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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. album review
    The Lasting Gift of the Star Is Born SoundtrackThese songs are destined to dominate karaoke nights.
  2. album review
    Sheck Wes’s ‘Mo Bamba’ Is a Hit. Is There Anything As Good on Mudboy?On it, he looks for acceptance in a city that doesn’t seem designed to help him prosper.
  3. album review
    On Desperate Man, Eric Church’s Devastating Pen Is Pushed to Center StageIt doesn’t pretend to have answers for why evil perseveres.
  4. album review
    Tha Carter V Is Lil Wayne’s Best Album in YearsIt is almost surgically all-inclusive. There are nods to every region of American rap music and nearly every era of Wayne.
  5. roundtables
    What’s the Best Album in Lil Wayne’s Carter Series?The New Orleans rapper uses the series to track his evolution, but how does each one hold up years later?
  6. album review
    Brockhampton’s Iridescence Is Reckless and UnpredictableIt comes out with breathtaking surprises but also a few duds.
  7. album review
    Noname’s New Album, Room 25, Is Evocative and ConfessionalHer songs are short and intimate, but they never seem slight.
  8. album review
    Finding Beauty in Low’s Unsettling Machine BluesTwenty-five years in, they’ve still got it.
  9. interview
    An Interview With Mac Miller“Everything has so much weight, but it’s all just chapters.”
  10. music
    Have Paul McCartney and Paul Simon Run Out of Steam?It’s complicated.
  11. album review
    Swamp Dogg’s New Album Is Deeply OddAnd sometimes brilliant, too.
  12. album review
    What Is Eminem Going to Do When He Runs Out of People to Blame?Apparently, everything is everyone else’s fault.
  13. album review
    Troye Sivan’s Bloom Is a Joy to Listen ToOn it, he models a carefree gay masculinity the world works hard to condition out of young boys.
  14. interview
    The Weight of the Earth: As Blood Orange, Devonté Hynes Finds Beauty in Pain“I’m trying to get to the feeling. I’m just doing whatever I can to get there.”
  15. album review
    Mitski’s Be the Cowboy Is Devastatingly GoodIt improves on the stunning Puberty 2 by switching up the method.
  16. album review
    The Quirky Beauty of Ariana Grande’s SweetenerA few fans of her previous dance-pop hits might be seething this week.
  17. obituaries
    Aretha Franklin’s Music Broke BarriersShe never left the church for the charts, but she brought it with her on the way.
  18. album review
    The Banquet of Trash Talk That Is Nicki Minaj’s QueenShe comes at pretty much everyone, but there’s more to the album than that.
  19. interview
    YG Is a Style Icon, Storyteller, and Hitmaker — but What Comes Next?“You take your sound, and you make it universal. It makes you universal.”
  20. how to write a song in 2018
    Why Are All the Songs of the Summer So Sad?Welcome to pop’s Great Depression.
  21. album review
    Travis Scott Made This Year’s Plushest Drug-Rap AlbumIt’s party rap for the FOMO generation.
  22. review
    Iggy Azalea’s Survive the Summer Isn’t Exactly Her ComebackBut it does start to put some distance between her and a very bad year.
  23. public opinion
    What Do We Want From Chance the Rapper?If he raps about faith, people bristle about it being too liturgical. People also bristle at the tough talk and money talk.
  24. music
    Foo Fighters Are Classic Rock NowAnd there’s nothing wrong with that.
  25. Rick Ross and Dave East Really Love The Fresh Prince“Shout out to Will. Shout out to 215.”
  26. music review
    The Feel Good Mutant Soul of Dirty Projectors’ Lamp Lit ProseIt’s all upbeat ruminations on affection and excitement, where the last album fixated almost exhaustingly on rot.
  27. music review
    On Beast Mode 2, Future Hits Another Hot StreakAt his peak, it feels like melodies are just jumping out of his face.
  28. album review
    Drake Fails to Grow on ScorpionBoth sides of Scorpion needed to drop three or four songs and get a grip.
  29. album review
    Florence and the Machine and Gorillaz Fight for the Future on Their New AlbumsBoth seem intent upon inspiring listeners to fight through the crushing gravity of the times.
  30. music review
    Teyana Taylor Finally Gets Her Moment to Shine on K.T.S.E.Teyana’s record is almost too good for the glut of disconcerting Kanye press that preceded it.
  31. album review
    Bebe Rexha’s Expectations Explores Weird, Bad FeelingsIf you like your pop music a little forlorn and introspective, you’ll find plenty of candidates here for rainy-day-mood playlists.
  32. music
    The Complicated Life and Death of XXXTentacionThe cruel figure he played on the harsher records in his short catalogue lined up with violence he encouraged and visited on others in real life.
  33. essays
    The New Wave of Rap Violence Shouldn’t Be IgnoredYoung artists like XXXTentacion, Kodak Black, and Tay-K are making popular music, but their real-life violent actions can’t just be glossed over.
  34. music review
    On Everything Is Love, Beyoncé and Jay-Z are Performing a Marriage in Real TimeEach song here is the rare team-up where both parties sound like they’re pushing each other to greater heights.
  35. On Redemption, Jay Rock Searches for His VoiceThe more it focuses on Jay Rock’s knack for passionate storytelling, instead of flashy hooks and repetition, the better it fares.
  36. Dave Matthews Band’s Come Tomorrow Is a Quiet Moment in an Overstuffed YearIt’s all solid backyard cookout music and comforting headphone music.
  37. album review
    Kids See Ghosts Is the Win Kanye and Kid Cudi Badly NeededTheir debut collaborative album is the sound of old friends pooling their strengths to overcome tragedy.
  38. The Pretty Emptiness of Kanye West’s YeKanye West was once the everyman’s rapper, a poet of the downtrodden. He hasn’t been that artist in years.
  39. On Kanye West, Expectations, and FamilyWhy sell this music with that drama?
  40. Drake Probably Should Have Seen This ComingPusha-T’s “The Story of Adidon” is a brutal retaliation.
  41. The Fascinatingly Weird World of A$AP Rocky’s TestingIt’s enticing in some spots, and unlistenable in others.
  42. Pusha-T Is Having Another MomentHis new album, Daytona, is a return to form produced by Kanye West that proves that being a rap traditionalist doesn’t mean you have to be boring.
  43. Pusha-T’s Daytona Is His Best Album in YearsAnd you can tell he knows it’s great.
  44. Summer Music Preview: Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and So Much KanyePlus: Wild speculation about Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Childish Gambino.
  45. Courtney Barnett Seeks Out Harsh Truths on Tell Me How You Really FeelIt’s a fitting document of these tumultuous times.
  46. music review
    The Internet Has Already Devoured ‘This Is America’But it still has power.
  47. Arctic Monkeys Find New Life by Rewriting Their FormulaTranquility Base Hotel and Casino ditches the old Arctic Monkeys sound in favor of late-night, self-aware vampire soul music.
  48. Kanye West Let Us DownIf he never comes back from wandering out on the edges with the trolls and the racists, the times we felt inspired by his work still belong to us.
  49. Dirty Computer Is an Introduction to the Real Janelle MonáeIt’s as much a celebration of love as a threat to powerful merchants of hate.
  50. J. Cole’s KOD Is a Thoughtful Meditation on AddictionThe North Carolina rapper explores the perils of addiction from multiple angles, to emotionally powerful results.
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