How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it? | | | | Jamila Woods at the Rites of Spring Music Festival at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, April 12, 2019.
(Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it?"
| | | | | | rantnrave:// JAMILA WOODS' hotly anticipated LEGACY! LEGACY! is out today, which makes this a good time to step back and note the ascendance of a diverse cross-section of sociopolitically aware African, African-American and Afro-Latino voices in the mainstream musical conversation. LIZZO and MEGAN THEE STALLION provide positive takes on inclusivity and sex, respectively. Woods and SOLANGE are proving that activism and soul music are perfect bedfellows. The ever-present JANELLE MONÁE and CARDI B exist as artistic lighthouses within the social, political and sexual realms. This explosion of diverse voices has happened before and will happen again, but each time its delivery is more intriguing than the last... Dig into any story about the ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL's removal from downtown Miami and realize this about festival culture: While urban happenings are cool, there's something to be said about multi-day mega-bashes following the COACHELLA/BURNING MAN model of open-field, experience-driven happenings. If you've caught, say, PORTER ROBINSON, doing a live set in an expansive and acoustically treated venue designed for lasers and light-shows or in a festival tent with similar qualities, you've witnessed a spectacle. Seeing him in the middle of an urban park doesn't do justice to his potential to connect with a throng of festival-goers. Can Ultra's potential new home in Homestead, a Miami suburb, provide the engrossing and enriching experience that EDM's top draws deserve? One can only hope... After one look and listen to pop queen BILLIE EILISH, an "I've seen this all before" feeling washed over me. The woozily heaving basslines of tracks like "YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN" felt like hearing "witch house" buzz band SALEM's droning blog smash "KING NIGHT" for the first time a decade ago. Back then, the idea that a strange blend of classical, metal, dubstep and chopped-and-screwed 808s in the tradition of SWISHAHOUSE legends MICHAEL "5000" WATTS and OG RON C could work as radio pop would have been far-fetched. What a difference a decade makes. A confusing wall of sound has matured into a developmental base for hit pop material. What bands like Salem aimed at, Eilish has hit... It's Friday and in addition to Jamila Woods that means new music from CHARLY BLISS, MAC DEMARCO, MAVIS STAPLES, HOLLY HERNDON, LOGIC, TIM HECKER, SHE KEEPS BEES, MARC ANTHONY, CIARA, BEAR HANDS, THE LAST POETS, the GET UP KIDS and WHITESNAKE. | | | - Marcus K. Dowling, guest curator | | | | | | | moses, man of the mountain | |  | Billboard | | At just 17, Billie Eilish has racked up billions of streams and, in the process, become a model for how classic strategy can work in the digital age. She still finds it all a little 'weird.' | | | |  | Bloomberg | | Spotify Technology SA is testing a new version of its app that gives podcasts more prominence, an overhaul the company hopes will make it easier for people to find and listen to the radio-style programs. | | | |  | The Washington Post | | Thousands of Washingtonians gathered on Tuesday (May 7) to protest -- and to dance. | | | |  | The Ringer | | A four-hour, decades-spanning documentary, "Of Mics and Men" looks back on the story of Wu-Tang Clan, a group with no equal and a movement beyond compare. | | | |  | Music Industry Blog | | Streaming economics are facing a potential crisis. The problem does not lie in the market itself; after all, in Q1 2019 streaming revenue became more than half of the recorded music business and Spotify hit 100 million subscribers. Nor does it even lie in the perennial challenge of elusive operating margins. | | | |  | Vox | | Pitting them against each other doesn't make sense. | | | |  | EDMTunes | | Ultra Music Festival is once again a source of major questions, as it says "Adios" to Miami and looks for a new location. Where will it go? | | | | | Billboard | | With his latest documentary epic, 'Country Music,' Ken Burns is giving the Nashville community the respect it feels is long overdue -- and the validation it has always wanted. | | | |  | Crack Magazine | | Ahead of his next album, the Radiohead frontman calls for a shock to the system. | | | |  | NME | | Jim DeRogatis was the first reporter to investigate allegations about Kelly. Bob Chiarito meets him in Chicago. | | | | | | | their eyes were watching god | | | The Ringer | | In praise of a great young band growing up and getting even better. | | | |  | Resident Advisor | | Outside interest in decades-old Japanese music has skyrocketed in recent years. What do music heads inside Japan think about this trend? Daisuke Ito investigates. | | | |  | The New York Times | | Noise-canceling headphones regularly top lists of essential travel gadgets, but are they worth it? | | | |  | PopMatters | | Author C.M. Kushins talks about the complicated legacy of Warren Zevon, from crack-up to recovery and back again, and his research for "Nothing's Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon." | | | | | The New York Times | | Woodstock 50, LLC filed a petition on Wednesday requesting an injunction against its former financier, an arm of the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu. | | | |  | SPIN | | May 8 marked the 40th anniversary of The Cure's debut album, "Three Imaginary Boys," and May 2 marked the 30th anniversary of their eighth, "Disintegration." | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | These new portable recording devices allows for spontaneity -- something that can't be done when you need to reserve a room and wait for your designated studio time. | | | | | The New York Times | | To conclude her residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Julia Bullock is presenting Hans Werner Henze's "El Cimarrón." | | | |  | Vulture | | Less than two minutes into our interview, Ani DiFranco says the word f*** for the first time, and it sounds like music. The f is fricative and percussive, much like DiFranco's habit of thwacking the side of her acoustic guitar as she plays it. | | | |  | theneedledrop | | In this video, Volksgeist talks about the cultural impact of Kanye West's magnum opus, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | Such an intentional and impassioned performance. You'll play it twice. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group | | |
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