The 13-member Brockhampton collective are usually described as a pan-racial, non-heteronormative, self-proclaimed “boy band,” a rap group born on the internet and destined for pop domination. All of this obscures what Brockhampton truly is: a savvy, decent alternative rap group who understands the modern cyber-grind. Their output is staggering, a …
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Since her gothy 2014 single “Beggin’ For Thread” (“to sew this hole up that you ripped in my head”), Jillian Banks has stepped with a vanguard steering pop from butterflies and rainbows towards darker, weirder places. She doubles down on III, suggesting Billie Eilish’s graver older sis with a timely …
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Tim Bergling’s struggles were laid disturbingly bare in the film Avicii: True Stories – the story of a superstar DJ-cum-pop star whose fame and breakneck touring regimen left him a physical and emotional wreck. His relentless drive, meteoric rise, elfin beauty and substance abuse issues brought to mind Kurt Cobain. …
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Justin Townes Earle has spent a dozen years–beginning with his 2007 debut E.P. Yuma–working towards the cheeky, New Testament-referencing title he bestows upon himself on his new album. From the beginning, Earle has been a relentlessly principled artist, fixed in his old-fashioned ways of what it means to be a …
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It’s been nearly 60 years since the Rolling Stones stormed out of their sleepy London town to become “the world’s greatest rock & roll band,” and, in that time, they’ve put out more than two-dozen greatest-hits compilations. The best of the best-ofs (Forty Licks, Grrr!) provide a broad survey of …
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Billie Eilish is a 17 year-old homeschooled choir singer turned pop music prodigy. And she’s every bit as awesomely messed up as that pedigree implies: She’s the demon spawn of Lana Del Rey’s California dreams, who first compared a sweetheart’s gaze to napalm skies on her arresting 2016 single gone …
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“Nigga like the new Jay-Z” raps firebrand Meek Mill on “Tic Tac Toe.” “Poppin’ like Bad Boy in ’94, Big Poppa and Diddy,” he insists on “What’s Free.” Indeed, the shadow of the Biggie/Jay-Z/Nas era of critical and commercial dominance – circa 1996 to 2003 – looms large on Mill’s …
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