Hey, I’m Cat! I’m a critic and journalist in Brooklyn, New York. I’m currently the Associate Editor at Pitchfork, and I’ve also contributed to the New Yorker, Washington Post, the Cut, Slate, NPR, Vice, and Real Life. I write about the intersection of music, technology, and youth culture. I recently won a 2022 ASME Next Award for journalists under 30, where judges praised my “sophisticated and engaging style” and ability to occupy many roles, including “historian, sociologist, analyst and music critic.”

Pitchfork
- Breakdown of the Charli XCX Roblox concert
- Deep dive into music fandom on Discord
- Retrospective on Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway
- Trend piece on fan edit communities
- Profile of cyber pop artist yeule
- Review of Mitski’s album, Laurel Hell
- Profile of 18-year-old digicore artist dltzk
- Review of FKA twigs mixtape, Caprisongs
- Recap of 2021 music trends on TikTok
- Retrospective on Kesha’s 2010 debut, Animal
- 4,000-word search for the meaning of “Asian American music”
- Critical essay about city pop and the Western imagination of Japan
Select other
- Interview with TikTok fashion forecaster OldLoserInBrooklyn (Vice)
- A profile of comedian Jamie Loftus (New Yorker)
- A review of Awkwafina’s sitcom Nora from Queens (The Cut)
- An analysis of “TikTok Face” (Real Life)
- A look at the Instagram gossip site Deuxmoi (Real Life)
- A critical essay about Mitski’s Be the Cowboy (NPR)
Appearances
- On the NYT Popcast discussing Mitski
- On the Netflix show Explained dissecting TikTok dances
- On NPR talking about TikTok sensation PinkPantheress
- On the Embedded newsletter explaining my digital habits
- On Vulture’s Switched on Pop breaking down Japanese city pop
- On Vulture’s Switched on Pop talking about TikTok’s musical landscape
- On the Pitchfork Review discussing TikTok and activism
- My city pop feature was featured in the NYT Morning newsletter
- My “TikTok Face” article was included in media studies. press’s Social Media and the Self reader
work email: cat_zhang @ pitchfork.com