Icon of the ’80s New York City music scene, hip-hop linchpin and trendsetter, Monica Lynch tells her story to veteran industry insider Carol Cooper.
Written by Carol Cooper
Actress/singer Meiko Kaji’s roles in Japanese exploitation films influenced writer-director Quinten Tarantino.
Written by Hashim Kotaro Bharoocha
Bobbie-Jane Gardner and Brian Cross created Music of the Unseen.
Written by Allen Thayer
Hip-hop feminist Joan Morgan on hip-hop’s misogyny.
Written by Travis Atria
Suzi Analogue’s Never Normal Records prioritizes representation and Black identity inclusive of the entire African diaspora.
Written by Karas Lamb
Lady Wray has a heartfelt rebirth on Leon Michel’s Big Crown Records.
Written by Jessica Lipsky
Founder of Berklee’s Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington is forging a new path forward from old-school mentalities.
Written by Jordannah Elizabeth
Written by Vuyokazi Mtukela
Glasgow’s jazz scene emerges out from London’s shadows.
Written by Maeve Hannigan
The birth and rebirth of Manchester post-punk.
Written by Amelia Fearon
Merging expressions of diaspora provoke young artists to return to their roots to find clarity of artistic expression in today’s London.
Written by Violeta Arango
Boulevards latest feels like a “psychedelic rock record with a soul base,” says Blake Rhein of Durand Jones and the Indications.
Written by Jessica Lipsky
Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Frank Zappa’s kaleidoscopic, surrealistic masterpiece film and soundtrack, 200 Motels.
Written by A. D. Amorosi
Singers Izora Rhodes Armstead and Martha Wash, dubbed Two Tons o’ Fun, branched out from Sylvester and recorded their own albums, starting with 1980’s eponymous debut on Fantasy.
Written by Melissa A. Weber
After releasing a couple 12-inch singles with the help of producer/songwriters Leon Sylvers and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Real to Reel was poised to release a full-length album.
Written by Roseann V. Warren
Chic created sophisticated dance music draped in mystery and anchored in the unison singing of a rotating cast of female vocalists.
Written by A. D. Amorosi
Aftab commands a calm, precise whirlwind of sound. Never loud, but a deeply intense, personal take on South Asian music.
Written by Piotr Orlov
Emma-Jean Thackray’s eclectic music blends her trumpet-based jazz esthetic with strings, hip-hop, and EDM.
Written by Bret Sjerven
An interview with writer Heather Augustyn.
Written by Seb Carayol
“I was trying to find my voice, my crowd, find whatever my thing was. There was nothing glamorous or cool about singing at four in the morning.“
Written by Tamara P. Carter
Singer-songwriter Nia Andrews turned away from her musical family to find herself.
Written by Tamara P. Carter
Coco Maria took a roundabout route from child musician in Mexico to Worldwide FM DJ based in Amsterdam.
Written by Bret Sjerven
From rough-cut funk 45s to beloved stars Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, Daptone Records built a lasting empire.
Written by Jessica Lipsky
Nina Simone had no filter. She spoke with candor about civil rights when many in her position didn’t dare. She sang about uncomfortable subjects....
Written by Michael A. Gonzales
A new generation of independent musicians with the DNA of downtown NYC are tearing up conventions and building new futures in the process.
Written by Anton Spice
In 1970s New York, photography student Chris Stein found his muse in singer Deborah Harry. Together they formed Blondie, merging cutting edge downtown visual style with a pop sensibilty.
Written by Andrew Mason
In 1983, veteran journalist Carol Cooper was unable to score an interview with Prince. So she imagined one...
Written by Carol Cooper
Kokoroko’s unique sound and take on Afrobeat expanded naturally by embedding an even wider array of sounds and ideas in their music.
Written by Mijke Hurkx
Let it be known: this time around, Bilal is not about love songs.
Written by Marisa Aveling
Cynthia Robinson was a single mother when she joined Sly and the Family Stone as a trumpeter and vocalist in 1966. Her story winds from the very start of the band into the next century...
Written by Michael A. Gonzales
Willed into being by one man, Earth, Wind & Fire became one of the biggest acts of the 1970s.
Written by Ericka Blount Danois
The progressive singer teams up with producer Madlib for bountiful Seeds, which she calls Black music “in the tradition of anyone who wasn’t scared.”
Written by David Ma
There are a few things to know about Erykah Badu. First, she lives on a different plane. One that only true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool artists inhabit.
Written by Travis Atria
On the heels of her best-selling debut, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, fifteen-year-old Aaliyah was rocked by a sex scandal that would have crushed a lesser talent.
Written by Michael A. Gonzales
Blue-eyed-soul brother Bobby Caldwell took over the pop and R&B airways with his massive hit “What You Won’t Do for Love” in the late ’70s. With a smooth, soulful...
Written by Marisa Aveling
I’ve been fortunate enough to know “Poppa” Willie Mitchell for a handful of years. When we first met, in August 2000, I was working for Ike Turner, who decided to...
Written by Andria Lisle
Beat conductor and Dallas native Norvis Jr. exploded onto the global electro scene in 2013.
Written by Tamara P. Carter
Sign “O” the Times was recorded between 1986 and 1987—with older tracks added from the vaults—created from the ashes of aborted albums.
Written by Chris Williams
Utilizing her talent of bringing people together, Elysia Lucinda uses her flourishing Irvington Vinyl & Books to support the local LGBTQ+ and Black communities of Indianapolis.
Written by Bret Sjerven
Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians have emerged from production, engineering, and DJing roles within the Odd Future crew to claim their own stake in the movement of Black musical expression.
Written by Andre Torres
THEESatisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White and bandmate and partner Stasia Irons met in 2006 during their time at college and discovered a number of parallels.
Written by Marisa Aveling
“The greater hip-hop community is starting to realize they can’t do this shit without us—and we as Queer women aren’t going to compromise who we are any longer.”
Written by Tamara P. Carter
Daymé Arocena is a burst of light energy—an interstellar body in the constellation of Afro-Cuban world music.
Written by Tamara P. Carter
Lani Hall soared to great heights as the lead singer for Brasil ’66 and as a musical muse for bandleader Sergio Mendes.
Written by Allen Thayer
Nicole McKenzie aka Cherrie Flava has been working in independent music for over twenty years, always looking for ways to push creative projects forward.
Written by Mijke Hurkx
The first of a four-part interview that gets to the heart of the talent and charm of the late, lamented Gregory Jacobs, aka Shock G.
Written by Alice Price-Styles
Tenor sax player and arranger Gene Barge left his job teaching social studies, music, and English in Virginia, to work at Chicago’s famed Chess Records in 1964.
Written by Andria Lisle
Isaac Hayes, William Bell, Al Bell, Bettye Berger, Deanie Parker, and Calvin Newborn share stories of Memphis during Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
Written by Andria Lisle
“Rain is wet, and sugar is sweet…” a voice calls, to the delight of the crowd. These are the words of Ingrid Chavez, in her guise as the Spirit Child....
Written by Dan Dodds
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A chance meeting thousands of miles from home led to a one-off recording session and the creation of Disco Jazz, cult favorite. Singer Rupa Sen tells her story.
Written by David Ma
The Roots first hit the national spotlight as a live hip-hop act with their 1993 indie debut, Organix...
Written by Ericka Blount Danois
L.A. bass beast Thundercat mixes jazz intricacies with sweeps of forward thinking electronic inspiration.
Written by Marisa Aveling
Look Around the Corner, the newest project from Alice Russell and multi-instrumentalist producer Will “Quantic” Holland, is an effort that exudes comfort.
Written by David Ma
Jazz drummer and hip-hop producer Karriem Riggins recently moved from L.A. back to his hometown Detroit, the city where his heart beats.
Written by Marisa Aveling
Pianist Robert Glasper for years made straightahead jazz records and experimented with fusion on the side. Now he embraces the totality of Black music to bring jazz up to speed.
Written by Marisa Aveling
Hiatus Kaiyote is four uniquely talented individuals whose musical alchemy creates a whole that is more magical than its parts.
Written by Marisa Aveling
Little Dragon’s brand of electronic future funk and fractured pop-soul was delivered the old-fashioned way, through nonstop touring.
Written by Allen Thayer
That Teena Marie has authored several of the most enduring classics of modern funk is undeniable.
Written by Andrew Mason
Written by Andria Lisle
Amongst the hundreds of artists who recorded at Stax Studios in the 1960s, Linda Lyndell was a minor figure. But her song “What a Man” has had a surprising longevity...
Written by Oliver Wang
Sharon Jones is the real deal. She’s an atomic bomb of funk that may come in a small package, but when it’s unleashed, no one is left standing. They’d rather dance.
Written by Robbie Busch
“The Willow Tree” singer-songwriter Cleveland Francis embraced the term soul folk
Written by Ashawnta Jackson