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Arriving this May is Mxmtoon’s new album, Rising. On Rising, Mxmtoon writes letters to her younger self, creating electrifying instruction manuals for surviving as a teenager.

Mxmtoon got her start by posting covers in a guest room in her parents’ Oakland home in 2017 at 17 years old. Now, at 21, the queer singer/songwriter has become an indie-pop sensation, drawing in listeners with infectious electronic beats and poignant anecdotes.

Ahead of Rising, Mxmtoon has released a new single called “Sad Disco,” a groovy synth and drum-infused coming of age song which sees her finding joy in her own company.

“I was 17 years old when I wrote my song ‘Prom Dress,’” said Mxmtoon in a statement. “Four years later, I sat and listened to it, wondering if the lyrics and ideas still resonated with my now 21-year-old self. I decided that it did, and it also didn’t. I’d grown up since I wrote that song and realized I wanted to make something that felt current to my individual. “Sad Disco” was the resolution to that desire. A song built with the same bones that “Prom dress” was made from, but more reflective of the growth I’ve experienced in my own life since. It’s a song meant to make you find joy in the quiet, to emulate that feeling of being alone in your bedroom, blasting music through a pair of headphones in the middle of the night. In a way, it feels like an answer to the girl who wrote “Prom Dress” in the first place. Serving as a reminder that she isn’t stuck on the floor with tears streaming down her face forever, but that she’ll grow up, and the loneliness she sometimes feels won’t define her. She can still choose to dance and have her own “Sad Disco.”

Last month, Mxmtoon showed off her ukelele chops on another Rising cut called “Mona Lisa.”

Check out Rising‘s tracklist below.

1. “Mona Lisa”
2. “Learn To Love You”
3. “Victim Of Nostalgia”
4. “Sad Disco”
5. “Frown”
6. “Florida”
7. “Scales”
8. “Growing Pains”
9. “Dizzy”
10. “Haze”
11. “Dance (End Of The World)”
12. “Coming Of Age”

Rising is out 5/20 via AWAL. Pre-save it here.

Golly Kurt Vile. The long-haired slacker folk icon is back with a vengeance in 2022, a very cool and sweet vengeance, of course. Each of the first two singles from his upcoming ninth studio album, Watch My Moves, has been absolutely sublime. From the mellow gold of “Hey Like A Child” to “Like Exploding Stones,” which immediately became one of the best songs in his deep catalogue. Now he’s shared “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone),” the third single from the album due out on April 15th, and it’s a tribute to the bucolic Philadelphia suburb where he recorded the album in his OKV Central home studio.

A comfy slacker folk tune, “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)” feels like a walk among the trees and blossoms of Mount Airy. Vile’s guitar is like a gentle whisper and it’s another balmy tune from the singer.

Vile said in a statement, “When Waylon Jennings became an outlaw country artist, he liked to record at Hillbilly Central, which was Tompall Glaser’s studio. OKV Central is my version of that in Mount Airy. I’ve come into my own here, and at the same time I’m getting back to my home-recording roots.”

Vile has become nothing short of one of the best modern American songwriters. His pen keeps getting sharper on each release and the music he makes further defines a style that is uniquely his own. He promises many more sparks on Watch My Moves of what he refers to as “fried” pop music. “It’s about songwriting. It’s about lyrics. It’s about being the master of all domains in the music,” he adds. “I’m always thinking about catchy music, even though it’s fried, or sizzled, out. It’s my own version of a classic thing — it’s moving forward and backward at the same time.”

Watch the spaced out video for “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)” above.

Watch My Moves is out 4/15 via Verve Records. Pre-order it here.

“[Rap beef] is really corporate now,” Pusha T says in between bites of hot sauced-covered chicken wings during his appearance on the popular interview show Hot Ones. The question he’s been asked by unflappable host Sean Evans is, “What would you say is the biggest difference between how diss tracks were exchanged 20 years ago versus today and why is still important who wins?”

Pusha would know; he’s been keeping a running feud going with Lil Wayne for nearly 20 years himself (over a hoodie, no less), pulling in Wayne’s protege Drake and outing the latter as the father of a secret child in 2018. Continuing to share his thoughts, he elaborates that “Now, you’ll have a rap beef and the record label gets involved. The CEOs are like, ‘Whoa! You can’t do this to my artist!’ I don’t think they end careers anymore, because people don’t have the same pride level about the art.”

He also thinks it’s less important who wins, because “Back in the day it was career-ending… Nowadays, people don’t care. They’re like, ‘Oh well, they lost today. No big deal.’”

And okay, I’m sorry, all due respect to Push but as the resident hip-hop historian, I gotta say GTFOHWTBS. 20 years ago, Jay-Z and Nas held a knock-down, drag-out rhyme fight over the King Of New York title that fans still debate about and neither’s career suffered over it. In fact, both became more popular, with Nas’ “Ether” arguably revitalizing his standing with fans after a pair of lukewarm releases to close out the ’90s. And if my man is talking about the 50 Cent/Ja Rule thing, it’s important to remember that Ja Rule’s label was shut down by the freaking FBI.

No one’s career was ever buried by a rap beef. Since the beginning, battle was an integral part of the genre; if there’s any culprit to blame for rappers’ short-lived careers, it’s fickle fans and quickly evolving musical tastes. Of course, the highest-profile rap beef with the highest stakes wasn’t even about rap, which explains why it came to such a tragic end — which, contrary to conspiracy theories that float around the internet to this day, had little to do with the rules of engagement in hip-hop.

Pusha’s entitled to his opinion but at the end of the day, the narrative of rap beefs ending careers is just that: a narrative. As a matter of course, these things are always much more nuanced than we tend to idealize them as with our nostalgia glasses on. Anyway, for Pusha’s latest beef, check out his McDonald’s diss track “Spicy Fish Diss,” which he made in conjuction with Arby’s. How’s that for corporate?

Watch Pusha T’s full Hot Ones interview above

While the lasting impact of Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, is still being felt — namely it is nominated for a whopping seven awards at this year’s Grammys — she’s decided to share more of the behind-the-scenes process of making the album with fans. To that end, Rodrigo announced a new film about making the album called Driving Home 2 U, that will come out this Friday, March 25.

The visual will include a completely unreleased song from Rodrigo, as well as first takes and recording footage from the making of the songs her fans already know and love. We’ve already seen a few different clips from the film, including a lengthy trailer, but today Olivia is exclusively sharing a brief snippet that gives us a look at her first take recording the vocals for one of the album’s best songs, “Brutal.” Keep an ear out for an earlier version of a lyric about exploitation, and also note the extremely supportive encouragement of produce Dan Nigro.

Olivia looks directly into the camera and lets everyone know that she and Dan wrote the song yesterday, before launching into her initial recording of the tune. Check out the snippet up top and keep an eye out for the visual to hit the Disney Plus streaming platform at midnight tonight.

In a few months, Courtney Barnett is going on tour, but she’s taking a novel approach. Instead of a traditional sort of tour, Here And There is a touring festival. So, each night, she will be joined by a different handful of artists from an impressive and large pool of them.

Participating on various North American dates in August and September are Alvvays, Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, Bedouine, Caroline Rose, Chicano Batman, Ethel Cain, Faye Webster, Fred Armisen, Hana Vu, Indigo De Souza, Japanese Breakfast, Julia Jacklin, Leith Ross, Lido Pimienta, Lucy Dacus, Men I Trust, Quinn Christopherson, Sleater-Kinney, Snail Mail, The Beths, Waxahatchee, and Wet Leg.

Barnett says of the event:

“When I was a kid, I would make mixtapes and dream up my own festivals. I’d even design the t-shirts and pair up musicians for iconic collaborations. I’d listen to the mixtape and pretend it was the live recording of a concert, all my favorite artists on stage together. Ten years ago, I wrote this lyric: ‘I got lost somewhere between here and there, I’m not sure what the town was called.’ Whether that was meant to be interpreted as a geographical, emotional or philosophical journey, I thought it was the perfect title for my roaming festival.

This concept was something that remained floating in the back of my mind when I started playing music. Here And There feels like a natural culmination of energy after years of touring, and ten years of working on my label Milk! Records. It’s something I’ve been forever daydreaming about, and part of an always evolving project to share spaces and build new platforms for art and artists that I believe in.

It’s always been important to me to share the stage with people that I admire and artists that inspire me, which is why I’m so excited and grateful to announce this amazing lineup.”

Check out the full list of Here And There dates, with nightly lineups, below.

08/08 — Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
Courtney Barnett
Lucy Dacus
Quinn Christopherson

08/09 — St. Louis, MO @ The Factory
Courtney Barnett
Lucy Dacus
Quinn Christopherson

08/10 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora
Courtney Barnett
Lucy Dacus
Quinn Christopherson

08/12 — Harrisburg, PA @ XL Live
Courtney Barnett
Lucy Dacus
Faye Webster
Caroline Rose

08/13 — North Adams, MA @ MASS MoCA
Courtney Barnett
Lucy Dacus
Men I Trust
Faye Webster
The Beths
Bartees Strange
Hana Vu

08/14 — Syracuse, NY @ Beak N Skiff
Courtney Barnett
Snail Mail
Faye Webster
Hana Vu

08/16 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
Courtney Barnett
Alvvays
The Beths

08/20 — Portland, OR @ Edgefield
Sleater-Kinney
Courtney Barnett
Waxahatchee
Fred Armisen

08/21 — Seattle, WA @ Marymoore
Courtney Barnett
Sleater-Kinney
Waxahatchee
Fred Armisen
Leith Ross

08/23 — Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theater
Courtney Barnett
Lido Pimienta

08/26 — Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater
Courtney Barnett
Japanese Breakfast
Chicano Batman
Julia Jacklin

08/28 — San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s
Courtney Barnett
Indigo De Souza
Ethel Cain

08/31 — Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory
Courtney Barnett
Wet Leg
Indigo De Souza

09/01 — Austin, TX @ ACL Moody
Courtney Barnett
Indigo De Souza
Ethel Cain

09/03 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
Japanese Breakfast
Courtney Barnett
Arooj Aftab
Bedouine

Ice-T had people rolling on the floor after the rapper/actor dropped a humorous tweet lamenting gas prices. In the anecdote, which initially starts out with a somber admission that Ice-T was “robbed at a gas station last night,” the Law and Order star proceeds to break down the aftermath of the “robbery.” Of course, the first red flag that something was amiss is Ice-T said his hands were “trembling,” which seems out of character for the badass rapper, and that’s because it never happened. The whole thing was a setup for his gas price punchline.

“I was robbed at a gas station in NJ last night,” Ice-T tweeted. “After my hands stopped trembling.. I managed to call the cops and they were quick to respond and calmed me down….. My money is gone.. the police asked me if I knew who did it.. I said yes.. it was pump number 9…”

Within hours, Ice-T’s tweet went viral as it racked up almost 100,000 likes at the time of this writing and instantly made the rapper trend on Twitter as the reactions started pouring in. People were either dying with laughter at the joke or feeling Ice-T’s pain at the cost of gas.

You can see some of the reactions below:

Of course, the gas prices are market forces reacting to the Russia invasion of Ukraine, but if you think Ice-T is pushing for a quick end to that problem, think again. The rapper/actor is fully aware of the gravity of the situation and is all for avoiding a global conflict.

“Here’s the Situation: As soon as the US fires ONE bullet at a Russian solider. From the Ground or Air…. WE are at War with Russia,” Ice-T tweeted at the beginning of March. “Not good.”

(Via Ice-T on Twitter)

Juice WRLD was a well-known gamer in his life; fans know he was tapped in with Faze Clan, regularly expressed his love for games, and even paid homage to classic games with his music throughout his career, including on the Twisted Metal-inspired cover of his Death Race For Love album. Likewise, the gaming community reciprocated his love, with streamers regularly playing his music and expressing their grief for his death in 2018. Now, it appears the late rapper could receive one of the ultimate honors, being put into one of the most popular modern games as a player skin.

Juice’s former manager, Peter Jideonwo, posted a video to social media that has since circulated on Twitter via hip-hop-focused accounts saying that he is currently in talks with Epic Games, the publisher of the popular shooter game Fortnite, to get the rapper into the game. “(We) really need Juice WRLD in Fortnite,” he said. “We’ve been trying our hardest, and that’s also a work in progress… It would be cool because everyone in Fortnite loves Juice and ‘Come And Go’ was a huge hit in Fortnite. I think it fits. So if y’all wanna go hit up Epic Games and Fortnite, y’all should definitely do that too.”

A photo of a purported player skin representing Juice WRLD has been circulating since, with fans speculating that the rapper could be joining the game soon, but apparently, the photo in question is just fan-made concept art. Should Juice join the game, he’ll be the third rapper after Travis Scott and Anderson .Paak, who was added as part of the duo Silk Sonic alongside his groupmate Bruno Mars. Last year, the game also added LeBron James as a playable skin.

Meanwhile, another rapper was recently added to a different popular shooter; Snoop Dogg, who previously collaborated with Call Of Duty to provide his voice, will be added to three of the franchise’s current games as an operator with special equipment.

The return of Bridgerton is upon us, and the show needed to change course, given that the first season’s leading man, Regé-Jean Page as the Duke, has (as planned) left the building. The good news is that the Regency-era series still maintains momentum as it rolls through a new courting season. You’re probably wondering who these two new main characters are, though? Actually, only one of them is new to this on-screen universe, and it’s worth reading first-season refresher before getting ready to enjoy the followup’s soundtrack. Also, let’s talk about these two lead characters.

Lord Anthony Bridgerton: He wasn’t the most endearing character last season, for sure. Anthony (portrayed by Jonathan Bailey) is the eldest male Bridgerton sibling, and last time around, he nearly ruined every chance for Daphne to find a suitor. He also enjoyed an extended affair (he was quite randy with a young woman named Siena Rosso), but she was unsuited to becoming a viscountess. We learn a lot more about Anthony this season, though. He gets more of a backstory and not only ends up pulling a Mr. Darcy in the lake but bears enormous responsibility and doesn’t have the luxury of thinking about himself but more about his duty. And that doesn’t seem terribly romantic, especially as observed by the leading lady, Kate.

Kate Sharma: Portayed by Simone Ashley, Kate’s supposed spinster (hmm) who arrives from India to watch over her sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran). Kate isn’t thrilled with how Anthony doesn’t seem truly interested in love while he courts Edwina, and of course, one can see from a fortnight away with where this is going. Her story is one that dredges up some deeper statements about social stature, which adds more texture and seriousness than this show has grown accustomed to showing. This is a welcome change, but it’s important to note that the show’s overarching frivolity still takes center stage. Also, there’s plenty of chemistry between Anthony or Kate, but it’s a slow burn. This season takes its time, but there is a payoff.

‘Bridgerton’ returns to Netflix on March 25.

Back in January, rapper Pusha T shared a picture of Lana Del Rey, with her face obscured by what appeared to be cocaine. Fans in the Instagram comments assumed he was beginning to tease new music. Weeks later, he would release “Diet Coke” ahead of his upcoming fourth album, reportedly titled It’s Not Dry Yet.

While fans were elated to get some new music from King Push, many were still perplexed at the bizarre photo.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Push clarified that he posted the picture as he believes he and Del Rey talk about similar subjects in her music.

“You can hear remnants of drug indulgence and addiction [in Del Rey’s music],” Push said. “So it’s like, ‘Man, why not?’ I thought it made sense.”

Push continued, saying a collaboration with the “Yayo” singer isn’t completely out of the question.

“One of the heads of Interscope called right after the picture came out and asked me to get on a remix,” he said. “I forgot which song, but I’m still waiting for them to send it over.”

Half of Push’s upcoming album is produced by Pharrell Williams, who decided to contribute to the album after hearing “Hear Me Clearly” from Nigo’s upcoming mixtape, I Know Nigo. “Fun Fact: @pharrell heard this song and told me ‘it’s cool, but I don’t want you to be a mixtape rapper for the rest of your life,’” said Push in an Instagram post. “I was devastated. He then flew me to Miami and proceeded to produce the first half of the best album of the year.”

After going on an anti-MGK rant against Lollapalooza for putting his name in the small print, Massachusetts rapper Joyner Lucas is now blaming the tweetstorm on outside influences, claiming that his account was taken over by Russian hackers after deleting the tweets in question. Lucas’ tweets mystified, befuddled, or outright amused fans yesterday when he unexpectedly burst out with slams against the Chicago-based festival.

“These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that n****,” he wrote. Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random n****z that nobody heard of and offering me a weak ass . Then I say no to the offer and these hoe ass n****z put me on the flier anyways. @lollapalooza.” Later in the rant in question, he took a jab at one of Lollapalooza’s headliners, Cleveland rapper-turned-punk-rocker Machine Gun Kelly, posting a photo of Kelly and writing, “Then you got this goofy ass nigga headlining? Smh how sway?”

Today, though, all of those tweets disappeared, replaced by a new one. “Them Damn Russian hackers dun hacked my phone yesterday smh,” Joyner claimed.

Look, we’re not totally sure why Russian hackers would want to hack Joyner Lucas’ phone, of all people, just to diss Lollapalooza and MGK. It doesn’t look like fans are buying it either, finding it more likely that Lucas’ tweets got a different reception than perhaps he was expecting — or that the Lollapalooza bag is indeed undeniable. As an independent rapper, Joyner has fewer bridges to burn so maybe this is a way for him to save face — either that or those Russian hackers are getting really good at doing pissed-off rapper impressions.

In any event, it appears both MGK and Joyner Lucas will be performing at Lollapalooza July 28-31 at Chicago’s Grant Park.