I want to leave music that some kid is going to find and put on some headphones and [it will] just transport them, like I was when I was into records. | | | | | Somali hip-hop collective Waayaha Cusub performs in Mogadishu, March 27, 2013. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I want to leave music that some kid is going to find and put on some headphones and [it will] just transport them, like I was when I was into records.”
|
| |
| | rantnrave:// New music today: A DETROIT rapper with a bit of platinum and gold in his pocket and a good deal of swagger, who is back to reassure us that "I got the moves." And, from LONDON, a soft-spoken, spotlight-averse R&B collaborator to the stars whose overdue debut album "will speak to anyone with anxiety." Or, to put it another way, singles artist BIG SEAN vs. album artist SAMPHA... Album-wise, there are a lot of expectations riding on Sampha, whose stunning (and strangely parenthesized) ballad "(NO ONE KNOWS ME) LIKE THE PIANO" is as raw and emotional as pop balladry has been willing to get in 2017. PROCESS is his first full-length and basically his solo coming-out party after years of low-profile collabs with high-profile partners like DRAKE, BEYONCÉ and KANYE. ROLLING STONE explores Sampha's unique writing and recording process (manga films and STEVIE WONDER's THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS were involved), and a 2013 profile from PITCHFORK suggests he had top-notch musical parenting. His dad brought home one CD every week, from PAVAROTTI to the SPICE GIRLS to Malian singer OUMOU SANGARÉ... MTV NEWS declares BIG SEAN rap's "most improved artist," and the confidence of his current singles "BOUNCE BACK" and "MOVES" is palpable. But he tells his hometown DETROIT NEWS that "Bounce Back" is meant to be loosely autobiographical, as in, he's had some ups but also some downs and he now has the tools to move forward. No wonder LEBRON JAMES has been quoting him of late... No, BEYONCÉ will not be joining LADY GAGA at the SUPER BOWL halftime show on SUNDAY, which is too bad, because it would have been BEY's third appearance in five years, which basically would have made her the PATRIOTS of pop. (Which, come to think of it, might be exactly what she doesn't want to be.) Our new REDEF MusicSet, Gaga for Halftime, rounds up all the reading you need to prepare your game plan for Gaga and her 90-year-old crooning partner... APPLE MUSIC nabs ex-SPOTIFY exec STEVE SAVOCA... Meanwhile at SPOTIFY... Why do radio stations keep playing YG's not exactly broadcastable "FDT"?... Some songs about BOWLING GREEN that actually happened: The EVERLY BROTHERS. The KOSSOY SISTERS. JOHNNY PAYCHECK... Thoughts and prayers to H.R.... It's Friday and that means there's also new music from CECE WINANS, SYD, THE MENZINGERS, SURFER BLOOD, REBA MCENTIRE, ELBOW, PORCELAIN RAFT, IRON REAGAN and EMILY ESTEFAN. And singles from VINCE STAPLES, DEPECHE MODE and ORBITAL. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
|
|
 | Bloomberg |
| How did Jackson’s star lawyer make a mint for his heirs? | | |
|
 | National Post |
| Three current or former Vice journalists told the Post that a former Vice music editor offered each of them $10K to carry illicit cargo hidden in the lining of suitcases from Las Vegas to Australia. His one-time roommate, a promising Toronto electronic music artist, sits in an Australian prison, awaiting sentencing after being caught at Sydney airport with a large stash of cocaine. | | |
|
 | Fast Company |
| From CD compilations to Spotify playlists, Holly Hinton and David Legry have been overseeing music curation at Starbucks for 20 years. | | |
|
 | Consequence of Sound |
| The president’s executive order has far-reaching implications for many of our favorite musicians. | | |
|
 | Noisey |
| Alanis Morissette's ex-manager may be going to prison for mishandling her money--but he wouldn't be the first. | | |
|
 | The New York Observer |
| When trying to understand how cultural hornswoggling works, a look at the history of black American music is telling. | | |
|
 | Billboard |
| A Grammy voter gives an inside look on the process and their Grammy predictions. | | |
|
 | The Guardian |
| They’re both facing the pressure of massive expectation - so what can the winner of the BBC Sound of … and the Brits Critics’ Choice learn from each other? | | |
|
 | TechCrunch |
| Spotify -- the music streaming company with over 100 million users (40 million of them paying) -- has long been seen as one of the more likely candidates.. | | |
|
 | Dazed Digital |
| For almost 20 years, Diamond Supply Co. has been stacking co-signs from Rick Ross, Wiz Khalifa, and Tyler, the Creator, who used to pack boxes in its store -- here’s how. | | |
|
 | LA Weekly |
| Joe Ruiz walks out to the parking lot of Self Help Graphics, the Boyle Heights community arts center, to show off his car -- a 1964 Chevy Impala SS. It's not so much a car as a steel monument, shining supernaturally, reflecting the street lights. | | |
|
 | MusicAlly |
| Breaking new artists is the lifeblood of labels, and independent labels are often the wildcatters of the industry, uncovering cutting-edge genres and artists and being the first to bring them to a wider audience. | | |
|
 | Nest HQ |
| We caught up with digital rights pioneer Matt Adell, former CEO of Beatport and current CEO of MetaPop, to get an in-depth explanation about how his new company is changing the face of remix culture by providing remixers and rights-holders with the opportunity to monetize their creative works in a simple and fair way. | | |
|
 | The Fader |
| Music by Rihanna, Future, and Drake helped the Bronx-raised creative explore beauty and belonging in a new series of paintings. | | |
|
 | DJBooth |
| One of today's most acclaimed voices can out-rap many of your favorites. | | |
|
 | Time Out |
| Rising pop sensation Tove Lo on why artists should take political stances, embracing sex despite the haters and not losing her edge as her popularity rises. | | |
|
| Billboard |
| Remembering Lee "Q" O'Denat, the founder of WorldStarHipHop who was much more than the controversies he courted. | | |
|
| The Guardian |
| This cult guitar great’s career stretches from smoking joints with Drake to inspiring Thurston Moore to form a band -- plus at least one gig with a drunk bear. | | |
|
 | Heavy Blog Is Heavy |
| I firmly stand by the belief that the avant-garde is a nexus, a point in space where no genre can actually exist, like an aural black hole. Everything that music stands for is gathered in this single point, so therefore it is every genre and none at the same time. If you want to put it in spiritual terms, it’s Zen, or it’s the Tao. | | |
|
| The Fader |
| The Taiwanese producer and DJ shares a breakbeat number featuring Mandarin-speaking rapper Poetek from her new EP, "Fake Jewelry." | | |
|
 | YouTube |
| | | | | | From Somali band's 1987 album "Volume 5." Reissued by Awesome Tapes From Africa. |
| | |
|
|
| © Copyright 2017, The REDEF Group |
|
|
