Standford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
BOBBY CURRIE Editor-in-Chief ERIN CASEY GRACE DONNELLY Co-Publishers
Creative Director ANISHA CHOPRA Marketing Director OLIVIA WIMPARI
Design Editors
AVERY WHITE KATIE KELL
Video Editors
JOHANNES PARDI
JASMIN RHYMES
Managing Photo Editor
JEFF WAGNER
Print Fashion Editors
Operations Director TEMMIE YU
CERIDWEN ROBERTS JULIANA RAMIREZ Print Features Editor MARXIE COLLIVER Print Photo Editors
Digital Fashion Editor ELENA SHAHEEN
Digital Content Editor HANIYA FAROOQ
Events Coordinators ALIA GAMEZ SAM TANDY
KAELIN PARK MARGARET WHITTEN
Features Editor TESSA VALERA-CASTRO Digital Photo Editor NIAH SEI
Communications Coordinators ANA CANO CYNTHIA QIAN
Finance Coordinator KATIE BURGIN
Beauty Team
Miles Hionis, Marguerite Smith, Ana Cano, Krystal Salgado, Ella Graeb, Margaret Mckinney, Gretchen Brookes, Adrienne Feige, Camille Naves, Yun-Hsi Chiang, Sravya Davuluri, Chelsea Ohaka, Eddy Holcomb, Jiyu Moon, Gabriele Shepheard, Ally Wang, Elizabeth Wolf
Design Team
Katie Kell, Avery White, Isabella Schneider, Story Triplett, Cornelia Ovren, Ashley Turner, Caroline Kegg, Chloe Bratton, Jaycee Mitchell, Sasha French, Jasmine Barnes, Ava Anderson
Fashion Team
Ceridwen Roberts, Juliana Ramirez, Elena Shaheen, Micah Webster-Bass, Sally Jang, Porter Selfridge, Jared Ruffing, Anika Lopes, Amelia Kocis, Ella Graeb, Gloria Yu, Hana Farooq, Kaavya Chavan, Christine Kim, Reagan Hakala, Paige Tushman, Mary-Katherine Acho-Tartoni, Jessica Kroetsch, Subin Yang, Anise Kruse, Samuel Cao, Jeffrey Wagner, Emilio Rodriguez, Jessica Au, Emma Blair, Anjani Patel, Auburn Marriott, Hannah Ruffin, Rita Hajjar, Zachary Sebestyen, Madison Knowlton, Jillian Van Stee, Lucy Smith, Chelsea Ohaka, Mya Weiss
Photography Team
Kaelin Park, Margaret Whitten, Niah Sei, Ava Muntner, Kamryn Washington, Chloe Kiriluk, Isabella Possin, Lane Liu, Zhixian Xiong, Jaden Moxlow, Esther Tirat-Gefen, Hannah Ruffin, Bridgette Bol, Shravya Ghantasala, Aria Zhou, Lilly Vydareny, Bee Whalen, Tania Rodarte-Escobedo
Apairof wired headphones dangles from my head as I pump my way through the diag in my signature black snakeskin cowboy boots and a pair of red true religion jeans. It’s 12:50 pm, and I’m on my way to a 1 o’clock lecture which is located, inconveniently, inside North Quad. A seemingly impossible task of time and athleticism quickly shifts to a simple everyday strut due to the power of music. The power of Spotify. With the powerful belts and riffs of Beyonce’s B’Day Deluxe album there is no place I can’t go in 15 minutes or less.
As I slowly take my seat at 12:58 on the dot, my brain begins to wander and reflect upon just how powerful music can really be; in any and all contexts. Whether it’s the soundtrack to a movie, the background sounds of my dance minor courseload, or the jazzy notes of my trumpet on the field with the Michigan Marching Band, music follows me wherever I go. The 21 movement symphony of my life thus far has been filled with ups and downs, tragedy and joy, terror and excitement, yet through it all a playlist has led me to this exact moment here and now to introduce Volume 12, Issue 3 of SHEI Magazine.
“Wrapped” is a SHEI Magazine play on Spotify’s yearly Wrapped, which reveals millions of people’s top artists, songs, and albums. SHEI explores the role of some of these musical figureheads as we examine their impact on both the music industry, and the world of editorial fashion and writing. 5 photoshoots delicately harmonize alongside 4 feature pieces all examining the intrinsic balance between music, fashion and humanity. Put on your headphones and press play on your favorite song as you tune in to SHEI’s November Digital, “Wrapped.”
Bobby Currie Editor-In-Chief
If you see me around campus, there’s a 99% chance that you’ll also see my white Apple earbuds alongside me. The long, tangled cords permanently lay resting on my ears, effortlessly connecting me to the abundance of playlists held within the grips of my Spotify.
These playlists have been compiling themselves for years, serving as collections of core memories and cherished moments of my life that can be defined by a singular song, just for them to resurface once again at the end of the year when the dearly beloved “Spotify Wrapped” hits my phone as well as the phones of millions of others.
Our November digital issue is SHEI’s own collection of some of music’s most iconic moments. WRAPPED, gave our features writers the opportunity to honor different eras and styles of music, highlighting the impact music has had on both our identity and our ways of storytelling. As a result, through explorations of alter egos, deep dives into virtual bands, and much more, our writers were able to do exactly that and more, reminding us of the role music has had on each of our lives as both artists and people.
So now, as you prepare to read this edition, invite you to put your earbuds in and start flipping the pages ... welcome to SHEI’s very own WRAPPED, thanks for tuning in!
Tessa Valera-Castro
Another Girl on the Subway
on
the Subway
made you the villian, yeah evil for just moving on I see your shadow, I see it even with the lights on I made a promise that if in four months this feelin aint gone well fuck this
she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away she got a way she got a way she got away she got away she got away
Physical Media in a Digital Landscape
The indisputable definition of a year is twelve months. Except for those who use Spotify.
Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming service, and its annual reveal of users’ listening statistics—Wrapped—is no small reason. From the start of the year to what fans estimate to be the end of October, it collects data on the frequency of plays across different artists, songs, and genres. Then, around the start of December, fans try to guess the release date of Wrapped with bated breath; once it drops, with its colorful graphics full of unique numbers, Spotify users flock to social media to post their recaps and their rankings among listeners.
Wrapped’s success clearly shows the appeal of sharing one’s taste. Yet the rise of physical media indicates that fans of music may be turning away from the digital world, displaying and interacting with their favorite music in a “new” way. What is it about clunky, outdated technology that draws listeners back in?
CDs and vinyls have strong competition in the form of omnipresent streaming services—though the apparent accessibility of playing anything on demand can be an illusion. A closer look at Spotify shows that it offers music in bite-sized chunks rather than as a complete artistic creation. Through short, TikTok-like loops, Spotify advertises music videos by playing them in the background. Listening to an album in its entirety is impossible without paying for Premium, as the app forcibly shuffles queues and interrupts with frequent ads. And for those who choose to outmaneuver the inconveniences of Spotify’s free version, another problem arises: where their money goes. Spotify does not pay artists for individual streams of their songs; instead, it pays them based on their percentage of streams across all artists on the service. Therefore, a subscriber’s money may not necessarily be going toward the music they love. Spotify is one streaming service among many, but it serves as a good example of the cracks in engaging with music through digital platforms. For fans who want to support their favorite artists while completely enjoying their own collection, switching from the Liked Songs tab to physical releases is becoming increasingly common.
The weight of physical media in one’s hand can serve as a comfort in multiple ways, particularly its permanence. After a fan buys a CD or vinyl, that album is theirs to play as they wish, irrespective of licensing problems that may remove it from streaming—or make it unavailable in the first place. Increasing subscription fees also do not pose a problem; once purchased, an album can remain in the listener’s collection forever. Nostalgia also factors into physical media’s reemerging relevance; it remains as a lasting effect of the past years’ Y2K trend, with remnants of the late 90s and early 2000s seeping back into popular culture. While “Y2K” loses relevance as a buzzword, interest in the technology unique to
the time persists, especially among a backdrop of unease in a time where technology can act as a double-edged sword. Even slight pauses, such as loading CDs into their players and listening to the buzz as they’re read, are grounding compared to the intense speed of having everything one click away on the internet.
Yet making the switch is not as simple as a few purchases at a nearby record store. With digital platforms forming the dominant means of music listening, technology has become increasingly hostile to physical media. The impracticality—and expense—of vinyls and their requisite players make them an impractical indulgence today. CDs, while they experienced their peak popularity more recently, are also on a path to obsolescence. Laptops and cars are no longer designed with built-in CD players; instead, most are optimized for connecting wirelessly via Bluetooth. Accessories used originally with physical media, such as wired headphones, have also become more difficult to use. Phones no longer have standardized headphone jacks, again showing a modern preference for the clutter-free convenience of wireless listening.
Moving from streaming to physical media can be an expensive choice, especially with the additional purchases one must make today. Yet the visibility of such a hassle, from tangled wires to bulky devices, make the commitment of forming a music collection all the more obvious. Such a blatant effort is a way that music fans can express themselves and connect with each other, rather than hiding their library away in their phone.
Bringing music into the real world is a powerful means of self-expression, however subtle. The recent rise in using wired earbuds rather than wireless shows the vast appeal of making it obvious that one is tuned in. Besides displaying more outdated technologies in outfits, music collections revitalize interiors: CD covers can be displayed as the works of art they are, whether perched on their own displays or stacked on shelves. Record players add a touch of elegance to their surroundings. And hearing music out of speakers is far more fun than keeping it a secret locked behind headphones.
For fans of music, entertainment lies not only in the music itself but getting to put one’s own tastes on display. That truth is what makes the release of Spotify Wrapped almost like a holiday at the end of the year. A display of physical media, for many, scratches that same itch while also allowing them to support the artists they love in the most direct way possible.
Yet again, the end of October has flown by, and Spotify has finished collecting data for its annual review. With the close of another year, perhaps this signifies a wrap for many fans’ regular streaming habits; in a period where everything is online, reconnecting to the realm of physical media is worth the inconvenience.
A Brighter Star
Donna Summer
SHOOT DIRECTOR
Dream a L tle Dream
SHOOT DIRECTOR
LUCY SMITH
PHOTOGRAPHERS
TANIA RODARTE-ESCOBEDO
LILLY VYDARENY
BRIDGETTE BOI
STYLISTS
KAAVYA CHAVAN
JILLIAN VAN STEE
BEAUTY
KRYSTAL SALGADO
SRAVYA DAVULURI
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ASHLEY TURNER
MODELS
MAVIS ANNING-GYAN
Alter Ego?
I Hardly Know Her
Pop culture has always loved a transformation story. From David Bowie’s creation of Ziggy Stardust to Nicki Minaj’s Roman Zolanski, some artists build entire characters to inhabit, while others reshape their visual and stylistic identities to reflect new eras of their artistry. Celebrities have always changed their names and branding to better appeal to the public, as seenthrough Marilyn Monroe who was once Norma Jeane Baker before she became a national sex symbol. But in the streaming era, when every aspect of an artist’s life feels endlessly visible, the persona has taken on new meaning. It’s no longer just a costume or alias—it’s a fullblown alter ego, a living identity that merges art, performance, and marketing into one seamless aesthetic; there is no separation between the persona and the actual person. For musicians, crafting a persona isn’t just about standing out, it’s about survival. A persona goes beyond branding; it becomes the emotional and visual language through which artists communicate. Unlike a character, who lives only inside a song or concept album, a persona consumes the artist entirely and their subsequent work. Once it’s out in the world, the line between person and performance disappears completely. Fans, critics, and brands all buy into the mirage, turning image into identity, and in an era where image is everything, that illusion can be both empowering and dangerous.
One of the best examples of personas is found in Southern Gothic’s prodigious daughter, Ethel Cain, the haunting character created by Hayden Silas Anhedönia, now being used as a musical persona. Cain’s album “Preacher’s Daughter” explores a fully fleshed out story and life line of the Ethel Cain character from escaping
religious trauma only to find herself trapped in new forms of pain. The world Anhedönia has built—complete with notes of macabre, bloodsoaked romance, and spiritual rebellion—feels so real it’s easy to forget it’s fiction.The Ethel Cain project allows Anhedönia to explore her own personal history and trauma through different metaphors and behind the safety of a character, inviting fans into a fully realized narrative universe. But with that immersion comes confusion. Many listeners mistake Cain’s tragic storyline as autobiographical, blurring the space between artistic storytelling and lived experience.
A similar alchemy defines the original “sad girl”, Lana Del Rey, born Elizabeth Grant. Defined by her hazy Americana aesthetic, soft melancholy, and vintage glamour, Lana became the face of a Tumblr-era nostalgia that romanticized heartbreak and doomed desire. The Lana persona turned Elizabeth from an open-mic singer into a world wide icon—but also a prisoner of her own image. Every shift in sound or style is still measured against that initial archetype; when Lana gained weight a few years back she was heavily criticized as she was no longer America’s teenage-esque darling, and when she started going into a different direction stylistically to a more country sound she was ruthlessly criticized. The persona that made her famous more than a decade ago now defines the sole way in which audiences perceive her authenticity, leaving little room for reinvention. This culture can be particularly harmful for impressionable audiences who take the “sad girl” persona to heart, normalizing unhealthy coping mechanisms—like idealizing pain and depression, seeking validation through suffering, turning to drugs as aesthetic fodder, or viewing abusive relationships as passionate or poetic. Del Rey’s influence, then, goes beyond music: it shapes how many young women conceptualize love, identity, and self-worth, often in ways that tether femininity to fragility and suffering.
The concept of persona can be seen from a different lens through the 365 party girl, Charlotte Aitchison, better known as Charli unapologetically XCX embodies the hyper-pop persona of a “bitchy party girl” — brash, self-assured, and unapologetically, immersed in a world of excess (hence the XCX, a clever homophone for excess), yet in interviews we get a glimpse of the real Aitchison, deeply attuned to the cultural pulse of her generation and constantly reflective. She blends irony with authenticity, turning hedonism and chaos into art that reflects the overstimulated, internet-fueled experience of modern youth. Through her loud, glitter-soaked aesthetic, cleverly veiled party drug references, and self-aware lyrics, Charli both celebrates and critiques the digital age’s obsession with fame, performance, and female empowerment. This duality allows audiences to revel in her confidence while also recognizing the artificiality and pressure of the world she represents. Fans, especially young women and queer listeners, connect to her persona as both fantasy and mirror — an exaggerated yet relatable expression of power, vulnerability, and the desire to be seen in an era where identity is constantly performed.
That’s the paradox of persona—it frees artists creatively but traps them publicly. Fans fall in love with the performance and project that image onto the person behind it. Parasocial relationships deepen this illusion, as audiences consume curated versions of reality and call it truth. What begins as creative expression can easily become emotional labor: maintaining an identity that the internet insists is real. The line between who you are and who they think you are gets thinner with every post, lyric, and interview. Still, in a culture obsessed with transparency, the persona might be one of the last ways artists can preserve any mystery. By building alternate selves, musicians carve where they can play, provoke, and protect what’s real. Persona isn’t about deceit—it’s about control. It’s the ability to turn vulnerability into vision palatable for audiences and a harsh industry that demands authenticity but also artificiality is praised.
SHe’s SO SHe’s SO
WRAPPED WRAPPED
joy ride
Nameone iconic band that’s managed to survive decades of change, genre shifts, and a pandemic, yet still managed to keep pulling in thousands of fans. I DARE you. Any coming to mind? Think Gorillaz.
The Beginning to The Now (Now)
Gorillaz is an alternative British virtual band that began in 1998, created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Led by four fictional members: Noodle, 2D, Murdoc Niccals and Russel Hobbs, the band kicked off after the release of their first single “Clint Eastwood”, featuring the virtual stars for the first time. Damon Albarn discovered a preset omnichord (electric harp) beat slowed down, and after some tinkering with lyrics in collaboration with Del the Funky Homosapien, the song was born.
Hewlett’s co-creation of Tank Girl in the Deadline (1988) with Alan Martin, a British post-apocalyptic science fiction comic, elevated his artistic publication journey, and associated his unique drawing style with grimier, gritty “punk” references and narratives. Tank Girl eventually evolved into an unreleased comic strip titled The 16s featuring characters that at a glance, look similar to the final designs for the first generation of Gorillaz characters–especially with chimpanzee protagonist “Earl Monkey”. Just like the characters in The 16s the first debut album released by the Gorillaz has a very simple 90s British streetwear look, kicking off each of the characters’ personalities through their choice of clothing.
Fashion throughout the “Phases”
The narrative “phases” as fans have called each major point in the Gorillaz storyline (beginning with the release of their debut album, Gorillaz) is semidependent on the characters’ choice of clothing and aesthetic, based on what point of the story they’re currently involved in. Jamie Hewlett’s work primarily explores punk styles, and has continued to branch out into different similar aesthetics or completely new styles. One of these styles is mod fashion. Mod (Modernist) fashion took off in the early to late 1960s as a popular look in the United Kingdom with bold coloring, geometric shapes, bright patterns and dramatic eye makeup. Bands such as The Kinks and The Who were typically associated with this subculture, explaining how the original British root of
WRITER
BEE WHALEN GRAPHIC DESIGNER
AVERY WHITE
Feel Good Fashion:
(Inc.)
announcement of their new album The Mountain - which focuses on the concept of the afterlife and Indian culture - the band is showing that they’ll do what it takes to retain their individuality. For Albran and Hewlett, this album has served as a space to explore grief in a place that presented a different perspective on the idea of death compared to his hometown. Channeling their mirrored feelings of loss through the band they both worked together to create promised something complex and beautiful: the art of being alive in the spirit of death. The Mountain has brought an entirely new meaning to the characters in Gorillaz from the passion of the two creators as they draw narrative from their own lives.
Gorillaz Through the Ages
the modernist fashion era translated into Hewlett’s work. The tight fitting trousers and bright colored polo shirts typically worn by 2D are a great example of a modernist inspiration found in the Gorillaz costuming.
Besides mod fashion, varieties of streetwear (particularly Japanese and British streetwear) line up style wise with many of the Gorillaz outfits. Although there’s no direct say about whether Hewlett’s art took any inspiration from this fashion genre, albums such as Humanz and Noodle’s character alone is a fantastic example of possible streetwear inspirations, with sharper hairstyles, brightly colored oversized jackets, big outerwear and creative hair accessories.
Politics: “Dirty Harry”
Much of the work Gorillaz has created has often been a satirical or direct attack on political and cultural events around the world. These include songs from their earlier albums such as “Kids with Guns”, “November Has Come”, as well as more recent releases like “The Happy Dictator”. The song “Dirty Harry” in particular stands out as a great example of the band’s political involvement. The song directly attacked the decisions and impacts of President George Bush in response to the Iraq War in 2005, represented by the lyrics and composition of the music video. 2D leads the vocals and choreography wearing a camouflage
helmet paired with a loose chain of dogtags, while other characters in the music video wear contrasting, less war-like apparel. Taking more political stances as a band and displaying them through lyrics and choice of music video composition delivers a strong message the same way that punk fashion has been historically well known to also convey political meanings, particularly in the United Kingdom. Heavy, black leather jackets and darker, grimier themes (the name alone “Dirty Harry” having a darker tone) are often popular specifically with these songs with the band, and correlate with the United Kingdom’s fashion history.
Finale: The Mountain & Mainstream?
Whether or not Gorillaz has gone mainstream is debatable. It’s arguable that Gorillaz has been mainstream since their album Demon Days released with the win of a Grammy for the song “Feel Good Inc.”. Their presence online has drastically grown since the release of major social media platforms as well, which has allowed for them to stream music instead of only selling physical copies. Even so, Gorillaz hasn’t lost their authenticity from the collected popularity from over the years. The band has gone beyond music, through both the creation of the fashion line called, “G-Foot” and a collaboration with Marc Jacobs clothing (2025). Additionally, with the
Since the band’s start, the complexity of the projects they’ve taken, the meanings behind the songs they’ve produced, and the amount of collaboration between other musicians is something truly unique, and the stylization that continues to evolve within the characters and story over time goes on to prove that even further. The evolution of Gorillaz is something continuous, and what’s next for them won’t only depend on what’s created, but rather on what’s being shed.
