On November 14, 1991, I attended the Los Angeles date of Blur’s first North American tour—just five stops—supporting their debut album, Leisure. It was at the Roxy Theatre and before the group took the stage, they wandered around the venue, blending in with the hyper crowd who were dressed in the regulation British indie garb…
Missy Elliott is a legend, the best-selling female rapper of all time and the first to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Born in 1971 in Virginia, Melissa Arnette Elliott began making music as a teenager, forming a girl group and drafting her friend Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley to produce their demos….
Rambunctious rockers the Mae Shi haven’t released a record since 2007’s HLLLYH, the California art punk collective’s most linear and acclaimed album. Following that, the group went on an extended hiatus so the members could focus on other musical projects, reforming only for a handful of one-off shows in the time since. The Mae Shi…
In the ongoing Battle of Los Angeles, even the foot soldiers of protest need an occasional break from the fierce urgency of now. And after a few hours of photographing demonstrators on the street during the city’s sprawling “No Kings” protest on June 14, I stepped into the ancient Redwood Bar a couple of blocks…
“Right before the breakdown hit, I would go: ‘Your dick smells like his asshole,’” says Heidi Shepherd, smiling warmly in her Miami hotel room. Later this afternoon she’s embarking on a Caribbean cruise, but for now she’s reminiscing about Mom and Dad first coming to see her perform. When her folks turned up to that…
Weeks after jamming with former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne at Governors Ball in New York, Olivia Rodrigo welcomed the Cure’s Robert Smith to duet on his band’s classics “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven” yesterday (June 29) at the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England. “He’s perhaps the best songwriter to come out…
Thirty years after its release, the second album from Irish alternative rockers the Cranberries has lost none of its power. Fronted by the compelling presence of vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, the Cranberries built upon the success of their 1993 debut with the sophomore slump–defying No Need to Argue. Featuring two major worldwide hits (“Zombie” and “Ode…
Music has always been more than sound. From the communal energy of live concerts to the surreal visuals of Yellow Submarine and the grainy rawness of MTV’s golden age, it has never truly lived in just one dimension. But in today’s fast-scroll culture, where songs are often discovered in 15-second bursts and consumed as background…
“I’ve put in time in this industry as a songwriter, so it’s another achievement for me that people are getting to know who I am as a singer,” Netón Vega tells me, relaxing on the porch of his Los Angeles Airbnb, against a summer dusk backdrop. Known for injecting his corridos with plenty of passion…
Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Nas, John Legend and the-Dream all lend a hand on LET GOD SORT EM OUT, the first new Clipse album in nearly 16 years. As previously reported, the project, due July 11, was produced by longtime collaborator Pharrell Williams. LET GOD SORT EM OUT is brothers Pusha T and Malice’s…
