When Katie Crutchfield finished making Tigers Blood, her sixth album as Waxahatchee, she was struck by a strange, new sensation: It was done, and it was good. “In the past, I’ve anxiously listened to my records before they come out a lot, searching for mistakes — and then of course …
Read More »Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo, Future, Metro Boomin and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week
Welcome to our weekly rundownof the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more.This week, Shakira returns with a dazzling LP, Olivia Rodrigo spills Guts B-sides, and longtime collaborators Future and Metro Boomin team up for their first full-length project. Plus, new …
Read More »How Empress Of Made Herself the Main Character on 'For Your Consideration'
Lorely Rodriguez appears onscreen for our Zoom call from Los Angeles. She beams in from her home, which she claims is a mess. The singer, songwriter, and producer, who releases music as Empress Of, attended the Billboard Women in Music Awards the night before and hasn’t had a chance to …
Read More »On His New Album, Joyner Lucas Is a 'Worse Person,' But Better Off
Joyner Lucas and his team walk into Manhattan’s Sei Less a bit perturbed. After the Worcester, Massachusetts-born artist takes a seat in one of the upscale restaurant’s back rooms, he and his manager, Dhruv Joshi, reveal that they just found out that a friend was using Lucas’ fame to get …
Read More »Kendrick Lamar Declares War — And Five Other Takeaways From 'We Don't Trust You'
We Don’t Trust You, the new album from Future and Metro Boomin, is here (the first half anyway), and listeners are abuzz about the 17-song project. Coming in at approximately one hour, the project has elicited plenty of talking points in less than 24 hours. Kendrick Lamar pulled another “Control”-like …
Read More »Omah Lay: Afrobeats' Brooding New Visionary
Omah Lay recoils hard when he sees the snow piling up outside of my window over Zoom. “I cannot deal with snow,” says the 26 year-old Nigerian star. “Bro, I can’t even deal with the weather in London.” Lately, when he’s not in Lagos, he’s been spending a lot of …
Read More »Scowl Are Playing To Win
When Scowl toured the country last year, they were obsessed with a simple game: Take a die, roll it, and whoever gets a six can chuck it at the nearest band member. “There were dice flying everywhere!” frontperson Kat Moss says. “It was the most obnoxious game,” adds guitarist Mikey …
Read More »From Street Busking to International Stardom: The Rise of Ryan Castro
Ryan Castro has always been a go-getter. When the Colombian reggaeton singer was 17, he started busking in the streets and on the buses in Medellín. He’d carry a small stereo and jointhe throngs of vendors and performers that lined the tourist hub. A charismatic teenager with a bold timbre …
Read More »The High-Femme Rebellion of the Last Dinner Party
Any shame had been left squarely on the street outside the Bowery Ballroom last fall as the Last Dinner Party frontwoman Abigail Morris whirled around the stage like a cheeky toddler at a wedding reception, the frills of her frock trying their best to follow along as she dizzied herself. …
Read More »Masicka Has Big Dreams for Dancehall's Future
The first sign that Masicka doesn’t stick to any preconceived path arrives when the new-generation Jamaican dancehall artist talks about some of his favorite musicians, like Bob Marley, Shabba Ranks — and Lukas Graham, the sensitive Danish pop band that scored a string of hits in the 2010s? “I like …
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