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Olivia Rodrigo Serves Teen Angst, a Park Grows on the Hudson, and City Girls Inaugurate Hot Girl Summer
By Ernesto Macias
Art by Jack Vhay.
Straight from the Interview offices—from Manhattan's midtown to Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, sometimes L.A., and beyond—this is the Word Wide Web Bulletin—a compilation of some of the stories the internet has been murmuring about. From politics to drag, and everything in between. This week, teen angst is so IN thanks to Olivia Rodrigo, New York City lives up to its expensive taste with a floating park, and scandal rocks the Sex and The City reboot. Let's talk about it.
Teen Angst Enters the Chat with Olivia Rodrigo's Sour
Olivia Rodrigo photographed by Taylor Rainbolt.
After the world helplessly surrendered to Olivia Rodrigo's song about a piece of plastic and a shattered heart, the illustrious 18-year-old has singlehandedly ushered in teen angst, not only as an emotion but also as a vibe, a look, and an overall lifestyle. Gen Z's powers are growing, and Rodrigo's new album Sour is the soundtrack to their TikTok-lensed revolution. Any one song from the album—there's 11 total—is capable of transmitting emotion to the listener, from "traitor" to "jealousy, jealousy," and "hope ur ok." The entire world, virtual and non-virtual, has embraced Rodrigo as the next IT girl of pop music due to her musical ability as proven by her SNL performances, referential music videos, and taste in music—our Twitter sources tell us her favorite rap album is none other than Azealia Banks's Broke with Expensive Taste. Maybe she is the future? But we already knew that—read why this is only the beginning for the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star.
joshua bassett's mom after she listens to sour pic.twitter.com/ESOLdLqSDr
— mirrorball (@myheartredheart) May 21, 2021
A $260 million, 2.4-acre Floating Park-Island on The Hudson
It's like Dubai but in New York. Little Island is a literal floating man-made park sitting on the Hudson River (near 13th Street in Hudson River Park) with fabulous views and an amphitheater. It's an Instagram-ready project ten years in the works from the mind of Barry Diller, the former Hollywood mogul, and it opens today. Something new and odd to add to the list of summer things to do, now that New York is waking up. Given the state of the world, the park offers much-needed escapism for New Yorkers assimilating to life at the tail-end of a worldwide pandemic. The future is now.
The #LittleIslandNYC is opening for public today. It's a floating #park and a #performance space.#Chelsea #NewYorkCity pic.twitter.com/NAnIPKIsPs
— Natalie_New York (@Nat_NY) May 21, 2021
Scandal in the City: The Boys Are Back, Pat Fields Is Out
Sarah Jessica Parker photographed by David LaChapelle in 1999.
In news that everyone cares about but feels ashamed to admit, it has been announced that the Sex and The City leading men—Mr. Toxic, the furniture guy, and the hottest bar owner ever—are all returning to the show's upcoming HBO Max reboot, And Just Like That. Though we're so here for Mr. Big (Chris Noth), Aiden (John Corbett), and Steve (David Eigenberg) being added to the lineup, it was heartbreaking to learn that Patricia Fields, the legendary costume designer and stylist behind Carrie Bradshaw's revolutionary wardrobe, will not be dressing the show this time around. Instead, the show has tapped stylist Molly Rogers—Field's longtime collaborator and an assistant costume designer on the SATC films—to be in charge. As more details of the SATC reboot emerge, we can't help but wonder: if something ain't broke, why fix it? Or are we the broken ones?
City Girls Drop the Twerk Anthem of the Summer
City Girls photographed by Nick Sethi.
"Right cheek wit it, left cheek wit it,"—those are the rules; we do not make them, the City Girls do. Gays and Girls, it's time for the "Twerkualtor," as announced by the new single from the City Girls (out now). In true C-I-T-Y nature, the song is all about poppin' all that in a loop and much more. T and Yung Miami sample "Planet Rock," the 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force, in their latest contender for Summer 2021 BOP. The song had a following even before its release thanks to a leak that ended up on TikTok last year. Now, with the official song out, it's time to hit the streets and twerkulate, but not before reading this conversation between the City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion about rap dominance. TGIF!
And Miss Monica Lewinsky on Social Media. That's It, That's the Tweet.
👀 https://t.co/lrr5eCeCsA
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) May 21, 2021
Tyrell Hampton Shows Us What Went Down at Saint Laurent's Miami Beach Dinner
Tom Odell is Listening to Lorde, Nina Simone, and Bob Dylan
JAWNY Is Listening to Olivia Rodrigo, Rascal Flatts, and a Lot of Green Day
Megan Thee Stallion, Dashaun Wesley, and Leiomy Maldonado on Bringing Ballroom to the Masses
Sabrina Carpenter Had Chicken Fingers for Breakfast
City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion Celebrate Their Rap-Game Dominance