February 23, 2023
Tobias Jesso Jr. You may know his name from his 2015 solo album Goon. Or maybe from his work on various popular songs, such as “When We Were Young” by Adele and “Alive” by Sia. Or even from his rece
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February 23, 2023
HBO’s The Last of Us is arguably the hottest show out right now, receiving near universal acclaim from viewers and critics alike. This holds especially true for episode three: “Long, Long Time”.
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February 21, 2023
Folk singer. Songwriter. Canadian. Polyglot. All of these titles belong to Gina Lam, also known by her stage name Ginalina. In November 2022, she released her latest album titled Going Back: Remembe
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February 21, 2023
Rihanna is an illustrious artist. She is among the best selling female artists of all time, and was one of the greatest hitmakers of the 2000s and 2010s. She has since grown to become the richest...
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February 20, 2023
Streaming is now the driving force of the music industry, making up 84% of the industry revenue in the U.S. While streaming is much more convenient for listeners, many artists argue that it is near im
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February 23, 2023
Who is the greatest rapper of all time? Is it even possible to crown just one person? Well, Billboard and Vibe did exactly that. And, according to them, that person is Jay-Z. In honor of Hip-Hop’s
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February 18, 2023
Kaytranada (Louis Celestin) is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. He is a highly acclaimed electronic artist, having earned two Grammys and countless other awards for his work. Kaytranada has
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February 17, 2023
What happens when a famous music producer takes an interest in self-help books? The Creative Act is your answer. But who is Rick Rubin? Without a doubt, Rubin has an impressive track record in the
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February 14, 2023
The music industry is a place full of musicians, producers, and creators who have the magical ability to make those perfect sounds we hear everyday through our digital devices. We want to listen close
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February 14, 2023
What do popular video games franchises Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox all have in common? They were all produced and published by Nintendo, and the iconic music themes that you hear in...
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February 8, 2023
Being a successful woman in the music industry is no easy feat. Not only do they deal with the typical trials and tribulations of being a musician, but there are also gender-specific challenges.
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February 8, 2023
“Is it just me, or are songs getting shorter these days?” This is a question I have often pondered, especially in the last few years. It appears that in the era of social media, attention spans are
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PinkPantheress has once again cracked the code of Gen Z’s collective brain chemistry with her track Illegal. It’s short, it’s addictive, and it’s the kind of song that makes you feel like you’re doing something slightly wrong just by streaming it on repeat at 3 a.m. She’s basically serving us auditory contraband, and honestly? We’re all guilty of being repeat offenders.
Illegal feels like sneaking out past curfew, but instead of your mom catching you, it’s your Spotify Wrapped judging you for having it at #1 with 2,347 plays. PinkPantheress whispers her verses like she’s spilling secrets in the back of a high school cafeteria, then throws you into a hook that makes your brain feel like it just unlocked a cheat code. The production is her signature mix of nostalgic Y2K breakbeats and bedroom-pop softness, the kind of sound that makes you want to speedwalk through a train station in slow motion.
This song isn’t just trendy, it’s basically illegal not to vibe with it. TikTok has already turned Illegal into a meme factory: edits of people doing the most mundane crimes like “illegally parallel parking” or “illegally texting my ex at 2 a.m.” are soundtracked perfectly by the beat. It’s the anthem for everything low-stakes rebellious, like eating snacks before dinner or ghosting a situationship you never wanted in the first place.
What makes it different is how it balances drama with playfulness. PinkPantheress isn’t just singing about forbidden love or bad decisions; she’s romanticizing the tiny acts of chaos that make life feel cinematic. It’s not Bonnie & Clyde, it’s more like Bonnie & Clyde but the iPad kid version.
Part of the genius of Illegal is how it taps into that Gen Z energy of making everything a bit unserious. The lyrics sound like confessions, but the beat makes it feel like a vibe check. You’re left half questioning your own life choices and half thinking, “yeah, maybe being a little toxic is fine if it sounds this good.”
It’s trendy because it feels like it was made for the internet era, quick, hooky, and endlessly loopable. You can literally play it 10 times back-to-back and not even notice because it melts into your day like background chaos.
PinkPantheress didn’t just drop Illegal, she dropped the soundtrack to Gen Z’s collective mischief. It’s flirty, it’s rebellious, it’s the audio equivalent of sneaking candy into a movie theater. And like all forbidden things, the more you play it, the more addictive it gets.
She’s proved once again that nobody does short-form, diary-entry anthems like her. Illegal might not get you arrested, but it’ll definitely have you guilty of pressing repeat until your phone battery gives up.
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