Easier being sad
February 27, 2023

Matthew Schnipper: The sound of grief

Frank Ocean

A lovely text in The New Yorker about music as consolation: "When Renzo died, Allegra and I decided that we wanted to have another child, to have our family feel like our family. Really what we wanted was for Renzo to not have died, but that wasn’t an option. We were living in our new apartment. Soon we would have a baby girl. Allegra wanted another Italian-sounding name. Cosima, with Coco as a nickname. I liked how it sounded spoken aloud, as lively as Renzo, but softer, close to, say, 'cosmos.' I wondered if we could have another musical middle name. Ocean, I proposed. Cosima Ocean Schnipper. Allegra said that she would think about it".

The most interesting artists right know, as selected by editor and journalist Matthew Schnipper for Music Journalism Insider: Dean BluntLara SarkissianJohn BeltranJabu and Daniela DysonDJ PythonMariah the ScientistAkasha SystemYdegirlCelia HollanderRod WaveMIKEDuval TimothyYu SuYoung JesusNkisi, The Weeknd. Best song in the last 12 months - 'Hope Road' by Anne Clark; best music journalists: Cat ZhangMina TavakoliBen Dandrige-LemcoMankaprr ContehHubert Adjei-KontohArielle GordonOlivia Horn, and Jenzia Burgos.

"[Henry] Rollins wore shorts and no shirt and slowly covered his torso with tattoos, including ones for his own band. Was it ego or pride? I loved it either way, because I had neither... I had a poster of its ['Damaged'] cover up on my bedroom wall, Rollins punching his reflection in the mirror, breaking it into a million pieces. He felt like garbage and hated himself too! Plus he had a lot of muscles. I could not have invented a more appropriate role model if I tried" - GQ's Matthew Schnipper wrote a heartwaring and earnest article about how he decided to name his son after Henry Rollins, hoping that hardcore icon will "make him tough in ways I can’t".