Laila! has flourished more in the year leading up to her 19th birthday than some artists do in decades. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer first broke through on TikTok with spacey viral ditties “Like That” and “Not My Problem,” showing her intrinsic ear for R&B’s current wave and its off-center …
Read More »How Rema Became an Afrobeats Visionary
F or Rema, the best part of his first trip to the Grammy Awards was getting dressed for it. The Nigerian superstar wore a mound of custom diamonds over snakeskin and leather in his customary black, an outfit that landed him on Vogue’s list of best-dressed stars at the February …
Read More »How Ivan Cornejo Became Música Mexicana's Heartbreak Kid
M agical as it is, Disneyland at night can lead to sensory overload pretty quickly. A smiling Mickey grins out from a Ferris wheel that glows like a firework in the middle of the park, fluorescent lights blink at every corner, and tinny theme songs from every Disney classic you …
Read More »Megan Moroney Is the Gen Z Country Queen We Need
T here it is,” Megan Moroney says, looking out of the tour bus window while slipping on white cowboy boots and a camo hoodie. “The promised land!” The sun is setting over endless rows of gas pumps on a windy January night in Crossville, Tennessee. Six massive fluorescent letters and …
Read More »Benson Boone on Life After 'Beautiful Things'
W hen Benson Boone is about to jump out of a helicopter hovering 60 feet above Utah Lake, which is the kind of thing Benson Boone likes to do, a single thought passes through his mulleted, 22-year-old head: This is gonna be sick. On clear days, that very body of …
Read More »Benson Boone, Megan Moroney, Ivan Cornejo, and Rema to Play Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase at SXSW
Benson Boone, Megan Moroney, Ivan Cornejo, Rema, and many other standout artists will take the stage at Austin’s ACL Live at the Moody Theater for Rolling Stone’s third annual Future of Music showcase, presented by JBL. Part of this year’s SXSW festival, the four-night concert series will take place from …
Read More »MC Abdul: The Palestinian Rapper 'On a Mission'
MC Abdul is in Cairo on a Monday night when I connect with him over Zoom. “I just got my family out of Gaza three days ago,” the Palestinian rapper says. “It’s the first time that I reunited with them in five months.” Abdul, whose real name is Abdulrahman Al-Shantti, …
Read More »J Noa Is Racing Forward. Can You Keep Up?
There are few people on planet Earth who can rap as fast as J Noa — and even fewer who actually have something to say. On her 2023 debut EP, Autodidactica, the 18-year-old MC from the 5 de Abril barrio in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, showcased one of the most …
Read More »Lola Brooke: Say Hello to Brooklyn Rap's New Torchbearer
One afternoon, Shyniece Thomas, known professionally as the rapper Lola Brooke, was in her Brooklyn apartment contemplating the pitfalls of being a rapper. “Sometimes you don’t feel safe — in your own hometown — all because of your occupation,” she says. “I was just pouring my heart out about how …
Read More »Yovngchimi's Dizzying Ascent to the Top of Latin Trap
Ever since Yovngchimi burst onto the stage in 2021, his breakneck ascent through the Latin trap scene has been nothing short of impressive. Within his first rookie year, the Puerto Rican rapper, 28, was already collaborating with established names like Eladio Carrión and Ñengo Flow on hits like “Glizzy Walk …
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