Culture II – Migos

While their rise to fame was somewhere between fast and meteoric, the Atlanta trio Migos are steeped in the Southern tradition of hip-hop groups, having come together over their shared love of acts like the Hot Boys and OutKast. Members Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff, who are all related, grew up together and first started making music in 2009 under the name Polo Club, with the name Migos becoming official in 2010. In 2012, they released the mixtape No Label, which featured the cut “Bando,” a regional hit that caught the attention of producer Zaytoven and Kevin Lee, aka Coach K, the manager who launched the careers of Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy. The year 2013 was a whirlwind as June saw the group drop its Young Rich N*ggas mixtape, which featured the instant hit “Versace.” That same year, Coach K got them on the Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash, a popular Atlanta festival where Migos came across their newest fan, Drake. The rapper added a verse to the “Versace” remix and put the cut on his 2013 album, Nothing Was the Same. Featuring the hit single “Fight Night,” 2014’s No Label II was the group’s next high-profile release, as it was […]

Language of the Heart – Santiago Quartet

Astor Piazzolla’s wild, sensual Las Cuatro Estaciónes Porteños (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) combines the sultriness of the tango with the coolness of classical modernism for a vivid portrait of the heat and energy of his native city. Virtuoso bandoneon player Julian Rowlands provides the Latin foil to the Santiago Quartet’s passionate playing, full of ardour and considerable technical skill. In contrast, contemporary British composer Will Todd’s Birthday Quartet explores themes of human struggle—love, loss, resignation—in gentler music of sublime beauty. Both works, in their unique, personal ways, speak directly from the heart. Get more HOT new releases at Apple 

Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By – Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA

Platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated rapper Kendrick Lamar is one of the rare artists who has achieved critical and commercial success while earning the respect and support of those who inspired him. A native of Compton, California, Lamar originally rapped as K. Dot and released a series of mixtapes under that name. Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (2003), issued when he was only 16 years old, caught the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment and led to a long-term association that helped raise the rapper’s profile. Training Day (2005) and C4 (2009) also preceded his decision to go by his birth name. The latter was issued the same year he became part of Black Hippy — beside fellow Top Dawg artists Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q — a group whose members, for the most part, appeared on one another’s mixtapes and albums. Overly Dedicated (2010) was the first Kendrick Lamar mixtape and fared well enough to enter Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart that October. His first official album, Section.80 (2011), was released as a digital download the following year and entered the Billboard 200 at number 113. By that point in his career, Lamar’s reputation had been strengthened through guest appearances on dozens of […]