Consume Everything, Synthesize Everything, Make Art: The Ideology of Zola Simone.

Zola Simone is a name you’re going to want to know in 2026. A Boston native turned Brooklyn local is bringing a completely new vibe to the queer music scene in New York City. Zola considers her genre of music to fall into the “Queer Pop” category, yet carries heavy notes of RnB in everything she creates. Zola has been perfecting her sound and musical platform since the age of 12, growing her foundations in Boston and carrying them with her back to NYC. I must say, they are doing an excellent job in showcasing their musical experience and tying it together with natural talent, creating something truly extraordinary. 

Photography by Isaac Wheatley

With over 20 singles, 4 EPs, and 2 full albums available on all streaming platforms, I asked Zola if she always knew music was something she was going to pursue career-wise. Her response is what all of us creatives hope to feel in one way or another: “I was recently asked this, what I would do if music wasn't an option, and I couldn't think of an answer. I can't see myself doing anything else but this”. In my opinion, this is what truly makes an unforgettable artist. Yes, you may hold love for other hobbies and niche interests, but someone who is entirely committed to the art they create and what they output into the world is one who deserves the recognition.

Photography by Isaac Wheatley

Luckily, Zola grew up around music and was surrounded by the encouragement of their loved ones to pursue music. This gave her an upper hand in getting involved in the music scene sooner than others. She mentioned that she had the opportunity to perform live at Boston’s top Pop radio station at the age of 10, just by being persistent with her need to perform. This then opened a door of opportunities for her. By 12, she was offered to be a part of Boston Music Project and their “Teen Empowerment” program. This gave young local artists a chance to collaborate with a recording company to record songs and music at no cost. This is what changed perspective for Zola Simone and reaffirmed her desire to pursue a career in music. 

New York City is home to millions of amazing artists and musicians, known and unknown, so why should we know Zola Simone? This is Zola’s response to that question: “Take away that you’re not alone, whatever you're feeling there is someone out there who understands you in some capacity. Music is needed and so important for mental health. I want them to know there is still hope and that human creativity is essential and inevitably inescapable. Music is about connection, community, and is a shared experience between the artist, music, and the audience. It is essential that we can all connect in some way and take away what we need from music.”  She carries this philosophy in her music and in how she writes her songs. When an artist can have the ability to create while also using factors of their environment to influence the art they produce, that is something to be paid attention to. 

Check out her two albums, Now You See Me and Kaleidoscope, available on all streaming platforms. My favorite song of hers is “Pirouette” off the Kaleidoscope album.Pirouette (Sped Up Version) be sure to give that a listen, I highly recommend! They have new music coming out this summer and are always finding ways to perform. Find them on all social media as @ZolaSimone. 

Awards Season: Stan Twitter's Super Bowl

Everything has become stan twitter, and stan twitter has become sports fandom. Here’s how it’s affecting awards season. 

The 2025 awards season has finally come to an end. From discourse around Timotheé Chalamet’s Marty Supreme marketing campaign (and everything else about him), to stan wars erupting from the results of every major awards program, social media has become a hostile hellscape. But since when did social media have this much of an impact on major awards ceremonies? Why does the prestigious nature that these events seem to have had in the past no longer exist? 

Simply put, everything has become stan culture. While this may be a broad statement, it seems that the notion of shows like the Grammys and the Emmys have become hubs for fans of every individual nominee to fight and compare why their favorite nominee has to win and why any other nominee cannot. The Grammys in particular have become saturated with categories, leaving room for more nominees. It has become more embarrassing for your fave to not receive a nomination than it has for it to be an honor. 

Musicians such as Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish have developed intense fanbases that tend to believe in awards supremacy. Eilish, who holds 10 wins with 34 nominations with her career being less than a decade old, has slightly stirred the pot within the past few years of the awards. Evidently, becoming a darling of the Recording Academy rarely goes home empty-handed. In the 2025 awards, Beyoncé won Album of the Year, arguably the highest honor of the night, and stans of the 24-year-old musician were incredibly displeased. Arguments of who had more streams and track virality piled against Cowboy Carter, the winner of the award. Fandoms began to point fingers at one another, the Beyhive alleging racism against fans of Eilish for the outrage of her win, Eilish fans concluding that the award was paid for by Roc Nation. What neither seems to consider is that experts and knowledgeable members of the Recording Academy simply saw Cowboy Carter as the album of the year, plain and simple. However, fans could find some sense of peace after the 2026 ceremony, after Eilish re-released the track “Wildflower” as a single, well after its initial May 2024 release on the album. To have qualified for the 2026 Grammy Awards, music had to have been released between August 31, 2024, and August 30, 2025. Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft " was only eligible to be nominated for the 2025 Grammys, and she released “Wildflower” as a single on March 4, 2025, nearly ten months after it had already been released with the rest of the album. There are no rules against this per se, but the song won the “Song of the Year” award for the 2026 Grammys, which left some viewers upset with the snub of other songs in the category, such as “DtMF” by Bad Bunny and “Luther” by SZA and Kendrick Lamar. 

Alas, Eilish has now won a Grammy for the previously “snubbed” 2024 album. This culture of stans demanding higher numbers, more wins, and better statistics is highly reminiscent of sports culture. Variety reported that for the 2026 Oscars, betting on the awards has become a $100 million business, with bets wagered on who will win. Kalshi and Polymarket ads are difficult to ignore, with the amount of commercial time betting platforms had during the broadcast of the Super Bowl and when the latter partnered with the Golden Globes to integrate live odds into the ceremony. While online betting forums have been around for years, they gained massive popularity right before the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election. Once players bet correctly on Trump’s win, sites such as Kalshi and Polymarket have entered the mainstream for various events. Online predictions do not necessarily count as gambling (which is regulated by a few states in the U.S.), which is why these sites are able to promote their platforms as heavily as they do. 

Stan culture and betting are intertwined has turned the awards season into a gamified event. Press and publicity have been around for as long as Hollywood has, but now more than ever can a potential smear campaign or just saying an ill-worded statement on ballet and opera can change the public’s perception of “deserving” the award. Chalamet’s Best Actor campaign for Marty Supreme was nothing short of interesting, to say the least. From standing on top of the Las Vegas Sphere as an orange ping-pong ball to tapping slightly into method press, becoming Marty, embodying greatness, and desiring to be at the top. Many have been turned off by his behavior as it drastically opposes his previously indie-darling persona from the late 2010’s/ early 2020s. Recently, he has found himself in hot water with his comments about ballet in opera while in conversation with former Interstellar costar, Matthew McConaughey. Major ballets and operas across the world have given their two cents on the matter, dissing Chalamet in any way they can. This event has caused a major setback in the public’s view of who should win Best Actor, leading many to one: root for and two: bet on Michael B. Jordan to win. Ultimately, the award went to Jordan, not without some ballet and opera jokes thrown Chalamet’s way during the ceremony. 

The prestige of the award remains partly in its title and the doors it may open for performers and filmmakers. However, the run and the “competition,” so to speak, is no longer a test of the “best performance,” it's a game of numbers. This is where I believe stans across the board would do well in sports fan culture. Once awards and streams became a commodity within stan culture, the direct correlation became blatantly evident. The awards season has now become an amalgamation of stan wars and morality olympics. Does Chalamet deserve an Oscar ever because of his comments? Should movies with bad characters playing antagonists win Best Picture? Can Beyoncé or Taylor Swift win another Grammy? They’ve already won plenty! 

Numbers have no place in the space of honoring art. If you want to bet on winners or compare stats, watch a sport.

Why Music Means So Much to Us.

The word “Superstar” as defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary is “a star (as in sports or the movies) who is considered extremely talented, has great public appeal, and can usually command a high salary”. I associate traits like talented, undefeated, and unique with Superstars. Who in the music industry do you consider a Superstar? Think Beyonce and Micheal Jackson. I admire the growth of artists like these because of the inspiration they've given to the world. Music is a powerful tool that sends shockwaves through generations, lifestyles, and ideologies. Rhythm and Blues was created by black people and eventually went on to inspire many other genres. Oftentimes black artists are never accredited properly for their contributions. There is frequently the stealing, repackaging, or erasure of black existence. But within the black community the praise and love for these superstars are undeniable. These artists are held in high regard and even revered as saints. There is nothing comparable to black love. 

As a black woman I hold a specific place in my heart for black artists. Knowing that we experience similar struggles yet they still exceeded expectations deepens the connections we feel towards these artists. These artists in turn make music about their experiences that shows the world who they are and how proud they are of their heritage and identity. For example child abuse is normalized within the many communities. The mentality that violence makes one obedient is a core value within the black community. Many of us can relate to Micheal Jackson’s childhood. The overbearing, abusive father using and mistreating his family. But the beauty that blossomed from that was MJ’s craft. The song Childhood discusses MJ’s desire for a normal childhood “People say I'm strange that way/'Cause I love such elementary things/It's been my fate to compensate/For the Childhood (Childhood)/ I've never known”. Music is a tool that heals, when musicians create a space of understanding by sharing their experiences it makes their craft all the more beautiful. These Superstars have resilience and love for art which has persevered above all.

Like I stated earlier black culture, art and inspiration are taken and misappropriated in ways that do not appreciate or value the culture. When it comes to artists like Michael Jackson and Beyoncé they frequently connect back to their roots of being black. This connects with the community in such an emotional evoking way that is so beautiful and unique to the black experience. Artists who are unapologetically black move the community. These artists exhibit their love for their communities with their art. The love in which these artists receive from the community, they pay back through opportunities for others. 

As a young girl hearing Run the World by Beyonce filled me with confidence, I would run around the house in what I believed to be my best outfit, hollering the lyrics to my clearly overstimulated mother. If I wanted to have a sleepover with family friends we would use Micheal Jackson’s Thriller to create an over the top dance number to impress our parents. Beyoncé’s Lemonade has gone triple platinum in my room for 10 years now. First I was a little girl enamored with the beat, now I'm a young adult who can finally relate to the lyrics. As I’ve

grown as a writer, other black artists of many disciplines inspire me the most. When I’m out in creative spaces the first person I look for is someone black.

Beyonce is one of those individuals whose success and dedication inspire me. While I express my love for being black through writing she does it with phenomenal music. When an artist can make timeless music that can capture the attention of a wide audience they are a Superstar. These artists' music resonates with you in a way others can not compare to. In a Vogue article titled Beyoncé in Her Own Words: Her Life, Her Body, Her Heritage Beyonce states “It’s important to me that I help open doors for younger artists. There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter.” Messages and actions like this are why black Superstars are treated with such seriousness and respect from the black community. Opening doors and holding space for people who look just like them, despite them already being established. Black artists understand the black community more than anyone because they are a part of that community. 

So let’s answer the big question: why are certain artists considered Superstars within the black community? These people are considered superstars because they have worked endlessly to perfect their craft. They are entertaining, charismatic, and beautiful. They opened a lane for themselves and no matter how much they succeed, they always contribute back to the community. There are so many debates about who is the number one superstar but the creativity and talent the black music community exudes is immeasurable to anything else in this entire world. These black artists put on performances, release albums, start brands that are revolutionary, and this is beautiful. These black stars are a reflection of what black excellence means.

Creative Director: Tayja Whyte

Production Manager: Chloe Kaleah Stewart

Photography: Alec Conwell

Production: Mickayla Davis, K Pereira

Talent: Elena Richardson, Melissa Alcindor, Nevaeh Adkins, Moram Hassan