Craig Jenkins Author Archive
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Craig Jenkins

Music Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@CraigSJ
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Craig Jenkins is a critic who writes about music and television and comedy and video games. He was a 2021 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism.

  1. solitude
    Relishing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an Anti-Anxiety OasisThe game runs refreshingly against the rising tide of bad, dark news.
  2. book excerpt
    Kenny Rogers Was Never Just One Kind of ArtistPop-country owes a debt of gratitude to the late singer and his debut hit “Lucille.”
  3. quarantuning
    10 Songs to Get You Through This Anxious, Lonely SpringWe’ve got upbeat jams about spooky premonitions and quiet songs about how spring sorta sucks and a psych-rock epic about the apocalypse.
  4. radio vulture
    ‘Donald Glover Presents’ Only Makes Him Even More of an EnigmaWas this thing supposed to come out or not?
  5. radio vulture
    Coronavirus Should Be a Turning Point for the Music IndustryIt’s the nightmare scenario that calls the viability of the whole business structure into question.
  6. album review
    Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake Should Have the Competition Taking NotesHe’s a rare rap star in a rare lane.
  7. radio vulture
    Why Shouldn’t Megan Thee Stallion Take What’s Hers?The idea that it’s too soon for Megan Thee Stallion to want a more fair deal is a fault in our own thinking, not hers.
  8. album review
    Bad Bunny Is Breaking All the Rules, and It’s a Thrill to WatchYHLQMDLG is an expression of Bad Bunny’s freedom both in the title and the music.
  9. song review
    Lady Gaga’s Message Remains Clear on ‘Stupid Love’: Just DanceGaga knows her audience too well.
  10. encounters
    What Happens When a Wunderkind Grows Up?King Krule talks his new album Man Alive!, mostly avoiding the music industry, and how fatherhood changed him.
  11. album review
    Is Grimes an Anti-Hero or Villain?Her new album, Miss Anthropocene, doesn’t make the question any easier.
  12. album review
    Tame Impala and Justin Bieber Return 5 Years Later Changed MenThe Slow Rush and Changes are dispatches about married life, each from different vantage points.
  13. song review
    Billie Eilish and James Bond Are a Perfect Marriage“No Time to Die” is possibly the quietest Bond song ever, and one of the few times you get to hear Eilish raise her voice to a shout.
  14. radio vulture
    The Tide Has Rapidly Turned on Billie EilishIt’s hard not to view Billie Eilish’s remarks about hip-hop through the prism of the long history of white people turning their noses up at rap.
  15. super bowl 2020
    For 15 Minutes, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez United the MassesThe message was loud.
  16. album review
    Kesha’s High Road Is the Freest She’s Ever SoundedKesha has crafted her most upbeat, free-spirited batch of songs in almost a decade.
  17. radio vulture
    Taylor Swift Finally Invites You Into Her Narrative on Miss AmericanaMiss Americana peels away some of Taylor Swift’s complexities to reveal even more complexities.
  18. grammys 2020
    The Grammys Can’t Go On Like ThisThe show needed to be caustic and political, but calamity had other plans.
  19. going solo
    Hayley Williams’s Solo Debut Was Worth the 15-Year WaitI would’ve guessed the Paramore front woman’s first solo single would be a full-tilt pop-radio assault. I’m happy I was wrong.
  20. as told to
    I Had to Do Right by Mac MillerProducer Jon Brion on the gutting task of completing the rapper’s final album after his sudden death.
  21. album review
    Mac Miller Leaves Us His Most Compelling Artistic Statement on CirclesHis posthumous album is a stab at the caliber of songwriting achieved by titans of the form.
  22. profile
    The PerfectionistIn honor of Mac Miller’s posthumous album, Circles, we’re republishing our profile, which originally ran just before his death in 2018.
  23. song review
    Drake and Future Are Way Too Good at Memeing ThemselvesThe video seems destined to live as a constellation of GIFs.
  24. album review
    Selena Gomez Returns Unbothered and at Her Best on RareIt’s a whole album’s worth of “I still got it.”
  25. appreciations
    Clare Torry’s Voice Is Seared Into Your Brain Whether You Know It or NotHer performance on Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky ” manages to express the full range of human emotion without relying on words.
  26. coming attractions
    32 Albums We Can’t Wait to Hear in 2020You know, besides Rihanna.
  27. song review
    R&Bieber’s Back, for Better or WorseThe pivot back to R&B is a fascinating one for Justin Bieber, if you remember what happened the last time he tried it.
  28. album review
    Harry Styles’s Sound Could Still Use a Bit of Fine-tuningFine Line goes where it pleases, for better or worse.
  29. radio vulture
    We’re Losing Another Rap Generation Right Before Our EyesThe question of the moment is the question of the decade: Are things just always bad, or are they historically bad?
  30. what were the 2010s?
    ‘I Don’t Know What Myself Is’Pharrell explains why he’s better when he’s making music for other people, and his songs that defined the decade.
  31. album review
    Camila Cabello’s in Love … and Not Much ElseLike the performances of “Señorita” we’ve seen all fall, Romance generates heat and not enough fire.
  32. best of 2019
    The Best Albums of 2019This year should be remembered as a bridge between music’s past and future.
  33. baby it’s cold outside
    Where to Even Begin With 2019’s Never-Ending New (and New-ish) Christmas MusicYou guide to the best of the crop, some quality cash grabs, and a few delightfully boring ones.
  34. a long talk
    Little Brother Can’t Be ErasedThe beloved rap duo on reuniting, how the 2010s changed the music industry, and why their influence on Drake isn’t up for debate.
  35. album review
    Don’t Look Now, But Coldplay Are Good Again Everday Life is a big bang for a band believed to be dead or dying.
  36. grammys 2020
    It’s a Whole New Era for the GrammysThe 2020 nominations are a noteworthy change of pace for a show that has caught hell for choosing the old guard, like Taylor Swift, over new talent.
  37. radio vulture
    Hell Hath No Fury Like Taylor Swift ScornedThe row between Taylor, Scooter Braun, and Scott Borchetta is ugly and getting uglier.
  38. song review
    Billie Eilish Has a Freak-out About Sudden Fame on ‘Everything I Wanted’It’s an impostor-syndrome fantasy, feeling like the love and respect you enjoy are undeserved and easily withdrawn.
  39. a long talk
    R.E.M. Never Meant to Get So BigMichael Stipe and Mike Mills reflect on Monster at 25, the real Kurt Cobain, and Billie Eilish’s impact.
  40. radio vulture
    Drake Will Be FineAll of this comes from a place of generalized disbelief that there could be a crowd somewhere that loves rap but doesn’t unilaterally love Drake.
  41. radio vulture
    Why Can’t This Kanye West Show Up More Often?“Follow God” and its video are the message we needed to hear from Kanye this year, but what we’re getting is nuclear-grade pomposity.
  42. album review
    FKA Twigs Reaches New Creative Heights on MagdaleneIt’s a breakup album, written in a period of upheaval not only limited to the artist’s romantic life.
  43. album review
    Earl Sweatshirt Keeps the Power of Underground Rap AliveFeet of Clay is Earl and his favorite collaborators spitballing ideas over scenes of disarray.
  44. album review
    The Gospel According to Kanye WestOn Jesus Is King, can music’s biggest ego be tamed?
  45. song review
    The Quiet Strength of Selena Gomez’s ‘Lose You to Love Me’“Lose You to Love Me” is naked honesty, lyrically and musically.
  46. radio vulture
    A New, Ever-Complicated Era of Frank Ocean Is Upon UsIs Frank Ocean circling album mode again?
  47. profile
    Brittany Howard’s Solo MissionAfter critical acclaim with the Alabama Shakes, the fiery frontwoman goes it alone.
  48. song review
    Harry Styles’s ‘Lights Up’ Is Deliciously UnsubtleThe spiciest detail in all of this is the timing.
  49. radio vulture
    R&B’s Future Sounds a Lot Like Its PastHow newcomers like Summer Walker and Ari Lennox look to R&B’s history to outline a new path for young black creatives.
  50. album review
    Wilco’s Ode to Joy Is a Thrilling New Beginning for the BandAs it was with Foxtrot, the urge to read Joy as a state of the union address for the tech-giant generation receiving this music is enticing.
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