The Women Reclaiming Nu-Metal ft. Rina Sawayama
Nu-Metal, the mid 90s creation that blended metal, rap and pop, is one of the most critically derided pop genres. So it is strange that this genre is having a comeback. But whereas its first incarnati...
21 Jul 202041min
Rosie: Investigating a Crime at the Heart of the Music Industry
Listen closely to the start of the 2015 hit "Hey Mama" by David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, Afrojack, and Bebe Rexha and you'll hear voices intoning a chant: "Be my woman, girl, I'll be your man." It's sampl...
14 Jul 202027min
Song of Summer 2020: TikTok Jams, Protest Anthems, Breezy Bops & Bummer Bangers
The 2020 song of summer competition is underway. We asked you for your favorite songs and put them in a head-to-head tournament. Find out which is the song for this very unusual summer. ROUND 1 - Ti...
7 Jul 202040min
The Many Colors of Lady Gaga’s ‘Chromatica’
Lady Gaga’s 6th album is a conceptual release about a future that is neither utopian nor dystopian. Despite its sci-fi visuals, the album looks more to the past and present than the future. Chromatica...
30 Jun 202034min
I Am America (w Shea Diamond and Justin Tranter)
Shea Diamond has experienced so many facets of America as a black trans woman, and with songwriter Justin Tranter, she's woven those experiences into "I Am America," a blistering, funky anthem about c...
30 Jun 202022min
Baz Luhrmann’s “Sunscreen Song” — The 90s’ Most Unlikely Hit (with Avery Trufelman)
In 1999 filmmaker Baz Luhrmann released the song “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen,” a 7-minute-long graduation speech set to downtempo electronic music. It was a highly unlikely hit that made its w...
23 Jun 202051min
Jacob Collier on staying creative and his 646 track song “All I Need”
Quarantined in his family’s music room, musician Jacob Collier has been remarkably productive. Known for his polymathic musical talents, Collier has used this time to reflect on, and release new music...
19 Jun 202035min
What it means to make music in 2020
The pandemic has upended the art and business of making music. Producing, performing and releasing — every aspect is new and uncharted. The need for social distancing means that it’s unsafe to collabo...
16 Jun 202034min
