Before Doechii could fully step into her craft, she had to learn more about the power of being present. “The only moment that exists is literally right now. I mean quantum physics, tomorrow literally does not exist,” says the Florida rapper, 24. “Only right now, me and you talking on …
Read More »The Outrageous Thrills of Model/Actriz
T HE REGULARS AT THE BROADWAY have no idea what’s about to hit them. Model/Actriz frontman Cole Haden, 26, stands onstage in a sequined tunic, cutoff shorts, a weathered baseball cap, and a glorious mustache, looking a little like Freddie Mercury if he lived off the L train. It’s 8 …
Read More »Asake on Success, Spirituality, and Searching for Peace Amid the Chaos
T HE TWO MEN HAVE BEEN WAVING for a while before Asake sees them. They’re wearing dirty white T-shirts on the balcony of a tall construction project in Victoria Island, an upscale neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria. It took them a minute to figure out who was standing in the garden …
Read More »'Hip-Hop Is Rock & Roll': Teezo Touchdown's Eclectic Style
The first thing that grabs your attention about Teezo Touchdown is his look — especially when his hair is draped with actual nails. When you delve into his music, you might come across a pop-punk ballad, followed by a contemporary hip-hop track. Before you know it, you’re yearning to know …
Read More »Brittney Spencer's Nashville Revolution
Brittney Spencer was stoned and chilling at home in Nashville the night her life changed. She had posted an acoustic cover of “Crowded Table,” a song of radical inclusion by the all-star country quartet the Highwomen, after seeing them sing it on TV. “It was so beautiful watching this supergroup …
Read More »FLO Are Blowing Up – and Calling Their Own Shots
Not too long ago, the British girl group FLO were a newly signed act trying to persuade their label to drop a song called “Cardboard Box” as their debut single. The label wanted to try other songs first, but Jorja Douglas, 21, Stella Quaresma, 21, and Renée Downer, 20, collectively …
Read More »Otoboke Beaver: Loud, Misunderstood, and Loving It
Kyoto, Japan’s Otoboke Beaver are a force of nature onstage — four larger-than-life hardcore punks, blazing through sets with idiosyncratic wrath and sarcasm. But when they pop in for a translator-guided Zoom interview, they’re resting at their apartments between dates on a Japanese tour. Accorinrin, the band’s howling frontwoman, reclines …
Read More »Sudan Archives Is Rewriting the Rules From Her Basement Studio
If you’re looking for the future of music, you might want to check first in Sudan Archives’ L.A. basement. “I don’t really see myself being in anyone’s studio,” the singer says over Zoom while smoking on her living room couch. “You got to come to my house, you got to …
Read More »Tsumyoki: The Heartfelt Pop Artist Who's Proudly Representing Goa
2023 is a great year to be an artist from India. There’s a new-music boom happening all over the country, led by a crop of young pop, rap, and R&B musicians with a hunger to leap into something greater — artists like the 22-year-old rapper, singer-songwriter, and producer Nathan Mendes, …
Read More »Omar Courtz Worked at a Clothing Store For Reggaeton's Biggest Stars. Now He's Collaborating With Them
When the Puerto Rican singer Omar Courtz was a teenager, he spent some time working at a clothing store in the city of Carolina that became popular among reggaeton stars. He’d see some of his biggest inspirations coming in and out of the shop, which was called Change: people like …
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