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Defector

Books

Defector At The Movies

Music

Arts And Culture

Soraya Roberts

Tunde Adebimpe’s Solo Debut Channels The Gift Of The Mixtape

Israel Daramola

The Case For A New MTV

John Semley is a writer and researcher based in Philadelphia.

John Semley

People queue outside indie record store Flashback Records to shop for vinyls on Record Store Day in London on April 20, 2024.

How Record Store Day Became The Stupidest Day In Music

Lindsey Adler is a writer based in Brooklyn. She exclusively covered sports for a decade but has other interests, too.

Lindsey Adler

NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 28: Jesse Lacey of Brand New performs during the 2017 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience at City Park on October 28, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Brand New Tour, Same Old Question

Billy Haisley

Still image of MC Ktrine and DJ Saze from the music video for "Bonde da Ó."

MC Ktrine’s Rapping Is A Gift To Brazilian Funk

Gangsta Grillz Is Forever

David Roth

Left to right, Jason Narducy, Bob Mould, and Jon Wurster playing a set at Riot Fest in Chicago in 2019.

Podcasts

Catching The Rain, With Bob Mould

Kathryn Xu

KiiiKiii And The Dawn Of K-Pop’s Process Era

What Is An Industry Plant Anyway?

Dave McKenna

Ray Ratto

Lauren Theisen

John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page from rock group Led Zeppelin perform live on stage at Earls Court in London on 24th May 1975. The image is in black and white; the Defector Music Club badge, at upper right, is not.

Defector Music Club Is Getting The Led Out

Playboi Carti Goes Big Game Hunting

To Live And Age In Rap Music

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

Kelsey McKinney

Tate McRae kicking her leg up into the splits like a Barbie.

Two Tate McRae Fans Explain Everything They Know About Tate McRae

How Donald Trump Won Rap Back

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 28: Cash Cobain and Bay Swag attend Funk Flex Winter Fest on December 28, 2024 in New York City. Cobain is wearing a Yankees cap and sunglasses. He has a beard that's short and hit shis chin. He's in a blue hoodie. Bay Wag is wearing a big gold chain, sunglasses, a baseball hat, a very diamond-encrusted watch, and holding a plastic bottle of water in one hand and a microphone in the other

How Do You Make Sex And Party Music For An Era Uninterested In Both?

Interior of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, showing orchestra in foreground and audience in back

Silence Brings Us Together

A woman stands in front of the Yoko Ono, »Cut Piece«, 1965, during a press preview at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Duesseldorf, western Germany on September 26, 2024. In cooperation with the Tate Modern, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is presenting the influential work of artist and activist Yoko Ono in a comprehensive solo exhibition taking place from September 28, 2024 to March 6, 2025.

My Weekend With Yoko

Kendrick Lamar performs at the Super Bowl

Kendrick Lamar Did The Super Bowl Halftime Show His Way

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Doechii performs onstage at the Grammy Awards

Under The Influence

Doechii’s Old Vlogs Document Her Self-Invention

Luis Paez-Pumar

7/3/1998-Holmdel, NJ: Limp Bizkit poses for a group shot at the "Ozzfest" at the PNC Bank Arts Center.

I Have Strong Feelings About The Use Of Limp Bizkit’s “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)” In The Opening Credits To This Netflix Video Game Anime

I Believe In Ethel Cain

Giri Nathan

LiAngelo Ball #18 of the Charlotte Hornets stands on the court in the fourth quarter during a preseason game at Spectrum Center on October 05, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Middle Ball Brother Finds Basketball-Free Success

Bob Dylan plays a Fender Jazz bass with the harmonica around his neck while recording his album 'Bringing It All Back Home' on January 13-15, 1965 in Columbia's Studio A in New York City,

You Can Only Catch Bob Dylan With Time

Defector Staff

Year In Review

The Best Things We Heard In 2024

Annie Howard is a journalist and historian based in Chicago. She is currently at work on her debut manuscript, The City Made Me Trans.