The Musicians Getting Gen Z Offline & Into the Crowd
In a world where algorithms dictate music taste, a new class of artists is building their own IRL universes that defy the scroll.
The hottest artist in underground dance music is a horse. The Berlin-based DJ HorsegiirL claims she played exclusively for animal audiences before getting discovered by “Whitney Horseton” and crossing over to the human world with equine-themed bangers like “My Barn My Rules” and “Material Hor$e.” Since 2022, she’s developed a growing fan base of “farmies” who line up to see her surreal, genre-bending sets at festivals like Coachella and clubs like Berghain. Farmies are fiercely protective of her mystique: HorsegiirL, who also goes by Stella Stallion, has never revealed her face or her real identity. “People always love a bit of lore,” says Stallion. “We like stories. That’s how we function. That’s how we build empires and also how we bring them down.”
While HorsegiirL’s act is extreme, it’s symbolic of a new wave of young musicians building their own niche environments—artists like 2hollis and the bands Magdalena Bay and Fcukers, as well as experimental acts like LSDXOXO and Oklou. A few years ago, the music industry decided that Gen Z wanted artists whose personalities were small, generic, and relatable enough to fit into social media algorithms; these new performers, however, feel like glitches in that system, like off-ramps from the infinite scroll into new universes. Their fans want to experience them in real life, not through a screen. Last year, Live Nation reported a 4 percent increase in concert attendance over the year before, and Gen Z surpassed millennials as the top buyers of concert tickets, signaling a shift in where, and how, teenagers and -20-somethings want to listen to music.
HorsegiirL wears a Charles Jeffrey Loverboy top; Emily Frances Barrett belt.
“People now are just looking for a bit of separation from reality,” says LSDXOXO, the American-born, Berlin-based producer and musician also known as RJ Glasgow. His music, which combines elements of mainstream pop, underground techno, and even a dash of Y2K emo, has taken him from the queer rave scene to the mainstream—he’s remixed Lady Gaga and opened for Beyoncé. Younger audiences, he explains, “really want to live within the confines of fantasy.”
LSDXOXO wears a Courrèges jacket, top, and pants.
A few years back, the L.A. based synth-pop duo Magdalena Bay scored what every music industry executive not so secretly wants: a viral TikTok song. In 2019, their single “Killshot” became a popular soundtrack for “sexy edits and thirst traps,” as the band’s 29-year-old singer, Mica Tenenbaum, puts it. But she had no interest in continually chasing the algorithm. “Label people were saying that they really just wanted you to become a TikTok influencer or make confessional-type video, and that just never felt like something we were going to do,” says Matthew Lewin, the band’s 29-year-old other half. “The reality is, the medium we’re working with is music, and it just doesn’t get more personal and authentic than someone listening to the music,” adds Tenenbaum. “We don’t need to be vlogging our day.”
“That’s really what makes the difference between a rock star and an influencer,” says HorsegiirL. “The modern-day influencer would let you in on every single small thing. But if you think of rock stars or pop stars, there’s always this kind of question: Who are they really?”
From left: Magdalena Bay’s Mica Tenenbaum wears a Balenciaga dress; Panconesi ear cuffs. Matthew Lewin wears a Moschino jacket; Zadig & Voltaire shirt.
Magdalena Bay found success with something no focus group could have predicted: conceptual, progressive-rock operas. Their albums, music videos, and theatrical live shows form a DIY, sci-fi universe with projections that include made-up characters like the Doctor, a star-faced man in red. Costumed figures and a “weird robot mannequin” join them onstage. “It’s evolved to have set pieces and a loose narrative arc and costume changes,” says Tenenbaum of their act. Since -September, the band has played theaters and clubs almost nonstop. Their schedule won’t let up until October.
2hollis wears Calvin Klein boxer briefs; 2hollis’s own pants and belt.
Initially, 21-year-old 2hollis was deeply online: He started out in 2016, under the moniker “Drippysoup,” by posting fantasy-tinged songs on SoundCloud. “I have paragraphs and paragraphs of world-building stuff, like five-hour voice memos explaining detailed stories for albums that no one ever has heard,” says 2hollis. While his lyrical focus has switched to themes like heartbreak and crushes, a sense of escapism pervades his live shows: “My fans have decided that what you do at a 2hollis concert is mosh. It’s the ultimate expression of energy and ecstasy. It’s just people so amped and hyped on music, they can’t help but go ballistic and run into each other and flail around and scream and yell and jump and laugh.”
From left: The Fcukers’ Shanny Wise wears a Balenciaga jacket, skirt, and shoes; Falke socks. Jackson Walker Lewis wears a Willy Chavarria top; Prada pants; Adidas sneakers; Lewis’s own jacket.
That kind of physical release is in demand. The New York–based duo Fcukers, who make guitar-tinged dance music, have grown a fan base through live shows and word-of-mouth hype. Vocalist Shanny Wise and guitarist-producer Jackson Walker Lewis played in separate indie rock bands for years; then Lewis recruited Wise to add vocals to his ’90s dance tracks. In 2023, they played their first live show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right. It sold out. “It was at midnight, we were all fucked up, and everyone was just partying,” says Wise. “A&R people were like, ‘How does this band get all these people to their first show?’ ” says Lewis. Their rise has been propulsive. They were handpicked by Hedi Slimane to DJ a Celine party and have collaborated with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. Their debut album is in the works.
Oklou wears Balenciaga pants; Oklou’s own top.
The movement toward real-life experiences isn’t just about indulging in a few hedonistic hours. The French musician Oklou first made her name as a member of a Paris-based, all-female DJ collective, but the dreamy tracks on the 32-year-old’s debut album, Choke Enough, which came out in February, are better suited for people on downers, not uppers. Pitchfork approvingly compared her music to a mix of Y2K sounds and medieval melodies; her shows feel like a cocoon. “There’s a great big white fabric over the entire stage,” she says. “I really wanted to work with the light engineers to focus on lights and shadows.” After finding out she was pregnant last year, she considered delaying her album. Instead, she toured into her third trimester and will continue on with North American dates later this year.
Even if these artists’ social media followings are sure to grow, “you can only do so much TikTok watching until you feel kind of shit,” says HorsegiirL. “The real thing is always going to be more fun.”
Hair for Magdalena bay by Amber Duarte for Roz; Makeup for Magdalena bay by Kris Jung for Danessa Myricks Beauty; Photo Assistant to Molly Matalon: Nicholas Fish; Fashion Assistant to Akeem Smith: Lauren Marron; Special Thanks to Bob Baker marionette Theater. Hair for 2HOLLIS by Dora Roberti for Paul Mitchell at BLEND MGMT; Skin for 2HOLLIS by Alessia Stefano for Anastasia Beverly Hills at BLEND MGMT; Fashion Assistant to Niki Pauls: Charlotte Iavarone; Special Thanks to Magazzini Generali.
Hair for HORSEGIIRL by Ali Pirzadeh at Streeters; Face FX by Sita Messer; Photo Assistant to Maciek PoŻoga: Alex Soroka; Fashion Assistant to Flora Huddart: Brigitte Kovats.
Hair for FCUkERS by Walton Nuñez for Amika at See Management; Makeup for FCUkERS by Kuma for MAC Cosmetics at Streeters; Photo Assistant to Ryan Lowry: Zachary Helper; Fashion Assistant to Tori López: Natalie Mell; Special Thanks to Leisure Centre.
Grooming for LSDXOXO by Olivia Nwachukwu for Typology; Fashion Assistant to Niki Pauls: Tim Reinmann. Hair and Makeup for Oklou by Kevyn Charo; Photo Assistant to Tess Petronio: Tomoya Fujimoto; Fashion Assistant to Flora Huddart: Terry Lospalluto.
