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on Writing

Co-Conspirators: The ‘Rock Revival’ Assembly

Who else is pushing for the return of rock? A continued investigation into mainstream music’s gestures towards a rock revival.

From the Dispatches at NO FUN Magazine.

In Parts I and II, we traced a line from Kid Cudi to Machine Gun Kelly (MGK)—via SNL—to the revival of pop punk in the US musical mainstream. We ended with the co-conspiracy between MGK and Yungblud to “bring back rock’n’roll.” To round off this cultural commentary on what’s brewing in pop music today, this third part ties up their collaboration and makes a link with Miley Cyrus via the mysterious indications provided by SNL’s selection of musical guests. … →

 
on Writing

The Return of a Genre Nobody Asked For

Machine Gun Kelly is on a mission to ‘bring back pop-punk.’ Can guitar sounds make a comeback after the
total ubiquity of hip hop and rap?
From the Dispatches at NO FUN Magazine.

In Part I, we looked at Kid Cudi’s internet-breaking dress moment on Saturday Night Live (SNL) earlier this month. In Part II, we go further with the SNL musical guests, having noticed something brewing in (American) pop music that hasn’t happened in a long time. It’s strange that the common link here is SNL. Why would a long-running (maybe outdated) comedy sketch and variety show potentially be a present signal, a radar, of what is manifesting within pop music? Though perhaps the question is rather, why not?

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on Writing

Kid Cudi wears a dress. Breaks the internet.

A cultural commentary on Kid Cudi’s dress appearance on SNL and new indicators towards what’s brewing in pop music.

From the Dispatches at NO FUN Magazine.

Kid Cudi showed up on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in a dress, and the internet exploded. Presumably this was exciting because it was a man, in a dress. There is a long history of American popular culture misrepresenting trans people with harmful stereotypes, tropes, and appropriating ballroom culture, etc. This appearance by Cudi (or Cudder as he is fondly called by fans) felt like a re-run of a tonne of problems seen before (for an intro to the missteps of American film and TV in portrayals of trans lives see Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, a documentary by Sam Feder that premiered at Sundance in 2020 before being purchased by Netflix.)

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on Interview

Interview: Jess on ‘Offline Matters’ with MAEKAN

An interview with long-time Outsider supporters MAEKAN about my new book Offline Matters.

When did creative work become so boring? When did ‘digital-first’ come to dominate everything? …and why is nobody talking about it?

Offline Matters with Jess Henderson
Interview by Charis Poon

“In reading Offline Matters I saw the thoughts I don’t give myself time to think articulated precisely in black and white. Here in front of me were the contents of the inner monologue that runs through the background of my professional life as a designer, writer, and strategist. But this book is much better than anyone’s stream of consciousness, because the author, Jess Henderson, spells out with clarity and conviction the reasons behind those perpetual nagging sensations of dissatisfaction, boredom, and incredulity that is doing creative work for money.
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