G rimes is a self-taught, self-produced artist who released her first album on a small indie label more than a decade ago. Aespa is a girl group formed during the pandemic by one of K-pop’s leading labels, composed of four extremely hardworking women — Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning — …
Read More »Rema and Swizz Beatz on the Difference Between Flashy Possessions and Art
S wizz Beatz, the Bronx-bred superproducer turned art collector, and Rema, the upstart Nigerian artist who’s become a global superstar, are sitting in one of the larger rooms at the Record Plant in Hollywood. This is the type of place where Swizz, 45, has worked since he was a teenager, …
Read More »Victoria Monét and Kelly Rowland Have a Lot More in Common Than They Realized
A small room at the top of Hollywood’s historic Paramount Recording Studios is serving as a salon for Victoria Monét as she and a stylist put the finishing touches on her hair. She’s preparing to sit down with Kelly Rowland, and she’s pretty nervous. Meeting a role model can do …
Read More »How Suge Knight Started a Podcast From Prison
Today, Breakbeat Media released the first episode of Collect Call With Suge Knight, a weekly podcast that Breakbeat Founder Dave Mays says will feature Knight holding phone conversations with him and other guests in the world of hip-hop and beyond. Death Row co-founder Suge Knight has long been one of …
Read More »Breaking Through Rock Journalism's Boys' Club
PLEASE ALLOW THIS ASIAN AMERICAN music writer to articulate this at the level it deserves: Egregious racism and misogyny have a long history in rock & roll — from those on the industry side who have appropriated Black artists’ work to those at the top of the publications who dictated …
Read More »Why Britney Spears' 'Crossroads' Is a Lost Classic
At long last, Crossroads is back. It’s the answer to a Britney Spears fan’s prayers. Britney’s 2002 movie-star showcase is finally returning to the big screen for two nights, on Oct. 23 and 25, to go with her new tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me, which drops on Oct. 24. …
Read More »It's Time For Rap Fans to Stop Fixating on Chart Performance
Drake recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the 13th time with his latest solo album For All The Dogs. The polarizing record accrued 402,000 sales units in the United States during its first week, including 514 million streams. For All The Dogs is Drake’s fourth album in two years …
Read More »How Electronic Musician Aluna Went From Being a Feature Artist to The Main Event
With more than 40 shows under her belt this year, electronic music artist Aluna Francis had one aim for Miami-based music festival III Points: to reconnect with her Black, queer fanbase. An hour before stepping on stage Saturday, she stopped to snap pictures, give hugs and later invited the EDM …
Read More »Will Taylor Swift Do Another Eras Tour in 2033?
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is so dominant in theaters across the country that screenings of the Killers of the Flower Moon have had “Love Story” leaking in from next door during quiet moments. But the nearly three-hour-long Swift concert documentary is an intense theatrical experience in its own right,complete …
Read More »On 'Lahai,' Sampha Figured Out How to Bend Space and Time
DURING a series of performance residencies this year titled Satellite Business, Sampha played in a circle of musicians — different voices, synths, drums, and electronics vying gracefully for center stage. The shows required smaller, more intimate venues, like St. John at Hackney Church in London, where he performed three nights …
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