New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli‘s new book, RAP CAPITAL: An Atlanta Story, is a thorough account of the rise of Atlanta hip-hop as a business and a culture. Through vignettes with the city’s eclectic cast of characters — rappers and businesspeople alike — Coscarelli paints a vivid portrait of …
Read More »'What If I Don't Like Music Anymore?': A Wildly Honest Conversation Between BTS' RM and Pharrell Williams
Weclome to RollingStone’s2022Musicians on Musicianspackage, the annual franchise where two great artists come together for a free, open conversation about life and music. Each story in this year’s series will appear in our November 2022 print issue, hitting stands on Nov. 8. A t this point in their reign as …
Read More »The Musical Force Behind Broadway's 'American Idiot' and 'Almost Famous' Wants 'Born to Run' Onstage Next
Anyone who’s had even a mild obsession with Cameron Crowe‘s Almost Famous will instantly recognize some of the lyrics to the original songs in its musical adaptation, which opens on Broadway Nov. 3. “Cameron Crowe, to me, is a poet,” says Broadway veteran Tom Kitt, who co-wrote the songs for …
Read More »Takeoff Always Believed in Migos' Success: 'I Knew I Was Going To Be Here'
In the summer of 2015, no one was cooler than Migos. Hailed as stylistic innovators, they were known for their signature triplet flow that dominated the charts, doing laps around the usual suspects on the Top 40, all while Offset was inconveniently behind bars. That left two members to represent …
Read More »Remembering Takeoff, The Best Rapper in Migos
Every rap group is subject to debates about the best member. But it’s not often that an artist takes a stance like Quavo, who repeatedly stated that he felt fellow Migos member Takeoff was the best in the trio. “He always been workin’ on his craft…he just masterminded his craft,” …
Read More »Finneas and Rick Rubin on Making Hits and Keeping Your Ears Fresh
I t’s about two hours before Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, are due onstage in Brisbane, Australia. For the moment, though, Finneas’ mind isn’t on the gig; he’s backstage, loading up Zoom so he can meet one of his heroes. “I feel like we’ve been meant to meet …
Read More »Jerry Lee Lewis Was a Rock & Roll Titan. That Doesn't Justify What He Did Offstage
J erry Lee Lewis was rock & roll’s original prodigal son. When he burned brightly, in the mid-to-late 1950s, he was untouchable. Then, when he fell from grace, he was untouchable in a different way, but he was dogged. He kept recording music — much of it unheard — and …
Read More »Westside Gunn is Still Crafting The Wildest Collaborations in Rap
“I’ve always been an ill dude,” rapper, producer, and multi-hyphenate Westside Gunn reflects during our FaceTime Audio session. “I didn’t know I was ill enough to have 50 grown men with my face [tattooed] on them.” When we spoke, the Buffalo-born artist was in Germany, prepping for a flight back …
Read More »Jerry Garcia's Lost Pipe Has Been Found After 30 Years — and It Still Smells Like Weed
For decades, a major piece of counter-culture history was wedged behind a bed in Merl Saunders’ San Francisco house. The crude pipe looks like something a teen may have cobbled together at summer camp, but according to art historian Steve Cabella, it’s basically a religious object. A so-called “spirit pipe,” …
Read More »How Hermanos Gutierrez and Dan Auerbach Made a Chill-Out Album for the Ages
The first time that brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez sat down to play guitar together, something just clicked. The two had been living in different places when Alejandro invited Estevan to visit him in Zurich. “We were just hanging out in my apartment and we just played together,” Alejandro says, …
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