Way back in 2010, the Long Island rapper Roc Marciano released his self-produced album Marcberg and essentially invented a new subgenre of underground rap. That subgenre doesn’t really have a name, but you can hear echoes of Roc Marci’s bleak, meditative beats and whispered, intricately worded goon-talk in virtually all of th...

In September of 1996, R.E.M. followed their fuzzy, grungy, glammy album Monster with the relatively expansive and immersive LP New Adventures In Hi-Fi. The band worked on the album's tracks while on the road, following the example of their young friends in Radiohead, and they came up with a set of songs that worked as a transitional document for...

I thought I’d write about Nas this week. I thought maybe I’d write about the new Kanye West-produced Abstract Mindstate album, too. The parallels were too much to pass up. One one side: a rap deity, coming off of a Grammy win and a whole lot of spousal-abuse allegations, attempting to project composure and wisdom and national...

For years now, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has only loosely been a jazz festival. For example, consider the top names on the fest’s just-announced 2021 initial lineup: Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, the omnipresent Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, the Black Crowes, H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, N...

Today is a great day to hear a whole bunch of motherfuckers just rap. You probably won’t hear a better example than “Pravda,” the new single from the Brooklyn rapper Your Old Droog. Droog just announced the new album Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, his follow-up to last year’s Jewelry. Where Droog explored his J...