Stephanie Phillips
Arts & culture writer
Stephanie Phillips is a Birmingham-based, NCTJ-trained freelance journalist and content editor, specialising in music, race, pop culture and feminism.
thequietus.com
Three Album Run: 21st Century Pop Has Never Bettered 4, Beyoncé & Lemonade
At the quarter way mark Stephanie Phillips is confident that nothing comes close to the brilliance of this consecutive trio of albums by Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter
Three Album Run is a new series on tQ where we explore the best unbroken run of LPs in different genres.
The Washington Post
With ‘Matriarch,’ Tina Knowles finally takes center stage
Among pop culture aficionados, few surnames have the cachet of Knowles. The family exploded into popular awareness when Beyoncé found fame as lead singer of the futuristic R&B girl group Destiny’s Child then reached superstar status as a solo artist, becoming one of our era’s most important cultural figures. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Solange, gained critical acclaim as a singer-songwriter with the release of her 2016 album, “A Seat at the Table.” Their talents were honed by their forward...
thequietus.com
Organic Intelligence XLIII: South African Mbaqanga Girl Groups from the 60s and 70s
In our latest antidote to the algorithm, Stephanie Phillips guides us through the South African girl groups who resisted apartheid oppression through the joy of their song
If there’s one music style that never fails to make me smile its classic girl groups. The harmonies, the youth, the choreographed moves, the identical outfits – what’s not to love.
Easyjet Traveller
Get Out There Playlist: Skin
From singing Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela to being the first Black woman to headline Glastonbury, there’s little that Skin, frontwoman of British rock icons Skunk Anansie, has not achieved in her 30-year career. The jet-setting singer lists Rome as her favourite European getaway. ‘It’s one of those places where you can just walk around and chill,’ she says. ‘I really love outdoor street culture.’ Here Skin picks her favourite playlist to suit every moment on her holiday.
Journo Resources
How To Get Work Experience As A Student Journalist
I wrote about how to get work experience as a student journalist for Journo Resources and their client City St George’s, University of London.
Easyjet Traveller
LA Brings Colour to London
I covered Lauren Halsey's London exhibition for Easyjet Traveller magazine.
eventbrite.co.uk
UK and Ireland Online Events Collection
For two years I maintained the brand’s online Black History event collection and online UK and Ireland event collection. This involved hand selecting the most interesting events that week, and writing a short title and 100 word SEO driven blurb to describe why that event was important. The collections helped increase traffic to Eventbrite’s website and led to higher ticket sales for the spotlighted events.
eventbrite.com
Oakland’s DAGHE Creates a Soundtrack to Black History Month
It’s pretty much the teenage dream to be able to throw the coolest parties where everyone knows your name and you get to control the dance floor. For Oakland-based DJ and entrepreneur DAGHE, he made his dream into a reality. “I started doing events when I was 16 at a night called Preppy Sensation Ent,” DAGHE explains. “It was a big event for high school kids back in the day and I’ve been doing events ever since.”
thequietus.com
Beyond the Page: Rediscovering Sinead O’Connor
As two recently released books seek to uncover the truth behind the life of the late Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, Stephanie Phillips delves into both texts to reveal why O’Connor was more than the stereotypes ascribed to her
thequietus.com
The Low Culture Essay: Stephanie Phillips on the 1998 Kathleen Hanna solo album, Julie Ruin
In this month’s essay, Stephanie Phillips reflects on the 1998 lo-fi, art pop album Julie Ruin, in which riot grrrl veteran Kathleen Hanna reaffirms her position in feminist art, while creating the building blocks for a dance punk future
ra.co
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise
Dawn Richard has a lot to process. In September, she filed a lawsuit against her former boss, the rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, accusing him of sexual assault and battery, dating back to her time in the defunct girl group Danity Kane. Richard's accusations followed an explosive 2023 lawsu...
thequietus.com
tQ Subscriber Release: The None
Sitting in a dimly lit, gentrified bar in a formally industrial area of Birmingham, ex Bloc Party and Young Legionnaire bassist Gordon Moakes is stressing his innocence during the period we’re now supposed to refer to as indie sleaze. “I took the sleaze out of indie if anything,” Moakes sheepishly claims as his new...
thequietus.com
The Sun And The Moon: Yeye Taiwo Of The Lijadu Sisters Interviewed
Ahead of the reissue of Horizon Unlimited this week, Steph Phillips talks to Yeye Taiwo of legendary Nigerian Afrobeat group The Lijadu Sisters about revolutionising Nigerian pop music and how she is ready to go back on stage.
Easyjet Traveller
Beneath the Matala Moon
Explore the small Cretan village that became the backdrop to Joni Mitchell’s seminal record Blue.
Redbull
Life in colour
You’ve probably heard JACOB COLLIER'S music even if you don’t know his name. The 29-year-old Londoner talks about his musical journey, creating a 100,000-strong choir, and playing footie with Stormzy