With the Hollywood writers’ strike finally coming to an end, the music world has plenty of reasons to breathe a sigh of relief, but a major one involves artificial intelligence. Alongside disputes over pay models, healthcare benefits, and other more traditional labor concerns, the use of AI emerged as a key point of contention inRead More
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. have announced Quincy Jones as the recipient of the inaugural Peace through Music Award. The award is part of a new “Global Music Diplomacy Initiative” between the State Department and the Recording Academy to promote music as a tool for diplomacy andRead More
Updated Sept. 25, 2023, 11:52 p.m. ET. In an appeal that only lasted two hours, the High People’s Court in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province on Tuesday upheld an eight-year prison sentence for music lecturer Dang Dang Phuoc, his wife Le Thi Ha told warungku. The 61-year-old instructor at Dak Lak College of Pedagogy was convictedRead More
Tommy Richman: “Last Nite” The ghostly melodies of Tommy Richman bring to mind Brent Faiyaz if he grew up on Mac DeMarco’s Salad Days, in the bestway possible. The Woodbridge, Virginia, singer caught my ear after I heard him on the buttery hook on “No Plans,” maybe the best track on DMV rap lynchpin Sparkheem’sRead More
Jenn Carter: “Jenn Jenn Jenn” Brooklyn’s Jenn Carter avoids the foolishness of her haters on “Jenn Jenn Jenn.” Producers 24MMY and AK Journey turn Instagram Live taunts directed at Jenn into a kinetic bounce for her to talk her shit on. Like the club-inspired beats on her new On the Radar freestyle with frequent sparringRead More
Lukah: “Beautifully Blackface” Memphis’ Lukah is a consistently fiery rapper with a knack for fleshing out album concepts. His latest, Permanently Blackface (The 1st Expression), continues the streak: It’s a furious and unblinking portrait of being Black in America that diagnoses the conversations and ways of thinking that inhibit racial progress. But it’s the beatsRead More
Wolfacejoeyy, Cash Cobain & Chow Lee: “Weekend” While a lot of the popular club rap either borders on drill or is extremely goofy, Staten Island’s Wolfacejoeyy has found a version that doesn’t occupy either of those lanes. So it makes some sense that on “Weekend” he teamed up with Cash Cobain and Chow Lee, who,Read More
I move through life in a different way. I’m one of the people who’s such an introvert, sometimes to a fault. I wish I could be that dude who’s like, “Fuck that, I’ll just be in his session and play my beats.” Being that guy is what it takes to get to where people likeRead More
FearDorian: “Bankhead Freestyle” A few of my favorite beats of the past year have been made by Atlanta’s FearDorian, a teenager with a sometimes jerky, sometimes atmospheric production style that brings the best out of rappers. Consider the turbulent bounce of Xaviersobased’s “Upper West,” the hypnotic rhythm of AyooLii’s “Andele,” and the sample-based madness ofRead More
Pretty V and Jadasea: “Bandcamp” Earlier this week while scrolling through social media, I was reminded of this ridiculous clip from Straight Outta Compton that made it seem as if Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg just came up with “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” on the fly. Well, it sounds like that’s just what happenedRead More
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