A Tribe Called Quest Stands United, One Last Time
Two decades after splitting up, the pioneering rap crew released its final album Friday. We Got It from Here mines sounds from across hip-hop’s history, but the content is bracingly of the moment.
Category: The Musicians
Lil Wayne’s Rikers Island Memoir Only Tells Half The Story
Gone ‘Til November, transcribed from the journal he kept while at Rikers, isn’t particularly revealing, but it offers a chance to stop and take stock of where the rapper has been since.
Songs Cycles: Jenny Hval On The Importance Of Uncertainty
“It can be really tough to be bold,” says the Norwegian art-pop singer of her approach to performance. On her sixth album, Blood Bitch, she aims to balance provocation and complexity.
‘His Instrument Gave Me Wings’: Remembering Synth Inventor Don Buchla
The pan-generational duo Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith pay tribute to the modular synth pioneer. “Don Buchla made it possible for me to share the way I hear and connect with the world.”
Sean Price, Well-Loved Brooklyn Rapper, Dies At 43
The death of the highly respected hip-hop figure prompted an outpouring of tribute and personal stories from his community this weekend.
The Long Shadow Of Tom Warrior, Metal’s Dark Innovator
With his bands Celtic Frost and Triptykon, Thomas Gabriel Fischer has spent the last 30 years twisting heavy metal to match his own dark side.
Innovative Chicago Producer DJ Rashad Dies At 34
The Chicago-based dance music producer was one of the leading lights of the footwork scene, which features frantic beats and hyper-energetic dancing.
Where Love Lives: Frankie Knuckles And The Dance Floor
The pioneering house DJ Frankie Knuckles, who died Monday at 59, made deep, complex music that packed dance floors for nearly four decades.
Dave Brockie, GWAR’s Oderus Urungus, Dies At 50
The mastermind behind metal’s most cartoonishly grotesque band brought a sense of levity to the genre when it was in danger of being overwhelmed by negativity and self-importance.
Lady Gaga At SXSW: ‘Don’t Sell Out. Sell In.’
In a keynote event at SXSW, the queen of pop transgression offered support for anyone struggling with self-definition and illustrated how hard it is to steer clear of the constraints of corporate pop.
Gazelle Amber Valentine: ‘Gender Is Not A Genre’
The righteously outspoken guitarist from doom metal duo Jucifer speaks about women in hard rock, her almost-acoustic side project and her never-ending life on the road.
A Rational Conversation: What’s With All The Drummers Leading Late-Night Bands?
Robin DiMaggio, who leads The Arsenio Hall Show band, says drummers, who have to be ambidextrous to play their instrument, can drive the music and multitask like champions.
Paco De Lucia, Modern Superstar Of Flamenco, Dies
Traditional flamenco is a singer’s art, born in the cradle of Roma culture in Spain. De Lucia was neither a singer nor Roma, which makes his accomplishments all the more extraordinary.
Eightball, MJG And Rap From Memphis 20 Years On
From the birthplace of Stax and Sun Records, and the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the pair of rapper-producers snatched soul music and put it to work for a new generation.
Folk Activist Pete Seeger, Icon Of Passion And Ideals, Dies At 94
A tireless campaigner for his own vision of a utopia marked by peace and togetherness, Pete Seeger’s tools were his songs, his voice, his enthusiasm and his musical instruments.
Hurray For The Riff Raff’s New Political Folk
The New Orleans-based bandleader Alynda Lee Segarra talks about the wide range of political and musical inspirations — from her Puerto Rican background to the Occupy movement and women’s rights in India — behind her band’s new album, Small Town Heroes.