DA-dun-dun! Twenty years ago this October, a Louisiana-bred, not-quite 17-year-old Mickey Mouse Club vet named Britney Spears released her Swedish fireball of a debut single, “…Baby One More Time” – and the Nineties as we knew them were instantly over. On the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now …
Read More »Dillon Francis Drops Radiant New Video for 'White Boi' Featuring Lao Ra
Los Angeles DJ-producer Dillion Francis released a video for his new single, “White Boi,” featuring vocals by Colombian pop singer Lao Ra. Sung in both English and Spanish, “White Boi” is one of a few bilingual cuts from Francis’ upcoming album, Wut Wut.The album follows Francis’ 2014 debut,Money Sucks, Friends …
Read More »The 1975 Detail New LP 'A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships'
The 1975 have detailed their upcoming third album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, revealing the LP’s 15-song track list and impending release date. The album, the follow-up to 2016’s I Like it When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, arrives November 30th and …
Read More »Ruston Kelly on New Album 'Dying Star' and Why Women Are Superior Songwriters
“I wouldn’t have been able to make this record unless I got clean, unless I found what sobriety meant to me. Not what it meant for someone else.” Ruston Kelly is sitting at a corner table at a popular neighborhood pub in East Nashville. He has a natural ease about …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Thom Yorke, 'Suspirium'
If you’re a filmmaker who’s just talked a member of Radiohead into scoring your next movie, go ahead and celebrate. If it’s Jonny Greenwood, you’re in for a major avant-garde monument (There Will Be Blood) and/or a delightful set piece (Phantom Thread). (There’s also a good chance you’re Paul Thomas …
Read More »See Arin Ray Channel Crime Thrillers in 'Communication' Video
Arin Ray, a former X Factor contestant turned R&B songwriter turned frontman, gets caught in a dangerous love triangle in his new video for “Communication.” “Communication” is far and away the best song on Ray’s debut album, Platinum Fire, which came out in March. It’s minimal — little more than …
Read More »Aretha Franklin Funeral: See Ariana Grande Honor Queen of Soul With 'A Natural Woman'
Ariana Grande paid tribute toAretha Franklin with a rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at the Queen of Soul’s funeral ceremony at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on Friday. Grande the 1967 classic coolly, largely avoiding the melismatic displays that she is known for. The …
Read More »See Shepard Fairey Paint Enormous Johnny Cash 'At Folsom' Mural
Famed street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey has unveiled a 15-story mural featuring the stoic image of Johnny Cash. Painted on the side of the Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Sacramento, it is Fairey’s largest on display in the state of California. The image, interpreted from photographer Jim …
Read More »'Hey Jude': Celebrating the Beatles' Most Open-Hearted Masterpiece
“Hey Jude” sums up the Beatles’ turbulent summer of 1968 — a tribute to their friendship, right at the moment it was starting to fracture. The single was a smash as soon as they released it on August 26th — their biggest hit, topping the U.S. charts for nine weeks. …
Read More »Five Acts to See at Brooklyn's 2018 AfroPunk Festival
Brooklyn’s AfroPunk is, by many measures, the annual festival with the most continuously exceptional line-up of acts. This year’s slate is no different: Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe, Pusha T and Miguel lead a superb collection of not only musicians and DJs from across genres but across the world as well. …
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