Music
Style
John Mayer Reflects on His Friendship With Online Ceramics, From Designing Legendary Dead & Co. Tees to Stashing Cash in His Guitar Case
A long, winding conversation between the musician, OC founders Alix Ross and Elijah Funk, and The New Yorker's Naomi Fry.
By The Editors of GQ
Culture
Sturgill Simpson Walked Away From Music. Johnny Blue Skies Is Just Getting Started
Three years ago, the Kentucky-born singer-songwriter was modern country's reigning psychedelic outlaw. Then a serious injury robbed him of his voice and threw him into a wrenching identity crisis. Now he's back, with a new perspective informed by off-the-grid time in Paris and Thailand, a superb new album, and even a new name. “Sturgill served his purpose," Simpson says, "but he’s dead, he’s gone, and I’m definitely not that guy anymore.”
By Colin GroundwaterPhotography by Nicky Zeng
Culture
Lil Mabu Talks About Making Records With Fivio Foreign in His Emory Dorm Room, the Real Story Behind That Viral Gun Video, and Being in on the Joke
“The reactions are always the same,” the rapper says of his stunt-y social media presence, “and they're exactly what I hope for them to be."
By Heven Haile
Style
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Video Reasserts His Claim as Rap’s Style God
With sequined Loewe shorts, a svelte Prada suit, and a bevy of Martine Rose track jackets, KDot’s new visuals show a gleeful parade of contemporary haute streetwear.
By Eileen Cartter
Culture
Amaarae on Being More Vulnerable in Her Music, Working With Childish Gambino, and Touring With Sabrina Carpenter
The Ghanian American artist's 2023 album Fountain Baby released to critical acclaim. Now she's all over Childish Gambino's new album, going on tour with Sabrina Carpenter, and evolving her sound on a new EP.
By Heven Haile
Culture
Watch Kendrick Lamar Put On for His City—And Tame an Owl—in the Video for ‘Not Like Us’
The Compton rapper returns to his stomping grounds in the visual for his summer-dominating Drake diss track.
By Frazier Tharpe
Culture
Zach Bryan Won't Be Your Jukebox Hero
Shaking off any political faction that would claim him as a spokesman, the Navy vet turned singer-songwriter turned wary country star finds new stories to tell about lives lived and lost by dive-bar light.
By Meaghan Garvey
Style
How Charli XCX’s Brat Got the Boys Dressing Wilder
The hedonistic album of the summer has left its mark not only on our eardrums, but also our wardrobes.
By Daisy Jones
Culture
Flavor Flav Is Alive and Well and Cold Lamping in Hollywood
The Public Enemy hypeman and reality TV star has returned—four years sober, in his Swiftie era, and ready to take your ass to Red Lobster. His new path is paved with good vibes, nonstop selfies, and a truly bizarre AI experiment of a new single. But what’s he really going to do with the time he has left?
By Eric Ducker
Culture
Killer Mike Takes a Victory Lap and Addresses His Grammy-Night Arrest on New Song ‘Humble Me’
Following a fiery acceptance speech at the BET Awards, Mike is keeping his foot on the gas pedal with a new project on the way.
By Frazier Tharpe
Culture
How Laundry Day Merrily Rolled Their Way to Viral Fame
Ahead of a sold-out hometown show, the high school pals turned TikTok sensations talk to GQ about cracking the algorithm, riding CitiBikes with Ed Sheeran, and why “the longer people don’t know we make music, the better.”
By Eileen CartterPhotography by Bowen Fernie
GQ Sports
On the Road With T-Pain, Who Is Tired of Signing Your Baby’s Diaper
The longtime hitmaker and musical pioneer has been touring for almost 20 years, learning important lessons about drinking along the way.
By Matthew Roberson
Culture
Don Toliver on Bringing Harleys to Hip-Hop, a Future Collab Album With Travis Scott, Inspiring Kendall Roy, and Becoming a Father
The Houston rapper’s new album, Hardstone Psycho, a hard pivot into bike life, has already become his highest-selling project to date.
By Frazier Tharpe
Culture
John Mayer and Mickey Hart of Dead & Company Talk About Their Big, Strange Sphere Trip—and the Future of the Band
Mayer goes long on the creative process behind the Sphere show, the influence of Star Tours and Titanic, Egyptian bats, “utilitarian nausea,” the 2001/"Monster Mash" spectrum, and what it's like to play in the world's most science-fictional venue: “I mean, it's a duet, right? There's the band and then there's the Sphere, and we are dueting every night.”
By Alex Pappademas
Culture
The Story So Far’s Parker Cannon on Processing Grief, Befriending Blink-182, eBay Deep Dives, and His ‘Weird’ Relationship to Music
As his band's new album, I Want to Disappear, hits stores, the frontman tells GQ: “I'm in a much more comfortable place with who I am, where our band has gone, and where it's taken me.”
By Yang-Yi Goh
Culture
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ Show Was Olympic-Level Hating, and a Love Letter to LA
King Kendrick assembles the West Coast Avengers for a “Not Like Us” victory lap in Inglewood.
By Frazier Tharpe
Style
Kendrick Lamar Popped Out in a Pair of OG Nike Shox
Behold: the new official shoe of hating.
By Eileen Cartter
Culture
How Charli xcx Remixed Summer Into Brat Season
The main character of the internet has become the queen of weird pop, building her own Brat pack by expertly assembling a gang of collaborators.
By Josiah Gogarty
Culture
Clipse Debut A New Song At Pharrell's Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2025 Show, Stirring The Pot On Reunion Rumors
You wanted to hear Clipse rap about something other than cocaine? Here you go.
By Frazier Tharpe
Culture
Ben Platt, Jeremy Pope, Jenna Lyons, and More on the Queer Art That Made Them
From Elton John to Thierry Mugler, Ani DiFranco to Peter Pan, 24 life-changing moments of queer culture
By Raymond Ang, Heven Haile, Jack King, and Alex Wedel