Kimbra reflects on a song that we used to know
Ten years ago the Australian artist Gotye asked New Zealand musician Kimbra to feature on his song “Somebody I Used To Know.” At the time Kimbra had no idea it was going to be a hit. No wonder—the son...
9 Mar 202149min
Kaytranada's journey from basement beat-making to the Grammys
Kaytranada has what every producer strives for: an in-demand signature sound. His records glide fluidly between four-to-the-floor house beats, hip-hop sample-flipping, and P-Funk style 808 bass lines....
2 Mar 202136min
JP Saxe Didn’t Mean for His Grammy Hit ‘If the World Was Ending’ to Be So Literal
JP Saxe wrote the song “If the World was Ending” with acclaimed songwriter Julia Michaels in 2019 about a fictional cataclysm. The record was released in the before times in a way that seemed to presa...
23 Feb 202136min
Adrian Younge's new project sounds like James Baldwin meets Marvin Gaye
Adrian Younge is a producer for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar to the Wu Tang clan, a composer for television shows such as Marvel's Luke Cage (with A Tribe Called Quest’s ...
16 Feb 202133min
The Scandalous Sounds of Bridgerton (w Kris Bowers)
The Netflix series Bridgerton has hooked audiences with its bodice-ripping sex scenes, a colorblind approach period drama casting, and a soundtrack featuring recreations of modern bangers from pop sta...
9 Feb 202141min
How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” used retro sounds and modern bass to break every record
This Sunday, The Weeknd will perform his distinctly dark brand of pop at the Super Bowl halftime show. On the surface, the alter-ego of Abel Tesfaye is a strange pick for the ostensibly family-friendl...
2 Feb 202137min
Epik High is our gateway into Korean hip hop (with Tablo)
Epik High are elemental to Korean hip hop. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo’s underground style boom bap beats with dexterous rapping helped bring this music from its underground roots to a global scal...
26 Jan 202152min
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad
Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Oli...
19 Jan 202139min
