Joelle Joanie Siwa of Dance Moms and Nickelodeon brand deal fame wanted 2024 to know that she’s a bad girl now. She ditched the “Boomerang,” JoJo-bow persona, songs under which, for the sake of parents, are THANKFULLY now distinguished on streaming services as “JoJo Siwa (Kids),” for a PG-13 redefinition of her career. Once you see her, it’s easy to see how. She debuted her new look on the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet, with her face dripped in black paint and body suit covered in glitter. It looks a little bit like she rolled around in the Nickelodeon slime that made her so famous, but not before slipping in some black dye.

I was wondering how out of all of the esteemed releases of 2024, Siwa’s debut EP Guilty Pleasure did not find its way into the U92 rotation. Was JoJo’s jarring persona actually masking a blossoming career of the next musical icon? As a “glass half full” person, I decided to take a listen to the 12-minute, 5-track EP while disregarding all that the crowd has told me to think about JoJo Siwa.

Morgantown, W. Va. - The sixth-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers (9-1-3) host the Georgia State Panthers (3-6-4) in their True Blue game.

The Mountaineers look to continue the momentum from their 1-0 victory against the South Carolina Gamecocks this past Saturday, in which freshman midfielder Isaac Sheer scored his second goal of the season in the 88th minute to secure the win for his side.

Has the monotony of modern music got you down? Are you mad that Jim Morrison never read his poetry during any of The Doors Songs? Do you wish you could have no idea what you’re listening to but still enjoy it nonetheless? Then The New Sound, the first solo album from Black Midi frontman Geordie Greep since the dissolution of the band, might be the album you are looking for. This album may have just hit listeners’ ears two weeks ago, October 4th more specifically, but it didn’t take that long for it to enter my own personal rotation.  

From the opening track “Blues”, the album is swift in showing off its mix progressive, jazz, and Latin rock. The hectic drums swiftly pull the listener into the chaos that they’re soon will be entering by listening to this album. Other standouts include songs like “Holy, Holy”, the first single from this album that was released all the way back in August, right when this album was announced. The guitar comes in swiftly like a bullet, piercing the minds of those who dared to put this track on. Even at six minutes in length, I would attest that this is arguably the most accessible track from this album, even if the spoken lyrics from Geordie Greep are a disorienting experience to acclimate to. However, where you find the most complex track is where you’ll also find the best. I am referring to “The Magician”, a twelve-minute behemoth of an auditory experience. In that time span, the listener gets whisked between triumphant, almost orchestral, sound and contemplative lyrics, crying out to the skies about what is left and where we all end up. A song of the year contender in its own right, what is achieved in only twelve minutes is nothing short of mind boggling. 

The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-4-2) host the Colorado Buffaloes (10-2-4) in their final home game and penultimate game of the regular season. 

The Mountaineers look to recover from a 0-1 defeat against Texas Tech in Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in their last game. They have lost two of their previous three games after starting their first six Big 12 games unbeaten.

Morgantown, W.Va  — The scene is set for one of the most anticipated matchups of the year in college soccer. The West Virginia Mountaineers and South Carolina Gamecocks are set to face off against one another on the pitch of Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown on Saturday.

The Mountaineers, unanimously ranked No. 1 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches Poll following a 4-2 win over Georgia Southern, are out to prove themselves after a rocky road trip to Dayton, Ohio where the team was stunned by the unranked Dayton Flyers, 5-1. 

The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-3-2) are set to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-2-2) in a battle on the pitch, on Thursday October 17th.

The Mountaineers are heading into this game off the heels of a 2-0 victory over the Baylor Bears. The goals were netted by Olivia Schertzer and Dilary Heredia-Beltran which was her third goal on the season. 

Morgantown W. Va– The new look West Virginia Mountaineers are set to open up the 2024-2025 season on Friday, October 18 at 7 p.m. EST in an exhibition game against in-state opponent Charleston Golden Eagles.

After finishing the 2023-2024 season with a 9-23 record, WVU turned the tables to a new face. New head coach, Darian DeVries, looks to take over the team and bring the same success he had with the Drake Bulldogs. DeVries in his young coaching career is 150-55 through six seasons. DeVries also led the Bulldogs to a Mississippi Valley Conference Championship and a ten seed in the 2024 March Madness Tournament. 

Aespa, under SM Entertainment, burst onto the K-pop scene in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic with their innovative concept of blending real-life members and virtual avatars. Their debut single “Black Mamba” set the stage for a new era of K-pop, while follow-up tracks like “Next Level”catapulted them into the global spotlight. In fact, “Next Level” became so addictive that it was temporarily banned in Korea during student exams, as schools and parents worried it would distract students from their studies due to its viral popularity. With futuristic aesthetics and genre-bending music, Aespa quickly became one of K-pop's most talked-about acts.

A key moment in their rise was their performance at Coachella 2022, where they showcased their hits to a diverse audience. As the only K-pop group on the lineup, Aespa stunned with their stage presence, cementing their global influence. Their performance of songs like “Savage” and “Black Mamba” highlighted their powerful vocals and bold choreography, wowing both longtime fans and festival-goers unfamiliar with K-pop.

Time to get on my soapbox and anoint the next big thing in independent folk music. It’sTopHouse, the Montana-migrating, Nashville-living, four-piece alternative folk group that’s bringing the energy to the all-too-sad folk crowd.

If you’ve heard me talk about them too much, that’s really unfortunate, but it’s time they got their flowers. The TopHouse experience is unique to every listener and it’s one that they themselves don’t even know how to describe with their website admitting they don’t know. Are they rock? Folk? Country? Irish? Who’s to say but the listener.

In July of 1518, a mass hysteria event known as the “Dancing Plague” took over the French city of Strasbourg. A woman named Frau Troffea simply stood in the town’s center and danced. For nearly a week straight, fighting off hunger, pain, exhaustion, and more, she danced. She was far from the only one; by the time she eventually stopped, hundreds had joined her. No reason, no rhyme, not even a tune. Just dancing for the sake of dancing.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say this is another mass hysteria event, but I would say we have another dancing plague upon us. This one, at least, has some music behind it, but similar to the original plague, this seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere.