GOOD EVENING!

This is OUT OF SCOPE, your weekly intel to fuel your water cooler conversations, delivered to your inbox every Monday. If someone forwarded you this email, be sure and subscribe here. 

LUNCH BREAK

five consumption recs for the time between meetings

1. PARTON THE CONFUSION. Dolly confirms she’s fine - but not before everyone spiraled.

2. MANOSPHERE IN RETROGRADE. Does anyone know if we have to reap what we sow tomorrow?

3. RED BANDANA GIRL. The fan who stepped up as impromptu security detail at a Billie Eilish show is the internet’s current it girl; we’re awaiting the Marvel miniseries. 

4. HITS THAT STICK. Rolling Stone’s 250 greatest songs of the 21st century ranking is either journalistic excellence or a total wash, depending on where your fav landed.

5. BUBBLE TROUBLE. This is fine, right?

is kylie the new king of pop?

The King has risen. 

On Instagram and Tumblr feeds of yore, her decrees were gospel. Carve out your angular block brows with a pencil one shade too dark. Complete your legging/crop top ensemble with a chalky, ice-blue lip color. “Yes, King Kylie,” legions of teen girls chanted back in unison. 

Time deposes all kings, and as the trend cycle turned over, King Kylie was laid to rest under Kylie Jenner’s many, many iterations of self. But beneath the layers of clean girl and BBL baddie, the King lay – entombed, but not gone. Today, the tomb is empty.

King Kylie is back – and this time, it’s musical. 

“So, we’re just letting anyone do music now?” you ask. The answer is: Yes, absolutely, where have you been?

Sure, in our permission-less, democratic media environment, it feels far more righteous to root for the underdog bedroom producer you knew when their Soundcloud following hovered at a couple hundred. That’s real music. Kylie doesn’t have real musical chops, you can’t help but grumble – this is just engagement-farming vanity project number ten billion. And that could very well turn out to be true. 

But there’s another potential outcome to reckon with here. Having money and a massive platform does not automatically disqualify you from making something good. Pop darling Addison Rae arrived on the music scene with Hype House baggage, looked squarely into the eye-rolls and predictions of failure, and then delivered critically-acclaimed pop excellence. We invite you to release yourself from the Disney Channel Original rich-popular-girl-vs.-quiet-girl-who-can-secretly-sing narrative peddled by the High School Musical/Camp Rock industrial complex. The next great sound can come from anywhere, and that includes from the top. 

Maybe Kylie's music will be trash. Maybe it'll be another forgettable celebrity side quest we'll mock in a year. Or maybe - just maybe - she'll prove that King Kylie still runs our feeds. We aren’t quite ready to declare, “Long live King Kylie,” but we’re here for the possibility.

TREND RAPPORT

viral vocab of the week 

SLOP (suffix) –  Indicates the aforementioned content is hastily-constructed and low-quality. The suffix is most commonly used to describe lazy AI-generated content, but its applications are far-ranging: from fast casual bowls to games that are over-reliant on a given gimmick.

WASHED (adj.) –  Refers to someone or something that is past its prime. 

MY SHAYLA (n.) –  A melodramatic declaration of love, loyalty, or despair. The term originates from a tearful plea posted by Fast & Furious alum Tyrese Gibson during a custody dispute, only to be reborn on TikTok years later. Today, it lives on as a campy, often ironic, shorthand to express overwhelming emotion — whether about your favorite fictional character, a lost UberEats order, or in reaction to a generational flop.

SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY!

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