Jesse Serwer on Wiz Khalifa, Rich Juzwiak on Britney Spears, Edd Hurt on Those Darlins

Darren Ankenman

In this week's issue, Jesse Serwer examines why Wiz Khalifa isn't Snoop Dogg, despite his spindly six-foot-four frame and self-estimated $10,000-a-month weed habit. "But where Doggy Style and Chronic 2001 were standard dorm-room issue during my college years a decade ago, today's frat party is more likely to be soundtracked by indie rock than rap." ["Why Wiz Khalifa Isn't Snoop Dogg"]

The wonderful Rich Juzwiak on Britney Spears's new record, Femme Fatale. "If Femme Fatale were merely an album of innocuous pop, Britney's distance from it might not matter, but it's problematic for an album whose subject matter is hedonism and how being hot facilitates it. The lyrics say, 'Id!' while Britney says, 'Meh!'" [Running on (American) Idol]

Edd Hurt on all-over-the-place girls Those Darlins. "'Be Your Bro' really is about how Jessi Darlin--the group's main songwriter and, from the evidence of their second full-length, Screws Get Loose, its conceptualist--gets impatient with her boyfriend, who 'just wants to stick it in.'" ["Indie-White-Trash Those Darlins Make Good"]