“On her single “Into You,” Ariana Grande tells her paramour that she wants something “a little bit dangerous” and “a little bit scandalous,” perhaps with “a little less conversation.” On the recording, it’s another cutesy come-on in an album full of them. But on Monday night at Verizon Center, those lyrics doubled as shorthand for what the 23-year-old pop star delivered in concert.”
“I’m a very reserved person,” Chicago rapper Noname told the magazine the Fader last year. “I typically like to be in the background.” Despite her desires, the 25-year-old talent, born Fatimah Warner, keeps making her way to the foreground. It began with a scene-stealing verse on Chance the Rapper’s 2013 breakthrough mix tape, “Acid Rap,” and continued on a handful of features alongside Chance, whom she met at a teen program through a public library, and other up-and-comers in the Chicago underground.
“When Cashmere Cat emerged at the beginning of the decade with his scintillating remixes of songs by Lana Del Rey and Miguel, there wasn’t much known about the Norwegian producer: His real name wasn’t public, and he tended to cover his face in photos. That wasn’t unusual in the underground world of electronic dance music in which he traveled, among other producers who uploaded remixes and originals to SoundCloud and built up an alluring aura with their anonymity.”
“The modern-day rap show is plagued by many pitfalls: an overreliance on background vocal tracks. DJs with itchy sound-effects trigger fingers. Subwoofers that obliterate not just eardrums but iPhone microphones. Seizure-inducing strobe lights. An overemphasis on getting the party started rather than actually performing. Unfortunately for the audience at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Wednesday night, Canadian rapper-singer Tory Lanez fell into many of these pits.”
Read more in the Washington Post.
“Thanksgiving is a day of coming home. For Antonio Cuna, this year’s Thanksgiving was a homecoming. Cuna, who produces electronic music as Sweater Beats, grew up in Rockville, and late Wednesday night — or, more accurately, early Thursday morning — he brought his debut live tour to U Street Music Hall. “I see so many familiar faces. I’m getting emotional,” he told the crowd after his first song. “I’m home right now.””
“On Wednesday night, Smokey Robinson received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, joining the esteemed company of songwriters such as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel. First bestowed in 2007 to Paul Simon, the prize recognizes work that has a “significant and uplifting influence on the world of music and on our society as a whole.” The only thing debatable about Robinson’s winning of the Gershwin Prize is why it didn’t happen sooner.”
“Trump might not have been playing by the rules of politics, but he won the game. So how did he do it? Those looking to his career as a developer or reality TV host came up short in predicting Trump’s survival and eventual victory, because those are only part of the story. The most important lessons Donald Trump ever learned were in a pro wrestling ring.”
“In its first two years, D.C.-based record label 1432 R has stood out for its ethos and its ear, but also for a more curious reason. Even though 1432 R takes its name from a District street address, its catalogue is dominated by music from more than 7,000 miles away — Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Launched in summer 2014, 1432 R has released nine records, almost all featuring Addis Ababa-based producers Mikael Seifu and Endeguena Mulu; one is by Ethiopian American co-founder Dawit Eklund. Their music seamlessly brings together house music grooves, the stutter of U.K. garage, an uneasy electronic ambience, and — perhaps most notably — Ethiopian folk music.”
“He’s only 23, but Chance the Rapper has already outgrown his moniker. After breaking through with his instant-classic “Acid Rap” mix tape in 2013, Chance dabbled in band-leading on last year’s “Surf,” an album credited to collaborators Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment. But it is “Coloring Book,” a mix tape he released in May, on which Chance has found his true — or at least next — calling: spiritual leader of a gospel-rap revival.”
“There were plenty of paper cowboys in attendance on Saturday — people donning the hats, boots and denim of country-western dress-up — but most were good ol’ boys (and girls) dressed for a moderate September day, lounging in a sea of captain’s chairs and picnic blankets. Most opted for T-shirts dedicated to musicians, college sports and the American flag, but there was also a smattering of political messages, befitting the final stretch of the 2016 election: a Donald Trump shirt here, a Bernie Sanders shirt there, and even a few Ronald Reagan shirts.
But by wearing a Reagan shirt to Farm Aid, one is perhaps missing the point. The concert was born of the farm crisis that accelerated during the Reagan years; weeks after the first Farm Aid, Neil Young took out a full-page ad in USA Today that asked the president, “Will the family farm in America die as a result of your administration?”
That kind of disconnect was an undercurrent of the festival. Concertgoers sang along to John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses” and rocked out to Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” but did they understand that those songs are sarcastic critiques about the death of the American dream, not rah-rah anthems about patriotism? When Young told the crowd that Farm Aid is a “revolution” wherein we “let the Earth bring us all together,” were they getting the message? Environmentally, perhaps not — at least judging by the empty beer cans and cigarette butts that littered the lawn.”
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