Music Features

Hometowns are afrequentrecurring theme in country music, sometimes acting asacomforting, familiarpresence or shelterfrom more worldly sources of anxiety. The topic gets most interesting when artists strain against those borders, whether due to painful memories (Sam Hunt’s “Break Up in a Small Town”) or the fear of succumbing to inertia (Kacey …

In a cozy cabin on an island off the coast of Seattle, over a mug of green tea, Sasami Ashworth hammered out the heaviest metal riffs she could. It was February 2020, and the Los Angeles-based musician had decamped to a songwriters’ retreat in Washington with her ears still ringing …

In 2010, just a few months before the introduction of an app called Instagram, Earl Sweatshirt’s debut music video arrived seemingly out of nowhere to launch careers for the brash iconoclasts in Odd Future. The video for “Earl,” which paired the frenetic energy of a Harmony Korine film with hints …

This week marks the 30th anniversary of U2‘s Achtung Baby, though the Edge is having some trouble processing the fact that it’s truly been that long. “When you get into the quantum physics of time and the expanding universe and black-hole theory, there is a theory that time is speeding …

In a world where our morning wake-up call often amounts to a deluge of notifications about death, destruction, and the mundane minutiae of celebrities, a good rage-dance once in a while helps cleanse the palate. New York post-hardcore band Drug Church have the antidote to the onslaught in “Million Miles …

On an evening in September, at the tail-end of New York Fashion Week, rapper Maxo Kream tells me that he’s worn out from the city’s nightlife. “Anybody that does Fashion Week in New York is always tired after,” he says. Seated at a restaurant in Manhattan, he explains how he’d …

Despite being only 27-years-old, Patrick “Wiki” Morales is something of an OG in terms of New York hip-hop. As a teenager, he and the members of the group Ratking made waves in the city’s rap scene for their youthful energy and flair for sonic experimentation. Even then, Wiki stood out …

As one of Travis Scott’s longtime co-conspirators, Chase B has an affinity for the types of subtle bass thumps that inspire a deep-seated desire for shenanigans. They’re present on his O.M.B. Bloodbath-assisted “For Me,” and now on his latest “365,” a Midwest and Houston linkup featuring Detroit’s BabyFace Ray and …

One night in early September, a friend of Chukwuka Ekweani sent him a clip of his song “Love Nwantiti” being used in a TikTok challenge. The friend told him he thought the sound would be huge on the app, but Ekweani — a Nigerian emo-Afrobeats singer-songwriter and producer who performs …

How do you sum up a MTV Video Music Awards night that begins with Madonna serving leather dominatrix vibes, then ends with Lil Nas X yelling “Let’s go, gay agenda”? A night where one of the highlights is Billie Eilish refusing to clap for Jennifer Lopez? A night where Justin …