New York Times Music Critic Jon Caramanica Talks Pop Culture, Journalism, and Social Media Assembly

Caramanica during an onstage Q&A with upper Roxane Park (Editor-in-Chief of The Exonian) for assembly.

Courtesy of the Exeter Communications Department

By ALLEGRA LAI, JINMIN LEE and LILY RAMPE

      On Friday, May 10, The Exonian’s Strickler Speaker Jon Caramanica, a music critic for the New York Times, sat on the stage after his assembly, surrounded by curious students. While sipping his Taylor Swift-themed Gold Rush latte from the cafe Flamingos during the subsequent Q&A in the Elting Room, he answered questions from the students. “The thing about Taylor is that she understood the mechanism of fame before she was famous,” Caramanica answered when asked about what Swift was like in real life.

      “I wrote a profile of Taylor in 2009, and to this day, that opening scene in that profile is one of the most revealing things that I’ve ever seen following an artist around. I mean, she was 19 and already had the entire system down,” Caramanica continued. “And that’s not to say it’s insincere—but it’s a sincere expression of this big machine. If Taylor were sitting right here, through the eye contact that she would give, you and me, you’d be like, she only cares about this right now. But she does that at mass scale too. Most people can’t do either, but some people can do one and some people do the other. Very, very, very, very, very few people can do both. She’s one of the only people I’ve ever spent time with who can do both.”

      Swift is just one of the several famous musicians Caramanica had interviewed throughout his accomplished career as a reporter, podcaster, and music critic.

      Caramanica is a music critic for The New York Times with a specialty in pop and hip hop. Since graduating from Harvard University in 1997, he has written for Rolling Stone, Vibe, XXL, and The New York Times, where he joined the staff in 2010. In addition to writing at the Times, Caramanica also runs his own podcast, “Popcast,” and writes for the Critical Shopper column on clothing stores in New York City. He has covered everything from the early years of Swift’s fame to the rise of Olivia Rodrigo and, most recently, the rap battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. He is also currently in the process of writing a book on Kanye West, or Ye.

      Caramanica’s busy visit to the Academy began on Thursday night, when he conducted a Q&A pizza-night with the staff of The Exonian. The next morning, he spoke at a conversation-format assembly conducted by upper Roxane Park, the Editor-in-Chief of The Exonian, then joined students for another packed Q&A during lunchtime.

      Since he was young, Caramanica has always had a passion for music. “I found that I was listening to music a lot more closely than my friends,” he recalled. “I didn’t really understand that this was a job and didn’t know anyone who did this type of work. As I got older and started writing for the high school, and then college paper, I was like, ‘Okay, I can do some version of this.’ I was able to write for some websites that were then translated into some magazines. By the time I was looking for work, I was like, ‘I’ll try this, and who knows, maybe it’ll work, or maybe in a year I’ll go back and finish my grad school degree.’ Yet, here we are 20 years later, so I guess I’m not going to finish my grad school degree.”

      At the Q&A, Caramanica also discussed the impact his upbringing had on his critiques. “I grew up in Brooklyn in the eighties and the nineties. The two things that were meaningful to me when I was young were pop music on the radio, like Madonna and rap music. The first cassettes I ever bought were Run-DMC cassettes, Slick Rick, and Big Daddy Kane. That’s what formed the foundation for my understanding of music and how things worked. I think pop music is often essentially based on the same stuff that I was raised on. I wasn’t raised on rock music. I wasn’t raised in guitar-based music. And the people who were writing at Rolling Stone and Spin all these places in the nineties, they thought that was the most important thing.”

      As someone who has been in the industry for more than 15 years, Caramanica shared with students at the assembly how he witnessed a gradual shift in how the pop culture scenery has become more volatile, with the discourse changing week-to-week unpredictably. Though Caramanica sometimes feels the pressure to input his opinion fast enough, he also takes pride in the fact his unique opinion will not be swayed by others who have published commentary quicker than him.

      “[Other commentary’ doesn’t affect my opinion, but it does help me to understand,” he said. “It’s partially music, and it’s partially designed to generate conversation. As a critic, I’d be really not doing my job right if I ignored the conversation part. And if I only listen to the music now, my opinion on if the music is good or bad or an improvement or less good than the prior thing, that’s never gonna change.”

      “Hearing how it’s being absorbed and discussed in real time makes me think harder about what the overall project is and what it’s designed to do,” Caramanica continued, “but it doesn’t change whether I like it or not. I don’t have the only valid opinion. I have an informed opinion. I have a historically informed opinion, a thought-through opinion, but I don’t have the only opinion. I live in a world where everybody has an opinion and a Twitter account where they can share that opinion. I would be silly to ignore that. That’s the climate of conversation right now.”

      Caramanica’s knowledge of the music industry greatly resonated with the students’ interests and opinions. This is largely due to Caramanica’s large knowledge base on different genres and areas of pop culture, ranging from underground French rock bands, to the loop of Gen-Z’s beloved pop lore, including Sabrina Carpenter’s “that’s that me espresso.”

      “Although I am less well-informed than he is,” recalled Senior Luca Shakoori, “I resonated with his comments about TikTok and TikTok culture as a whole, and how modern content relies heavily on music.

      Lower Andrew Gould also noted Caramanica’s shared philosophy on how to approach controversial music, saying, “I liked how Caramanica navigated through discussing some of the more contentious topics, such as his views on the Drake v. Kendrick battle and his views on Kanye West. He did a good job articulating how we as the listeners had to spend time understanding how or why we personally resonated or disliked songs from controversial artists.”

      Many students also found his speaking style and presentation engaging. Lower Jonny Citravese recalled: “It was definitely one of my favorite assemblies. He did a great job getting the crowd involved. He was naturally charismatic and I thought he did a really good job with the questions. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time.”

      “I think it was the journalist in him blending into his speech,” added prep Aaron Spence. “I appreciated how he opened it up for questions; I found it a lot more active, and I want to see other speakers do that too in the future.”

     While answering students’ questions, Caramanica’s wide knowledge span of music and use of teenage slang echoed the students’, making his talk incredibly engaging and entertaining. “I thought he had a really good way with the audience, especially when speaking with teenagers about something they love. He made it interesting and gave serious, honest, and articulated answers. I think he is very passionate about his job and does it well,” lower Lexie Sebastian added.

      “I think it was the journalist in him blending into his speech,” reflected prep Aaron Spence. “I appreciated how he opened it up for questions; I found it a lot more active, and I want to see other speakers do that too in the future.”

      Prep Max Lisuandi concurred: “I found the speech especially interesting because it was entertaining. He did a good job tailoring his jokes and pointing to a high school audience.”

       Many students also mentioned how Caramanica’s talk showed them a deeper and more fascinating side of journalism they never thought of before, “I never thought I would really be able to hear about these exciting professions firsthand, and hearing from diverse careers can be inspirational,” said Citravese.

      “What’s most inspiring is his ability to level everything,” noted upper Zoe Curtis.  He has this amazing intellect and this depth in his background with the music industry but he presents it all to you as if you know it already and so none of it feels preachy or patronizing. He approaches these things in a way that feels very accessible—he welcomes you into the fold of the music industry and this literary intelligence that he’s such a fan of. That’s one of the best things about him and his journalism.”