Month: April 2025

All Things Go isn’t just in the DC-area — there’s also a New York edition of the three-day music festival. This year’s All Things Go NYC is headlined by Lucy Dacus and Djo on Friday, September 26; Doechii and Remi Wolf on Saturday, September 27; and Clairo and The Marías on Sunday, September 28.

Also on the bill are Gigi Perez, Rachel Chinouriri, Lola Young, Griff, The Last Dinner Party, Blondshell, The Aces, Michelle, Paris Paloma, Joy Oladukon, Alemeda, Sarah Kinsley, Peach PRC, G Flip, and many more.

Fan pre-sale tickets for All Things Go NYC, which is held at Forest Hills Stadium, begins Thursday, April 24, at 10 a.m. ET. The public on sale is Friday, April 25. You can find more information here.

Check out the full All Things Go NYC lineup below.

All Things Go 2025 @ Forest Hills Stadium Lineup For Friday, September 26

Lucy Dacus
Djo
Gigi Perez
Rachel Chinouriri
Maude Latour
The Aces
Sarah Kinsley
Goldie Boutilier

All Things Go 2025 @ Forest Hills Stadium Lineup For Saturday, September 27

Doechii
Remi Wolf
Lola Young
Griff
Peach PRC
MICHELLE
Alemeda
Sunday 1994

All Things Go 2025 @ Forest Hills Stadium Lineup For Sunday, September 28

Clairo
The Marías
The Last Dinner Party
Paris Paloma
Blondshell
G Flip
Joy Oladukon
hey, nothing

Two years ago, Paul Simon released his 15th album. And the public greeted it as one might expect the 15th album by a singer-songwriter in his 80s to be received. Reviews were respectful. Interviews dutifully noted Simon’s iconic status. A two-part career retrospective documentary directed by Alex Gibney was concurrently released on a prominent streaming platform. And, after that, the album gently drifted to that place where all pop culture artifacts go after their brief window of exposure has closed.

There was a time when a new Paul Simon record was a major event guaranteed to gin up commercial and critical excitement. It’s fair to say that time composed much of the last half of the 20th century, and even a decade or so of the early 21st. But in 2018, Simon excused himself from the world’s stage, via a well-publicized farewell tour. Then something strange and unexpected happened. Just four months after his “final” concert, he was awakened from a strange dream that instructed him to start a new project called Seven Psalms. Over the proceeding weeks, there were more dreams that conjured lyrics. In time, the most formally atypical record of Paul Simon’s life took shape — a single 33-minute piece of music, divided into seven movements, that weighed the pros and cons of faith, life, and the end of life.

As much as any of his ’60s-originated peers, Simon is responsible for the kinds of songs (“The Sound Of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Mrs. Robinson,” etc.) so entrenched in the collective cultural memory that even non-fans know them by heart. But Seven Psalms is not a “songs” record in the traditional sense. Simon lets these melodies drift rather than refining and perfecting them, as is his custom, seemingly directing his beautiful, questing guitar licks at the heavens. The first movement, titled “The Lord,” becomes a recurring motif, with Simon returning to a folk-baroque riff and a lyrical structure in which he describes the almighty in terms that are wondrous (“The Lord is my engineer”), mysterious (“The Lord is a puff smoke”), and confounding (“The Lord is my personal joke”). By the last movement, “Wait,” he’s arrived at a similarly conflicted destination, expressing both fear and acceptance over an unavoidable fate in the form of a conversation between a man at death’s door and an angel assuring him of heaven’s comforts. (“It’s just like home,” she says.)

Comparisons to other “mortality” records by artists of Simon’s generation, namely David Bowie’s Blackstar and Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker, were obvious and inevitable upon the release of Seven Psalms. But Simon’s record differs in two important ways. First, other than significant hearing loss in his left ear, Simon insists he is in good health. “That character in ‘Wait’ could be me. It’s not far from me. But am I actually thinking that on a daily basis? No, I’m not,” he told Mojo in 2023, adding of Seven Psalms, “I don’t think this is my final piece.”

Unlike Bowie and Cohen, thankfully, Simon did not die immediately after the release of his mortality record. Which brings up the other important distinction for Seven Psalms: He’s back on tour for the first time in seven years, and introducing his latest songs to audiences that have come to hear “Cecilia” and “You Can Call Me Al.” Dubbed A Quiet Celebration, a concession to Simon’s hearing problems, the show opens with the entirety of Seven Psalms before a set that mixes lesser-known gems from his back catalog with a small selection of the “everybody knows them by heart” songs. (No “Cecilia” and “You Can Call Me Al” this time, though.)

An artist of Simon’s stature “lying” about the veracity of a farewell tour used to be fodder for indignant music critics and hacky stand-up comedians. But, personally speaking, it’s hard to feign outrage over a man of Simon’s advanced age continuing to ply his craft on stage, especially given the nature of these shows (worthwhile new material in mid-sized theaters rather than familiar greatest hits in arenas) and the fact that all of us eventually are permanently retired by the usual life-and-death circumstances. Simon might have (briefly) quit touring, but he never stopped being creative. And for that we should be grateful.

On Easter Sunday, I caught the first of three shows scheduled this week in Minneapolis. I was extra-eager to see Simon given my ever-growing love and respect for his work as I have followed my own mortality journey into middle age. Back in my teens and early 20s, I viewed Paul Simon as a purveyor of sleepy soft rock with occasional problematic overtones. But now I regard him as one of my very favorite boomer-era songwriters, whose light musical touch and conversational lyrical style often belies heavy subject matter and genuine philosophical insight.

This personal shift began with 2011’s So Beautiful Or So What, a warm and witty song cycle that addresses many of the same themes as Seven Psalms but with a slyer sense of humor. (Like “The Afterlife,” which imagines going to heaven like a trip to the DMV.) From there, I dug deeper into the less celebrated corners of his work and found that I especially adored two so-called flops released between two of his most successful records — 1975’s Still Crazy After All These Years, which won the Album Of The Year Grammy, and 1986’s Graceland, still his most popular LP.

The first flop was One-Trick Pony, a film that Simon starred in, wrote, and soundtracked with 10 original songs. Simon plays Jonah Levin, an over-the-hill folk-rocker who had a hit in the ’60s but now is stuck playing low-paying club gigs in the middle of nowhere. As an actor, Simon falters when playing stock “domestic strife” scenes with his estranged wife and co-parent (Blair Brown), the proverbial woman who gets left behind while he hacks out in the hinterlands. But when the film focuses on Simon and his band (played by Simon’s actual band at the time, including drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Tony Levin, guitarist Eric Gale, and keyboardist Richard Tee), it naturalistically depicts the rhythms of tour life, in which a series of minor triumphs intermittently break up the prevailing dreariness of performing concerts everyone can see aren’t going very well.

The result is one of the most authentic movies about musicians I’ve ever seen. That verisimilitude is doubly impressive given that Simon — a celebrity pop star since his mid-20s — had been the opposite of a struggling musician for a good 15 years at that point. But he nevertheless was uniquely attuned to the drudgery of being a past-your-prime has-been. In one particularly painful sequence, Levin is invited to appear on a ’60s nostalgia TV special alongside actual stars of the period like The Lovin’ Spoonful. And he performs his hit, a drippy “topical” folk-rock ditty called “Soft Parachutes,” which actually is a brilliant Simon & Garfunkel parody written by Simon. But this ultimately proves to be a moment of professional disappointment and embarrassment.

One-Trick Pony came out in the fall of 1980, but the tone is pure ’70s New Hollywood, with its deep cynicism about the music business (look for Lou Reed — yes, that Lou Reed — as a meddling record producer), episodic storytelling, and downbeat ending. Which likely explains the film’s failure at the box office. (Heaven’s Gate opened catastrophically the following month, signaling the end of Hollywood’s last golden age.)

It says something about Simon’s commercial reputation that the soundtrack produced a top-10 hit, “Late In The Evening,” and still was regarded as an underperforming bomb. Simon responded by reuniting with his old partner, Art Garfunkel, an unexpected echo of his desperate One-Trick Pony character, albeit on a much grander scale. But his next record, 1983’s Hearts And Bones, was even truer to One-Trick Pony‘s vibe of “aging sad guy in a rapidly changing world” disillusionment. Balancing of-the-moment new-wave pastiches (which have aged better than expected) with bitter divorced-guy ruminations (he had recently split from his second wife, Carrie Fisher), it’s as real and gut-wrenching an expression of midlife ennui as any album put out by a member of his peer group in that era. Given that Graceland was still an unforeseen comeback on the distant horizon, Simon at the time must have seemed, like Jonah Levin, to be playing out the string of a fading career.

Only in Simon’s case, he also happened to be writing some of his finest songs. A personal favorite is “Train In The Distance,” which evinces Simon’s talent for encapsulating entire lifetimes in the space of a few, impeccably worded verses. In the song, a couple meets, they fall in love, they fall out of love, and then they try to come to terms with what it all means. At the song’s conclusion, Simon sings ruefully:

“What is the point of this story
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts and our brains.”

As Sunday’s concert commenced, and Simon guided his (large but quiet) band into the Seven Psalms material after informing the audience that they would have to wait for songs they knew for about 35 minutes, my mind flashed on how much I’ve listened to One-Trick Pony and Hearts And Bones in recent months. And I also thought about Simon’s most famous peer, Bob Dylan (who I also have seen perform recently), and about how both men have avoided ending up like Jonah Levin.

Since 2021, Dylan has been on a tour centered on his most recent album, 2020’s Rough And Rowdy Ways. This insistence on pushing new material on historically complacent classic-rock audiences sets Dylan and Simon apart from most of their contemporaries. (As does, it should be noted, the quality of their “late” career material.) In a live setting, Seven Psalms was heavier on mood than grabby hooks, creating a feeling of dreamy contemplation somewhat antithetical to the boozy rowdiness of some in the audience. Simon pressed on admirably, regardless.

And then there’s the matter of his voice, which has aged considerably even since the 2018 farewell tour. For most of his career, Simon retained the boyish sunniness that’s defined his vocals since the mid-1960s. But now, his voice is raspy and quivers noticeably. You can’t help but hear the strain when he reaches for high notes. Dylan has had the benefit of his voice evolving (or deteriorating, if you’re less of a fan than I am) over the span of decades. With Simon, however, the change was more sudden. And yet, like Dylan, he has compensated for this by writing songs that suit him as he sounds now. Seven Psalms plays like a private confrontation with God at 3 a.m., and when Simon sings lines like “I have my reasons to doubt / A white light eases the pain / Two billion heartbeats and out / Or does it all begin again?” (from “Your Forgiveness”), the cracks in his voice make the lyrics all the more affecting.

But how would that old-man voice affect the old songs? During the intermission, my wife and I wondered whether this Simon could pull off the youthful exuberance of “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard” or any of the Simon & Garfunkel material. But as the second set unfolded, it became clear that Simon had chosen songs that aligned with the mood and themes of Seven Psalms. It’s possible that I was projecting after being put into a certain headspace by that spellbinding opening act. But Simon appeared to be using Seven Psalms to illuminate meanings, both stated and hidden, in his older work. In that context, “Graceland” was renewed as a plea for redemption, with the hope that eventually “we all will be received” at some glorious, mystical place sustained by belief and imagination. “Slip Slidin’ Away” reverted from feel-good sing-along back to an existential meditation about how people “believe we’re gliding down the highway / when in fact we’re slip slidin’ away.” One of the oldest tunes in the set, “Homeward Bound,” rhymed with both those aforementioned songs as a yearning anthem about returning to “home where my love lies waiting / silently for me.” Even the configuration of Simon’s band extended these concepts of reunion and reconciliation — there was Steve Gadd back behind the kit, playing the legendary drum pattern he created for “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” along with a cameo by bassist Bakithi Kumalo, the sole surviving member of the Graceland band.

Amid the hits were several numbers most of the audience didn’t seem to recognize, including a shocking amount of songs from my beloved Hearts And Bones. There were three in all, including “The Late Great Johnny Ace,” an overt song about loss tying together tributes to the titular R&B singer, John F. Kennedy and John Lennon; and “Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War,” another dazzling pocket-narrative about the surrealist painter and his spouse dancing to the doo-wop groups that Simon loved as a child. Groups that are all now long since departed.

There was also “Train In The Distance,” which fit perfectly. What I love about that song is the duality of the central image. A train in the distance can induce dread, or it may provide comfort. It all depends on where you are in relation to the train. But no matter where you are, that train is coming. And it could be closer than you think. So you might as well make all the noise — quietly, if necessary — that you can in the meantime.

In December 2024, it was announced that ASAP Rocky had landed a starring role in Spike Lee’s new movie, Highest 2 Lowest, which also starred Denzel Washington. It’s pretty easy to figure out how Lee came to the decision to cast Washington: He’s an icon and the two have worked together before. As for how Rocky landed on Lee’s radar, it turns out social media memes played a part.

On a recent episode of Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM In Brooklyn podcast (as HipHopDX notes), Lee explained, “What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram, four or five years ago, and people were saying that ASAP looked like he’s Denzel’s son. I seen those memes, and then in the film, we used that.”

He also had some praise for Rocky’s acting abilities, saying, “ASAP, man, he fire. I mean there’s some scenes with him and D where he’s not backing up.”

Lee previously told Deadline of the movie, “This is not a remake, this is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s great film [High And Low]. In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film, Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo [of Lee and Washington].”

To promote her new album, Addison Rae revealed the release date on her underwear at Coachella. She also wore a clamshell bra and electric-blue fishnets on the day her single “Aquamarine” came out and rolled out in powdered sugar in the “High Fashion” music video amid unfounded rumors of cocaine use. In a new profile with Elle, Rae discussed her attention-grabbing methods to promote her exhilarating turn from TikTok-to-pop star.

“In life, everyone acts,” she said. “We’re all putting on a show, aren’t we?”

Rae also shared her feelings on how some people will always associate her with TikTok, no matter how many good songs she puts out: “All of that led me to where I am right now. What’s funny to me is that people assume that these passions are new. First of all, no one ever even knew who I was before I was a freshman in college, so it’s like, ‘How would you even know what my interests were before?’ I grew up dancing; I’ve always loved to sing.”

She continued, “I acknowledge how lucky I am that I was on TikTok, and people cared enough to watch my videos and follow me, and therefore gave me the freedom to be able to explore my deep desires that I’ve always had. It’s like, what am I going to do? Not chase my dreams because I feel like I haven’t done enough school to get here? Or I haven’t had enough experience?’ It’s like, no, the door opened for me, and I’m going to go through and explore it.”

Rae’s still-untitled album comes out on June 6.

Fyre Festival was an infamous disaster. Billy McFarland’s second iteration isn’t going well so far, either. Now, the Fyre-verse is expanding with Fyre Music Streaming.

This isn’t another McFarland endeavor: He just licensed the name to a new company formed by media executive Shawn Rech.

Per the Fyre Music Streaming website, “FYRE Music Streaming is both a subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) app and a Free Ad-Supported Television Network (FAST). The apps will go live on Thanksgiving 2025 (November 27, 2025) and the FAST networks will populate on multiple platforms soon afterwards. The app works similar to well-known subscription services like Netflix. As far as FAST networks, we are targeting LG, Samsung, Roku, Vizio, Amazon and Pluto among others and are seeking their approval.”

The page also notes pricing for the SVOD app isn’t finalized, but is set to be less than $5 per month, and that Rech previously launched the crime streaming network TruBlu alongside Chris Hansen.

Per Billboard, Rech says in a press release that the hope is for the service to become a “home for the most passionate music fans and undiscovered talent around the world.” Rech also told the publication the service “is like a curated YouTube with an emphasis on music,” adding, “The relationship is between the artist and the fan through a single conduit. We intend to be that conduit.”

Rech also explained why he wanted the Fyre name, saying, “I just want people to remember the name. It’s really that simple. It’s PT Barnum. All publicity is good publicity.”

He also told Deadline:

“Music networks are all just programming now and I have no interest in watching people slip on bananas. It has nothing to do with music. I needed a big name that people would remember, even if it’s attached to infamy, so that’s why I bought these [trademarks] to start the streaming network. This isn’t about festivals or hype — it’s about putting the power of music discovery back in the hands of the fans. We’re building something authentic and lasting.”

Billboard also notes the platform may “potentially feature McFarland in a potential talent role in the future.”

In life there are a few places you do not want to end up. Near the top of the list is prison, an emergency room, and one 50 Cent’s bad side. The “Many Men” rapper is known for plethora of things including holding a lifelong grudge (just ask Ja Rule).

But it appears 50 Cent’s beef with Joe Budden is officially over. Today (April 21), the duo were spotted at the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons first 2025 playoffs game.

With 50 Cent seated in a courtside seat, Budden could be seen just over is shoulder a row back. Viewers at-home shared screenshots of the moment across social media assuming it was an awkward encounter. However, in an Instagram post (viewable here), 50 Cent implied it was actually rather pleasant.

“I ran into Joe at the game,” he wrote. “He said I don’t need therapy No MORE .”

50 Cent’s remark referred to a statement Budden made at the height of their feud. After a few rounds of digital exchanges, Budden took to his namesake podcast to slam 50 for his troll-like actions.

“Hip Hop is the new meaning for ‘I need therapy,’” he said. “Kanye West needs therapy. 50 Cent needs therapy. I don’t care if you agree with the rationale. And 50 is 50. He gon’ stand in it. He gon’ stand strong in it.”

50 Cent clapped back with a dig at allegations that Budden was arrested for public lewdness. “Stay out of my mix Joe talking about I need therapy,” he wrote. “B*tch you need to stop walking around naked. The f*ck is you doing in the hallway with ya balls out PUNK!”

Despite 50 Cent’s now-deleted AI-generated explicit images of Budden and Budden hinted at subsequent legal action, they were able to move past that dust-up.

Beyoncé‘s defines ‘diva‘ as the female version of a hustler. But, Model/Actriz’s interpretation of the world is quite different or so their latest song suggests.

With the band’s album, Pirouette, due out soon Model/Actriz delivers another sonic slice of their forthcoming body of work. Model/Actriz’s dizzying new single, “Diva,” is a messy exploration of love triangles.

“Yeah, I met a guy in Copenhagen / He was gay but had a girlfriend / I met a guy in Amsterdam / Closed the bar down, and then I kissed him,” sings vocalist Cole Haden.

In a statement, Haden spoke about the creative inspiration behind the tune. “The writing on ‘Pirouette’ as a whole feels more conversational than anything we’ve done before,” said Haden. “However, the process that begot ‘Diva’ was the most off-the-cuff of any of the tracks on the album.”

Haden later adds: “The song takes place on a date, and the song references many of the real ones I’ve been on while on tour. Specifically, I’m remembering the times where frivolity shifted to mourning as we both realized we may never see each other again once the night is over. What I’ve learned is that in order to be ‘that b*tch,’ one must make use of the melancholia.”

Listen to Model/Actriz’s new single “Diva” above.

Pirouette is out 5/2 via True Panther + Dirty Hit. Find more information here.

The Chainsmokers are one of EDM’s most popular duos. Due to this, the “No Shade At Pitti” musicians’ presence is often in high demand. So, naturally Alex Pall and Drew Taggart have commanded some of the largest music festival stages, famous nightclub, and more. But their latest gig’s location was a match made in party heaven.

Yesterday (April 20), The Chainsmokers revealed they played a surprise set at an Arizona fraternity house. But they were not they only folks to crash the pop-up gig. In the now-viral video shared to Instagram (viewable here), The Chainsmokers’ set was immediately interrupted by local police.

After the packed crowd of college students sang along to some of their tunes, it cut to an officer addressing attendees.

“Listen up,” yelled the officer on a microphone. “If you are under the age of 21, I’m going to tell you to leave right now. Or I’m gonna start writing tickets and start arresting folks.”

But The Chainsmokers refused to end the show. Instead, they opted to pay a fine ensuring they could finish out their set. “We played 45 seconds of a song, and we got shut down by the cops already,” laughed Pall. “But we’re paying the fine, and we’re going to get another 15 minutes.”

This is sure to be a college memory the attendees will cherish.

Tyla’s breakout hit “Water” details her metaphorical desires linked to the quenching liquid. But the tense tidal wave she’s currently facing did not quite fit that fantasy.

Over the weekend, the “Push 2 Start” singer closed out her appearance at Coachella 2025. Outside of her brief tussle with a concertgoer for the microphone during weekend two, Tyla’s onstage look sparked a viral response from users online.

Thousands of fans praised Tyla for paying homage to Britney Spears’ 2001 VMAs “I’m a Slave 4 U” performance costume. They only problem is Tyla did not intend to reference the get-up. Over on X (formerly Twitter), Tyla revealed that was not inspired by Spears. Unfortunately, Tyla’s confession rubbed Spears fans the wrong way.

“Love her, but I just thought the outfit was fly,” she answered user. “No inspo.”

Although many users found Tyla’s response hard to believe considering Spears’ pop superstar status, others pointed out Tyla’s South African roots. One user took it a step further by insulting Tyla.

“I personally think she is a copycat and too full of herself,” wrote the user.

Tyla immediately shut down the users with a snappy comeback of her own. “Personally I think you should [shut the f*ck up],” replied Tyla.

Tyla may be from South Africa where the pop stars vary from the US, but disrespect is global. So, the Grammy Award-winner refused to let the remark go unaddressed.

Based on both parties ramped up legal actions, it appears Drake’s defamation lawsuit against UMG could head to trial. In case it does, Kendrick Lamar could find himself in front of a judge thanks to the lyrics featured in his Grammy Award-winning Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” But Kendrick seems to be ready for his day in court should he be deposed.

During the opening night of his Grand National Tour, Kendrick Lamar recreated a sketch (viewable here) where he was forced to answer questions about the dates May 4, 2024, and February 9, 2025. Those dates so happen to line up with the release of “Not Like Us” and Kendrick’s Apple Music Superbowl Halftime Show performance–both of which were mentioned in Drake’s court filing. The clip could be perceived as Kendrick Lamar mocking Drake for moving a rap feud from the booth to the judicial system.

However, users online have theorized that the video is not just a jab at Drake but a reference to two other notable moments in hip-hop history. The first and most popular fan theory is Kendrick’s clip is also poked fun at Drake’s mentor and longtime friend Lil Wayne’s infamous 2012 court deposition.

The deposition was centered around Wayne’s legal action against Quincy Jones III for the way he was portrayed in the 2009 documentary The Carter.

Others claimed Kendrick Lamar was subtly paying homage to the late Tupac. In 1995, Tupac was deposed due to the lyrics of his songs.

Kendrick Lamar has said time and time again that everything he does has a deeper meaning. As for the exact meaning of the deposition sketch, at this time fans can only speculate.