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Summary
Summary
"Jessica Hopper's criticism is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large." --Annie Clark, St. Vincent
An acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material
Throughout her career, spanning more than two decades, Jessica Hopper, a revered and pioneering music critic, has examined women recording and producing music, in all genres, through an intersectional feminist lens. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic features oral histories of bands like Hole and Sleater Kinney, interviews with the women editors of 1970s-era Rolling Stone , and intimate conversations with iconic musicians such as Björk, Robyn, and Lido Pimienta. Hopper journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence; decamps to Gary, Indiana, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death; explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love; and examines the rise of emo. The collection also includes profiles and reviews of some of the most-loved, and most-loathed, women artists making music today: Fiona Apple, Kacey Musgraves, M.I.A., Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey.
In order for the music industry to change, Hopper writes, we need "the continual presence of radicalized women . . . being encouraged and given reasons to stay, rather than diminished by the music which glues our communities together." The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic-- published to acclaim in 2015, and reissued now with new material and an introduction by Samantha Irby--is a rallying cry for women-centered history and storytelling, and a groundbreaking, obsessive, razor-sharp panorama of music writing crafted by one of the most influential critics of her generation.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Hopper, music critic and former senior editor at Pitchfork, follows up her groundbreaking feminist treatise on the punk, independent, and mainstream music scenes of the past 20 years with this revised and expanded edition that hits just as hard. Historically, she argues, women have been ignored in the boys' club of studio producers, promoters, and record makers. These 55 pieces--covering a great variety of artists including Kim Gordon, Rickie Lee Jones, and Nicki Minaj--serve as a scorching critique of the endless hoops female musicians have had to jump through in the male-dominated music scene. In a 2015 Pitchfork review, pop-country star Kacey Musgraves is heralded for transcending the "bro-country" vibe pervasive at the Country Music Awards, while a 2018 profile of Cat Powers discusses how the artist's talent gets overshadowed by fans' obsession with her mental health. Essays on Fiona Apple, Liz Phair, and Joni Mitchell underscore the harsh criticism ambitious female performers constantly face ("The year Mitchell issued Blue, an album that would be a landmark in any artist's career, Rolling Stone named her 'Old Lady of the Year' "), but emphasize how, despite their unjust treatment by industry and critics, women continue to drown out the noise with their music. This fiery work is the literary equivalent of a maxed-out Marshall stack. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME. (July)
Kirkus Review
A wide-ranging assortment of essays and reportage on rock, pop, country, and hip-hop, conscientiously putting women front and center. The title of Hopper's book (which revises and expands a 2015 edition) isn't a brag but rather an air horn announcing a problem: Just as female musicians have been dismissed, marginalized, and abused by a patriarchal industry, Hopper is just one of many women music journalists who was told "it was perverse to tangle up music criticism with feminism or my personal experience." So being "first" is as much a lament as an assertion, but the best pieces show how thoughtfully the author has used her position. Essays on Liz Phair, Kim Gordon, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey underscore how the negative "personas" applied to them are often used to obscure and undermine their talent. In one emotionally intense interview, Björk reveals how, more than four decades into her career, she's had to prove she writes her songs. Hopper elevates underappreciated women-led acts like D.C. punks Chalk Circle and calls out misogyny in the system: Her landmark 2003 essay, "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't," chastised the scene for confusing sad-boy sensitivity with proactive feminism, and she reports on women country artists' oft-futile efforts to gain airplay. The author convincingly argues that staying silent on such inequities has consequences, a point underscored by an interview with journalist Jim DeRogatis on R. Kelly's track record of sexual assault and music journalists' turning a blind eye to it. Hopper is stronger as a reporter and cultural observer than a track-by-track reviewer; the collection is padded with reviews that reflect her wide range of tastes but are stylistically flat. However, as she points out in the fiery conclusion, the book exists in part to expose other female writers to what's possible with diligence and a refusal to compromise. In that regard, it's essential reading. Samantha Irby provides the foreword. A canny blend of punkish attitude and discographical smarts that blasts boys-club assumptions about pop music. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this re-release of her 2015 book, featuring new pieces and a foreword by fellow Chicago-native culture writer Samantha Irby, prolific and inimitable writer Hopper lays bare a storied career and a true gift for music journalism. From Chicago to L.A.; from Kendrick Lamar's tour bus to a London hotel room with Björk; from the 1990s punk scene to the false silver lining creativity seemed to offer in the Trump era, Hopper's writing spans decades and genres. The previously published pieces included here serve a poignant throughline: that music, no matter the time, place, or social climate, indelibly molds the human experience. Memorable interview subjects include Indigenous singer/songwriter Lido Pimienta; the women who took control of Rolling Stone in the 1970s; and Jim DeRogatis, the primary Chicago reporter on the alleged crimes of R. Kelly. Fans of Springsteen, Chance the Rapper, Rickie Lee Jones, Fleetwood Mac, Courtney Love, and so many more will meet their heroes in these pages. Hopper profiles M.I.A.'s Sri Lankan upbringing, the calculated and constant performance of Lady Gaga, and Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer. Hopper is an artist whose curiosity about creativity has produced a stunning body of work, both in breadth and skill, and this is her lyrical, observant magnum opus.