Was #JayZ Right for Dissing #Drake, #Ye, and #NickiMinaj During His Roots Picnic Freestyle? đ
At the Roots Picnic, JayâZ launched a freestyle calling out peers including Drake, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, sparking debate about whether the rapperâturnedâexecutive should engage in public feuds. Commentators argued JayâZ is both an institution and still a rapper, so he can choose to play the rap game, but some view the move as diminishing given his corporate stature. The discussion framed his lines as a rare public response to ongoing online discourse and controversies involving his business and cultural positions. Observers remain split on whether the freestyle was an appropriate artistic rebuttal or a misstep that conflates personal rap battles with larger reputational issues.
Shaboozey Rides Again: Inside His Ambitious New Album | Rolling Stone Nashville Now
Rolling Stoneâs Nashville Now podcast featured Grammyâwinning artist Shaboozey in a LasâŻVegasâstyled interview, unveiling his upcoming concept record âThe Outlaw, Sherry Lee & Western Talesâ and reflecting on a breakout year that included a historic 19âweek HotâŻ100 run with the...
Musician in Audience Saves the Show
At a La La Land orchestral concert in Sydney, the scheduled professional pianist fell ill mid-performance. Composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz (the Oscar-winning composer) asked the audience for someone who could sight-read piano music; 21-year-old recent graduate Sterling NASA volunteered...
Decades-Long Social Injustice That's Been Corrected for the NYC Gay Men's Chorus
The NewâŻYork City Gay Menâs Chorus returned to the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference as the headline act, marking a historic reversal of a fourâdecade ban that barred the group because the word âgayâ appeared in its name. ...
Jay-Z's Roots Picnic, Wayne & Drake Debate | HNHH Live (6/5/26)
Hosts on HotNewHipHop Live dissected Jay-Zâs headline set at Roots Picnic, highlighting a fiery opening freestyle that reignited debate by taking shots at contemporaries including Drake and Nicki Minaj while showcasing Jay-Zâs commanding live rap ability and creative reworking of...
KELS Shares How the Song "Gone" Came to Be #KELS
Rising singerâsongwriter KELS explained the backstory of her single âGone,â revealing how a chance encounter on a Timbalandâhosted livestream led to the trackâs creation. During the livestream, an Atlanta producer known for work with CardiâŻB reached out. The two began a...
NYT's âPopcastâ On Interviewing Taylor Swift, Asking Hard Questions, & Whether Literacy Is Over
The Mixed Signals podcast hosts sit down with NewâŻYorkâŻTimes Popcast creators John Karmonica and Joe Kascarelli to chart the showâs twoâdecade journey from a modest audio file in 2006 to a flagship videoâfirst interview platform. Originally a criticsâroundtable, Popcast...
11 Great Non-Metal Albums | Avenged Sevenfold Guitarist Zacky Vengeance's Picks
In the video Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Zacky Vengeance walks through 11 non-metal albums that shaped his taste, praising raw vocals, simple soaring melodies and authentic songwriting over technical virtuosity. He highlights records ranging from gritty country and punk to desert...
Ber Plays Songs From 'Good, Like It Should Be' Live at MPR
Indie singer-songwriter Ber performed songs from her new record Good, Like It Should Be live at MPRâs The Current, mixing stripped-down acoustic sets with crowd-ready moments. She reflected on moving to Minneapolis with little money, crediting The Current and the...
JosĂ© GonzĂĄlez â ETYD (Live at The Current)
Swedish singer-songwriter JosĂ© GonzĂĄlez delivers a sparse, introspective live rendition of âETyDâ at The Current, blending contemplative lyrics with a subdued vocal performance. The short set centers on themes of fate, denial and the passage of timeâevoking images of black...
R&B Legend Peabo Bryson Dies
R&B singer Peabo Bryson, famed for his smooth duets on Disney power ballads, has died at 75 after suffering a stroke. Bryson rose from a teenage backup singer to mainstream success, scoring his first top-10 hit in 1984 and later...
Kip Moore On Why Nashville Just Wonât Pay Attention | Rolling Stone Nashville Now
In a Rolling Stone Nashville Now interview, country singerâsongwriter Kip Moore discusses his upcoming album, Reason to Believe, which drops MayâŻ29 on Virgin Music Group. The conversation centers on his shift from majorâlabel contracts to an independent model and his...
Has SoundCloud Cracked Superfandom and AI Music?
The interview with SoundCloud CEO Elias Satin focuses on the platformâs shift toward fanâpowered royalties, a userâcentric payment model that allocates subscription revenue directly to the artists listeners actually stream. Satin explains that more than half of SoundCloudâs artists now...
NY Slice Sessions: Frankie Sunswept & the Sliver Moons
Frankie Sunswept and Kim of indie duo Frankie Sunswept & the Sliver Moons describe their bedroom-turned-studio collaboration, recounting how they wrote the song âTJ Taâ (translated as âNostalgiaâ) inspired by Ethiopian 1970s music. They discuss early jam sessions, DIY recording,...
Floetry: Tiny Desk Concert
Floetry delivers an intimate Tiny Desk Concert that foregrounds the duoâs sultry neo-soul and spoken-word hybrid, moving through poetic verses and crowd-pleasing slow jams like âSay Yes.â The performance emphasizes close vocal interplay, improvisational patter, and sensual storytelling, with minimal...