rap
Korea On Stage, OVO Arena Wembley review - a symphony of lights, beats and empowermentFriday, 10 November 2023![]() Choruses rocked, choreo popped, and thousands of light sticks danced in unison, as an incredible lineup of nine acts lit up this fourth edition of Korea On Stage, celebrating 140 years of UK-Korea relations.The evening commenced with the beautifully... Read more... |
Album: Drake - For All the DogsSaturday, 07 October 2023![]() Drake’s new album is his fourth full-length in under two years. While his peers like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole disappear for years at a time, Drake seems to be afraid that leaving the limelight means he will evaporate into thin air. As a result, For... Read more... |
Album: Burna Boy - I Told Them...Friday, 01 September 2023![]() There’s been a lot of flak flying around this album already. It’s mainly been triggered by Burna Boy’s public activities which have included disparaging the wider Afrobeats music scene of West Africa, and some somewhat overcooked expressions of his... Read more... |
We Out Here Festival, Wimborne St Giles review: it's a family affair, and then some...Friday, 18 August 2023![]() We Out Here Festival, now in its fifth year (and fourth edition, as 2020 was of course cancelled for Covid), has become an institution. Curated by jazz-centric veteran DJ Gilles Peterson and actualised by Noah Ball – best known for his role in... Read more... |
Album: ¿Téo? - LunaFriday, 18 August 2023![]() A little remarked fact of modern music is just how lush the sound of modern R&B and adjacent music is. A decade ago, the relative harshness of trap beats and EDM synths seemed to dominate sonically, or on the more bohemian fringes... Read more... |
Album: Lunice - OPENThursday, 22 June 2023![]() There are whole books to be written – indeed, hopefully being written – on how hip hop has interacted with dance music culture in North America over the past decade plus. From the overblown mania of rap megastars jumping on David Guetta tracks in... Read more... |
Album: Janelle Monáe - The Age of PleasureWednesday, 07 June 2023![]() There’s been a good deal of discussion on “the socials” about how much Janelle Monáe’s sexy image is a new thing or a big deal.Casual viewers, still stuck on the suit-wearing image with which she crashed into public consciousness in 2010, have acted... Read more... |
Album: Steel Banglez - The PlaylistMonday, 22 May 2023![]() There is a truly fascinating story to be written about the hidden Punjabi influence on UK bass music. Maybe it’s natural for kids growing up with the huge booming sounds of dhol and tabla drums to gravitate to big bass speakers, but some of the most... Read more... |
Kelefa Sanneh: Major Labels review - diary of an omnivorous musicophileWednesday, 14 December 2022![]() Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres is American critic Kelefa Sanneh’s ambitious survey of musical history. As such, it risks remaining only a surface-level summary of the seven genres he describes. I was wrong to worry,... Read more... |
Oslo World review - a dizzying selection of high-tech, grassroots global brillianceWednesday, 09 November 2022![]() The Oslo World organisers are at pains to point out that, despite the name, they are not a “world music” festival. And with good reason, really. There may have been a few familiar WOMAD veterans headlining over the week-long event – Senegal’s... Read more... |
Album: Loyle Carner - HugoThursday, 20 October 2022![]() You’ll want to love Loyle Carner. There’s so much about what he gives and how he delivers it that’s disarming, charming, brilliant even. His lyrics across this album are very obviously from the heart and took real courage to hammer into shape. He... Read more... |
Machine Gun Kelly, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - fire and fury from pop punk convertMonday, 10 October 2022![]() If ever a moment summed up the spirit of a gig perfectly, then it is the segment in this arena showcase where Machine Gun Kelly is confronted by the internet, represented by what appears to be a blow up statue with a monitor for a head. As it... Read more... |
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