Get ready for more surreal shenanigans from Long Beach rapper Vince Staples, as the long-awaited second season of his Netflix dramedy The Vince Staples Show is coming on November 6. The streamer shared the season 2 trailer today, which promises violent action, awkward comedy, and a harrowed Vince struggling to work through his traumatic past.
To call Vince’s 2025 “quiet” would be something of an understatement. After his flurry of activity for the past couple of years, including albums like last year’s Dark Times and 2022’s Ramona Park Broke My Heart, acting roles in White Men Can’t Jump and the first season of The Vince Staples Show, and a tour, Black In America, last year, Vince has taken a bit of a break from the spotlight as he filmed his show.
But now that the show is returning, perhaps that’s a signal that he intends to return to public life himself — after all, he’s had plenty of time to record new music, and he never did get to host that Limbo Beach festival he wanted to, so there should be a few things left on his agenda. And for anyone who’s been missing Vince’s music, there were still guest verses on projects from Ab-Soul and JID this year, as well.
You can watch the trailer for season two of The Vince Staples Show above.
It has been about seven months since Wale released his latest single, “Blanco,” and announced his new deal with Def Jam. Now, we know when the album containing that single, his official debut under that label, will arrive.
Wale’s eighth studio album, Everything Is A Lot, is due on November 14, as he announced in a new interview with Billboard. In it, he also addressed his unusual longevity in the music business, saying:
“It’s always been hard to keep people’s attention. That’s why my first album is called Attention Deficit. It’s become increasingly harder in this day and age, where fans are rewiring themselves to only like what the algorithm tells them to like. It’s an uphill battle, so it’s a blessing to be in the conversation still.”
Wale has had a 2025 filled with ups and downs. The highs: Performances at festivals like T-Pain’s Wiscansin Festival and J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival. But 2025 also saw Wale finally pull the plug on his own long-running Walemania event.
The Oasis Live ’25 tour ended its UK run in August (though two more UK shows followed in September) and its North American run in September. Next up is a set of Asian, Australian, and South American shows, which kick off later this month. But, it seems the tour could continue even beyond these dates.
On X/Twitter today (October 9), an Oasis fan asked, “How the f*ck did The Hindu Times not make it on the setlist?” Liam Gallagher, ever active on the platform, responded, “Chill Winston it’s not even HALF TIME yet it’s a tour of 2 half’s,” apparently suggesting that there are more shows lined up than the ones that are currently announced.
This is just the latest indication that a new Oasis Live run is imminent. At a show last month, Gallagher told the audience, “See you next year,” before acting shocked, covering his mouth, and slapping his wrists.
Check out the band’s upcoming tour dates below.
Oasis’ 2025 Tour Dates: Oasis Live ’25
10/21 — Goyang, South Korea @ Goyang Stadium
10/25 — Tokyo, Japan @ Tokyo Dome
10/26 — Tokyo, Japan @ Tokyo Dome
10/31 — Melbourne, Australia @ Marvel Stadium
11/01 — Melbourne, Australia @ Marvel Stadium
11/04 — Melbourne, Australia @ Marvel Stadium
11/07 — Sydney, Australia @ Accor Stadium
11/08 — Sydney, Australia @ Accor Stadium
11/15 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Estadio River Plate
11/16 — Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Estadio River Plate
11/19 — Santiago, Chile @ Estadio Nacional
11/22 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Estadio MorumBIS
11/23 — São Paulo, Brazil @ Estadio MorumBIS
This week’s Sound Check features the most-requested artist since the show’s inception: South Florida goth-trap rapper Denzel Curry. Now, if you’ve been following Denzel the way we have, you know that he’s a versatile rapper who can switch styles with the quickness, from the soulful boom-bap of “Walkin’” to the spooky fight music of “Hot Ones.”
Naturally, that makes him the perfect guest for Sound Check, where he gets to show off his influences and debate which ones he likes best — and the fans know it. As our host Jeremy Hecht points out, one YouTube user in particular, G_Future, made it their mission to get Denzel on the show; we’re happy to oblige. Zel’s challenge includes such diverse artists as DMX, Rage Against The Machine, André 3000, PinkPantheress, Billie Eilish, and more.
Here’s how it works: Jeremy plays two songs for the guest artist, who has to choose one and explain their choice, giving Jeremy a chance to learn their musical taste. Jeremy then has to guess the artist’s life anthem, the song they’d take to a desert island, which the guest wrote down earlier on a piece of paper. Our production team has also given him a decoy song, and Jeremy has to guess which is correct based on what he’s learned in the previous rounds.
Watch Denzel Curry take on the Sound Check challenge above. New episodes of Sound Check drop every Wednesday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT on Uproxx’s YouTube.
Halle Bailey has been in the music business since she was a pre-teen, experiencing tremendous success as part of the duo Chloe X Halle with her sister, so it feels odd to point that she still hasn’t actually released a debut album of her own yet. But that will soon change with the release of Love? Or Something Like It, her solo debut, which she announced today. Alongside a moody trailer for the album previewing some of its music, Bailey called the project on Instagram, “A story of first love, heartbreak, and everything that comes after. Out 10/24. This one means everything to me.”
Meanwhile, Halle’s sister, Chloe, had released two albums to date, In Pieces and in 2023 and Trouble In Paradise last year. In the meantime, she also became a mother to a child with DDG, although the relationship didn’t last.
Love? Or Something Like It is due on 10/24 via Parkwood and Columbia. You can find more info here.
After Rolling Stone‘s Andre Gee (who we miss a lot here at Uproxx) compared the title track “Hip-Hop Is Dead” with Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 song “Watch the Party Die,” Nas called Kendrick the “North Star” of hip-hop. “Kendrick is one of the brightest stars we’ve ever seen, and I don’t only mean superstar, I mean like the North Star — I think he’s one of those,” he said. “Out of all of the artists in this business, there’s some that’s not here for the art. When we see those people that are not here for the art damaging it, you’re hurting the future of the art. So I think artists like Kendrick are going to speak out.”
“It’s just been in the conversation naturally, like any sport you want to thrive,” he continued. “You don’t want the NBA to start slowing down. You want it to thrive. The ball players want it to thrive. We’re going to call out anytime we see it. Sometimes the rest of us won’t see it. Sometimes it’ll take Kendrick to remind us where we are lacking.”
In addition, Nas gave a status update on his long-awaited album with DJ Premier, insights on the label’s Legend Has It… initiative, and his thoughts on fans’ responses to his and Jay-Z’s competing New York casino bids.
Bad Bunny is slowly but surely collecting sports-related accomplishments like Infinity Stones. He started in 2021, when he competed at Wrestlemania, following up a couple of years later with another WWE premium event, Backlash, in his native Puerto Rico. That one left him with some pretty bad injuries, so for now, it looks like he’s sticking to the sidelines — and the stage. A few weeks ago, he was announced as the performer for the next Super Bowl Halftime Show, and now, he’s added unofficial infielder to his growing resume, collecting a fly foul ball at the Yankees playoff game against the Toronto Blue Jays last night.
MLB posted a video of the beaming Benito to its official social media accounts shortly after, putting a circle on the reggaeton hero as he sat behind the plate and suddenly found himself part of the action. As Jays outfielder Anthony Santander clips the ball back over the netting, you can see Bad Bunny duck down a throw a protective arm up to block the impact. The ball manages to miss him, landing on the seat next to him, and after he retrieves it, he holds it up with a cheeky grin. At this point, it probably wouldn’t surprise anyone if he popped out at the Winter Olympics next year alongside Snoop Dogg to try his hand at curling or something. Watch Bad Bunny’s foul ball retrieval below.
Colonel E.H. Taylor Bottled In Bond is joining the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection!
The new expression is now the 6th member of the highly sought-after Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, joining five celebrated staples – Eagle Rare 17-Year Bourbon, George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, Sazerac 18-Year Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, and William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Here at Uproxx, we always make sure to secure an early taste so we can provide you with a full review of the vaunted lineup, and this year is no different.
First introduced in 2000, the Antique Collection was created to honor some of Buffalo Trace Distillery’s most iconic brands and the virtuosos behind them. During an exclusive media tasting of the collection, Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley joked that he may have to wait 155 years before a bottle bearing his name joins the lineup (E.H. Taylor purchased what we now call the Buffalo Trace Distillery in 1896), but regarding the addition of a new Bottled In Bond bourbon he remarked that Taylor’s inclusion was one they saw as necessary.
Colonel E.H. Taylor, in so many ways, is considered the “father of modern bourbon,” having played a pivotal role in the passing of the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 and innovating with a first-of-its-kind steam heating system that remains in use in the distillery’s barrel warehouses today. Buffalo Trace’s Global Brand Director, Andrew Duncan, echoed these sentiments by saying, “Created in his honor, every sip of E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon offers more than exceptional flavor – it’s a taste of history and a reminder of his strict tenets that have safeguarded America’s world-leading whiskey quality standards for nearly 150 years.”
The proof ranges for this year’s collection run the gamut, from Sazerac 18’s 90-proof Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey all the way up to George T. Stagg’s 142.8 proof (the fourth-highest proof in the brand’s history).
Bourbon enthusiasts know to expect excellence from this highly-regarded, award-winning collection each autumn, but which whiskey in the 2025 lineup is the best? I tasted them all side by side to give you a full breakdown of each bottle and determine which of this year’s offerings is most deserving of praise.
Sazerac 18-Year Rye Whiskey was named after the historic Sazerac House in New Orleans, the birthplace of the iconic Sazerac cocktail. This year’s expression was aged for 18 years and 5 months before being bottled at its typical 45% ABV or 90-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The aroma profile on this whiskey leads with over-steeped mint tea, Manuka honey, and sweet green apples. After that initial wave, some vanilla and soy candle notes begin to waft out of the glass. Faintly vegetal notes reminiscent of rhum agricole close things out.
Palate: On the palate, the whiskey feels just a bit thin, but it has a minty base with that faint vegetal rhum agricole note cropping up again, but without much sweetness or depth to balance it out. It does, however, get progressively stronger as the tame front palate experience picks up at midpalate and as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is brief, but flavorful, and welcomes some barrel char, dark chocolate, and faint honey notes, which definitely elevate the overall experience.
Bottom Line:
It’s worth acknowledging this has never been my preferred flavor profile, but this one remains true to the profile that fans of Sazerac 18 have come to expect over the years. It’s a balanced whiskey with a few fun notes to pull from, but it’s just not really for me.
Bottled at 101-proof as a nod to the original bottling of Eagle Rare back in 1975, this year’s Eagle Rare 17 actually features bourbon that was matured for 18 years and 4 months, making it one of the oldest expressions in the brand’s history. It’s also the second-oldest whiskey in the 2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, trailing only behind Sazerac 18.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: On the first whiff, this whiskey is loaded with apple leather and dried black cherry notes with manuka honey, very faint oak, and some caramel. It’s a wonderful bouquet of aromas, albeit a bit restrained.
Palate: On the palate, this whiskey is more demure, but still full of flavor. It doesn’t have any punch or brashness at the tip of the tongue, instead leading you to the midpalate before the flavors blossom with dried black cherries, peppercorns, sweet leather, and honeyed black tea notes. The mouthfeel is lovely, but overall it’s just a bit tame, texturally.
Finish: The finish is a bit drying, but the sweet notes of black cherries and vanilla pod keep it interesting, with some freshly cracked black pepper notes closing things out.
Bottom Line:
This is an undeniably delicious whiskey, one that represents its age well and presents all of the flavors one expects from Eagle Rare 17. That said, it’s surprisingly sparse on the front end, and a bit disappointing on the finish, leaving only the stellar midpalate experience as its standout quality.
I’d gladly drink this all day long, but in a newly crowded lineup, Eagle Rare 17 is slightly left behind this year.
Named in honor of the man who acquired the historic O.F.C. Distillery from Colonel E.H. Taylor in 1878, George T. Stagg Bourbon is often regarded as the boldest bourbon on the market. First introduced in 2002, the opening salvo in the bourbon boom’s insatiable thirst for uncut, unfiltered bourbon, this year’s George T. Stagg was aged for at least 15 years and 4 months. Bottled at 142.8 proof, this year’s release is tied for the 4th strongest ever at 142.8 proof. For those curious, the highest ever George T. Stagg Bourbon was released in 2007 and clocked in at a whopping 144.8 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this year’s George T. Stagg Bourbon begins with some strong caramel apple notes, which open the door for hints of plum and clove, while the aroma of torched green peppers and eucalyptus flits in the background. This is fun stuff!
Palate: Very bold at first, with torched red peppers leading the charge before caramel and tobacco leaf notes kick in with some dark chocolate tamping down the heat. At midpalate, those bold flavors really blossom before the heat creeps up the roof of your mouth and causes you to salivate in search of relief. Thankfully, some nutmeg, brown sugar, and barrel notes offer that respite.
Finish: The finish is incredibly lengthy, and it has notes of hazelnut spread, Aleppo red pepper flakes, and sweet caramel. The heat continues to pulse throughout the finish, reminding you that this is a bourbon for the bold.
Bottom Line:
This is where the collection takes a turn from “really good” to great. Make no mistake, the Eagle Rare 17 Bourbon from this year is stellar, but cast against the rest of the lineup, it has some bold and balanced whiskeys to compete with. George T. Stagg is most definitely the latter, and while it’ll send proof hounds in a tizzy, it lacks the balance and approachability to send it to the top of this year’s collection.
In some ways, the star of the show, E.H. Taylor Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon, is the first new addition to the BTAC lineup since Thomas H. Handy first joined the portfolio in 2006. This inaugural release of the expression was matured for 15 years and 4 months and adheres to all of the standards of the Bottled in Bond Act, which its namesake helped to establish back in 1897.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose initially smells like an Arnold Palmer with peach tea, accented by a touch of sage and menthol. It’s a fruity and effusive bouquet with an impressive touch of citrus and oak to round things out.
Palate: In the mouth, it’s all peach tea up front with some honey and black pepper accents as it eases into the mid-palate. This whiskey has a nice, robust mouthfeel that’s medium-bodied but states its case well, holding place on your palate for the flavors of butterscotch and white flowers as it gently coats your tongue.
Finish: The finish is medium-length with some good cling and plenty of that peach tea note with vanilla and some white pepper along for the ride. It does get a touch tannic at the end, but only in the faintest way. This is honestly a revelation.
Bottom Line:
This is an eye-opening whiskey. While many bourbon fans were initially disappointed to discover that this bourbon would only be 100-proof, those concerns have proven to be unwarranted. At 50% ABV, E.H. Taylor Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon is perfectly proofed, flavorful, and balanced in a way that’s evocative of vintage whiskey from the golden age.
Buffalo Trace came out swinging with the first edition of this one, and it fits right in with the rest of the premium collection.
2. Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
Thomas H. Handy takes its name from the New Orleans businessman and owner of the legendary Sazerac Coffee House, honoring the legacy of rye whiskey’s use in the classic Sazerac cocktail. Uncut and unfiltered, this whiskey was drawn from barrels aged for at least six years before being bottled at 129.8 proof, a slight uptick from last year’s 127.2 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The aroma profile opens with notes of fried green apple pie and honeyed toast. A flash of pepper and mesquite BBQ with mint and caramel. There’s a sturdy oak backbone as well.
Palate: On the palate, there are gobs of mint tea and caramel notes, while a wave of green apples, toasted coconuts, plum skin, and cherry tarts, which comes crashing in to join the party. Lots of honey can be found at midpalate, and that sweetness is very balanced with a sturdy oak backbone. Finally, some pineapple and clove cigarette flavors can be detected as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: It has an impressively lengthy finish that’s full of dark chocolate, rye spice, green apples, and youthful oak.
Bottom Line:
Thomas H. Handy, often one of the more overlooked members of the collection, is having its moment in the sun this year. The 2025 edition is absolutely packed with flavor that both defies and leans into its status as the youngest member of the collection. There’s a brashness to the whiskey, accompanied by an underripe stone fruit note that’s well-balanced with gooey caramel and gentle rye spice, making for an outstanding expression overall.
This was definitely the most surprising whiskey in the entire lineup.
The Buffalo Trace team filled barrels for this year’s release at 114 proof, and after 14 years of aging, the end whiskey was bottled uncut and unfiltered at a stout 129 proof. William Larue Weller is the only wheated-bourbon in the collection and has previously been awarded a Gold Medal at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition, regarded as one of the best bourbons in the world.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes open with Mexican hot chocolate, peanut brittle, and a touch of cola nut. It has a delicious, slightly nutty and caramel-laden base with apple pie spice and hazelnut spread also present.
Palate: Wow! This is really delicious right off the bat, with a gooey caramel note leading the way that then morphs into salted toffee, accompanied by notes of Chelan cherries, pie crust, and cloves. This tastes exactly like what you want in a sweet, well-rounded, faintly funky hyper-aged wheated bourbon. This really delivers.
Finish: The finish is lengthy on this one and welcomes some faint oak notes and nutmeg before the sweet cherry and salted toffee notes come rumbling back.
Bottom Line:
William Larue Weller is back on top! This is easily the most balanced whiskey in the entire lineup, and it adds to that with a bevy of well-developed flavors that wheated-bourbon fans will immediately fall in love with. This year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection lineup is loaded with heavy hitters, and it’d be easy to place almost any of these in the top spot, but William Larue Weller has the most substantial claim to the throne of them all.
Geese’sGetting Killed is the best indie album of 2025, per Uproxx’s Steven Hyden. Well, that album will possibly be hitting a stage near you soon, as the band is gearing up to launch a tour this weekend.
Ahead of that, though, they’ve shared a video for “Au Pays Du Cocaine.” It’s very, very simple: Cameron Winter sits across a table from a cute baby. While the baby is full of youthful energy, Winter seems worn down. By the end, Winter retreats to an upstairs bedroom, climbs in the baby’s crib, and goes to sleep.
In a recent Interview interview, the band’s Max Bassin said, “I’m excited for the cycle to be over and for the record to have been out. I’m excited to have it not be shrouded in mystery anymore.” He also said of the band’s increased profile lately, “It’s cool. I feel like I still have a decent amount of anonymity. I show up to the Geese show and nobody recognizes me, which is kind of dope. I’m doing exactly what I want to do: I get to play drums and get left alone.”
Watch the “Au Pays Du Cocaine” video above and find the band’s upcoming tour dates below.
Geese’s 2025 Tour Dates: Getting Killed
10/10 — South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom*
10/11 — Toronto, ON @ Opera House*
10/13 — Detroit, MI @ El Club*
10/15 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*
10/16 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*
10/17 — Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre*
10/18 — St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall*
10/20 — Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre*
10/24 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos*
10/25 — Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre*
10/26 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom*
10/28 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore*
10/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre*
10/31 — San Diego, CA @ Quartyard^
11/01 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom^
11/04 — Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips^
11/05 — Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn^
11/06 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall^
11/08 — Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West^
11/09 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Music Hall^
11/10 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle^
11/12 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club^
11/13 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer^
11/14 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club^
11/15 — Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios^
11/20 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
11/21 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount*^
* with Racing Mount Pleasant
^ with Dove Ellis
Getting Killed is out now via Partisan Records. Find more information here.
The last time fans of R&B were as spoiled for choice as they are now, Ne-Yo was two-stepping across stages in his fedora singing “Closer.”
On Tuesday night at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, nearly 6,000 fans packed the outdoor venue for the first night of Long Beach crooner Giveon’s sold-out, two-night hometown tour stop, singing along every word. A few miles south, his Texas-bred fellow baritone Khalid was hosting the listening experience for his upcoming album After The Sun Goes Down, which drops this Friday, October 10. That event also had fans lining up down the block to get into the Arts District warehouse in which it was hosted.
The night before, at the Grammy Museum, I had the privilege of attending the Grammy Museum’s Spotlight series concert with child-actor-turned-funk-soul-icon Leon Thomas at that venue’s rooftop Ray Charles Terrace. That’s where Thomas joked about Ne-Yo’s heyday as the “golden era of R&B.” Then, on the way home, as the radio played one of the seemingly dozens of covers of Kehlani’s latest inescapable hit, “Folded” (both nights!), I mused that Thomas might have been mistaken; If ever R&B has had a “golden era,” it’s now. R&B is officially “back” — even though it never really left.
Just a couple of years ago, this didn’t appear to be the case. In 2020, Billboard ran a cover feature with Jhené Aiko, Kehlani, Summer Walker, and Teyana Taylor bemoaning the state of R&B, while in 2022, Bad Boy impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs caught a backlash over declaring that “R&B is dead,” forcing him to walk back his statement a few days later. At the same time, Uproxx Wongo Okon maintained his weekly “Best Of R&B” column, highlighting hundreds of artists flourishing in the space, apparently just out of public view.
Then, last year, it seemed that the supposedly dormant genre had a massive resurgence, thanks in large part to breakout performances such as Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show and Victoria Monét’s Best New Artist win at the Grammys. After years of major labels downplaying R&B in favor of SoundCloud rap, trap-accented pop music, and heartland country, a shift has occurred at the mainstream level. So, what happened?
In short, the only thing that changed was the music industry establishment’s attitude toward Black music being made by Black people. In my review of Doja Cat’s new album Vie, I recounted how the conventions of 1980s R&B and boogie were subsumed into the umbrella of pop, while the artists who made such music were filtered out. Those sounds continued to crop up in upbeat pop hits in recent years, but music publications either overlooked, ignored, or were unaware of those influences, downplaying them in favor of generic references to ’80s styles without naming the artists who pioneered them.
And, as the singers in Billboard‘s 2020 story pointed out, R&B artists were often shunted away from mainline charts and playlists into the dreaded “urban” category, limiting their reach and putting a paper ceiling on promotional budgets and marketing opportunities. As Living Legends Foundation chairman David Linton pointed out then, “The public doesn’t know the difference — only those at the labels who control the budgets.” Likewise, Aiko called the spade what it was, saying, “Now there are traditionally pop artists doing R&B albums, but it’s called pop.”
However, the R&B artists leading this resurgence figured out a crafty strategy for sidestepping this tendency. As pop hijacked contemporary sounds, R&B artists looked further back, bringing back foundational elements such as live instrumentation and big band sounds. In July, as Giveon prepared to release his new album Beloved, he told me in an interview that he intentionally wanted to pull from past decades like the ’60s and ’70s because, in his words, “even though my fan base is still the younger group, they’re not even going to know where that’s from. I feel honored to be able to introduce them to that world and that sound.”
And that juke is the key to the overall resurgence of R&B: Everything old is new again, especially for generations that get lightly joshed on social media for constantly “discovering” things that precede them by decades. It’s like watching a favorite childhood movie with a much younger relative. For them, it’s a mind-blowing new experience, while for you, it’s a nostalgic one, bridging that gap between generations.
Giveon’s show at the Greek exemplified this effect to a tee. While live bands are more or less old hat at this level, even for artists of Giveon’s generation and younger, he wasn’t content simply to present a five-piece with backup singers. Instead, the band sprawled across the stage with at least ten pieces, generating a lush soundscape that differentiated him from even the veteran R&B stars who kept the torch alight during the genre’s mainstream fallow period over the past decade and a half.
He’s not the only one to go this route, either; At last year’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, British soul revivalist Raye also brought the big-band vibes, including a brass trio in her boisterous, full-bodied set. Her fellow Brit, burgeoning vocal star Sasha Keable, opened for Giveon at the Greek (her first-ever Los Angeles show, and certainly not her last), and you could almost hear how magnificent she’ll sound when she’s able to follow their example in a few years.
If the jam-packed past few days are proof of anything, it’s that it’s up to recording artists to stay the course, rather than chase trends. By staying true to their sound and the roots of the genre, today’s R&B artists laid the groundwork for the fickle industry’s eventual return as it sought more fertile soil to cultivate. And maybe there’s a lesson for the industry in there, too: Giving equitable opportunities for all artists, not just the “trendy” few, means more chances for the stars that are already around to shine.
Check out Giveon’s Sound Check episode below:
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