Month: February 2025

It’s impossible to be across all the new music out each Friday. Luckily, PAPER is here to help you out: each week, we round up 10 of our favorite new songs from artists — emerging and established — to soundtrack your life. From the surreal to the sublime, these songs cover every corner of the music world. The only criteria: they all have to absolutely rip. Subscribe to our Sound Off Spotify playlist here and check out this week’s tracks, … Continue reading “Sound Off: 10 Songs You Need to Hear Now”

Grace VanderWaal is all grown up. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter and actress, who first captured our hearts as a ukulele-wielding prodigy on America’s Got Talent, is embracing her bratty, carefree side with her latest single, “Babydoll” — a sassy, unapologetic pop track featuring internet It Girl, Aliyah’s Interlude. It’s a playful, high-energy follow-up to her last release, the introspective “What’s Left of Me,” and a sign that VanderWaal is ready to let it all loose in this new chapter of her … Continue reading “Grace VanderWaal and Aliyah's Interlude Share 'Babydoll'”

Alex Porat is taking down all previous lovers who’ve wasted her time. The Toronto-based singer shares today “Face Like Yours,” the cathartic lead single off her forthcoming crushed! EP, due out June 27. “You’re so original for leaving me on read,” she sings on the guitar-pop track, at once tongue-in-cheek and scathing. “Know you peaked in high school, but it still goes to your head.” “Face Like Yours” is a “funny take on a bad situationship,” Porat tells PAPER. “It’s … Continue reading “Alex Porat Takes Down a Situationship With 'Face Like Yours'”

I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt (and the trauma) — Anna Shoemaker‘s new album Someone Should Stop Her is (unfortunately) preaching to the heartbroken choir. Recorded in Nashville and followed by the once NYC-based singer-songwriter’s move to sunnier pastures in LA, Shoemaker’s latest album enlists alt-pop melodies to bring us along for the sometimes volatile, always heartfelt ride. Lucky for us, all things, including post-love despair, must come to an end — so, after releasing her album last … Continue reading “Anna Shoemaker's Post-Break-Up Glow-Up Guide”

Rebecca Black has a gun, and she’s pointing it squarely at the pop zeitgeist. The cult pop folk heroine is back with her second full-length project, Salvation, on the heels of 2023’s Let Her Burn. The aforementioned gun can be seen in the album art for Salvation, and again in the lyric video for “Sugar Water Cyanide,” and again in the energetic presence of the album itself. Lusciously produced and piercingly evocative with its lyrical flourishes, the latest single offers … Continue reading “Rebecca Black Fires Back at Pop With 'Salvation'”

If you don’t know DoloRRes and Cherry Chola — two unconventional, norm-defying artists from Australia’s neo-club scene — here’s your chance to get familiar. Today, they announce JACUZZI, a mixtape of cross-cultural, rave-y reggaeton set to be released on March 13 via TRACKWORK. In the meantime, to satiate us as we await the tape, they’re premiering “Clandestina” on PAPER. The lead single to their mixtape, which also features Chilean-Australian artist Khya, delves into drugs, parasocial online tristes and “being slutty … Continue reading “DoloRRes and Cherry Chola Drop Digitally Damaged Club Track”

Alicia Keys made a key point in her acceptance speech for the Global Impact Award at the 2025 Grammys: “It’s strange that we don’t think of women as producers like Quincy [Jones], Dr. Dre or Swizz [Beats], but women producers have always powered the industry,” she shared, shouting out the likes of Patrice Rushen, Grimes and Solange Knowles, as well as citing her own experience trying to earn respect as a producer in her own right. Ebonie Smith, the founder … Continue reading “Gender Amplified Gets Loud With 'In Bloom'”

If you love BLACKPINK, you already love Kiel Tutin. The dancer is responsible for some of the K-pop supergroup’s most notable choreography, from their Coachella debut to the 2023 World Tour, Born Pink. Having grown up in England immersed in acts like Spice Girls and Sugababes, Tutin has been preparing for this career from the beginning — and got serious early on when he started competing in World Hip Hop Championships as a teenager before training under Parris Goebel for … Continue reading “Kiel Tutin on Choreographing JISOO's 'Earthquake' Dance Video”

In the canon of 21st Century pop music, few hold a special place quite like Kesha. The same could be said of her advocacy for LGBTQIA+ community over her storied career. To honor that legacy, The Center is set to honor her at their upcoming Center Dinner on April 10. The Center, AKA the NYC LGBT Community Center, is set to host its annual Center Dinner, which raises critical funds for the community, needed more than ever in this increasingly … Continue reading “Kesha To Be Honored by the NYC LGBT Community Center and PAPER”

Rockstar life is tiring. Just ask Brooklyn-based rock quartet Momma, who have had a whirlwind past few years following the release of their fittingly titled breakout album, Household Name. New fans brought new opportunities, which translated to a life spent on the road. There was a thrill to the madness, but once it was time to work on their follow-up album, they realized they now had to figure out how to translate their new life into music. “Every time we … Continue reading “Momma Take Us On Tour in the Video for 'Bottle Blonde'”