MGMT, Pharrell Williams, Q-Tip and Chromeo have designed artwork for the new issue of Playboy magazine, which hits the shelves in the USA tomorrow (February 13).

I remember a bunch of years ago while I was still on my world (educational) tour, before I moved back to New York, I'd be nonstop asking my artisty friends for stories of their NYC encounters with the people on my iPod. (Yes I was one of those.) There was this friend, who had a friend of a friend etc., that took voice lessons with Tip. I liked t...

"I don't care who first or who last, I just know y'all better rock this at the drop of a dime, baby," Q-Tip decrees, kicking off the official remix to "Renaissance Rap", the whistle-laden headknocker from The Abstract's deservedly praised return to form, The Renaissance. It's nice to see this track getting the solo love it deserves (it's tacked ...

The psychedelic jazz composer David Axelrod (pictured) is not the same David Axelrod who masterminded Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but this Axelrod is more important for our purposes here at Pitchfork. This Axelrod got his start producing ridiculously lush soul records for Lou Rawls before going on to work his swirl on weirdos as divers...

Usually, when rappers work with rock bands, they out their own bad---- or at least totally pedestrian-- tastes. Witness, for example, Q-Tip enlisting Korn for a collab, or Coldplay's Chris Martin and his bizarre evolution into some sort of Nate Dogg 2.0. So it's heartening to see a young rapper pairing up with a great rock band, especially when ...