music venue sports a large, round floor bathed in purple, pink and orange lights with multiple disco balls overhead.
Fontaines D.C. on How The Cure, ‘Akira’ & ‘Being In a Better Place’ Inspired Its Glorious New Album ‘Romance’ Original
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but “here’s the thing” has become an overused thing. The old expression is suddenly the go-to for anyone from influencers to politicians to news correspondents trying to make a point. “Here’s the thing,” like “at the end of the day” or “wait, whaaat? before it, has become a hackneyed verbal tic. But here’s the thing: “Here’s The Thing” also happens to be the title of a strong contender for Greatest Song of 2024.
Tegan and Sara’s Tegan Quin on Marriage Equality
Tegan and Sara One continent is barely big enough to contain Tegan and Sara Quin. They’re Western Canadians by birth, but years ago Sara Quin headed east, to live in Montréal and New York, leaving the territory left of the Continental Divide to sister Tegan. Still, twins are twins, and 3,000 miles can’t change the fact that Tegan and Sara’s similarities go beyond appearance and a love of music.
Debut Album 'Scream From New York, NY' & More
“Could you ever live anywhere but New York?” I am sometimes asked, by people who know that I have spent more than three decades in the city that may occasionally sleep but which never gets less expensive. My response is usually, “Probably, but I could live without a limb or two as well.” Being here is that important to me.
Skaiwater Talks Online Ignorance, Lil Nas X & Making Their Soulful, Danceable New Album Original
For most of rap music’s history, homophobic language – whether in lyrics or interviews, coming from artists or executives – was completely acceptable. (On more than one occasion in the ‘90s, I left a sitdown with a major rapper feeling an implied f-slur in my direction). Of course, it wasn’t only rap – offhand queerphobia was ubiquitous in mainstream culture.
Indie Rockers DIIV on Sobriety, New Album 'Frog In Boiling Water', U.S. Politics Original
Only a day after Cardi B made headlines for declaring she would not be voting in this year’s presidential election, because she doesn’t support U.S. involvement in foreign wars and doesn’t “fuck with” Joe Biden or Donald Trump, I am on a Zoom call with four activist-minded musicians who, it turns out, don’t disagree with the rapper. The gentlemen of DIIV know their politics, and are, one and all, hard progressives. Leftists with not much use for squishy moderates.
"I Was Blindsided": Sematary On Haunted Mound's Upheaval, New Mixtape 'Bloody Angel,' & More
It’s understandable if, in the fire hose of media attention paid last Friday to a certain superstar’s yee-haw turn, some less mainstream drops didn’t register on every radar. But in a very different, angstier, and frankly more XY-chromosome-dominated corner of the music universe, fans of the underground hip-hop collective Haunted Mound were tuned into the release of Bloody Angel, the latest project from the group’s fearless founder, leader, and provocateur, Sematary.
‘New Millennium Boyz,’ the Shocking Book That Shows How Far We’ve Come Since the Toxic ’90s
They may have been good to me, but the ’90s were not great. As someone who, as a correspondent for MTV News, had a fairly high-profile perch to the music, pop culture, politics, and social change (such as there was any) of the Clinton Era, I am here to tell you the decade is regularly, falsely, rose-colored-romanticized—often by people who lived through it, and often by straight white cis men.
‘New Millennium Boyz,’ the Shocking Book That Shows How Far We’ve Come Since the Toxic ’90s
Lachlan Murdoch 16 hours ago Rupert Murdoch's surprise exit from Fox leaves son Lachlan in line of succession at media empire Associated Press - DAVID BAUDER • 16h NEW YORK (AP) — Magnate Rupert Murdoch’s surprise announcement Thursday that he’s stepping down as leader of his two companies leaves his son Lachlan firmly in line of succession at Fox and the rest of the media empire.
The Shocking Book That Shows How Far We’ve Come Since the Toxic ’90s
They may have been good to me, but the ‘90s were not great. As someone who, as a correspondent for MTV News, had a fairly high-profile perch to the music, pop culture, politics and social change (such as there was any) of the Clinton Era, I am here to tell you the decade is regularly, falsely, rose-colored-romanticized—often by people who lived through it, and often by straight white cis men.
Paris Texas' Louie Pastel and Felix on MID AIR, Rap-Rock Label Original
The year is 2051. It turns out that some of our needs haven’t changed: sodas, smokes, chips, and drugs. But the drugs have different names. Fancy any Tuner? Gunk? Maybe even some hard-to-find Panic? (Be careful with that one.) Well, Felix and Louie have you covered. It’s all available from a ramshackle wooden stand—located at a nondescript corner in Los Angeles—where the pair toil away.
Luh Tyler Is the Feel-Good Story in Rap Right Now
Good, clean fun is the common denominator in his videos, like the sunny clip for “Back Flippin” that finds him literally back flipping from a boat into the waters of Miami while flashing a gold grill and sporting a bucket hat. In “Law & Order Pt. 2,” he goofs with his friends in the Florida capital, a city that hasn’t produced a major artist since a certain progenitor of Auto-Tune put a “T” in his name to honorTallahassee.
Luh Tyler Is the Feel-Good Story in Rap Right Now
On the third day of Rolling Loud California this past March, the Sunshine State turned out for the Golden State.
At Long Last, Rae Sremmurd Return
What’s five years, anyway? Well, five years ago, Donald Trump was in only his second year in office, A Quiet Place had just debuted as the number one movie in America, Drake’s “God’s Plan” was winding down an 11-week run as the top song in the country, and Rae Sremmurd were readying the release of their acclaimed third album Sr3mm.
At Long Last, Rae Sremmurd Return
What’s five years, anyway? Well, five years ago, Donald Trump was in only his second year in office, A Quiet Place had just debuted as the number one movie in America, Drake’s “God’s Plan” was winding down an 11-week run as the top song in the country, and Rae Sremmurd were readying the release of their acclaimed third album Sr3mm.
New Jersey’s Restless Riovaz Finds His Groove – And He’s Already Eying the Next Thing Original
Even by the standards of Baby’s All Right – the low-slung Williamsburg, Brooklyn music space with a tendency to become a turnt-up room both in terms of energy and literal heat — last Thursday (Feb. 23) was a crazy night. Jersey City’s irrepressible 18-year-old dance king Riovaz was back in the tristate area for the penultimate show of the sold-out RIORAVE, his first headlining tour of the States.
BROCKHAMPTON’s ‘The Family’ & ‘TM’ Albums Are a Bittersweet Goodbye Original
On The Family, Kevin Abstract puts the boy band he created on blast, while the full group bows out with surprise final release TM. There are some who, to this day, side eye the description of BROCKHAMPTON as a boy band, but Kevin Abstract and his ragtag collection of rappers, singers, producers, videographers and creatives have proudly owned the moniker since much of the world first discovered them through the 2017 Vice documentary series American Boyband.
Gilla Band Is One of the Loudest, Most Thrilling Acts of Its Generation Original
It only takes 30 seconds. Just a half-minute into Gilla Band’s Most Normal—the chaotic Irish noisemaker's brand new and brightest, relatively speaking, LP to date—on opening track “The Gum,” you know that the quartet has lost none of the ferociousness that established it, making them one of the most thrilling bands of its generation.
Orange County Rockers The Garden Are Wild, Wacky—And Totally Undeniable Original
“I’ve always liked the word ‘horseshit’,” declares Wyatt Shears, with all the certainty that one had better summon in making such a simple statement. “It’s a strong word, honestly,” cosigns Fletcher Shears, his twin brother and bandmate in the wild and wooly Southern California art punk duo The Garden.
Pure X
Web Exclusive More often than not when people talk about a “summer record,” they’re talking about those with a certain bounce and thematic preoccupation with, in no particular order: beach, sun, fun, boys, girls. Think Best Coast, Foster the People, you know the drill.
Pepper Rabbit
Web Exclusive Ask a blog-approved artist these days what bands from yesteryear were especially influential on them, and you’ll often hear names like Galaxie 500, Spaceman 3, Orange Juice, The Cure, OMD, the evergreen MBV and Joy Division, and so on. Far less often do you come across an indie up-and-comer who utters the names Supertramp and Chicago. But then Xander Singh, singer/songwriter of L.A.-based Pepper Rabbit appears to revel in going against the grain.
Matthew Dear: Goin' Up the Country
Matthew Dear: Goin’ Up the Country Goin' Up the Country Oct 11, 2012 Issue #42 - The Protest Issue By John Norris Photography by Wendy Lynch Redfern Several essential Gotham-based artists—Gang Gang Dance, Beirut, Dirty Projectors-have for their most recent records decided to take a break from the big, often distracting city, to head for the tranquility and seclusion of upstate New York. Add to that crew of indie émigrés the electronic innovator Matthew Dear, though his move is more long-term.
$not Is One of Gen Z's Most Mysterious Rappers. Now He's Dropping His "'808s' Album"
For a few days in early December, $NOT came home again. The rapper and singer has been one of hip-hop’s most exciting, charismatic and likable young guns for nearly three years now. He spent most of his life in Lake Worth, Florida, and still resides in the Sunshine State. But $NOT was born in New York to Haitian and Dominican parents 24 years ago as Edy Edouard, and lived in the city until age 7.
How Marriage & Religion Helped Melancholy Rapper Powfu Find Joy
Faber is now, at 22, a married man. His life profoundly changed in 2020 thanks to the viral hit “death bed (coffee for your head)” -- currently at more than two and a half billion streams and counting -- but the summer of 2021 brought Powfu a whole new level of bliss. “Yeah, a lot has been happening,” he says via Zoom from Abbotsford, British Columbia, not far from Mission, BC, the town in which he grew up. “It’s a whole new world.
LILHUDDY on the 7 Relationships That Inspired His Debut 'Teenage Heartbreak' Original
Arguably the most fascinating story in the space right now is LILHUDDY, and his ongoing transition from crown prince of TikTok to bona fide breakout star of Zoomer pop-punk. Hudson had already enjoyed a charmed life since at least 2019, when he decamped from Stockton to L.A., co-founded the influencer compound Hype House, and saw his already strong social presence skyrocket, earning some 32 million besotted TikTok followers who hung on his every word, move and fit.
Gen Z Rap’s Reluctant Star Lil Tecca Is Back Like He Never Left
No one in music was more impacted by the year of the pandemic than the breakout stars of 2019: musicians who had just begun to see their careers take off when suddenly, the brakes were slammed on. That Lil Tecca was one of those stars at all, let alone a leading light in the crowded field of melodic young trappers, was especially unlikely: instead of a grill, the 16 year old wore braces.
Kenny Mason, Atlanta’s Genre-Blending, Rule-Busting Alternative Rapper Who’s Shooting for the Moon – “In Another Galaxy” - Vman
In an exclusive interview with VMAN, Mason speaks on the complexities of the Black male archetype, processing trauma through music and revolutionizing the rap game. In an exclusive interview with VMAN, Mason speaks on the complexities of the Black male archetype, processing trauma through music and revolutionizing the rap game.
From Tik-Tok to 'Visionland': YBN Nahmir Is Back
What a difference a few months makes. On November 23rd 2020, one of the most charismatic young rappers of recent years was in a mood, and on a social media tear. “'After my album I really just wanna be done. Tired of fake n-ggas, fake teams, weak ass conflict of interested [sic]. Everything,” wrote YBN Nahmir on Twitter. “Imma give y’all the best music ever then I’m gone.” It sounded like a threat of early retirement from an artist who was still a few weeks shy of 21.
Nico Muhly: The Protest Issue Bonus Interview
Nico Muhly While probably best known to indie rock audiences as a collaborator and arranger on albums by Grizzly Bear, Jónsi, and Antony and the Johnsons, the vast majority of Nico Muhly’s work since his emergence in the early Aughts has been in the classical arena: an insanely prolific output of choral, orchestral, and chamber pieces, film scores, the 2008 solo release Mothertongue, and two operas: Two Boys, based on a true story involving adolescents, sex, Internet deception, and a violent...
Shame’s Magnetic Front Man Charlie Steen Is Taking Life “One Crisis at a Time”
The young British post-punk band Shame wrote and recorded a musically adventurous second album, Drunk Tank Pink, all about isolation and internal conflict. And then COVID happened. Charlie Steen remembers it well. He and his bandmates were in the luxe surroundings of La Frette Studios, a 19th Century mansion-turned-recording facility outside of Paris, ten days into recording their second album, alongside prolific producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Simian Mobile Disco).
Kurt Cobain Suicide Anniversary, Nirvana
Photo: Stephen Sweet/REX USA.The day John met Kurt. It remains one of the most frequently asked questions regarding my time at MTV News — “What was it like reporting on the death of Kurt Cobain?" The short answer is, of course, that it was breathtakingly, sickeningly sad, but no one who was around at the time would honestly say that it was shocking.
Latinx Soul Man Omar Apollo Talks About Playing Paisley Park, Getting Out of Indiana, and His New Project 'Apolonio'
The last time Omar Apollo and I spoke, it was in New York’s East Village, as he was winding down a US tour and looking ahead to his first trip to Europe with his band. Seventeen months, one pandemic, and for Omar, at least four hair colors later, we met again this week, via Zoom, even though the Hoosier-turned-Angeleno was back in the East Village and I was in nearby Brooklyn.
From “Burden” to Blissful, Healthy and Happy: 2020 Breakout Star Curtis Waters’ Debut Album Pity Party Is a Blast - Vman
That simple, three-word pat on the back, delivered in a cartoonishly sweet voice, has long been a signature touch of Curtis Waters’ music, dropped into the intro of every song he’s recorded, dating back to “My Ex-Girlfriend Turned Into the Moon,” a goofy, lo-fi declaration of love from 2017 that marked his first release as an artist.
The Drums’ Jonny Pierce on Marriage Equality and Why He’d Like to See an End to Gay Pride Parades
Issue #42 - The Protest Issue We spoke to eight gay and lesbian artists for The Protest Issue,all of them honest and passionate conversations ranging from politics to art to relationships. But none of them were more open and revealing than our exchange with Jonny Pierce of The Drums. In fact, over many years and many interviews, I have rarely encountered such on-the-record personal candor from a musician.
24kGoldn's 2020 Midas Touch
Rico Nasty Talks Debut Album, 'Nightmare Vacation' rico-nasty-nightmare-vacation-interview Rico Nasty knows how to stand out. In an era filled with gray days and dark skies, she is the rainbow-bright, spiky-haired, fashion-forward loudmouth with nothing to hide and everything to gain. Since first breaking out in 2016 with her underground hits "iCarly" and "Hey Arnold," the Maryland-born rapper has become one of the most exciting, singular voices in today's hip-hop scene.
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