The Big Issue

3 min read

Last week I heard a song called The King of Rome for the first time. It knocked me sideways. I immediately listened to it again, and then again. And then I started telling everybody to listen to it. It was released in 2012 so a number of the people I

NPR

4 min read

As it celebrates its 50th birthday, hip-hop is a global phenomenon. But to map the music's true impact, you have to look closer. Here's a guide to rap history, charted across more than a dozen cities.

NPR

8 min read

His albums are back on Spotify. New releases full of unheard recordings are on the way. For a fan, there is joy and pain in knowing the work Prince guarded so tightly won't stay that way for long.

Metal Hammer UK

1 min read

A WILD AND unhinged amalgam of thuggish mathcore, explosive electronics and bug-eyed, glitchy noise, Frontierer’s music is obnoxiously thrilling and genuinely terrifying. As showcased on latest album Oxidized, the Scottish crew’s insane hybrid is the

NPR

8 min read

The prolific and beloved musician, born Gregory Shorter Jr., died last week at the age of 40 — but not before helping found a musical movement in his hometown that has since spread worldwide.

The Christian Science Monitor

11 min read

Why Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most culturally restrictive societies, is suddenly embracing art, music, and movies.

Global Voices

5 min read

"It's a long, long time now we fighting for freedom […] I come with my bell just to second the motion, rock the rapso riddum.”

NPR

1 min read

Their overnight surprise mixtape release comes with an honorable mention for one of Atlanta's instrumental sonic architects.

NPR

8 min read

Giving rap the future it deserves means smashing the infrastructure as it is. But with the battle lines drawn, we can still take heart in the artists teasing just how much further the culture can go.

Stereophile

1 min read

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note

Guitar World

9 min read

STAGGERING AS IT may seem, it was 40 years ago that a heart-wrenching tragedy claimed one of rock’s finest guitarists. His name? Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne’s brilliant guitarist, who was killed in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida, on March 19, 198

You South Africa

1 min read

IDOLS SA star SASHA-LEE DAVIDS recently released her long-awaited feelgood song, A Little Love. “I recorded it in my brother Laurenzo’s studio, in my hometown, Atlantis,” she tells us. The track was inspired by a time in her life when she felt despon

Stereophile

4 min read

I remember the exact moment I became an audiophile. It was 1954. I was 12 years old. My father’s friend, Mitch Rose, wanted to buy a “hi-fi set,” which was what they called them in those days. Mitch asked my father to go with him to help pick one out

TIME

10 min read

LIL NAS X IS GETTING BORED. AT A BOWLING ALLEY in midtown Manhattan, he plays a giant Connect 4, then ping-pong and then, even as he checks and re-checks his phone, he races back and forth between two lanes, pins clattering in surround sound as he bo

India Today

2 min read

A number of mainstream music acts around the world have postponed the releases of their albums owing to the ongoing lockdown. Hindi hip-hop star Raftaar, however, decided to stick to his plan and put out his second full-length effort, Mr. Nair, in th

Los Angeles Times

2 min read

Andy Madadian, the Armenian Iranian singer and actor, got the 2,684th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Jan. 17. For those not familiar with Andy's raspy, soothing voice, he's made more than a dozen albums and has loyal fans around the world. He'

India Today

1 min read

At first blush, Tushar Lall seems like most 22 year olds, fond of going out, hanging out with friends and playing the occasional game of tennis whenever time permits. But predictable is far from the prefix you would attach to his personality type. F

Electronic Musician

1 min read

As an innovative move designed to highlight the sound of Focal monitors, Focal Naim America has created a range of playlists for Qobuz, TIDAL, Apple Music, and Amazon Music HD designed to showcase music ‘Mixed on Focal’ as it’s intended to be heard.

NPR

9 min read

Perhaps no contemporary musician understands the rules of the streaming ecosystem better than the singer Khalid, who emerged as a teenager and is now one of the most listened-to artists in the world.

Post Magazine

1 min read

In Search of ... (2001), an ambitious collision of funk, rock, hip hop and electronica, was the debut album from N.E.R.D., the band formed by the hugely successful production duo The Neptunes (aka Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) with childhood frien

NPR

2 min read

A Tribe Called Quest frontman is the first artistic director for hip-hop culture at the Kennedy Center. He discusses the cultural levity of his appointment and the current political climate.

Metal Hammer UK

3 min read

IF YOU ASKED a metalhead to name their favourite band, it’s most likely that we’d name one from either Europe or North America. These two continents are, after all, where the vast majority of our genre’s commercially successful heroes have emanated f

Los Angeles Times

4 min read

LOS ANGELES — When Esa-Pekka Salonen announced recently that he would step down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony next year, he did not say it was to spend more time with his family. He told the truth. In his statement, which Salonen ci

Stereophile

4 min read

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Note the new

Beat English

6 min read

Some can’t handle success. I do!“ DJ Khaled once said. When he‘s right, he‘s right. According to the business magazine Forbes, his annual income amounts to a measly $30 million [1]. His albums „Major Key“ and „Grateful“ effortlessly reached the top o

Stereophile

2 min read

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note

JazzTimes

9 min read

When it comes to narrative arcs, few are more compelling than the story of two people on separate life paths who eventually connect and create something unexpected. Often, the two then travel in very different directions afterward. This is the trope

L'OFFICIEL HOMMES USA

2 min read

What does it mean to listen? To truly listen to music? For most of the 20th century, this question was moot: from vinyl to CDs, the quality of the music (mostly) met the quality of sound. Hi-Fi enthusiasts proliferated. But as MP3s and then streaming

Los Angeles Times

4 min read

A few days before Hopeless Records was to celebrate its 25th anniversary, a deluge of rain hit Los Angeles and flooded the streets around the independent punk label's Van Nuys headquarters. Water rose calf-high in the gutters around the building, mak

Evening Standard

4 min read

As the days draw nearer for the biggest NFL game of them all, with the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Kansas City Chiefs, excitement levels are building for one of the most anticipated Super Bowl halftime performances in history. Rihanna is set to