Carl “Chucky” Thompson, a producer and multi-instrumentalist whose slick samples of Seventies and Eighties soul underpinned some of the most popular R&B and hip-hop tracks of the Nineties, died on Monday at age 53, his rep confirmed to Rolling Stone. A cause of death was not immediately available. In the …
Read More »
Toronto rapper Smiley has released a new song, “Over the Top,” featuring Drake.The fast-talking track, produced by Tay Keith, arrives via Drake’s label OVO Sound. “Got a verse from the boy & it leaked,” Smiley noted of Drake’s feature on Twitter. “He sent me a new one said use this …
Read More »
Lil Yachty shows off his sensitive side in a new single, “Love Music,” released on Tuesday via Quality Control and Motown. Following his rapid-fire Michigan Boy Boat mixtape, “Love Music” is much mellower and sees the rapper expressing his gratitude over a long-term romance, from high school dances to marriage: “You …
Read More »
Digital disruption has created a music business that’s sustained by saturation, producing a culture of abundance blurring into excess. Lengthy albums capitalize on this wholesale demand for more by bloating tracklists, which in turn jacks up streaming numbers. At first glance, Culture III, the latest 19-track offering from superstar rap …
Read More »
Every so often a viral moment captures our imagination for its sheer absurdity. Over the holiday weekend, a Twitter user with the handle @topxkazi shared a video from what appeared to be a graduation party inside of a residential home. The video shows a packed room of young people dancing …
Read More »
After a year’s hiatus, New York hip-hop radio station Hot 97 is bringing back Summer Jam. This year, the flagship station’s annual music festival will bring rap and R&B acts to East Rutherford, New Jersey’s MetLife Station on August 22. The artist lineup is yet to be announced. Summer Jam …
Read More »
In November, legendary New York emcee Pharoahe Monch formed a new trio, Th1rt3en, with Jack White’s drummer Daru Jones and acclaimed guitarist Marcus Machado. The group announced their arrival with their first song, “Fight,” featuring Cypress Hill and then, in January, the hip-hop group released the blistering “Cult 45” video …
Read More »
Drake has released the new Scary Hours 2 EP. The rapper dropped the first Scary Hours EP, which included “God’s Plan” and “Diplomatic Immunity,” in 2018, a few months prior to dropping his most recent studio album, Scorpion. The three-song set features Lil Baby and Rick Ross. The rapper was …
Read More »
UPDATE (1/14):YFN Lucci turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia late Wednesday, a representative from the jail confirmed to Rolling Stone.He is currently in custody after news broke that he was wanted on a murder charge in connection to a shooting back in December. *** YFN Lucci …
Read More »
When Jack Harlow was 16, he looked and sounded exactly like Andy Samberg. On “S.A.V.,” a track from his maiden high school mixtape Finally Handsome, his raps were self-deprecating and aspirational in the same breath: “Spend my whole spring break scrolling down Instagram/ Double-tapping pictures of these girls in their …
Read More »