As protests and violence continue to spread across numerous American cities in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Billie Eilish wrote an impassioned statement on Instagram to condemn white people who aren’t willing to engage with the Black Lives Matter movement. Or rather, people who don’t want to escape their White Lives Matter mindset. “I’ve […]
Stan wars raged out of control in May. Taylor Swift fans tried to cancel Burger King for a tweet poking fun at her songs about ex-boyfriends. Barbz called for Usher’s head when he downplayed the prospect of a Verzuz battle between Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Kim, calling the Young Money chart-topper a “product” of the […]
In her new movie The High Note, Tracee Ellis Ross plays a high-strung, high-maintenance pop diva who wants to get back in the game. “In the history of music, only five women over 40 have ever had a No. 1 hit,” Ross’s Grace Davis laments, anticipating her label’s underestimation of a woman in the middle […]
The rah-rah bitch is back, and we want her stupid lyrics. It’s been a long, rough ride, but we’ve finally made it to Chromatica, and Lady Gaga is back, in full dance-pop form, to welcome us. Her first album since 2016’s Joanne and 2018’s A Star Is Born, Chromatica is a return to the electropop […]
Cardi B just needs to go ahead and reboot Schoolhouse Rock, because she’s singlehandedly educating a generation. The rapper, who’s consistent on speaking out about the issues she cares about, posted a brief video on Instagram and Twitter sympathizing with the Minneapolis protests against police brutality, succinctly breaking down why the protests are escalating, and […]
Jane Moss, an impresario who prodded Lincoln Center to evolve from a complacent institution into a spiritual force, will step down this summer after 27 years. The move, effective August 1, leaves her with no specific plans and the organization without an artistic leader at a time when performances have stopped, planning is impossible, and the […]
With the launch of HBO Max, the Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary On the Record, which premiered at Sundance and details the sexual-assault accusations against music mogul Russell Simmons by several women, is now available for wide viewing. Similar to Leaving Neverland and Surviving R. Kelly, it paints a picture of a powerful figure […]
My first desire after listening to Chromatica, aside from wishing it were still safe to head to a dance floor, was for a button I could press on my phone so that I would respond to messages with Lady Gaga’s specific, exaggerated delivery of “that’s gos-sip” from “Babylon.” On the last track of the album, […]
Taylor Swift has made her most direct comment on the 2020 election yet, addressing President Donald Trump and his recent violent threats aimed at protesters. “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’???” […]
Congratulations to Lady Gaga! The pop star has officially given birth to her sixth album, Chromatica, over a year after announcing she was pregnant with LG6. And what a journey it’s been, from unhinged tweets to a pandemic-related delay to leaks. Lots and lots of leaks. But hey hackers, you can’t leak an album that’s […]
Don’t dust off those flower crowns just yet. While Coachella is set to take place over two weekends in October, recent reporting gives reason to doubt the country’s largest music festival will be back before 2021. In early March, as the coronavirus had just been declared a pandemic and social gatherings became limited, the festival’s […]
The world is changing all around us, but some things remain constant, among them Rosalía’s ability to release a total club banger every few months. Today, it’s “TKN,” the Spanish flamenco-pop singer’s new collaboration with Travis Scott. The two previously linked up for a remix of Scott’s “Highest in the Room,” and now, Rosalía is […]
If you’ve been on Instagram at any point during the pandemic — and let’s face it, you have — you’ve probably seen Jordan Firstman’s face. Posts from celebrities like Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, and Chrissy Teigen about Firstman’s hilarious series of “Impression” videos have catapulted him from 15,000 to 260,000 (and counting) followers on the […]
When Emile Mosseri stepped in as the composer of Homecoming, he had gigantic shoes to fill. The first season of the Amazon Prime series, based on the popular Gimlet podcast, was “scored” by the likes of Bernard Herrmann, David Shire, and Vangelis — a trio of Oscar-winning legends who, it should be noted, are either […]
It’s hard to picture Rihanna in 2020 without her multiple crowns: wealthiest female musician, one of the world’s best-selling artists, a multi-hyphenate businesswoman, the first woman of color to lead a luxury fashion house under LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. But in 2005, she was just a tenacious, unknown 17-year-old from the left side of […]
Okay, we’re gonna need choreography, ASAP! Lady Gaga and Blackpink’s highly anticipated, stan Twitter destroying collaboration “Sour Candy” is officially here, a day ahead of Lady Gaga’s sixth album, Chromatica. Gaga enlisted K-pop queens Jennie, Lisa, Rosé, and Jisoo for the bilingual dance track. “I’m sour candy / so sweet then I get a little angry, […]
Doja Cat’s wigs may have gotten their lives together, but the eccentric, unfiltered rapper-slash-singer has never once given up her unruly ways. The nascent 24-year-old star has been stirring up trouble long before she went viral with 2018’s “Mooo! (Bitch, I’m a Cow),” and her latest scandal probably won’t be her last. While videos and […]
When 46-year-old George Floyd died in police custody on May 25, the Houston hip-hop community lost one of their own. Before moving to Minneapolis in 2018, Floyd lived in Houston, where he was active in the rap scene, the Houston Chronicle reports. Most notably, he worked with the Screwed Up Click, the collective led by […]
In just a couple of months, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz beat battle series has grown from a novel event bridging hip-hop’s past and present into uplifting excitement in our indoor spring, joining DJ sessions by D-Nice, Questlove, and others as well as Ontario artist Tory Lanez’s unpredictable Quarantine Radio series as the must-see remote-but-live […]
Billie Eilish has dealt a final death-blow to body-shamers. In a newly released short film titled “NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY,” she addresses her fashion choices and condemns the double-standards she faces as a young woman in the public eye. The video was originally shown during a concert interlude at the opening of her “Where Do We […]
It would be bad enough to accidentally rip your buns to shreds “in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening” during quarantine, but then to suffer through a heart attack? Queen guitarist Brian May has had a hell of a month, health-wise, and that’s not even considering there’s a pandemic on. According to a video posted Monday […]
On June 9, it will be exactly three years since SZA released her critically-acclaimed, Grammy-nominated Ctrl. Fans are dying for a sophomore studio album from the singer, who tweeted on January 3 that the album will probably arrive at some point this calendar year. While the exact drop date is uncertain, and the actual content […]
Guess who’s back, back again, and wants you to shoot him a text sometime? D12 Eminem. On Monday, May 25, the Real Slim Shady tweeted out his cell phone number. “Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner, but I just been busy” text me, I’ll hit you back 313-666-7440 #MMLP20 #DearSlim” wrote Eminem before […]
She’s back. After Grimes’s baby, and Lana Del Rey’s extended public meltdown, who among us was not wondering, where on God’s green earth is Azealia Banks? Well, on Monday, May 25, the one, true agent of chaos Miss Banks emerged from whatever hole she’s been hiding in and did what she does best: stirred the […]
Like Nick Jonas’s middle tooth or Kim Kardashian’s fear of dancing, music leaks are what the universe gave to musicians to keep them from being too powerful. Lady Gaga’s new album Chromatica must be whole-destroyingly good because it has faced a maelstrom of leaks, mishaps, and plain ol’ drama leading up to its release this […]
This weekend wasn’t the first time Doja Cat came under fire for saying offensive things online, and it probably won’t be the last. Beginning Friday, fans took to Twitter under the hashtag #DojaCatIsOverParty after allegations surfaced that the singer, whose given name is Amalaratna Zandile Dlamini, had taken part in racist video chats and wrote […]
Concerts have been canceled, festivals are a no-go, and chances are these face masks would muffle even the sickest of lead singer wails anyway. So it makes sense why bands would take their talent to the hottest concert hall available to them during quarantine: Karen O’s closet. On Sunday, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontswoman and […]
After stirring up a fandom backlash last week with comments about other popular female musicians, Lana Del Rey has apparently decided to let her work speak for itself. The singer released a spoken-word version of “Patent Leather Do-Over” off her upcoming poetry collection, behind the iron gates – insights from an institution. The piece addresses […]
After experiencing an extremely online backlash to recent comments about other successful female artists, mostly women of color, Lana Del Rey posted an essay Friday claiming accusations of racism against her say “so much more about you than it does about me.” While she’s at it, the singer also writes that her music heralds a […]
Last night online I tried to think of a bad song about rain, and I couldn’t come up with one, and no one else who tried to come up with one in the Twitter thread could do it either. That’s because rain is a rich topic for songwriters. You can roll it out as melodramatic […]