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.

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JULIANNE MOORE
Sophia Rooke
Photography by Sophia Rooke

Robert Glasper

Producer and Musician

WHAT IS YOUR CALLING CARD?

Genre-surfing seamlessly between hip hop, R&B, and jazz. I’m able to do each of those genres separately and mix them together at a high level.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE?

Bringing the musician to the forefront—letting musicians know that being a side man is not the only way. You can also be an artist and a frontman. I’m a poster boy for freedom and music and being honest. Being a jazz musician who has four Grammys in an R&B category is crazy when you think about it. I feel like I’ve challenged what people think genre is (and what you’re allowed to do).

“I’m a poster boy for freedom and music and being honest. Being a jazz musician who has four Grammys in an R&B category is crazy when you think about it.”

DESCRIBE A RECENT CROSSROADS AT WHICH YOU FOUND YOURSELF.

In the last few years I’ve gotten into scoring television series, movies, and documentaries. I found myself having too many to do at one time. Recently I had to decide which projects I wanted to do because I didn’t have time for all of them. I think I chose the right one, but I won’t name any names!

WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, ALBUM, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE?

In 2004, my mother passed away. That was the hardest moment in my life. Jason Moran’s album The Bandwagon: Live at the Village Vanguard was one of the most important albums during that time for me. I put that album on all the time to reflect on my mom. Losing a parent is never easy; it’s something you never get over. This was one of the first things that helped me along the way.

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ROSE BYRNE
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JULIANNE MOORE