I can’t stop writing. If I did stop, there could be nothing. Maybe everything would stop. So I won’t stop. I’ve got to keep it going. | | | | Keyon Harrold at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, June 8, 2016.
(Leon Morris/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I can’t stop writing. If I did stop, there could be nothing. Maybe everything would stop. So I won’t stop. I’ve got to keep it going.”
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| | rantnrave:// Do you want authenticity or do you want the truth? This clip of 21-year-old ASHLAND CRAFT from PIEDMONT, S.C., singing "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE" in her blind audition for the new season of THE VOICE is a perfect microcosm of one of the oldest debates in music. It's a raspy, swampy rendition of the country standard (RIYL: CHRIS STAPLETON and the ALABAMA SHAKES), and three of the four judges are into it. Way into it. BLAKE SHELTON, obvs, because he is the "king of country" and the "mayor of NASHVILLE" (as described herein within the span of 45 seconds). He is country authenticity personified. He thinks there hasn't been a voice like hers on country radio since GRETCHEN WILSON (wait, Blake, what about...oh, forget it), and he smells an open lane. MILEY CYRUS, obvs, because she *wants* to be authentic country ("I'm back, like more rooted and grounded than I've ever been") and she's looking for her punk-rock DOLLY PARTON. And ADAM LEVINE, obvs, because he ain't country at all and he is "so wrong" for the job and that's what makes him interesting ("He's from LA," Miley offers, dryly, in the best judge-to-judge diss of this young season). Judge #4, JENNIFER HUDSON, is yeah, OK, whatever. Who would you choose? Does authenticity matter? Is it an impediment? Does it exist? Was Gretchen Wilson?... And which of these will be more authentic: CMT's MUSIC CITY, a reality show about the lives and romances of up-and-coming musicians in Nashville (which will air next to the show NASHVILLE, which it sounds exactly like, right down to neither one having CONNIE BRITTON), or ABC's BROKEN RECORD, about a past-its-prime girl group, with MEGHAN TRAINOR onboard as an executive producer and songwriter? The latter has a "put pilot order with a penalty attached" (hi, HOLLYWOOD), which sounds like your average record contract, so it gets my early vote in the authenticity sweepstakes... Some albums premiere on sites like NPR MUSIC or STEREOGUM. Some debut at record-release parties. DETROIT punk band PROTOMARTYR is trying another route: RELATIVES IN DESCENT, which comes out Friday, has been slipped into jukeboxes in Detroit and BROOKLYN. (How does the royalty on those plays compare with SPOTIFY payouts?)... This is why THE BOSS is playing BROADWAY. (Other boss, can you hook me up with tix? Thanks!)... The NOTORIOUS RBG knows who the NOTORIOUS BIG was and they have something in common besides the name... IBIZA's tourism bureau is right to be a little upset with MIKE POSNER's "I TOOK A PILL IN IBIZA," according to Mike Posner... Actual lineup at the COMEDY CELLAR in NEW YORK two nights ago: AMY SCHUMER, AZIZ ANSARI, LOUIS CK, JON STEWART, MADONNA. None of them sang... RIP FOLKE RABE and ZUZANA RUZICKOVA. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| A little context on the history of black gospel music is needed to understand how the song both participates in and pushes forward this revered aesthetic tradition. | | |
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| The hope was that by the end of this masochistic marathon, we'd have an answer to whether Kid Rock was really running for Senate, and to maybe understand the politics of potential Kid Rock voters. If we're at all lucky, the answer will not be the least bit entertaining. | | |
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| It’s not a small rock show or a theatrical event. Inspired by a White House concert, one of rock’s celebrated storytellers is bringing his tales to a new stage. | | |
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| David Golden of Revolution Ventures is skeptical of the direct listing process that Spotify appears to prefer. | | |
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| Private trades in Spotify shares are valuing the music streaming company at about $16 billion, according to people familiar with the deals, raising the prospect of a bumper flotation next year. | | |
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| For our first episode of Season 2, we have one of the most in-demand collaborators around today. His work is seemingly inescapable on the radio waves as he co-wrote and co-produced Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do," co-wrote and co-produced Lorde's album "Melodrama," and dropped a sophomore album of his own, "Gone Now," for his own artist project, Bleachers. | | |
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| Prophets of Rage and Downtown Boys bring their politically charged songs to the swamp. | | |
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| Veteran mogul Diddy is once again Hip-Hop’s Cash King, but the ranks of the genre’s highest-paid artists are getting an infusion of youth: Chance The Rapper, Kendrick Lamar and other twentysomething rappers are surging toward the top of our list of 20. | | |
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| 12 artists (and Britney) celebrate 10 years of "Blackout." | | |
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| One man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of rapper Young Dolph on Tuesday in Hollywood’s tourist district, police said. | | |
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| Key message board members look back on how the now-defunct site created marriages, friendships and, um, lifetime MTV event bans. | | |
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| Billie Holiday's signature standard continues to weave through ears, culture and covers. | | |
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| Americans get a measurement system right, for once. Quarter-notes and eighth-notes vs. crochets and quavers. | | |
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| The enigmatic singer-songwriter is about to start a tour that’s been billed as his last. But at 56, he isn’t ready to give up his dream yet. | | |
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| Warner's Ole Obermann tackles the nonsense - and highlights the wisdom. | | |
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| After a Grammy nomination and a breakup, the songwriter is back with a new record that could help cement her place among pop music's best vocalists. | | |
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| A decade removed from the blog boom, the trendsetting duo is still finding its footing. | | |
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| Leo Fender's widow Phyllis and author Randy Bell on the man whose guitars made Rock & Roll the sound your hear today. | | |
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| The discussion surrounding the national anthem's mention of slavery has reignited after the #taketheknee movement. | | |
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| The Audiophiliac muses about the future of sound reproduction. | | |
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| | | | | Ibeyi ft. Kamasi Washington |
| | From "Ash," out Friday on XL Recordings. |
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