Reads & Readings
A running journal of the songs we've been thinking about — what they mean, why they linger, where they come from.
Cover Story · Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen's 'Been By Now': The Math of a Relationship That Didn't Add Up
A country-pop breakup song about the quiet moment you admit a relationship that keeps needing fixing was never going to fix itself
In this issue
Also worth reading
№02
Leonardo Nam, Rita Ora, Descendants – Cast & Disney
Mad: A Sheng-Language Love Boast for the Ages
A Swahili-language love anthem that frames a couple's devotion in mythic terms, celebrating loyalty, luxury and public commitment while brushing off jealous outsiders
№03
Rylo Rodriguez & Veeze
Rylo Rodriguez & Veeze, "Kount Ya Hat": A Scoreboard Disguised as a Song
A joint flex track where Rylo Rodriguez and Veeze turn the phrase "count ya hat" into a rolling scoreboard for money, bodies, and status
№04
HEEDAE & C JAMM
The Exit Interview: HEEDAE & C JAMM's 'Let It Go'
A refusal to be someone else's emotional repair project, delivered as a plea for the other person to stop clinging to what's already broken
№05
HEEDAE, C JAMM & Black Nut
112: A Korean Rap Homage to Slow-Jam R&B
A room-by-room seduction that borrows its title and hook wholesale from a late-90s R&B classic, filtered through Korean hip-hop bravado
Also in this issue
The Reading Room
- 06 Savannah Bananas & Derek Klena Show Starts Now
- 07 Big Time Rush Boyfriend
- 08 David Baddiel, Frank Skinner & The Lightning Seeds Three Lions
- 09 Rylo Rodriguez Idols R’ Us
- 10 HAN back to life
- 11 BTS Come Over
- 12 Blake Whiten Barely Gettin' By
- 13 NELL The Time of Walking On Remembrance
- 14 Kings of Leon Sex On Fire
- 15 Fuerza Regida No Es Pa Presumir
- 16 In This Moment Sleeping with the Enemy
- 17 westwashere more than enough
