August 1, 2025
The dust has settled on Lollapalooza’s lineup announcement, and the message is clear: the 34-year-old festival isn’t resting on its laurels. With a single Instagram post, organizers simultaneously...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
When the White House repurposed a popular Jet2 Holidays meme video featuring Jess Glynne's hit "Hold My Hand" to highlight ICE deportations, the backlash was immediate and loud. “This post honestly...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
The silence that followed my mother’s words felt like the weight of the world pressing in on me. I was 17, but in that moment, I felt small, like that eight-year-old kid again, curled up in my...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
The competition for the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 is heating up as the K-pop phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters (KPDH) sees its soundtrack dominate the charts. One song in particular...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
Doja Cat is stirring the pot.. and social media is here for it.The rapper took to TikTok on Tuesday (July 29) to parody Sydney Sweeney’s recent American Eagle commercial, which has come under fire...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
The Weeknd’s meteoric rise from Toronto’s underground music scene to global superstardom came full circle this weekend as Mayor Olivia Chow presented the Grammy-winning artist with the Key to the...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
After months of anticipation, Chappell Roan has confirmed that her long-awaited single, "The Subway," will officially arrive this Wednesday, July 31, at 8 PM EST. The announcement came via her...
Read moreJuly 31, 2025
As the world mourns the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s legendary bassist Terence “Geezer” Butler has shared a heartfelt essay about his friendship with the iconic rocker. Butler, who...
Read moreJuly 30, 2025
Taylor Swift deleted her entire repertoire off Spotify in 2014, arguing that the site did not pay musicians fairly. Despite initial criticism as a publicity trick, the action drew international...
Read moreJuly 30, 2025
Introducing Sombr, an indie-pop musician whose hit song "Back to Friends" is encapsulating the spirit of Generation Z and beyond. The song was first released on December 27, 2024, however it has...
Read moreJuly 30, 2025
Billie Marten, the British singer-songwriter known for her hauntingly beautiful folk-inspired music, has recently shared her thoughts on the financial struggles many artists face in today’s music...
Read moreJuly 30, 2025
In a surprising twist, the Demon Hunter K-pop soundtrack has claimed the top spot on the UK charts, reflecting the growing influence of the genre beyond its South Korean origins. Meanwhile, the...
Read morePhoto: Thurstan Redding
Rina Sawayama has burst into the consciousness of queer music listeners in recent years. My first time listening to her work was Cherry, a track that is bubbly and an upfront exploration of her pansexuality. With the intro of a singable hook and stellar vocals, I was hooked. The vulnerability and vivacity of the track led me to explore her work and feel queer comradery from this single track. From there, I explored her debut album “Sawayama”. It is an exemplary album that explores family dynamics and genres like pop-punk, anthem, and ballad. Her honest and powerful songs on “Sawayama” took notice of many established artists, from Charlie XCX to Elton John. In 2021, John released a collaborative version of her heartfelt ballad, “Chosen Family” from her debut album,which exposed his audience to the eclectic and energetic sounds of Sawayama. Charlie XCX followed this in 2022 by collaborating on “Beg For You”, a “cry in the club” song about reminiscing about a past lover and dancing through the pain.
Sawayama’s release of “Hold the Girl” in 2022 has captivated listeners with writing introspective yet energetic music. Her most recent album speaks to her (and the listener’s) inner child in literal and poetic ways throughout the album from “Hold the Girl” to “Phantom”.
Throughout her career, Sawayama has captured audiences worldwide by speaking her mind on important issues while allowing herself to be vulnerable.
Photo: Rina Sawayama Official Youtube
Sawayama has always held her point of view and identity strongly through her artistic career, and hasn’t wavered in her art. Like she said in an interview with Broadly, “I’ve always written about girls”. Rina’s unyielding viewpoint and artistic vision has made audiences connect authentically to her music, and helped her soar to the top of the pop charts. Her work incorporating camp and hyper-pop tropes has helped draw an enthusiastic queer crowd. Sawayama has also extended her artistic vision into other mediums while developing her musical brand. She has done so by collaborating in visual art, where she speaks against societal pressures placed upon women in Japan. She also regularly walks the runway for fashion designers and has made tracks for some runways she has walked. Her experience in fashion and modeling has made Sawayama endlessly reach for new ideas and themes, while highly influencing her stylistic choices on the visuals for music videos and album visuals in all of her work. She has experienced music to hold some artists within thematic “boxes” whereas fashion is constantly striving for something new, bold and out of the box. This has truly helped Sawayama speak fully through her own voice in a way that is exciting and truly her own. With a powerful perspective and ability to write of specific life experiences in a way that all audiences can relate to, Rina Sawayama is poised to be a major pop icon. In recent months, Sawayama has begun posting footage from behind the scenes on Youtube under the name RINA TV. These videos are of photo shoots and her days leading up to and during concerts, amongst much more. This lets her connect with her audience and show them a side of herself and also the industry that many do not see. Sawayama is making her film acting debut for John Wick 4: Chapter 4 and I’m hoping for much more in the future.
Sawayama is an exemplary artist who generates experimental yet relevant art that can reach and captivate many young audiences through emotion and compelling finesse. From acting, to modeling, to collaborating with Elton John and other artists; Rina Sawayama is an artist who tells it like it is, and we want to listen. If you want to hear a genre-mashing artist inspired by Lady Gaga and Avril Lavigne, who can jump from cheeky 2000’s pop-inspired tracks to theatrical yet introspective dance hits, listen to Rina Sawayama. Maybe start with “Cherry” *wink*.
Photo: Rina Sawayama Official Youtube