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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. 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.
  2. radio vulture
    Hell Hath No Fury Like Taylor Swift ScornedThe row between Taylor, Scooter Braun, and Scott Borchetta is ugly and getting uglier.
  3. 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I Wanted’It’s an impostor-syndrome fantasy, feeling like the love and respect you enjoy are undeserved and easily withdrawn.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. album review
    The Gospel According to Kanye WestOn Jesus Is King, can music’s biggest ego be tamed?
  10. 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.
  11. radio vulture
    A New, Ever-Complicated Era of Frank Ocean Is Upon UsIs Frank Ocean circling album mode again?
  12. profile
    Brittany Howard’s Solo MissionAfter critical acclaim with the Alabama Shakes, the fiery frontwoman goes it alone.
  13. song review
    Harry Styles’s ‘Lights Up’ Is Deliciously UnsubtleThe spiciest detail in all of this is the timing.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. album review
    DaBaby Is Having One of the Most Exciting Years in RapHe’s quickly developed a sound that’s identifiable but not yet limiting.
  17. country music
    The Story of Country Music Is Too Vast for Even Ken Burns’s 16-Hour Doc to TellThe greatest compliment you could pay an undertaking like this is to wish there were more of it.
  18. song review
    Ari, Miley, and Lana’s Charlie’s Angels Song Can’t Make Its Pop Stars Align“Angel” blends styles that sound fine alone but struggle to jell together, such is the vastness of the space between the singers present.
  19. album review
    Charli XCX Is Making Pop for Our Doomed FutureThe weird kids are crashing the party, and making great music about how the party sucks.
  20. album review
    Post Malone Brings on Sad-Boy Fall on Hollywood’s BleedingThe first half-dozen songs are a gauntlet of parties, worries, and venting sessions about toxic relationships.
  21. fall preview 2019
    The Best and Biggest Albums to Listen to This FallFrom Tame Impala, Charli XCX, FKA Twigs, and more. Plus, four not-to-miss concerts.
  22. album review
    There’s Never Been a Country Supergroup Quite Like the HighwomenIt’s a dream team-up by turns uplifting enough to elicit good-spirited chuckles and gutting enough to bring you to tears.
  23. album review
    Lana Del Rey Is Fully in the Driver’s Seat on Norman Fucking RockwellThe album is a series of gratifying pop-album inversions that succeed on the depth of imagination of Del Rey and producer Jack Antonoff.
  24. album review
    The Old Taylor Is Back on Lover and the Best She’s Been in YearsLover finds Swift getting back to the business of writing aching, universal love songs, and business is good.
  25. song review
    ‘I Forgot That You Existed’ Is Taylor Swift in All Her Passive-Aggressive GloryIt’s self-care as snark.
  26. album review
    Sleater-Kinney’s New Album Was Worth the GambleThe Center Won’t Hold is a pop makeover for a band that didn’t especially need it, one that also cost it a drummer.
  27. song review
    Taylor and Miley Tell Two Tales of Love and Loss on ‘Lover’ and ‘Slide Away’If there’s anything to be gleaned from these singers’ divergent walks, it’s that there’s no stress-proof way to live in the public eye.
  28. music
    The Enduring Legacy of Sublime“You can’t f*ck Sublime up.”
  29. album review
    Bon Iver Tackles Bigger Worries on i,iTogether, the band is creating a musical language that’s left of center but shy of inscrutability.
  30. a long talk
    Corey Taylor on 20 Years of Slipknot, the New Album, and Rihanna Being a FanThe frontman on the divisive political climate that informed their new album and the 20th anniversary of the record that put his band on the map.
  31. concert review
    The Rolling Stones Live: So Much More Than the Greatest HitsInside the stadium, concerns about Jagger’s health quickly evaporated. The 76-year-old never missed a step, a hop, or a shake.
  32. radio vulture
    How ‘Old Town Road’ Put Kids in ControlIs all-ages pop music back?
  33. album review
    Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day Is the Sound of SettlingBig Day is wedding and graduation music, E for Everyone rap, hip-hop’s answer to dad rock or posicore.
  34. don’t call it a comeback
    Iggy Azalea’s Back, Like It or NotHer return, like her initial ascent, has been nothing but messy from the get-go.
  35. song review
    Taylor Swift Returns to Her Signature Devastating Songwriting on ‘The Archer’It’s the most relatable of her new singles.
  36. star market
    Who Won Game of Thrones (the Pop Culture Phenomenon)?The fantasy series was gold for nearly every person, place, and broadcaster involved. But who came out on top?
  37. album review
    Ed Sheeran (Barely) Gets by With a Lot of Help From His Friends on No. 6 CollabsNo. 6 Collaborations Project spotlights Sheeran’s versatility but also his limits.
  38. a long talk
    Dev Hynes on His New Blood Orange Mixtape and Mariah Carey’s Otherworldly Genius“Mariah’s on another planet of music knowledge.”
  39. album review
    J. Cole’s Dreamville Records Is Having Its Best Year YetDreamville’s year and a half long push — particularly behind the label’s artists Ari Lennox, J.I.D, and EarthGang — is paying off.
  40. album review
    Bad Bunny and J Balvin Form a New Superhero Duo on OasisIt benefits from the skills each half of this big brother/little brother tandem brings to the table.
  41. shady business
    In Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun, Who’s Lying?Someone is fudging their details rather dramatically.
  42. album review
    2019 Is Ripe for Some Thom Yorke Perspective and He DeliversOn ANIMA, his third solo album, Yorke tries to make sense of the maelstrom.
  43. album review
    Lil Nas X’s Post-‘Old Town Road’ EP Is a MessThe project feels if not rushed, then fascinatingly flubbed.
  44. album review
    Madonna Remains Our Most Unpredictable Pop StarArt moves quickly; Madonna works hard to keep pace.
  45. song review
    Where Is Taylor Swift Going With This?Advocacy requires poise; Taylor Swift campaigns are freight trains.
  46. album review
    Bruce Springsteen’s Western Stars Is His Best Album in YearsIt contains some of his most poignant songwriting since his mid-aughts resurgence.
  47. movie review
    Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue Brilliantly Spins a Bob Dylan Tall TaleBob Dylan is clearly here to mess with us, as is our director.
  48. album review
    Future Needs to Slow Down, for OnceConsistency is Future’s superpower, but he needs to be challenged and edited.
  49. song review
    Was This Really the Best Drake and Chris Brown Could Do?They fly on autopilot on “No Guidance,” their first-ever one-on-one collab after all these years of drama.
  50. album review
    The Jonas Brothers Pull Off One of the Greatest Comebacks in Recent MemoryThe last group to enjoy this much success after parting ways was One Direction.
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