Jem Aswad

Afrobeats has been one of the fastest-growing musical genres of the past decade, but if any further evidence were needed that it has reached new peaks, just look at Nigerian singer Davido: Not only was he nominated for the first-ever Best African Music Performance Grammy earlier this year, he’s headlining New York’s Madison Square Garden […]

It turns out that when Pete Townshend recently told the New York Times that he was planning on a final Who farewell tour, he was “being sarcastic,” he told the “Sound Up!” podcast in an interview released today (April 16). “It feels to me like there’s one thing the Who can do, and that’s a […]

SZA will be honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame with the Hal David Starlight Award, which recognizes young songwriters. SZA — who won three Grammy Awards for her sophomore album “SOS” and was Variety’s 2023 Hitmaker of the Year — joins previous recipients Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Lil Nas X, Halsey, Sara Bareilles, Ed […]

Will Smith made a surprise appearance onstage with J Balvin on Sunday night, dressed in his full “Men in Black” suit and sunglasses and performing the title track of the 1997 film. The appearance was brief but memorable, capping a UFO-themed set and concluding with Balvin being dragged off by black-suit-clad dancers as Smith pulled […]

On Saturday Grimes lived what is probably the nightmare of every Coachella performer: debilitating equipment malfunctions in front of thousands of fans and possibly millions watching online. While things seemed fine for the first half of her set, things began breaking down during the second. She tried explaining the problems had to do with the […]

Rico Wade, a member of the pioneering Atlanta-based production trio Organized Noize and a key early Outkast collaborator, has died, according to an Instagram post by his close friend Killer Mike and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. No cause of death was cited; he was 52. “I don’t have the words to express my deep and profound […]

On February 9, the electronic artist Benn Jordan, who performs under the alias the Flashbulb, was attempting to reference one of his songs during a recording session but couldn’t access his music on Spotify or Tidal. He thought at first that his phone was glitching — but then he began receiving messages from fans asking him why […]

When you’re Lil Baby’s lil’ baby boy, there are perks to rolling with your old man, even if the elder Lil Baby isn’t even 30 — like going to WrestleMania XL and sitting with his friends Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, Wale and comedian-actor Druski. But more importantly, you get to sit in the front row […]

As accusations of sexual misconduct continue to be leveled against Sean “Diddy” Combs — and now his son — the embattled artist and entrepreneur posted a seemingly defiant video and caption on Instagram Friday. He posted the full-length video from his 1998 song “Victory” — in which he is seen running from Los Angeles police for nearly […]

With hits like Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Kelis’ “Milkshake,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and dozens of others, Pharrell Williams and longtime collaborator Chad Hugo rode to multiplatinum success as the songwriting/production duo the Neptunes. While Pharrell has become a superstar in his own right over the last two decades, with solo hits like “Happy” […]