Publishing is full of rankings, from power lists to best-dressed lists to under-40 lists. The CULT100 is different. There is just one criterion for inclusion—but it’s a high bar.

To qualify, a candidate must be actively shaping and changing our culture in real time. The people on this list represent five generations and hail from the worlds of food, publishing, art, fashion, activism, and entertainment. To put this group together, CULTURED‘s editors leveraged the full strength of our network, tapping artists, writers, and cultural leaders to tell us who they look to when they want to feel challenged, hopeful, and inspired.

Some members of the CULT100 are household names; others have been working behind the scenes to make possible the cultural encounters that stop us in our tracks. In a time of binary thinking, the creators featured in this year’s list are embracing contradiction, bouncing willfully between disciplines, and refusing to take no for an answer. They have guts, vision, and a potent cocktail of realism and optimism. None of them is shying away from the anxiety of our moment. Instead, they are thinking big, sharing generously, and embodying courage. The good news is, their work makes us all a little bit braver, too.

HEATHER GILDROY
Photography by HEATHER GILDROY

JT

RAPPER

After a meteoric rise as one-half of the Miami rap duo City Girls, the rapper took a leap of faith, launching a solo career that has made her a regular on the Billboard Hot 100.

WHAT’S COMING UP FOR YOU IN 2025? Elevation and diva activities all year long. Stay tuned.

WHAT’S SOMETHING PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT YOU? Who cares?

WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT WERE YOU KNOWN FOR? When I was a little girl, I was always, always talking.

"To succeed beyond expectations."

NAME AN INFLUENCE OF YOURS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE. Bollywood.

WHO DO YOU CALL THE MOST? My boyfriend.

WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT FOR YOURSELF ABOVE ALL ELSE? To succeed beyond expectations.