E rykah Badu and Summer Walker are used to long phone calls. In late October, in lieu of a planned BET Hip-Hop Awards performance, they had a private catch-up that ended up veering far off topic. “We talked about the cypher for five minutes,” says Badu, “and we talked about …
Read More »The Untouchables: An Investigation Into the Violence of the Chicago Police
Usually, that kid clomping down his mother’s porch is a tractor beam of charm. On the South Side of Chicago, where Gangster Disciples shoot the Black Disciples over slights and side-eyed infractions, nobody seems to hassle Calvin Cross — he’s too much fun to be around. He does a thousand …
Read More »Jerry Jeff Walker, Outlaw Country Architect and 'Mr. Bojangles' Songwriter, Dead at 78
Jerry Jeff Walker, the “Mr. Bojangles” songwriter and a pioneer of the “cosmic cowboy” sound that would evolve into outlaw country, died Friday after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 78. Walker’s publicist confirmed his death to Rolling Stone. Born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, New York, in …
Read More »Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi on Eddie Van Halen: 'He Was Always an Inventor'
Since his earliest days playing music, Eddie Van Halen was a Black Sabbath fan. “We played just about every Black Sabbath song,” he once recalled in a Guitar World interview, looking back to a time when he wanted to name his band “Rat Salad,” after a Sabbath song title. “I …
Read More »'Strange Fruit': The Timely Return of One of America's Most Powerful Protest Songs
Last year, North Carolina rapper Rapsody was searching for an introductory track for her new album, Eve, a concept LP about the history and power of black women. Her producer suggested a song she didn’t know well: Nina Simone‘s 1965 version of “Strange Fruit.” A concise but graphic evocation of …
Read More »'RS Interview: Special Edition' With Tom Morello
Tom Morello is pleased about one aspect of life in 2020, at least: More people than ever in the United States are raging against the machine. “There’s a lot of non-Black people fighting back, too,” he says, in the latest edition of our Rolling Stone Interview: Special Edition video series. …
Read More »Canada Sends Patrols to 'Prevent Caravans of Americans' From Surging Across the Border
Since March, the U.S.-Canada border has been closed to all but essential traffic in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. But Americans being Americans, they are flouting the new regulations in the pursuit of their usual summer fun. According to NPR, “Canadian border patrol has effectively prevented …
Read More »Jay Inslee Says Trump Should Be 'Removed From Office' for His Disastrous COVID-19 Response
Jay Inslee is no stranger to wrestling with big existential issues. The 69-year-old governor of Washington state has spent much of his career studying and speaking out about our rapidly warming planet. He supported a Green New Deal long before the idea came into fashion. He shaped his recent, short-lived …
Read More »How Tekashi 6ix9ine Got Released Early
Two weeks ago, when Governor Andrew Cuomo began to shut down New York City after the spread of coronavirus became unmanageable, Lance Lazzaro sprung into action. For the past two years, Lazzaro has served as counsel to Daniel Hernandez, the controversial rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine who, until this week, …
Read More »How Coronavirus Is Destroying the Livelihood of Music's Behind-the-Scenes Workforce
Paul Klimson, a veteran audio engineer who’s worked with artists like Justin Timberlake, the Roots, and Eric Clapton, was putting together a docket of upcoming shows across multiple venues last week. Then, suddenly, they were all axed in one go. A “text came through that wiped out $11,000 in gigs …
Read More »