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{{Short description|American music critic and YouTuber}}
{{Infobox Website
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
| name = The Needle Drop
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| author = Anthony Fantano
| name = Anthony Fantano
| logo = [[File:Theneedledroplogo.png|The Needle Drop Logo|150px]]
| image = AnthonyFantano2016.png
| caption = Anthony reviewing [[The Pains of Being Pure at Heart]]'s latest release, [[Belong (album)|Belong]].
| alt = A man with black eyeglasses and a red flannel shirt in a room with a picture on the wall
| url = {{url|theneedledrop.com}}
| caption = Fantano in 2016
[https://www.youtube.com/theneedledrop youtube.com/theneedledrop]
| birth_name = Anthony Nicholas Fantano
| type = [[Review#Music reviews|Music reviewing]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|10|28}}
| launch date = 2007
| birth_place = [[Wolcott, Connecticut]], U.S.
| current status = Active
| occupation = {{flatlist|
| screenshot =<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Theneedledrop2.PNG|240px]] -->
* Music critic
* YouTuber
* streamer
* influencer
| instrument = Bass guitar
}}
}}
| website = {{URL|theneedledrop.com}}
| pseudonym = {{flatlist|
* Melon<ref>{{cite web |title=Anthony Fantano Responds To Alt-Right & Racist Accusations |work=Kill Your Stereo |url=https://killyourstereo.com/news/1097825/anthony-fantano-responds-to-alt-right-racist-accusations/ |access-date=May 29, 2019 |archive-date=November 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109092704/https://killyourstereo.com/news/1097825/anthony-fantano-responds-to-alt-right-racist-accusations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Cal Chuchesta<ref name="mancunion">{{cite web|last=Ingham|first=Tom|title=Interview: Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop)|website=[[The Mancunion]]|url=https://mancunion.com/2014/03/23/interview-anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop/|date=March 23, 2014|access-date=November 20, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128065302/https://mancunion.com/2014/03/23/interview-anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd<ref name="Wired">{{cite magazine | last=Veronin | first=Nick. | url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/02/anthony-fantano/ | title=The Hardest Working Critic in Show Business Never Stops Hunting for New Music | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | date=February 18, 2014 | access-date=March 11, 2017 | archive-date=March 15, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315142147/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/02/anthony-fantano/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
| channel_name = theneedledrop <!-- PER WP:ELMIN, DO NOT ADD SECONDARY CHANNELS UNLESS CITED IN THE ARTICLE AND BACKED BY RELIABLE SOURCES -->
| years active = 2009–present
| genre = [[Music]]
| subscribers = 2.93 million
| views = 1.07 billion
| stats_update = November 2, 2024
| silver_button = yes
| silver_year = 2012
| gold_button = yes
| gold_year = 2017
| module =
}}
'''Anthony Nicholas Fantano'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://listen.tidal.com/album/107191976/credits |title=Credits / Best Teef? (Anderson .Paak Diss) [feat. Anthony Fantano] / Cal Chuchesta – TIDAL|access-date=2024-01-21 |website=[[Tidal (service)|Tidal]]}}</ref> ({{IPAc-en|f|æ|n|'|t|æ|n|oʊ}} {{respell|fan|TAN|oh}}; born October 28, 1985) is an American [[Music journalism|music critic]] and [[internet personality]] who runs '''''TheNeedleDrop''''', a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]]<ref>{{Citation |title=theneedledrop - Twitch |url=https://www.twitch.tv/theneedledrop |access-date=May 20, 2023 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506003932/https://www.twitch.tv/theneedledrop |url-status=live }}</ref> streaming channel. Self-appointed as "The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd", as a [[social media influencer]] Fantano discusses and reviews music from a variety of genres online.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Rolling |date=2024-08-26 |title=25 Most Influential Creators of 2024 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/top-social-media-influencers-creators-2024-1235084589/plastique-tiara-1235084766/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>


He also runs the channel '''Fantano''' where he talks about events in the music industry solo or with guests and conducts interviews.
'''The Needle Drop''' is a [[blog]]/[[vlog]] created and run by '''Anthony Fantano''' (born October 28, 1985), self-described as "the Internet's Busiest Music Nerd," in which he reviews "rock, pop, electronic, and experimental music of the [[independent music|independent persuasion]]," usually by the medium of video and audio reviews. Despite the blog's tagline, metal and hip hop have also been covered extensively along with certain [[major label]] artists. The blog started in the fall of 2007, with video reviews beginning in February 2009. The blog reviews albums, individual songs in a segment called "Track Reviews" (stylized as "TRKRVWZ"), and occasionally a "Question of the Week" or list based upon a theme relating to music or Anthony's favourite fruits (often melons). His reviews often contain brief skits, usually involving his musically oblivious roommate, Cal Chuchesta, (played by Fantano himself. Occasionally, Fantano will allow The Count to "review" an album, often as a gift to his fans.


== Early life ==
The blog rates albums and tracks on a scale from 0 to 10, with an accompanying adjective, either "light," "decent," or "strong," for further specification to its score. The blog's site also includes a "loved list" section, featuring a list of albums and tracks which were scored 8/10 and above when they were reviewed.
Fantano was born and raised in [[Wolcott, Connecticut]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.spin.com/featured/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop-profile-interview/ |title=How Anthony Fantano, aka ''The Needle Drop'', Became Today's Most Successful Music Critic |last=Gordon|first=Jeremy |work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=November 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201134015/https://www.spin.com/featured/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop-profile-interview/ |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He is of [[Sicily|Sicilian]] descent. His father, Ken Fantano, was a professional [[powerlifting|power lifter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=LET'S ARGUE: The Best Pizza Toppings |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u06zaY2pP2c |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=MELON Fantano on Hasans Italian Hate + Powerlifting Daddy |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jfIddSWK1Zc&pp=ygUXQW50aG9ueSBmYW50YW5vIGl0YWxpYW4%3D |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> As a teenager, Fantano became interested in politics through the work of the musician [[Jello Biafra]], former lead singer of the [[punk rock|punk]] band [[Dead Kennedys]], calling him "pretty much [his] political idol".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Noonan|first=David|date=June 1, 2003|title=A Generation Finds Its Voice|url=https://www.newsweek.com/generation-finds-its-voice-137849|url-status=live|access-date=August 11, 2021|website=Newsweek|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205015707/http://www.newsweek.com:80/generation-finds-its-voice-137849 |archive-date=February 5, 2015 }}</ref> Fantano graduated from [[Southern Connecticut State University]] in 2008, earning a [[liberal arts]] degree concentrated in [[journalism]], [[communications]] and [[political science]].<ref>https://news.southernct.edu/2024/08/29/anthony-fantano-08-named-amongst-rolling-stones-most-influential-creators-of-2024/</ref>


== Career ==
In 2011, Anthony was interviewed at [[SXSW]] about the rise of music vlogging, along with Sami Jarroush of the Rock It Out! Blog, and Michael Roffman, president and editor-in-chief of [[Consequence of Sound]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MP6616 |title=Interview at SXSW}}</ref>
[[File:Anthony fantano cornell 2023 5.jpg|thumb|right|Fantano speaking at a Q&A at [[Cornell University]] in 2023]]
In March he was featured in an article from [[The Guardian]] also about the rise of music vlogging.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/mar/18/sxsw-2011-rise-of-music-vlogger |title=The Guardian article | location=London | first=Tim |last=Jonze |date=18 March 2011}}</ref>
Fantano started his career in the mid-2000s as a music director for the [[Southern Connecticut State University]] college radio station.<ref name="Elabbady">{{cite news |url=http://greenroommagazine.com/music/interview-anthony-fantano-of-the-needle-drop/ |title=Interview: Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop |last=Elabbady |first=Ali |date=October 30, 2013|work=Green Room |location=United States |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526044620/http://greenroommagazine.com/music/interview-anthony-fantano-of-the-needle-drop/|archive-date=May 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2007, Fantano started working at [[Connecticut Public Radio]] (WNPR), where he hosted ''The Needle Drop''.<ref name="turnyouon">{{Cite news |url=https://consequence.net/2014/10/anthony-fantano-wants-to-turn-you-on/ |title=Anthony Fantano Wants to Turn You On |first=MICHAEL |last=MADDEN |work=[[Consequence of Sound]] |date=October 9, 2014 |access-date=January 17, 2023 |archive-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030133651/https://consequence.net/2014/10/anthony-fantano-wants-to-turn-you-on/ |url-status=live }}</ref> That same year, he launched ''The Needle Drop'' in the form of written reviews, eventually launching his series of video reviews on the YouTube channel of the same name in January 2009, starting with a [[Jay Reatard]] record.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/04/28/web-celeb-fantano-brings-needle-drop-middle-east/GZ2Y0zFlqbizSZKW0sa8rN/story.html |title=Anthony Fantano brings Needle Drop to Middle East |first=Maura |last=Johnston |author-link=Maura Johnston |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=April 28, 2015 |access-date=August 4, 2019 |archive-date=August 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804005156/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/04/28/web-celeb-fantano-brings-needle-drop-middle-east/GZ2Y0zFlqbizSZKW0sa8rN/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Acaster|first=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DGKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|title=Perfect Sound Whatever|date=August 22, 2019|publisher=[[Hachette UK]]|isbn=978-1-4722-6032-1|language=en}}</ref><ref name="turnyouon" /> In 2010, Fantano removed older reviews that contained music clips in order to avoid violations of the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]].<ref name=":0" /> At the time, he was working on ''The Needle Drop'' at his college radio station, as well as at a pizza restaurant. In late 2011, he decided to pursue ''The Needle Drop'' full-time, but kept affiliation with WNPR until 2014.<ref name="Elabbady" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="turnyouon" />


Fantano was offered an album review show on [[Adult Swim]] but declined.<ref name=":0" /> By the end of 2017, Fantano had reached a million subscribers and diversified his content to include weekly "track roundup" videos, livestreamed Q&As, and video think-pieces alongside his album reviews.<ref name=":1" /> To earn enough money to pay his editor Austin Walsh, by November 2016, Fantano was recording more regularly on a secondary YouTube channel, "thatistheplan", on which he reviewed memes and recorded "often irreverent videos that don't fall into the record review format", according to ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''.<ref name=":0" />
The Needle Drop is also an iTunes [[podcast]] <ref>{{cite web|url=http://theneedledrop.com/feed/ |title=The Needle Drop}}</ref> featuring artists and albums reviewed on The Needle Drop [[YouTube]] channel.


In October 2017, an article by Ezra Marcus in ''[[The Fader]]'' accused Fantano of promoting [[alt-right]] sentiments in videos on "thatistheplan". Marcus criticized Fantano for the use of [[Pepe the Frog]] memes (which had recently been labeled [[Pepe the Frog#Use by the alt-right|an alt-right symbol]]) and targeting [[Feminism|feminists]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 4, 2017 |title=Popular music vlogger accused of promoting alt-right sentiment – NME |work=NME |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/popular-music-vlogger-accused-pandering-alt-right-separate-channel-2147022 |access-date=August 23, 2018 |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423115205/https://www.nme.com/news/music/popular-music-vlogger-accused-pandering-alt-right-separate-channel-2147022 |url-status=live }}</ref> After the article was released, multiple scheduled dates of ''The Needle Drop'' U.S. tour were cancelled, with at least one ticket booking site for a [[Brooklyn]] tour date stating that their cancellation was due to the ''Fader'' article.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Anthony Fantano's Entire Tour Canceled Over Racist, Alt-Right Allegations |work=Digital Music News |url=https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/10/10/anthony-fantano-tour-canceled-alt-right/ |access-date=October 2, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922195333/https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/10/10/anthony-fantano-tour-canceled-alt-right/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 5, 2017 |title=The Needle Drop Live Shows Cancelled Amid Controversy |work=Noisey by Vice |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xkj4x/the-needle-drop-live-shows-cancelled-amid-controversy |access-date=October 2, 2020 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111202313/https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xkj4x/the-needle-drop-live-shows-cancelled-amid-controversy |url-status=live }}</ref> Fantano produced a video response calling the article a "hit job". He disputed accusations of sympathizing with the alt-right and stated that the videos in question were [[Satire|satirical]]. The article was deleted by ''The Fader'' in March 2018, with both parties saying that the claims were settled.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 21, 2018 |title=Fader Removes Article Amid Settlement With Anthony Fantano |work=Spin |url=https://www.spin.com/2018/03/anthony-fantano-needle-drop-fader-settlement/ |access-date=August 23, 2018 |archive-date=May 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501194915/https://www.spin.com/2018/03/anthony-fantano-needle-drop-fader-settlement/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a later interview, Fantano acknowledged that there had been some "grubby, closed-minded, young, aggressive male" viewers on the "thatistheplan" channel and disavowed what he saw as the "toxic and problematic" side of [[Humor on the internet|internet humor]], stating that the incident had led him to be more vocal in his advocacy for [[social justice]] issues.<ref name="whomatters">{{Cite news |last=Coscarelli |first=Joe |date=September 30, 2020 |title=The Only Music Critic Who Matters (if You're Under 25) |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/arts/music/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720095514/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/arts/music/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop.html |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |quote=The influential evangelist in question is the YouTuber named Anthony Fantano, 34, who has been speaking album and song reviews directly into a camera for more than a decade on The Needle Drop, his channel with 2.26 million subscribers, making him probably the most popular music critic left standing.}}</ref>
The Needle Drop's [[YouTube]] channel currently has over 200,000 subscribers, and more than 36 million upload views.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/theneedledrop |title=Youtube channel}}</ref> The channel was voted as September 2011's 'On The Rise' contest winner,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdP_D7orCXo |title='Success!' Video}}</ref> a program by YouTube. His competitors were Pineapple Boy Productions, The Uncut Sports Show and Simple Kids Crafts.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2011/09/introducing-your-september-on-rise.html |title=Introducing Your September 'On The Rise' Nominees post |first=Devon |last=Storbeck |date= September 15, 2011}}</ref> In October 2011, Fantano won the 'Beyond the Blog' award at the [[MTV O Music Awards]].<ref>http://blog.omusicawards.com/2011/10/the-needle-drop-wins-oma/</ref>


In June 2019, Fantano made a cameo appearance in [[Lil Nas X]]'s video for the [[Young Thug]] and [[Mason Ramsey]] remix of "[[Old Town Road]]", appearing as a security guard for the [[Area 51]] military installation (a reference to the "[[Storm Area 51]]" meme).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Will|first=Gottsegen|date=July 16, 2019|title=Lil Nas X Releases Insane Meme-Filled Video for Newest "Old Town Road" Remix|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/07/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-remix-area-51-video/|access-date=February 5, 2022|website=Spin|language=en-US|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205004010/https://www.spin.com/2019/07/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-remix-area-51-video/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Spearman|first=Kahron|date=July 19, 2019|title=Area 51 remix video proves it's the summer of Lil Nas X|website=[[The Daily Dot]]|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/old-town-road-remix-area-51-memes/|access-date=February 5, 2022|archive-date=January 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123153314/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/old-town-road-remix-area-51-memes/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The first contemporary album to receive a 10/10 was [[Death Grips]]' major label debut ''[[The Money Store (album)|The Money Store]]''. Fantano had previously given classic albums such as ''[[Pink Flag]]'' by [[Wire (band)|Wire]], and ''[[Raw Power]]'' by [[The Stooges]] a perfect score.


Later that year he curated a charity compilation, ''The Needle Drop LP'', which consists of tracks performed by "artists that have either been featured on the site or reviewed favorably in the past". Profits from the album were donated to The Immigrant Legal Resource Center non-profit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Open Mike Eagle Shares New Song to Support Immigrant Legal Resource Center: Listen |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/open-mike-eagle-shares-new-song-to-support-immigrant-legal-resource-center-listen/ |first=Allison |last=Hussey |date=September 13, 2019 |accessdate=June 8, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617092328/https://pitchfork.com/news/open-mike-eagle-shares-new-song-to-support-immigrant-legal-resource-center-listen/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Best albums per year==


In 2022, Fantano was referenced on rapper [[Logic (rapper)|Logic]]’s track "LaDonda", from his studio album ''[[Vinyl Days]]''. He discusses his relationship with Fantano, calling him a "plaid-shirt-wearing motherfucker" and admitting that he had "fantasized about murdering" him after he had issued negative reviews of his albums ''[[Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (album)|Confessions of a Dangerous Mind]]'' and ''[[Supermarket (Logic album)|Supermarket]].'' During his livestream reaction of the album, Fantano expressed shock after hearing the song, saying that he felt "overemphasized" and that "there never should have been any reason Logic should [have hated] me in the first place".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anthony Fantano stunned by Logic's massive shoutout on new album |url=https://www.dexerto.com/music/anthony-fantano-stunned-by-logics-massive-shoutout-on-new-album-1851029/ |access-date=May 20, 2023 |website=Dexerto |date=June 19, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=April 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426023322/https://www.dexerto.com/music/anthony-fantano-stunned-by-logics-massive-shoutout-on-new-album-1851029/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Every year since 2010, Fantano has counted down his top 50 favorite albums of the year. The top 10 albums on each list are below.


On September 15, 2022, Fantano uploaded a video on his second channel jokingly claiming that [[Drake (musician)|Drake]] had sent private messages to him on [[Instagram]], specifically recommending Fantano a [[Veganism|vegan]] cookie recipe. In response, Drake posted his genuine messages to Fantano on Instagram Stories, which stated that Fantano's existence is a "light 1" and that the "1 is cause [he is] alive". Fantano later spoke about the exchange on an Instagram livestream, stating that the video was a "[[troll (slang)|shitpost]]" and that he had no "hard feelings" toward Drake.<ref name="Fantano 1, Drake 0">{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2022/09/anthony-fantano-drake-beef-explained/|title=YouTuber Anthony Fantano Trolls Drake Into Revealing Threatening DMs|first=Eddie|last=Fu|website=[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence]]|date=September 16, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022|archive-date=September 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220916171904/https://consequence.net/2022/09/anthony-fantano-drake-beef-explained/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fantano 2, Drake 0">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drake-disses-music-critic-anthony-fantano-1234594541/|title=Drake Disses Music Critic Anthony Fantano Over Fake DM Video With a Real, 'Salty Ass' Message|first=Tomás|last=Mier|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=September 16, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022|archive-date=September 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220916174446/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drake-disses-music-critic-anthony-fantano-1234594541/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fantano 3, Drake 0">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/drake-anthony-fantano-beef-feud-explained-1235374908/|title=Drake Feuds With Music Critic Anthony Fantano: Your 'Existence' Is a 1/10|first=Ethan|last=Shanfeld|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=September 16, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022|archive-date=September 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220916150840/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/drake-anthony-fantano-beef-feud-explained-1235374908/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2009===
Fantano did not make a list for 2009, but named ''[[Fever Ray (album)|Fever Ray]]'' by [[Fever Ray]] his "album of the year".


Fantano garnered attention for his video on [[Kanye West]] and [[Ty Dolla Sign]]'s album ''[[Vultures 1]]'' in February 2024. Declaring the record "unreviewable trash," he talked about West's [[Views of Kanye West#Antisemitism|antisemitic views]], particularly those expressed in his music, and general attitude preventing him from fully critiquing the record,<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 14, 2024 |title=Nessuno prende più sul serio Kanye West |url=https://www.ilpost.it/2024/02/14/kanye-west-vultures-critiche/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |website=[[Il Post]] |language=it}}</ref> while also delving into the discourse of West's fan base being generally hostile to criticism and negative reviews. The video subsequently received backlash from West's fans on social media.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Cole |first=Alexander |date=February 13, 2024 |title=Anthony Fantano Goes To War With Kanye West's Fanbase After Calling "Vultures" An "Unreviewable" Album |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/763326-anthony-fantano-war-kanye-west-fans-hip-hop-news |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=[[HotNewHipHop]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Coleman II |first=C. Vernon |date=February 13, 2024 |title=Popular Album Review YouTuber Anthony Fantano Says Kanye West's Vultures 1 Album Is 'Unreviewable Trash' |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/anthony-fantano-kanye-west-vultures-1-review/ |access-date=February 14, 2024 |website=[[XXL Mag|XXL]] |language=en}}</ref>
===2010===


=== Albums rating scale ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
Albums are rated on a standard zero to ten scale, with additional qualifiers ("light", "decent", or "strong"). Fantano will also occasionally give a score outside of the standard scale, such as "''NOT GOOD''" for albums he deems unworthy of reviewing in full, believing the album to simply be "not good".<ref>{{Citation |title=Is NOT GOOD Worse Than a 0/10? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVvldiRCnec |access-date=2024-02-14 |language=en}}</ref>
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
| ''[[This Is Happening]]''
| [[LCD Soundsystem]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| ''[[The Way Out (The Books album)|The Way Out]]''
| [[The Books]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| ''[[There Is Love in You]]''
| [[Four Tet]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| ''[[Marrow of the Spirit]]''
| [[Agalloch]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| ''[[Teen Dream]]''
| [[Beach House]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| ''[[Plastic Beach]]''
| [[Gorillaz]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| ''[[Public Strain]]''
| [[Women (band)|Women]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| ''[[A Sufi and a Killer]]''
| [[Gonjasufi]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| ''Ring''
| [[Glasser (musician)|Glasser]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| ''Throat''
| [[Jerry Joseph|Little Women]]
|}


===Albums rated 10 on release===
===2011===


{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
|-
|-
! Artist
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
! Title
| ''[[Helplessness Blues]]''
! Year
| [[Fleet Foxes]]
! {{Refh}}
|-
|-
| [[Death Grips]] || ''[[The Money Store (album)|The Money Store]]'' ||2012 || <ref>{{Citation|title=Death Grips - The Money Store ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK54P7VeM1g|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314155358/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK54P7VeM1g|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="whomatters"/>
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| ''[[Exmilitary]]''
| [[Death Grips]]
|-
|-
| [[Swans (band)|Swans]] || ''[[To Be Kind]]'' || 2014 || <ref>{{Citation|title=Swans - To Be Kind ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQyDKbGVOg|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330012036/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQyDKbGVOg|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="whomatters"/>
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| ''[[Gloss Drop]]''
| [[Battles (band)|Battles]]
|-
|-
| {{Sort|Lamar, Kendrick|[[Kendrick Lamar]]}} || ''[[To Pimp a Butterfly]]'' || 2015 || <ref>{{Citation|title=Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTmHuavOXNg|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314165948/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTmHuavOXNg|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="whomatters"/>
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| ''[[Black Up]]''
| [[Shabazz Palaces]]
|-
|-
| [[Kids See Ghosts]] || ''[[Kids See Ghosts (album)|Kids See Ghosts]]''|| rowspan="2"| 2018 || <ref>{{Citation|title=KIDS SEE GHOSTS - Self Titled ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rkFbKVownA|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328102242/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rkFbKVownA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="whomatters"/>
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| ''[[Let England Shake]]''
| [[PJ Harvey]]
|-
|-
| [[Daughters (band)|Daughters]] || ''[[You Won't Get What You Want]]'' ||<ref>{{Citation|title=Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO5pcLp8-HM|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328102244/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO5pcLp8-HM|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="whomatters"/>
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| ''[[Returnof4eva]]''
| [[Big K.R.I.T.]]
|-
|-
| [[Spellling]] || ''[[The Turning Wheel (album)|The Turning Wheel]]'' ||rowspan="2"| 2021 || <ref>{{Citation|title=Spellling - The Turning Wheel ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTaUAz5xrD4|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314164613/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTaUAz5xrD4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CTInsider">{{cite news |last1=Cuevas |first1=Jailene |title=CT music critic Anthony Fantano talks life with 2.6M subscribers on YouTube |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop-ct-17594587.php |access-date=October 5, 2023 |work=CT Insider |publisher=[[Hearst Communications|Hearst Media Services Connecticut]] |date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122175040/https://www.ctinsider.com/entertainment/article/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop-ct-17594587.php |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| ''[[Wildlife (La Dispute album)|Wildlife]]''
| [[La Dispute (band)|La Dispute]]
|-
|-
| [[Kristin Hayter|Lingua Ignota]] || ''[[Sinner Get Ready]]'' || <ref>{{Citation|title=Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready ALBUM REVIEW|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6S0XHGKzUU|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2023|archive-date=March 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328102244/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6S0XHGKzUU|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CTInsider" />
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| ''[[Aesthethica]]''
| [[Liturgy (band)|Liturgy]]
|-
|-
|[[Charli XCX]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| ''[[Space Is Only Noise]]''
|''[[Brat (Charli XCX album)|Brat]]''
|2024
| [[Nicolas Jaar]]
|<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLJ-zfBmChA |title=Charli XCX - BRAT ALBUM REVIEW |date=2024-06-10 |last=theneedledrop |access-date=2024-06-11 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| ''[[Section.80]]''
| [[Kendrick Lamar]]
|}
|}


=== Albums rated 0 on release ===
===2012===
{| class="wikitable sortable"

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
|-
|-
! Artist
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
! Title
| ''[[The Money Store (album)|The Money Store]]''
! Year
| [[Death Grips]]
! {{Refh}}
|-
|-
| [[Kid Cudi]] || ''[[Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven]]'' || 2015 || <ref>{{Citation |title=Kid Cudi - Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven ALBUM REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDcbwpsjU0 |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en |archive-date=December 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205231210/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDcbwpsjU0&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Earp |first=Joseph |date=2021-08-02 |title=Anthony Fantano Ranked All His 0/10 Scoring Albums And Gosh, It's Brutal Out Here |url=https://junkee.com/anthony-fantano-ranking/303984 |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=[[Junkee]] |language=en-US |archive-date=November 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112014745/https://junkee.com/anthony-fantano-ranking/303984 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| ''[[good kid, m.A.A.d city]]''
| [[Kendrick Lamar]]
|-
|-
| [[Chance the Rapper]]|| [[The Big Day (album)|''The Big Day'']]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
|2019|| <ref>{{Citation |title=Chance the Rapper - The Big Day ALBUM REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjriHA-MLPg |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en |archive-date=September 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922071156/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjriHA-MLPg |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" />
| ''Ondatrópica''
| Ondatrópica
|-
|-
|[[Green Day]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
|''[[Father of All Motherfuckers]]''
| ''Natural History''
|2020
| [[Dope Body]]
|<ref>{{Citation |title=Green Day - Father of All... ALBUM REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WVTW2qTqrI |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813041720/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WVTW2qTqrI |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Earp |first=Joseph |date=2020-02-11 |title=Green Day's New Album Is Getting Some Downright Brutal Reviews |url=https://junkee.com/anthony-fantano-green-day/241760 |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=[[Junkee]] |language=en-US |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155135/https://junkee.com/anthony-fantano-green-day/241760 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|-
|[[Tones and I]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| ''[[The Idler Wheel...]]''
|''[[Welcome to the Madhouse]]''
|2021
| [[Fiona Apple]]
|<ref>{{Citation |title=Tones and I - Welcome to the Madhouse ALBUM REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZp07vLSak8 |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904041246/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZp07vLSak8 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" />
|-
|-
|[[Ken Carson]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
|[[X (Ken Carson album)|''X'']]
| ''[[Portico Quartet#Portico Quartet|Portico Quartet]]''
|2022
| [[Portico Quartet]]
|<ref>{{Citation |title=Ken Carson - X ALBUM REVIEW |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lokqffmF2A |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314163436/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lokqffmF2A |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|-
|[[Machine Gun Kelly (musician)|MGK]] & [[Trippie Redd]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| ''[[BBNG2]]''
|''[[Genre: Sadboy]]''
|2024
| [[BADBADNOTGOOD]]
|<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4O9e4xQw0 |title=MGK & Trippie Redd - genre : sadboy EP REVIEW |date=2024-04-03 |last=theneedledrop |access-date=2024-07-29 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| ''Put Your Back N 2 It''
| [[Perfume Genius]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| ''[['Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!]]''
| [[Godspeed You! Black Emperor]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| ''[[Control System]]''
| [[Ab-Soul]]
|}
|}


===2013===
== Reception ==
[[File:Calchuchesta.png|thumb|Fantano as his alter-ego, "Cal Chuchesta"<ref name="mancunion" />|183x183px]]
The Needle Drop won the 2011 [[O Music Awards]] in the "Beyond the Blog" category.<ref>{{cite press release|title=O Music Awards Take Over Halloween's Largest Street Party|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1673510/o-music-awards-recap/|first=KARA|last=WARNER|website=[[MTV News]]|date=November 1, 2011|access-date=May 17, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122222315/http://www.mtv.com/news/1673510/o-music-awards-recap/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Robyn Wows MTV O Music Awards; Bjork & Marilyn Manson's Butt Win Big|magazine=Billboard|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/465377/robyn-wows-mtv-o-music-awards-bjork-marilyn-mansons-butt-win-big|access-date=September 8, 2019|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719095134/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/465377/robyn-wows-mtv-o-music-awards-bjork-marilyn-mansons-butt-win-big|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014, Nick Veronin of ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' said of Fantano: "Instead of deploying ten-dollar words to describe a [[riff]] or [[synth]] tone, Fantano relies on gestures, clenching his fists or contorting his elastic, expressive face. It gets at some of the more ephemeral qualities of music that written words can't begin to touch".<ref name="Wired" />


When asked about the merits of Fantano's reviews, veteran music critic [[Robert Christgau]] said in 2019:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
<blockquote>[Fantano] seems to have arrived at a plausible brand of 21st-century rockcrit taste that runs toward what I'll call dark [[Progressive rock|prog]] [...] Nowhere near as insensible to [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]]/[[Contemporary R&B|r&b]] as dark proggers tend to be, but note that very few female artists crack his top 10s, which in 2018 was really missing the action. Fantano seems to have figured out a way to make some kind of living by disseminating his own criticism in the online age.<ref>{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=January 15, 2019|title=Xgau Sez|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xgausez.php?d=2019-01-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211122430/https://www.robertchristgau.com/xgausez.php?d=2019-01-15|archive-date=February 11, 2021|access-date=August 12, 2021|website=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref></blockquote>
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
In his 2019 book ''[[Perfect Sound Whatever]]'', comedian [[James Acaster]] called Fantano's best albums of 2016 list "a real music fan's Top 50" and said of Fantano: "Perhaps more than anybody else, he appreciates how the reviewer's role has changed since the internet became a thing [...] The job of a reviewer used to be telling people what's worth their money but now it's telling people what's worth their time."<ref name=":1" /> In September 2020, ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' culture correspondent Joe Coscarelli described Fantano as "probably the most popular music critic left standing". According to Coscarelli, Fantano has successfully brought an "old art to a new medium" and has revitalized the record review format for a younger generation of music consumers.<ref name="whomatters" />
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
| ''[[Virgins (Tim Hecker album)|Virgins]]''
| [[Tim Hecker]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| ''[[Shaking the Habitual]]''
| [[The Knife]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| ''[[Teethed Glory and Injury]]''
| [[Altar of Plagues]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| ''[[...Like Clockwork]]''
| [[Queens of the Stone Age]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| ''[[Fetch (album)|Fetch]]''
| [[Melt-Banana]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| ''Blood Donation''
| Mariam The Believer
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| ''Midcity''
| Clipping
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| ''[[You're Nothing]]''
| [[Iceage]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| ''The Night's Gambit''
| [[Ka (rapper)|Ka]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| ''Crusher''
| Grave Babies
|}


==Best singles per year==
== Personal life ==
Fantano resides in [[Connecticut]].<ref name=":0" />


Fantano is a [[veganism|vegan]], having swapped to the diet after initially going vegetarian in his late teens.<ref name="Elabbady" />
In addition to the album lists, he also counts his favorite singles and promotional tracks of the year, which he has also done since 2010. Just like with albums, he names 50, but the top 10 are listed below.


In March 2018, Fantano told [[Polygon (website)|''Polygon'']] that he is a "[[Freedom of speech|free speech]] purist".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alexander|first=Julia|date=March 7, 2018|title=Controversial YouTubers head to alternative platforms in wake of 'purge'|url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/7/17087668/steemit-dtube-bitchute-youtube-purge|url-status=live|access-date=March 17, 2021|website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307210550/https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/7/17087668/steemit-dtube-bitchute-youtube-purge |archive-date=March 7, 2018 }}</ref> He endorsed [[Bernie Sanders]] in the [[2020 United States presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 2, 2020|title=Social Media Influencers' Role In 2020 Candidate Endorsements|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/02/801995382/social-media-influencers-role-in-2020-candidate-endorsements|access-date=February 4, 2022|website=NPR|language=en|archive-date=October 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030134000/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/02/801995382/social-media-influencers-role-in-2020-candidate-endorsements|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2009===
Fantano did not make a list for 2009.


===2010===
===Legal disputes===
On July 24, 2023, Fantano was named as a defendant in a lawsuit from video game developer [[Activision]] over a viral audio clip he had recorded on [[TikTok]] about pizza slices. Activision claimed that Fantano had asked for "substantial monetary damages" for the company's use of the audio in an advertisement for custom ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' trainers, or to be "prepared to defend a lawsuit".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Blake |last2= |first2= |date=2023-07-25 |title=Activision sues music critic to fend off TikTok audio copying claims |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/activision-sues-music-critic-fend-off-tiktok-audio-copying-claims-2023-07-25/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827032107/https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/activision-sues-music-critic-fend-off-tiktok-audio-copying-claims-2023-07-25/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Paul |first=Larisha |date=2023-07-25 |title=Anthony Fantano Is Courting Lawsuits Over… His TikTok Pizza Meme |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/anthony-fantano-sued-by-video-game-developer-over-19-second-tiktok-audio-1234794622/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727125019/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/anthony-fantano-sued-by-video-game-developer-over-19-second-tiktok-audio-1234794622/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunworth |first=Liberty |date=2023-07-26 |title='The Needle Drop' critic Anthony Fantano being sued by Activision for pizza meme audio |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-needle-drop-critic-anthony-fantano-being-sued-by-activision-for-pizza-meme-audio-3473689 |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=NME |language=en-GB |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827032107/https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-needle-drop-critic-anthony-fantano-being-sued-by-activision-for-pizza-meme-audio-3473689 |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 10, Activision dropped the lawsuit with [[Prejudice (legal term)|prejudice]], meaning it could not be refiled.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Blake |last2= |first2= |date=2023-08-11 |title=Activision drops lawsuit over viral TikTok audio clip |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/activision-drops-lawsuit-over-viral-tiktok-audio-clip-2023-08-11/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827032113/https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/activision-drops-lawsuit-over-viral-tiktok-audio-clip-2023-08-11/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


[[Falling in Reverse]] frontman [[Ronnie Radke]] filed a defamation lawsuit against Fantano on August 20, 2024, claiming that the latter had "acted in malice" and "engaged in fraud" in posting commentary about the singer in a 2023 video titled "This Guy Sucks".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Report - Falling In Reverse's Ronnie Radke Files Defamation Suit Against Critic Anthony Fantano |website=[[Loudwire]] |url=https://loudwire.com/falling-in-reverse-ronnie-radke-defamation-suit-against-anthony-fantano/ |access-date=2024-08-22 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=England |first=Adam |date=August 22, 2024 |title=Falling In Reverse's Ronnie Radke reportedly files defamation suit against Anthony Fantano |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/falling-in-reverses-ronnie-radke-reportedly-files-defamation-suit-against-anthony-fantano-3786095 |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=[[NME]] }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
| "[[I Can Change]]"
| [[LCD Soundsystem]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| "[[Some Kind of Nature]]"
| [[Gorillaz]] featuring [[Lou Reed]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| "[[Teen Dream|Take Care]]"
| [[Beach House]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| "[[Shutterbugg]]"
| [[Big Boi]] featuring Cutty
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| "[[Holiday (Vampire Weekend song)|Holiday]]"
| [[Vampire Weekend]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| "[[There Is Love in You|Love Cry]]"
| [[Four Tet]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| "[[A Sufi and a Killer|Kowboyz&Indians]]"
| [[Gonjasufi]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| "Plumy Tale"
| [[Dumbo Gets Mad]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| "[[Congratulations (MGMT song)|Congratulations]]"
| [[MGMT]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| "[[Power (Kanye West song)|POWER]]"
| [[Kanye West]]
|}


===2011===
== Discography ==
{{BLP sources section|date=February 2022}}
'''Albums'''
*''Taiga'' (2009) {{small|(as bass player)}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anthonyfantanoricharddalbis.bandcamp.com/album/taiga|title=Taiga, by Anthony Fantano and Richard D'Albis|website=Anthonyfantanoricharddalbis.bandcamp.com|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813091416/https://anthonyfantanoricharddalbis.bandcamp.com/album/taiga|url-status=live}}</ref>
*''Anthony FanFiction, Vol. 1'' (2015)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anthony FanFiction Vol. 1, by Various Artists |url=https://anthonyfanfiction.bandcamp.com/album/anthony-fanfiction-vol-1 |access-date=May 20, 2023 |website=The Needle Drop |language=en |archive-date=May 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520022434/https://anthonyfanfiction.bandcamp.com/album/anthony-fanfiction-vol-1 |url-status=live }}</ref>


'''Guest appearances'''
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
*"21 & Jaded" on ''Don't Forget Where You Came From'' by [[Goody Grace]] (2021)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D41_jvT2f_w|title="I Played Bass On This Album"|website=YouTube|access-date=March 2, 2021|date=March 2, 2021|archive-date=June 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611132715/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D41_jvT2f_w|url-status=live}}</ref> {{small|(as bass player)}}
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
*"Every Drug at Once" on ''Faster'' by Lil Texas (2022)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/LILTEXAS/status/1513941983189893122|title=COVER ART AND TRACKLIST FOR MY ALBUM "FASTER"|website=Twitter|access-date=April 15, 2022|archive-date=April 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415131112/https://twitter.com/LILTEXAS/status/1513941983189893122|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
*"NeedleDrop" on ''[[Vinyl Days]]'' by [[Logic (rapper)|Logic]] (2022)<ref>{{Citation |title=Logic - NeedleDrop (Audio) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iguY_IlVDVM |language=en |access-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019170616/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iguY_IlVDVM |url-status=live }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
| "[[Helplessness Blues]]"
| [[Fleet Foxes]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| "[[Exmilitary|Takyon (Death Yon)]]"
| [[Death Grips]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| "[[The Wilhelm Scream]]"
| [[James Blake (musician)|James Blake]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| "[[The Words That Maketh Murder]]"
| [[PJ Harvey]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| "[[Black Up|Swerve... The Reeping Of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)]]"
| [[Shabazz Palaces]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| "[[Holy Ghost! (album)|Do It Again]]"
| [[Holy Ghost!]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| "[[Holocene (song)|Holocene]]"
| [[Bon Iver]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| "[[Ice Cream (Battles song)|Ice Cream]]"
| [[Battles (band)|Battles]] featuring Matias Aguayo
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| "[[Aesthetica|Returner]]"
| [[Liturgy (band)|Liturgy]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| "Out in the Streets"
| [[Africa Hitech]]
|}


===2012===
=== as Cal Chuchesta ===
'''Mixtapes'''
*''The New CALassic'' (2015)


'''Singles'''
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
*"Cal 2 B" (2013)
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
*"Mykey Come Back" (2015)
|-
*"[[Panda (song)|Panda]] (Remix)" featuring [[Joji (musician)|Pink Guy]] and [[NFKRZ]] (2016)
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
*"Coin Star" (2018)
| "[[The Money Store (album)|The Fever (Aye Aye)]]"
*"Don't Talk to Me" featuring Fellatia Geisha (2018)
| [[Death Grips]]
*"Slap Chop" (2018)
|-
*"On Deck Freestyle" (2018)
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
*"I'm in the Club (Lookin' for Some Love)" featuring Joycie (2018)
| "[[Sweet Heart Sweet Light|Hey Jane]]"
*"Advice" featuring [[Rob Scallon]] (2018)
| [[Spiritualized]]
*"Rubber Duck (Pickup Truck)" (2019)
|-
*"Best Teef?" (2019)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppj_vTrhM24 | title=Cal Chuchesta - Best Teef? (Anderson .Paak Diss) &#91;ft. Anthony Fantano&#93; | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
*"[[Feet of Clay (EP)|East]] (Remix)" (2020)
| "[[DoYaThing]]"
*"Drake Has 24 Hours to Respond" (2024)
| [[Gorillaz]], [[James Murphy (electronic musician)|James Murphy]], and [[André 3000]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| "[[Big Beast]]"
| [[Killer Mike]] featuring [[Bun B]], [[T.I.]], and Trouble
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| "Bugg'n"
| [[TNGHT]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| "[[Same Love]]"
| [[Macklemore]] and [[Ryan Lewis]] featuring [[Mary Lambert (singer-songwriter)|Mary Lambert]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| "Punkero Sonidero"
| Ondatrópica
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| "[[Every Single Night]]"
| [[Fiona Apple]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| "[[I Bet on Sky|Watch the Corners]]"
| [[Dinosaur Jr.]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| "[[Pyramids (song)|Pyramids]]"
| [[Frank Ocean]]
|}


===2013===
== References ==
{{reflist}}


== External links ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
{{Commons category}}
!Rank!!Title!!Artist
* {{Official website}}
|-
* {{YouTube|u=theneedledrop}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.
* {{IMDb name|7299000}}
| "[[Shaking the Habitual|A Tooth for an Eye]]"
* {{Twitch|name=theneedledrop|link=https://www.twitch.tv/theneedledrop}}
| [[The Knife]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2.
| "[[My Name Is My Name|Numbers on the Boards]]"
| [[Pusha T]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 3.
| "Hang On to Life"
| [[Ariel Pink]] & Jorge Elbrecht
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.
| "[[Silence Yourself|Shut Up]]"
| [[Savages (band)|Savages]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 5.
| "[[My God Is the Sun]]"
| [[Queens of the Stone Age]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.
| "Invisible Giving"
| Mariam The Believer
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 7.
| "[[Reflektor (song)|Reflektor]]"
| [[Arcade Fire]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 8.
| "[[You're Nothing|Ectasy]]"
| [[Iceage]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 9.
| "[[The Wire (song)|The Wire]]"
| [[Haim (band)|Haim]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 10.
| "[[Invader Invader]]"
| [[Kyary Pamyu Pamyu]]
|}

==Classic albums==
The following albums are considered "classic" music releases by The Needle Drop:
*''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' by [[The Velvet Underground]] (1967)
*''[[At Folsom Prison]]'' by [[Johnny Cash]] (1968)
*''[[Hot Rats]]'' by [[Frank Zappa]] (1969)
*''[[In the Court of the Crimson King]]'' by [[King Crimson]] (1969)
*''[[Bitches Brew]]'' by [[Miles Davis]] (1970)
*''[[What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)|What's Going On]]'' by [[Marvin Gaye]] (1971)
*''[[Maggot Brain]]'' by [[Funkadelic]] (1971)
*''[[The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars]]'' by [[David Bowie]] (1972)
*''[[Raw Power]]'' by [[The Stooges]] (1973)
*''[[Pink Flag]]'' by [[Wire (band)|Wire]] (1977)
*''[[Unknown Pleasures]]'' by [[Joy Division]] (1979)
*''[[The Wall]]'' by [[Pink Floyd]] (1979)
*''[[Remain in Light]]'' by [[Talking Heads]] (1980)
*''[[Plastic Surgery Disasters]]'' by [[Dead Kennedys]] (1982)
*''[[The Stone Roses (album)|The Stone Roses]]'' by [[The Stone Roses]] (1989)
*''[[Loveless (album)|Loveless]]'' by [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] (1991)
*''[[Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)]]'' by [[Wu-Tang Clan]] (1993)
*''[[In the Aeroplane Over the Sea]]'' by [[Neutral Milk Hotel]] (1998)
*''[[Kid A]]'' by [[Radiohead]] (2000)
*''[[Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven]]'' by [[Godspeed You! Black Emperor]] (2000)
*''[[Madvillainy]]'' by [[Madvillain]] (2004)

==References==
{{reflist}}


{{authority control}}
==External links==
*[http://theneedledrop.com Official website]
*[http://theneedledrop.com/?page_id=1170 Anthony's "Loved" list]
*[https://www.youtube.com/theneedledrop Youtube channel]
*[https://www.twitter.com/#!/theneedledrop Twitter account]
*[http://rateyourmusic.com/~theneedledrop Rate Your Music page]
*[http://skiptherec.tumblr.com/post/2438629011/tndinterview Interview with The Needle Drop]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Needle Drop, The}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fantano, Anthony}}
[[Category:Music websites]]
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:21st-century American bass guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American male bloggers]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American music podcasters]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:American music journalists]]
[[Category:American social democrats]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2009]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Connecticut]]
[[Category:American music YouTubers]]
[[Category:People from Wolcott, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Southern Connecticut State University alumni]]
[[Category:American Twitch (service) streamers]]
[[Category:YouTube critics and reviewers]]
[[Category:American YouTube vloggers]]
[[Category:YouTubers from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Hip-hop mass media people]]

Latest revision as of 06:06, 7 January 2025

Anthony Fantano
A man with black eyeglasses and a red flannel shirt in a room with a picture on the wall
Fantano in 2016
Personal information
Born
Anthony Nicholas Fantano

(1985-10-28) October 28, 1985 (age 39)
Wolcott, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupations
  • Music critic
  • YouTuber
  • streamer
  • influencer
Websitetheneedledrop.com
YouTube information
Also known as
  • Melon[1]
  • Cal Chuchesta[2]
  • The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd[3]
Channel
Years active2009–present
GenreMusic
Subscribers2.93 million[4]
Total views1.07 billion[4]
100,000 subscribers2012
1,000,000 subscribers2017
Last updated: November 2, 2024

Anthony Nicholas Fantano[5] (/fænˈtænoʊ/ fan-TAN-oh; born October 28, 1985) is an American music critic and internet personality who runs TheNeedleDrop, a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch[6] streaming channel. Self-appointed as "The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd", as a social media influencer Fantano discusses and reviews music from a variety of genres online.[7]

He also runs the channel Fantano where he talks about events in the music industry solo or with guests and conducts interviews.

Early life

[edit]

Fantano was born and raised in Wolcott, Connecticut.[8] He is of Sicilian descent. His father, Ken Fantano, was a professional power lifter.[9][10] As a teenager, Fantano became interested in politics through the work of the musician Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the punk band Dead Kennedys, calling him "pretty much [his] political idol".[11] Fantano graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 2008, earning a liberal arts degree concentrated in journalism, communications and political science.[12]

Career

[edit]
Fantano speaking at a Q&A at Cornell University in 2023

Fantano started his career in the mid-2000s as a music director for the Southern Connecticut State University college radio station.[13] In 2007, Fantano started working at Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR), where he hosted The Needle Drop.[14] That same year, he launched The Needle Drop in the form of written reviews, eventually launching his series of video reviews on the YouTube channel of the same name in January 2009, starting with a Jay Reatard record.[8][15][16][14] In 2010, Fantano removed older reviews that contained music clips in order to avoid violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.[8] At the time, he was working on The Needle Drop at his college radio station, as well as at a pizza restaurant. In late 2011, he decided to pursue The Needle Drop full-time, but kept affiliation with WNPR until 2014.[13][8][14]

Fantano was offered an album review show on Adult Swim but declined.[8] By the end of 2017, Fantano had reached a million subscribers and diversified his content to include weekly "track roundup" videos, livestreamed Q&As, and video think-pieces alongside his album reviews.[16] To earn enough money to pay his editor Austin Walsh, by November 2016, Fantano was recording more regularly on a secondary YouTube channel, "thatistheplan", on which he reviewed memes and recorded "often irreverent videos that don't fall into the record review format", according to Spin.[8]

In October 2017, an article by Ezra Marcus in The Fader accused Fantano of promoting alt-right sentiments in videos on "thatistheplan". Marcus criticized Fantano for the use of Pepe the Frog memes (which had recently been labeled an alt-right symbol) and targeting feminists.[17] After the article was released, multiple scheduled dates of The Needle Drop U.S. tour were cancelled, with at least one ticket booking site for a Brooklyn tour date stating that their cancellation was due to the Fader article.[18][19] Fantano produced a video response calling the article a "hit job". He disputed accusations of sympathizing with the alt-right and stated that the videos in question were satirical. The article was deleted by The Fader in March 2018, with both parties saying that the claims were settled.[20] In a later interview, Fantano acknowledged that there had been some "grubby, closed-minded, young, aggressive male" viewers on the "thatistheplan" channel and disavowed what he saw as the "toxic and problematic" side of internet humor, stating that the incident had led him to be more vocal in his advocacy for social justice issues.[21]

In June 2019, Fantano made a cameo appearance in Lil Nas X's video for the Young Thug and Mason Ramsey remix of "Old Town Road", appearing as a security guard for the Area 51 military installation (a reference to the "Storm Area 51" meme).[22][23]

Later that year he curated a charity compilation, The Needle Drop LP, which consists of tracks performed by "artists that have either been featured on the site or reviewed favorably in the past". Profits from the album were donated to The Immigrant Legal Resource Center non-profit.[24]

In 2022, Fantano was referenced on rapper Logic’s track "LaDonda", from his studio album Vinyl Days. He discusses his relationship with Fantano, calling him a "plaid-shirt-wearing motherfucker" and admitting that he had "fantasized about murdering" him after he had issued negative reviews of his albums Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Supermarket. During his livestream reaction of the album, Fantano expressed shock after hearing the song, saying that he felt "overemphasized" and that "there never should have been any reason Logic should [have hated] me in the first place".[25]

On September 15, 2022, Fantano uploaded a video on his second channel jokingly claiming that Drake had sent private messages to him on Instagram, specifically recommending Fantano a vegan cookie recipe. In response, Drake posted his genuine messages to Fantano on Instagram Stories, which stated that Fantano's existence is a "light 1" and that the "1 is cause [he is] alive". Fantano later spoke about the exchange on an Instagram livestream, stating that the video was a "shitpost" and that he had no "hard feelings" toward Drake.[26][27][28]

Fantano garnered attention for his video on Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign's album Vultures 1 in February 2024. Declaring the record "unreviewable trash," he talked about West's antisemitic views, particularly those expressed in his music, and general attitude preventing him from fully critiquing the record,[29] while also delving into the discourse of West's fan base being generally hostile to criticism and negative reviews. The video subsequently received backlash from West's fans on social media.[30][31]

Albums rating scale

[edit]

Albums are rated on a standard zero to ten scale, with additional qualifiers ("light", "decent", or "strong"). Fantano will also occasionally give a score outside of the standard scale, such as "NOT GOOD" for albums he deems unworthy of reviewing in full, believing the album to simply be "not good".[32]

Albums rated 10 on release

[edit]
Artist Title Year Ref.
Death Grips The Money Store 2012 [33][21]
Swans To Be Kind 2014 [34][21]
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly 2015 [35][21]
Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts 2018 [36][21]
Daughters You Won't Get What You Want [37][21]
Spellling The Turning Wheel 2021 [38][39]
Lingua Ignota Sinner Get Ready [40][39]
Charli XCX Brat 2024 [41]

Albums rated 0 on release

[edit]
Artist Title Year Ref.
Kid Cudi Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven 2015 [42][43]
Chance the Rapper The Big Day 2019 [44][43]
Green Day Father of All Motherfuckers 2020 [45][46]
Tones and I Welcome to the Madhouse 2021 [47][43]
Ken Carson X 2022 [48]
MGK & Trippie Redd Genre: Sadboy 2024 [49]

Reception

[edit]
Fantano as his alter-ego, "Cal Chuchesta"[2]

The Needle Drop won the 2011 O Music Awards in the "Beyond the Blog" category.[50][51] In 2014, Nick Veronin of Wired said of Fantano: "Instead of deploying ten-dollar words to describe a riff or synth tone, Fantano relies on gestures, clenching his fists or contorting his elastic, expressive face. It gets at some of the more ephemeral qualities of music that written words can't begin to touch".[3]

When asked about the merits of Fantano's reviews, veteran music critic Robert Christgau said in 2019:

[Fantano] seems to have arrived at a plausible brand of 21st-century rockcrit taste that runs toward what I'll call dark prog [...] Nowhere near as insensible to hip-hop/r&b as dark proggers tend to be, but note that very few female artists crack his top 10s, which in 2018 was really missing the action. Fantano seems to have figured out a way to make some kind of living by disseminating his own criticism in the online age.[52]

In his 2019 book Perfect Sound Whatever, comedian James Acaster called Fantano's best albums of 2016 list "a real music fan's Top 50" and said of Fantano: "Perhaps more than anybody else, he appreciates how the reviewer's role has changed since the internet became a thing [...] The job of a reviewer used to be telling people what's worth their money but now it's telling people what's worth their time."[16] In September 2020, New York Times culture correspondent Joe Coscarelli described Fantano as "probably the most popular music critic left standing". According to Coscarelli, Fantano has successfully brought an "old art to a new medium" and has revitalized the record review format for a younger generation of music consumers.[21]

Personal life

[edit]

Fantano resides in Connecticut.[8]

Fantano is a vegan, having swapped to the diet after initially going vegetarian in his late teens.[13]

In March 2018, Fantano told Polygon that he is a "free speech purist".[53] He endorsed Bernie Sanders in the 2020 United States presidential election.[54]

[edit]

On July 24, 2023, Fantano was named as a defendant in a lawsuit from video game developer Activision over a viral audio clip he had recorded on TikTok about pizza slices. Activision claimed that Fantano had asked for "substantial monetary damages" for the company's use of the audio in an advertisement for custom Crash Bandicoot trainers, or to be "prepared to defend a lawsuit".[55][56][57] On August 10, Activision dropped the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.[58]

Falling in Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke filed a defamation lawsuit against Fantano on August 20, 2024, claiming that the latter had "acted in malice" and "engaged in fraud" in posting commentary about the singer in a 2023 video titled "This Guy Sucks".[59][60]

Discography

[edit]

Albums

  • Taiga (2009) (as bass player)[61]
  • Anthony FanFiction, Vol. 1 (2015)[62]

Guest appearances

  • "21 & Jaded" on Don't Forget Where You Came From by Goody Grace (2021)[63] (as bass player)
  • "Every Drug at Once" on Faster by Lil Texas (2022)[64]
  • "NeedleDrop" on Vinyl Days by Logic (2022)[65]

as Cal Chuchesta

[edit]

Mixtapes

  • The New CALassic (2015)

Singles

  • "Cal 2 B" (2013)
  • "Mykey Come Back" (2015)
  • "Panda (Remix)" featuring Pink Guy and NFKRZ (2016)
  • "Coin Star" (2018)
  • "Don't Talk to Me" featuring Fellatia Geisha (2018)
  • "Slap Chop" (2018)
  • "On Deck Freestyle" (2018)
  • "I'm in the Club (Lookin' for Some Love)" featuring Joycie (2018)
  • "Advice" featuring Rob Scallon (2018)
  • "Rubber Duck (Pickup Truck)" (2019)
  • "Best Teef?" (2019)[66]
  • "East (Remix)" (2020)
  • "Drake Has 24 Hours to Respond" (2024)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Anthony Fantano Responds To Alt-Right & Racist Accusations". Kill Your Stereo. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Ingham, Tom (March 23, 2014). "Interview: Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop)". The Mancunion. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Veronin, Nick. (February 18, 2014). "The Hardest Working Critic in Show Business Never Stops Hunting for New Music". Wired. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "About theneedledrop". YouTube.
  5. ^ "Credits / Best Teef? (Anderson .Paak Diss) [feat. Anthony Fantano] / Cal Chuchesta – TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  6. ^ theneedledrop - Twitch, archived from the original on May 6, 2023, retrieved May 20, 2023
  7. ^ Stone, Rolling (August 26, 2024). "25 Most Influential Creators of 2024". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Gordon, Jeremy (November 30, 2016). "How Anthony Fantano, aka The Needle Drop, Became Today's Most Successful Music Critic". Spin. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016.
  9. ^ "LET'S ARGUE: The Best Pizza Toppings". YouTube. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  10. ^ "MELON Fantano on Hasans Italian Hate + Powerlifting Daddy". YouTube. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  11. ^ Noonan, David (June 1, 2003). "A Generation Finds Its Voice". Newsweek. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  12. ^ https://news.southernct.edu/2024/08/29/anthony-fantano-08-named-amongst-rolling-stones-most-influential-creators-of-2024/
  13. ^ a b c Elabbady, Ali (October 30, 2013). "Interview: Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop". Green Room. United States. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014.
  14. ^ a b c MADDEN, MICHAEL (October 9, 2014). "Anthony Fantano Wants to Turn You On". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  15. ^ Johnston, Maura (April 28, 2015). "Anthony Fantano brings Needle Drop to Middle East". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Acaster, James (August 22, 2019). Perfect Sound Whatever. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-4722-6032-1.
  17. ^ "Popular music vlogger accused of promoting alt-right sentiment – NME". NME. October 4, 2017. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  18. ^ "Anthony Fantano's Entire Tour Canceled Over Racist, Alt-Right Allegations". Digital Music News. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  19. ^ "The Needle Drop Live Shows Cancelled Amid Controversy". Noisey by Vice. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  20. ^ "Fader Removes Article Amid Settlement With Anthony Fantano". Spin. March 21, 2018. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g Coscarelli, Joe (September 30, 2020). "The Only Music Critic Who Matters (if You're Under 25)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. The influential evangelist in question is the YouTuber named Anthony Fantano, 34, who has been speaking album and song reviews directly into a camera for more than a decade on The Needle Drop, his channel with 2.26 million subscribers, making him probably the most popular music critic left standing.
  22. ^ Will, Gottsegen (July 16, 2019). "Lil Nas X Releases Insane Meme-Filled Video for Newest "Old Town Road" Remix". Spin. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  23. ^ Spearman, Kahron (July 19, 2019). "Area 51 remix video proves it's the summer of Lil Nas X". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  24. ^ Hussey, Allison (September 13, 2019). "Open Mike Eagle Shares New Song to Support Immigrant Legal Resource Center: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  25. ^ "Anthony Fantano stunned by Logic's massive shoutout on new album". Dexerto. June 19, 2022. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  26. ^ Fu, Eddie (September 16, 2022). "YouTuber Anthony Fantano Trolls Drake Into Revealing Threatening DMs". Consequence. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  27. ^ Mier, Tomás (September 16, 2022). "Drake Disses Music Critic Anthony Fantano Over Fake DM Video With a Real, 'Salty Ass' Message". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  28. ^ Shanfeld, Ethan (September 16, 2022). "Drake Feuds With Music Critic Anthony Fantano: Your 'Existence' Is a 1/10". Variety. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  29. ^ "Nessuno prende più sul serio Kanye West". Il Post (in Italian). February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  30. ^ Cole, Alexander (February 13, 2024). "Anthony Fantano Goes To War With Kanye West's Fanbase After Calling "Vultures" An "Unreviewable" Album". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  31. ^ Coleman II, C. Vernon (February 13, 2024). "Popular Album Review YouTuber Anthony Fantano Says Kanye West's Vultures 1 Album Is 'Unreviewable Trash'". XXL. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  32. ^ Is NOT GOOD Worse Than a 0/10?, retrieved February 14, 2024
  33. ^ Death Grips - The Money Store ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 14, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  34. ^ Swans - To Be Kind ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 30, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  35. ^ Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 14, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  36. ^ KIDS SEE GHOSTS - Self Titled ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 28, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  37. ^ Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 28, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  38. ^ Spellling - The Turning Wheel ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 14, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  39. ^ a b Cuevas, Jailene (November 22, 2022). "CT music critic Anthony Fantano talks life with 2.6M subscribers on YouTube". CT Insider. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  40. ^ Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 28, 2023, retrieved March 28, 2023
  41. ^ theneedledrop (June 10, 2024). Charli XCX - BRAT ALBUM REVIEW. Retrieved June 11, 2024 – via YouTube.
  42. ^ Kid Cudi - Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on December 5, 2015, retrieved September 30, 2023
  43. ^ a b c Earp, Joseph (August 2, 2021). "Anthony Fantano Ranked All His 0/10 Scoring Albums And Gosh, It's Brutal Out Here". Junkee. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  44. ^ Chance the Rapper - The Big Day ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on September 22, 2023, retrieved September 30, 2023
  45. ^ Green Day - Father of All... ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on August 13, 2023, retrieved September 30, 2023
  46. ^ Earp, Joseph (February 11, 2020). "Green Day's New Album Is Getting Some Downright Brutal Reviews". Junkee. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  47. ^ Tones and I - Welcome to the Madhouse ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on September 4, 2023, retrieved September 30, 2023
  48. ^ Ken Carson - X ALBUM REVIEW, archived from the original on March 14, 2023, retrieved September 30, 2023
  49. ^ theneedledrop (April 3, 2024). MGK & Trippie Redd - genre : sadboy EP REVIEW. Retrieved July 29, 2024 – via YouTube.
  50. ^ WARNER, KARA (November 1, 2011). "O Music Awards Take Over Halloween's Largest Street Party". MTV News (Press release). Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  51. ^ "Robyn Wows MTV O Music Awards; Bjork & Marilyn Manson's Butt Win Big". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
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  53. ^ Alexander, Julia (March 7, 2018). "Controversial YouTubers head to alternative platforms in wake of 'purge'". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
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