Coachella, thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline. Ain’t that ‘bout a bitch? | | | | Beyoncé and marching band high atop Coachella, April 14, 2018.
(Larry Busacca/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “Coachella, thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline. Ain’t that ‘bout a bitch?”
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| | rantnrave:// So a friend texted Saturday afternoon that COACHELLA, which he was watching on YOUTUBE, seemed strangely lackluster, and then another posted on FACEBOOK that there were no Coachella posts on his feed, "Not one," and this seemed, more or less, to be the general vibe among people over 25, or 35, or [fill in your own line in the sand], and life went on, as it does, until sometime Saturday night, when BEYCHELLA officially began and the internet and the world both broke and, just, wow. I didn't get to see BEYONCÉ's unilateral remake of the very idea of a festival concert, or any concert, until Sunday afternoon on, yep, YouTube, and though I retroactively wished I had been there, the video was plenty amazing, from an opening "CRAZY IN LOVE" that had more horns than the city of NEW ORLEANS and more moving parts than the city of HOUSTON, through "LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING," through the violins, the dancers, the drumlines, the radical reimaginings of classic songs, the barrage of deep cultural references (FELA!), the guest appearances from her husband and her sister and her old group which she proudly and beautifully melted right back into, and through, well, everything. "There’s not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year, or any year soon," wrote the NEW YORK TIMES' JON CARAMANICA, without a hint of hyperbole. "A panoply of blackness," summed up SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD in the UNDEFEATED. "History," said the DAILY BEAST's AMY ZIMMERMAN. Politically and culturally charged on so many levels. Stunningly choreographed. Ridiculously entertaining. And, shoutout YouTube, you didn't have to be there to witness it... Other things happened during Coachella weekend #1, amazingly enough. JEFF WEISS on the WEEKND. SHAAD D'SOUZA on SZA and TYLER, THE CREATOR. CHRIS WILLMAN on other good non-Bey music... Best line from a ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME acceptance speech: "I’ve been writing a speech like this since I first strummed a broom and sang from the top of the stairs of my childhood home. I’ve written it many ways and many times. Some days, I write the 'thank you' speech. Other days, I write the 'f*** you' speech"... Also at the RRHOF, this happened... In an emotional return to Las Vegas, JASON ALDEAN was named Entertainer of the Year for the third straight time at Sunday's ACM AWARDS. "To my Route 91 people, you guys are in our hearts always," said Aldean, who was onstage when a gunman began shooting into the crowd at the ROUTE 91 HARVEST FESTIVAL in October. "Vegas strong, baby"... Aldean, who's had an on-and-off relationship with free streaming, is the first major artist to window an album between SPOTIFY's two tiers, making REARVIEW TOWN available to paying subscribers on Friday while keeping it from free users for two weeks. The album is getting the same window treatment on PANDORA and AMAZON. Is it worth it?... MEEK MILL talks to NBC's LESTER HOLT... Sending all the good vibes in the world to HUEY LEWIS... RIP DAVID MULLANEY and ROLF BUDDE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Billboard |
| As hip-hop and R&B dominate pop culture and drive accelerating music industry gains, there's an increasingly glaring discrepancy between the color of the artists making the most popular music and that of the top executives getting the credit. | | |
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 | NPR |
| A lot of communities today are taking a hard stand against sexual harassment and assault. Using social media shaming, ostracism, professional excommunication, whatever punishment is painful enough to shift the moral code by brute force. Through one incident in the Richmond, Va. hardcore music scene, we chronicle a social media callout and ask what pain can accomplish. | | |
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 | The Future of What |
| Last year, outlets like the Washington Post lamented the decline of the electric guitar and the supposed absence of American guitar heroes. In September 2017, She Shreds Magazine pushed back against this narrative. On this episode, we talk about what's really going on in the guitar industry. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| In a performance that reinvented the festival set, the pop star commanded the stage for nearly two hours, teaching history and sweating the details. | | |
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 | Noisey |
| His headlining Coachella set proved the darkness is certainly real, but the deeper meaning remains questionable. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| The first ever major artist to take advantage of Daniel Ek’s two-week windowing concession has emerged: Jason Aldean. | | |
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 | cleveland.com |
| Technically Saturday night at Cleveland Public Auditorium was the celebration of Jon Bon Jovi's life, and that of his bandmates as the biggest name in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 33rd annual induction ceremony. But when the Rock Hall brought in Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and - of course, Bon Jovi - it was bringing in all of us. | | |
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 | Africa is a Country |
| Insights from the Sauti za Busara festival in Zanzinbar, Tanzania: "Culture is the fountain of our progress and creativity." | | |
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 | Music Industry Blog |
| The word on the street is that the deals labels have struck with Facebook for its forthcoming music service have been done on a blanket license basis (i.e. a flat fee) with no reporting. If true, it has potentially dramatic implications, and not where you would necessarily think | | |
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 | Paper |
| The Australian rapper reflects on her past, present and future. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| Country singer Jason Aldean is an old hand at awards shows by now. But it's safe to say that the musician from Macon, Ga., has never experienced a more emotionally packed night than Sunday's ACM Awards in Las Vegas — nor one where that emotion had so little to do with who won what. | | |
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 | The Atlantic |
| Jason Aldean’s new album doesn’t reference the Las Vegas shooting last year, but that in itself is a statement. | | |
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 | Salon |
| Mariah Carey and Junot Diaz opened up about their past struggles this week, helping to erase mental health stigma. | | |
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 | She Shreds |
| In this video series filmed at the 2018 SX She Shreds event, we interview guitarists and document the incredibly wide spectrum of what that looks and sounds like. | | |
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 | BuzzFeed |
| Both women are talented artists who are savvy about the ways their appearance is constructed and take pride in their oft-maligned subcultures. | | |
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 | Wired |
| There’s plenty of blame to go around, but I can’t help but fixate on fans, who seem unmoved by the accusations. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| The experimental musician’s new book describes an impossible concert in vivid detail. | | |
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| Billboard |
| Jetting from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in one crazy night with Rae Sremmurd, two loving siblings who are about to test their solo talents. Says Jxmmi: “We’re brothers. At the end of the day, we’re getting a bag.” | | |
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 | Complex |
| In 1998, as he was getting ready to lay down his first recorded verse, no one would have predicted that out of all the talented rappers in Harlem, Jimmy Jones would end up having a key role in the world of hip-hop twenty years later. Here’s how it happened. | | |
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 | EW |
| The Hall is unsure how to reckon with or explain music – particularly black music – which falls outside of its narrow realm of what rock and roll is, or can be. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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