On Sept. 19, 1969, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash walked onstage at the Fillmore East in New York City, took a seat on three stools, and launched into “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” without any introduction. It was just four weeks after they played their first ever show at …
Read More »Tyler, the Creator's Anxieties About Fame Are Starting to Feel Universal
Tyler, the Creator is speaking to the times on “NOID,” the newest single from his upcoming album, Chromokopia. The song is part of Tyler’s straight-to-the-point album rollout, where the music and visuals — not his characteristic outspokenness — have taken center stage. Last week, Tyler dropped “St. Chroma,” which featured …
Read More »Meet Bb Trickz, the Viral Spanish Rapper Who Caught Charli XCX's Attention
On her remix of Charli XCX’s Brat hit “Club Classics,” the 24-year-old Barcelona-based rapper Bb Trickz arrives like she’s been there all along, rapping in a comfortable, laid-back Spanish with the cool swagger of a veteran—this despite only starting to release music in the past few years. Over Zoom, she …
Read More »Natalia Lafourcade and Leon Bridges on Songwriting, Death, and Time Travel
M CO Studios is a quiet, woodsy space tucked away in the leafy neighborhood of Anzures in Mexico City. With its sky-high ceilings and the bursting trees on the patio, it’s a site that reflects the beauty of the Mexican capital, and singers Leon Bridges and Natalia Lafourcade are immediately …
Read More »Why 'All Too Well' Is Taylor Swift's Greatest Song
“Rolling Stone” contributing editor Rob Sheffield has been a passionate Taylor Swift fan since he first heard “Our Song,” in 2007, and he’s chronicled her rise from teenage country prodigy to global pop megastar — reviewing her albums, celebrating the triumph of her concerts, even compiling a definitive ranking of …
Read More »How PlayThatBoiZay Overcame Tragedy to Make a Great South Florida Rap Album and Link Up With A$AP Rocky
Second chances are precious and often compel us to catapult further than before. That’s the case with PlayThatBoiZay, the South Florida rapper who dropped his long-awaited VIP album in September. The heavily Kwes Darko-produced project is right on time not just because of its eerie, Spooky SZN-ready soundscapes, but also …
Read More »Timbaland Embraces AI Music Production, Announces Partnership with Start-Up Suno
When the AI-music start-up Suno recently introduced a feature that lets users upload audio of their own creation and have the software extend and endlessly reimagine it, one particular user took note. Legendary producer Timbaland quickly became obsessed with the process, deciding it was the future of music-making. He started …
Read More »Ready for an AI-Boosted 'Sun Sessions'? Inside the Elvis Presley Archives
In the late Eighties, Ernst Jorgensen, then an executive at a BMG affiliate in Denmark, raised an impertinent question in an international meeting. “How come we treat the Elvis Presley catalog so poorly?” The response from a U.S. label chief was immediate: “If you’re so smart, why don’t you do …
Read More »Benny The Butcher and 38 Spesh Talk Lyricism, Collaboration, and Getting Love From Busta Rhymes
Benny The Butcher and 38 Spesh first connected on the word of the late DJ Shay, the producer who Benny and many other members of Buffalo, New York’s Griselda movement called a mentor. Shay’s Parkside Studios was a hub for upstate rappers where Benny recorded most of his early work. …
Read More »Keith Richards Surprises Nashville at Country Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
There sure has been a lot of discourse this year about who can play country music. But at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s annual Medallion Ceremony on Sunday, officially inducting this year’s class, the answer was “anyone who showed up.” That included two members of the Rock & Roll …
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