Drake waits until the second half of Certified Lover Boy to deploy the gloomy R&B bomb that has been one of his most reliable weapons since Take Care. That album included “Marvins Room,” which found Drake drunk at a club plotting the pettiest of revenges — calling his ex and …
Read More »The Problem With How We Talk About Grooming
Last month, a 25-year-old named Brie Lynn posted a TikTok about her alleged experiences with the Broadway performer Alice Ripley. “Growing up is realizing I was groomed by a Tony-Award winning Broadway actress,” Lynn said in the caption of the video, before recounting some of their experiences with Ripley: how …
Read More »Flashback: Lee 'Scratch' Perry Tries to Bust Paul McCartney Out of Prison for Weed Possession
Reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry is best known as the architect of reggae and dub, his mind-bending solo productions and his work with everyone from Bob Marley and the Wailers to the Clash to Beastie Boys. Less known by the general public, though, is the role he played in trying …
Read More »The Heartbreak Key
T o find a song that matches our mood, in the 21st century, we need only type in how we are feeling or walk into a new room, and a streaming service’s algorithm will grab that data and intuit our needs with unsettling ease. But well before predictive computer models …
Read More »Jake Tapper Presses Sec. State Blinken: How Could Biden 'Get This So Wrong' in Afghanistan?
Jake Tapper questioned Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the collapse of the Afghan government following the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the country, asking how the president—who insisted the government would not fall—could “get this so wrong.” Blinken responded that the U.S. has accomplished its goals in …
Read More »Watch Axl Rose Honor Biz Markie With 'Just a Friend' Singalong at Guns N' Roses Show
Axl Rose honored the late Biz Markie Thursday at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium by singing an extended portion of his 1989 classic “Just a Friend” during the intro to “November Rain.” He then returned to the “oh, baby, you, you got what I need” refrain just before Slash’s guitar solo, …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: LVL1, 'FVN!'
LVL1’s “FVN!” is a gleeful, galloping combination of house and hip-hop, a hedonistic and bilingual track that romps at more than 130 beats per minute. The instrumental is all stabbing synths and kick-hiss drums, with LVL1 rapping at breakneck speed: “Girls just wanna have fun/I just wanna have sex in …
Read More »DaBaby's Flagrant Trolling Is Another Part of Hip-Hop's Intensifying Culture Wars
DaBaby has always been a troll of sorts. In 2017, the rapper showed up at the Austin music festival South by Southwest in a diaper, performing a publicity stunt that poked fun at his chosen rap persona. Now, four years from his introduction to the masses, DaBaby has taken his …
Read More »Paul Simon, the Killers, Polo G Tapped for 'We Love NYC' Concert in Central Park
Paul Simon, the Killers, and Polo G are among the artists set to play the We Love NYC homecoming concert, which will take place August 21st on the Great Lawn of Manhattan’s Central Park. The packed lineup will also feature music from Patti Smith — who will be dueting with …
Read More »Flashback: Bob Dylan Sings 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' and 'Tupelo Honey' With Van Morrison
Earlier this week, Bob Dylan fans learned that the next chapter of his Bootleg Series will focus on his early-Eighties work. The focal point of Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980–1985) is studio outtakes from 1983’s Infidels, but there’s also 1980 tour rehearsals and material recorded …
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