When the composer Caroline Shaw needs a zone of gracious silence, the kind of place where she can be alone with the music in her mind, she takes refuge in the Rose Reading Room at the New York Public Library. It’s a terrible place for an interview, though, so we meet in the lobby and […]
Last year, fans of spooky duchess Billie Eilish were less than amused upon learning that Drake, the 33-year-old rapper from up north, was happily sliding into her text messages — especially since, at the time, Eilish was a minor at the age of 17. The brouhaha went away after a news cycle, but in a […]
Megan Thee Stallion spent her Super Bowl Sunday driving the boat … straight into an iceberg. Well, at least into something as white as ice, rapper G-Eazy. Yes, a man named Gerald Earl Gillum was partying with national treasure Megan Thee Stallion and he posted it all over his IG. Hot girls everywhere woke up […]
Super Bowl halftime performances can be and often are quite bad. In the early years of the show, you were lucky to get a marching band, a college drill team, a few incongruous movie stars, or some other wholesome business. Carol Channing played twice. The youth educational organization Up with People made four appearances between […]
Fuck with Kesha, and you’re in for the fight of a lifetime. That’s the message of “Tik Tok,” “Die Young,” “Warrior,” and “We R Who We R” — hits about going to war with the night and coming out the victor — and of many of the singer-songwriter’s endeavors since then, including her protracted battle […]
Beliebers, time to reinstall that VPN. Justin Bieber remixed his single “Yummy” with Summer Walker, so if he doesn’t get to No. 1 this time, there’s no telling what drastic measures he’ll take. Bieber previously asked his fans to use a virtual private network to stream “Yummy” in other countries and to loop the song […]
The Academy failed to give Jennifer Lopez a Supporting Actress nom for Hustlers, but it’s fine. You can’t wear assess chaps, twirl on a pole or dance with an army of leather-class dancers at the Oscars anyway, at least not without being politely but firmly asked to leave. JLo’s everything is too bombastic to fit […]
Andy Gill, founding member of post-punk band Gang of Four, has died. He was 64. Gill’s passing was announced on Twitter by his bandmates on Saturday. “This is so hard for us to write, but our great friend and Supreme Leader has died today,” their statement reads. “Andy’s final tour in November was the only […]
Last year, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation enterprise signed a partnership deal with the NFL to produce the annual Super Bowl Halftime Show, an announcement that was met with a fair share of criticism. In addition to coordinating the halftime show and other music events, Roc Nation also agreed to work closely with the league’s various social-justice […]
Incredible news for all of the Broadway stragglers with Remain in Light vinyls who’ve been refreshing Stubhub 10 times (minimum) per day: No need to worry about the hard February 16 closing date, because David Byrne’s American Utopia is going to be filmed to live on for eternity. Oh yeah, and Spike Lee is directing […]
Put simply, Taylor Swift’s new documentary Miss Americana is about one thing: cats. Totally kidding, but there is a smattering of cat propaganda, and I would’ve liked some answers about her role in the movie CATS. This is not that movie (luckily). Miss Americana is a coming-of-age story. By now, we all know the tale […]
If you’re like me you greatly enjoyed the excellent scene in the Taylor Swift Netflix doc, Miss Americana, where Taylor has her cat, Oli, in a chic backpack carrier that any cat owner would be envious of. But if you are truly like me, you already own that exact cat backpack. Turns out another thing […]
All M.I.A. wants to do is*gunshot**gunshot**gunshot**gunshot**click**cash register noise*and take your money! But this time, it’s through Patreon. The musician and activist is opening up her world to her fans (for a fee). Patreon is a platform that allows fans to support artists of all kinds and receive exclusive content in return. It’s popular among online […]
Taylor Swift’s got her Shiv Roy political-consultant turtleneck on. Swift, famously, publicly apolitical until recently, urges you to get out there and participate in democracy on her new track “Only the Young.” The song, which was written and released exclusively for her new Netflix documentary Miss Americana, encourages young people to get involved in politics. […]
Megan Thee Stallion and Phony Ppl knew exactly what they were doing releasing a joint about cheating two weeks before Valentine’s Day. The Brooklyn-based band and the Houston-born rapper finally dropped the studio version of “Fkn Around,” which they debuted on Megan Thee Stallion’s Tiny Desk Concert. The song laughs about young people messing around […]
Maybe another Drake bop is what we need to get through the winter. Drake and Future dropped “Desires” on OVO’s SoundCloud overnight. It’s titled “DESIRES LEAK 2020 SUPER FUTURE DRAKE” on SoundCloud, as if they’re leaking their own song. It’s no Beyoncé surprise drop, but it’ll do. “Desires” might be a little extra something-something from […]
Super Bowl LIV is coming up on Sunday, and it was announced today in Miami — the host city for the event — that Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will incorporate a Kobe Bryant tribute into their Halftime show performance. Lopez’s fiance, Alex Rodriguez, was a friend of Bryant’s, and he was the one who broke the […]
You can’t control your reputation. You think you can by striving to do and be good, but people are hard to win over now, and with good reason. Hucksters are on a powerful tear. No one buys anyone else’s story anymore. Come up too quickly, and you get called a grifter or an “industry plant.” […]
It’s liberation season for Hayley Williams. Formerly the knockout voice of Paramore, she is now the knockout voice of her own solo career — even if she’s still withholding the key changes from all of us. Following her debut single and its accompanying video, “Simmer,” Williams has dropped another steady and personal track in “Leave […]
Frances Quinlan is still getting used to performing with backing tracks. She didn’t want to take more than a guitar on tour, to make it easier to explore cities, but that means she has to keep up with the Macbook on stage next to her instead. “It’s like playing with the most merciless band in […]
Billie Eilish better pull together another large formal leisure ensemble, perhaps with some gold accents, because she is going to perform at the Oscars. The Academy announced the news today, putting her in a lineup of musicians that includes Cynthia Erivo, Elton John, Idina Menzel, Chrissy Metz, and Randy Newman. Eilish, who is some real […]
After nine years, My Chemical Romance is back in action. By now, some of their fans are old enough to have their own sons to take into the city to see a marching band. Or they could just take them to the new My Chemical Romance U.S. Tour. Starting September 9 in Detroit, Michigan, the […]
Throughout the Netflix docuseries Cheer, we learn so much about the sport and the athletes dedicating their lives to it. Each athlete faces unique struggles, on and off the mat, raising the question: Who cheers for the cheerleaders? Enter, Patrick Avard, a.k.a. CheerMusicPro. Along with his team at New Level Music Productions, Avard creates over […]
The universe filled out its weekly classic rock Mad Libs, and, with no disrespect to the parallel universe where Charlie Watts spearheads an exciting new collection of drum panties, the following information should amuse you regardless: Brian May, of Queen fame, has designed a very snazzy sports bra for his devoted legion of fans. And […]
While the world is still reeling from the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, Bad Bunny channeled his grief into a new song, “6 Rings.” Bad Bunny, real name Benito Ocasio, shared the song on SoundCloud late Monday night. It opens with sound bites from Kobe Bryant’s legendary 81-point game against the Toronto […]
Just when you were about to delete your Twitter app after being subjected to the latest iteration of uninspired “the devil works hard but The Bachelor producers work harder” tweets, Satan himself is probably smiling down at us with all the svengali nonsense that transpired on Monday night’s episode. Chase Rice, a popular country musician, […]
Thank god, now you don’t have to scramble around making the perfect love-making soundtrack for Valentine’s Day next month. Whether you’re spending the holiday alone, or with one or more lovers, you need only shout out Alexa’s name and ask her to play Changes by Justin Bieber. The singer announced that his upcoming album, once […]
Stand-up comedian and Yang Gang member Dave Chappelle took home the Grammy last night for Best Comedy Album, beating fellow nominees Jim Gaffigan (Quality Time), Trevor Noah (Son of Patricia), Ellen DeGeneres (Relatable), and Aziz Ansari (Right Now) for the award with his 2019 Broadway show turned Netflix special Sticks & Stones. Unless you were […]
This was always going to be a heavy Grammy ceremony, but there was no way to tell just how heavy it would get. Upheaval at the highest levels of the Recording Academy had muddied the days leading up to the show. On January 16, it was announced that Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan — […]
When Recording Academy president Deborah Dugan was placed on leave ten days prior to the 2020 Grammys, many wondered if the awards would serve as a space for artists to be vocal about inequities within the industry. Dugan’s suspension came amid rumors that she was due to blow the whistle on the Recording Academy, its […]