Taylor Hodgkins

I write the occasional freelance record review for The Spill Magazine! Here is a review for Sing's 2018 release My Songs.

If you would like to read miscellaneous popular culture related articles, you can access my Medium profile here!

I may not have a boyfriend, but I have something better: an amazing guy friend who I’m pretty sure adds more to my life than any romantic partner ever could. Here are some ways he adds value to my life.
He serves as my number one source for advice about absolutely everything. In romantic relationships, I often bite my tongue and don’t share my actual thoughts and feelings because I don’t want to cause an argument. Thankfully, I don’t have to do that with my guy friend. Having difficult conver...

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is the subject of the latest installment of David Letterman's hit #Netflix series, "#My Next Guest Needs No Introduction." In only four episodes, Letterman has brought an engaging array of guests ranging from former presidents to political activists. For the premiere of the fourth episode, Dave brought on Jay-Z, who, not surprising to fans, is an expert when it comes to words, and his conversation with David Letterman is no exception.
Verbose and varied
Letterman and Cart...

I was in the eighth grade, I had never been kissed, and the end of middle school was rapidly approaching. To say I was hellbent on having my first kiss before I turned 15 and entered high school is an understatement. However, I didn’t want to settle for an ordinary type of first kiss, like one of those awkward tales of tangled braces and sweaty armpits. I knew I wanted to have a first kiss just like the one depicted in my favorite movie, Pretty in Pink. There was absolutely no way my life was...

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
– Rob Gordon, High Fidelity
It was like clockwork. Every time one of my friends in high sch...