J. Cole, the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, was among the most commercially successful rap artists of the early 2010s. Born in Germany but raised in North Carolina, Jermaine Cole grew up with a mother who loved rock and folk, and a father who was a fan of hardcore rap artists like 2Pac and Ice Cube. Cole’s high-school grades earned an academic scholarship to attend St. John’s University in New York City, where Cole knew he could make progress as a musician. After numerous days standing outside Jay-Z’s office in hopes of giving him a demo, Cole finally ran into his idol, but the reception was well below chilly. He was shocked when, weeks later, he received a call from the man and even more shocked when he got a chance to contribute to his 2009 effort The Blueprint 3. Later that year, Cole released the mixtape The Warm Up, while 2010 saw the appearance of the Friday Night Lights mixtape, with Cole handling most of the production. In 2011, Roc Nation released his official debut, Cole World: The Sideline Story, which debuted on top of the Billboard 200. Featuring the single “Power Trip,” Born Sinner followed […]

British quintet Blossoms formed in Stockport, a town just outside of Manchester, England, in 2013. Started by school chums Tom Ogden (vocals, guitar) and Joe Donovan (drums), the band later incorporated Charlie Salt (bass, vocals), Josh Dewhurst (guitar), and Myles Kellock (keyboards, vocals). Their sound was pigeonholed as psych-pop, which the band didn’t like; rather, they hit a sweet spot between the Doors and Arctic Monkeys, combining a knack for classic pop songwriting and moody organ atmospherics with a youthful energy. Ogden’s delivery occupied the space between Richard Ashcroft (the Verve) and Alex Turner, of the aforementioned Monkeys, as the band slithered from spooky, groovy warmth to peppy Brit-pop. Debut single “You Pulled a Gun on Me” was a fine example of this combination, and the band continued to develop on subsequent singles “Blow” and “Cut Me and I’ll Bleed.” 2015 saw the release of two EPs — Blown Rose and Charlemagne. As the band gained exposure, they released another EP, At Most a Kiss, in February 2016. The four-song set featured some new elements, including synths and a more driving urgency. A month later, Blossoms revealed plans for their debut full-length. The self-titled album was released in summer 2016, […]

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and actor Janelle Monáe left her mark on 2010s R&B with an energized retro-futuristic sound wrapped in theatrical science fiction concepts. Growing up, Janelle Monáe Robinson felt constrained by the limited resources offered in her greater Kansas City, Kansas environment. When she finished high school, she moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater, but in 2004, after performing in a couple off-Broadway shows and encountering a lack of desirable roles, she opted to try her luck in Atlanta. She soon joined a band and toured the local college circuit, where she eventually got in touch with her future partners in Wondaland Arts Society — a collective and label that looked to promote experimental arts — as well as OutKast’s Big Boi. The rapper was so impressed by Robinson that he included two of her performances on his 2005 compilation Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Robinson also appeared on OutKast’s 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, and appeared in the video for “Morris Brown.” Robinson made her proper solo debut in August 2007 with an EP entitled The Chase, the first of four planned “Metropolis suites” based in […]

Dropping basketball references like the old-school but wrapping them in thoroughly modern beats, Post Malone hit in 2015 with his single “White Iverson.” Raised in Dallas, Malone was NFL before he was NBA thanks to a father who worked for the Cowboys. He loved music from a young age, and planned on joining a band thanks to the video game Guitar Hero, but when his dad gave him a copy of Terror Squad’s hit “Lean Back,” Post decided to become an MC. He hung with Dallas crew the IRAS until a move to the West Coast dropped him in Los Angeles. After putting some braids in his hair, he coined the term “White Iverson,” and when he posted the track in early 2015, he hit a million views within the month. Malone signed with the Republic label later that year. In 2016, he released the single “Go Flex” along with his official debut mixtape, August 26th, which was actually released in May. Months later, his first studio effort arrived. Stoney featured guests like Justin Bieber, Migos’ Quavo, and Kehlani. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. ~ David Jeffries Get this now from: https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes

Essex, England-born Anne-Marie Nicholson was no stranger to performing by the time her debut EP dropped in 2015, having shared the stage as a 12-year-old with none other than Jessie J in a West End production of Whistle Down the Wind. She also auditioned for Les Misérables without telling her parents, and was offered a part. It was a risk that paid off, as it served to open her parents’ eyes to her singing ability. Aside from West End commitments, the intervening years between her days as a child star and the advent of her career as a pop singer were spent becoming a world karate champion no fewer than three times, an art form she credited with teaching her discipline and focus, two essential traits of becoming a successful musician. After a chance meeting with an aspiring singer/songwriter, she managed to secure some studio time in Elton John’s Rocket Studios, and, after hearing what she could do, she was subsequently picked up by Elton’s management company Rocket Music. Anne-Marie released a demo in 2013 entitled Summer Girl, which drew some attention to the singer, most notably garnering a fan in Ed Sheeran. Despite the encouraging start to her solo […]

UK-based Swiss born independent vocalist and songwriter FAY (born Nour Alessandra Fahmy) has an innovative approach to Pop and R&B. She started singing and experimenting with music from a young age quickly becoming clear that this is the path for her. Moving from Switzerland  to Amman in Jordan and finally to London has majorly affected the influence and style of music that she creates. Having been releasing music through Soundcloud for the past few years she has a repertoire of tracks that appeal to both the masses and niche audiences. In 2017 FAY released her first EP  ‘Purple’  collaborating with producers and artists from all around the world with her music falling under the genres we would expect from the likes of Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez to alternative artists like Banks or Lorde, but FAY does so in a way that sets her apart from the rest. The new single ‘Candy Crush’ was produced by Mantra and is out now on FAY Records. ‘Candy Crush’ has received phenomenal support from U.K Club DJ’s and hit the Top 30 of the official U.K Commercial Pop Charts at Music Week. FAY Online: Snapchat: @not.fay Instagram: @not.fay (www.instagram.com/not.fay) Facebook: @itsnotfay (www.facebook.com/itsnotfay) Twitter: […]

At more than 90 minutes, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is one of the longest symphonies ever written. In Haitink’s hands it becomes one of the most intense musical experiences imaginable. The natural, unforced sound matches the astonishingly wide dynamic range—particularly in the vast first movement, where peace is threatened by violent and constant brass outbursts, and in the Scherzando, where birdsong abuts marshal fanfares. Mezzo Gerhild Romberger is controlled and poised in the fourth-movement setting of Nietzsche’s “Midnight Song”, while the finale blazes bright in the awesome climaxes. This deservedly won Recording of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2018. Get this now from: https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes

Inspired by a range of styles and artists, including classic pop-soul and M.I.A., Kali Uchis (Karly Loaiza) is a left-field pop singer, songwriter, and producer who also designs her own artwork and co-directs her music videos. Born in Colombia, she and her family moved to the U.S. during her childhood. As a teenager growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, just south of Washington, D.C., she learned to play piano and saxophone and got into recording. In 2012, she debuted with the 40-minute mixtape Drunken Babble. Within three years, she had several singles to her credit, including “Know What I Want” and “Lottery,” as well as collaborations with GoldLink (“Divine”) and Major Lazer (“Wave”), among others. Following the independent release of Por Vida — a free digital-download EP with tracks produced by Diplo, Kaytranada, and Tyler, the Creator — Uchis started releasing her material through Virgin EMI. A DJ Dahi-tweaked version of Por Vida’s “Ridin Round,” issued in November 2015 after she relocated to Los Angeles, was the artist’s first single for the major label. “Only Girl,” a relaxed Kaytranada production featuring Vince Staples and the Internet’s Steve Lacy, followed in April 2016. January 2018 saw the release of the single “After […]

London-based producer/singer/songwriter Tom Misch blends hip-hop-inspired beats with smoothly soulful vocals and guitar. The son of an artist and a psychiatrist, he grew up in a home that encouraged creativity, and learned to play violin at a young age via the Suzuki method. While he was still a child, his family also discovered Misch could sing when he belted out Patrick Watson’s “Man Like You” one day after school. After listening to rock music for most of his childhood and teens, he discovered hip-hop during his sixth form years thanks to one of his sister’s boyfriends, and was particularly inspired by the work of J Dilla. Misch started making his own beats and took classes in music technology, and began posting tracks online in 2012. Up-and-coming rappers sampled his beats in their own work, and Misch also collaborated with local singer/songwriter Carmody, ultimately releasing the Out to Sea EP with her in 2014. That year, he also issued Beat Tape 1, a collection of instrumental tracks that included “Dilla Love,” an homage to his idol that earned approval from Dilla’s mother, Maureen Yancey. “Memory,” Misch’s debut single on his own Beyond the Groove label, arrived that July. The following year, […]

Thirty Seconds to Mars’ maximalist rock has always been a vehicle for big ideas: Jared Leto and crew explore themes of war and peace, sexuality, freedom, and faith through concept albums and glossy videos. But the widescreen focus of AMERICA may provide the group’s broadest statement yet. In an attempt to survey, as he put it, “the good, bad, and the ugly” about his homeland, Leto even hitchhiked cross-country to promote the record. Guest turns from A$AP Rocky (“One Track Mind”) and Halsey (“Love Is Madness”) both draw parallels between romance and insanity. But Leto seems to have a different form of madness in mind on “Hail to the Victor” as he cries, “Another night, another war/Another ‘What are we fighting for?’/Is everybody out here crazy?” Muzicmirror selections – GET this hot new release from iTunes UK 

Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” the most chantable song of 2017, introduced the Bronx MC’s lively around-the-way-girl persona to the world. Her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, reveals more of Cardi’s layers, the MC leaning forcefully into her many influences. “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, is a nod to her Afro-Caribbean roots, while “Bickenhead” reimagines Project Pat’s battle-of-the-sexes classic “Chickenhead” as a hustler’s anthem. There are lyrical winks at NYC culture (“Flexing on b*tches as hard as I can/Eating halal, driving a Lam”), but Cardi also hits on universal moments, like going back and forth with a lover (“Ring”) and reckoning with infidelity (“Thru Your Phone”). Muzicmirror selections – GET this hot new release from iTunes UK 

Hertford-reared, Bristol-based singer/songwriter George Ezra possesses a deep, resonant, and emotionally weathered voice that belies his considerable youth. Influenced by similarly precocious troubadours like Bob Dylan and Hank Williams, Ezra was just 19 when he issued his debut single, “Budapest,” a warm, amiable, and soulful slice of classy folk-pop that invoked names like Willy Mason, Ben Howard, Ray LaMontagne, and Tom Odell. That song, along with three others, appeared on his 2013 debut EP, Did You Hear the Rain? Increased touring and an appearance at Glastonbury preceded his second EP, Cassy O’, which arrived in early 2014. “Budapest” was re-released in June of that year, followed a few weeks later by Ezra’s debut LP, Wanted on Voyage. The album entered the U.K. charts at number three and eventually climbed into the top spot by year’s end, earning him four Brit Award nominations and a North American tour supporting Sam Smith in early 2015. During this period he made his American television debut with appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, increasing his exposure. In April 2017, Ezra announced a “top secret” U.K. tour, during which he would debut new material. It was accompanied by the […]

The Weeknd is the alias of alternative R&B enigma-turned-pop star Abel Tesfaye, whose aching accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences have translated to multi-platinum sales and Grammy recognition. The singer and songwriter made his early-2010s breakthrough with morose ballads that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored Top Ten hits with an Ariana Grande duet (“Love Me Harder”), the lead single from a major motion picture (“Earned It”), and a retro-contemporary disco-funk single (“I Can’t Feel My Face”), the last of which was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award despite its subject (cocaine). Tesfaye received early support from Drake and scored his first Top Ten R&B/hip-hop placement as the featured artist on the fellow Torontonian’s “Crew Love,” but he swiftly outgrew his status as a Drake affiliate with his own hits and a streak of appearances on high-profile tracks by Wiz Khalifa, Future, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey. Tesfaye debuted the Weeknd in late 2010 with three songs uploaded to YouTube. Made with producer Jeremy Rose, they served as a low-key prelude to three mixtapes self-released as free digital downloads the following year. First was with House of Balloons […]

Part of the Atlanta trap wave, Rich the Kid emerged in 2013 with his debut mixtape Been About the Benjamins. Born Dimitri Roger in New York City, he moved to Atlanta as a teenager and got his start performing as “Black Boy the Kid” before changing his moniker. Influenced in equal measure by the two cities that shaped him, he owed much of his style to influences like Nas, Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G., as well as T.I. and Jeezy. After his first mixtape, he joined forces with fellow Atlanteans Migos. Along with the trio, Rich released a multi-year, three-part mixtape called Streets on Lock (a fourth collaboration, Still on Locks, was issued in 2015). His solo follow-up, Feels Good to Be Rich, arrived in 2014. The collection included multiple collaborations with the likes of Young Thug, Kirko Bangz, Soulja Boy, Riff Raff, French Montana, Kodak Black, and Yo Gotti. As his presence grew on the Atlanta scene, he recorded a single with Fetty Wap, the Zaytoven-produced “Keep It 100,” which amassed over two-million streams. In 2016, Rich started his own label, Rich Forever Music, releasing no less than four mixtapes, including a pair of compilations highlighting Rich Forever artists. That […]

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 […]

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 

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 […]

Born Agassi Odusina in 1992, in southwest London, this inventive rapper combined grime with Afro-beat and dancehall influences to create a sound that sporadically graced the U.K. singles charts from 2011 onward. Sneakbo got his first break when the Play Hard management company/label — home to fellow London artist Chipmunk — took interest and he was ultimately signed to their label. His debut single, “The Wave,” was issued in late 2011, during the brief period that he was imprisoned following charges of aggravated assault. When he was released, Sneakbo focused on building upon that single’s success by recording new material and making live appearances throughout Europe. Jetski Wave, his own clothing line, soon began to flourish and by the end of 2012, he had guested on D’banj’s U.K. Top Ten hit “Oliver Twist” and had his first solo Top 40 single in the form of November’s “Zim Zamma.” Continuing to work with production duo Ill Blu, Sneakbo enjoyed further success in summer 2013 with the Shabba Ranks-sampling “Ring a Ling.” In 2014 he guested on another U.K. pop hit, “Dr. Who!” by Tujamo and Plastik Funk. He also released his full-length Certified, which featured several tracks produced by Ill Blu […]

With hair that looks like red-hot cheese curls and the wild Atlanta ATLien style to match, Miles McCollum — best known as singer/rapper and Sailing Team leader Lil Yachty — bounces between the feel-good positivity of D.R.A.M. and the druggy weirdness of Future with the greatest of ease. Part of this is due to the use of two personas, the wild Lil Yachty and the stern but strange MC Lil Boat. He began to break in 2015 when Drake’s OVO Sound Radio show aired his bizarre, singsongy number “Minnesota.” In early 2016, his other persona became the name of Lil Boat, his debut for the Capitol- and Motown-affiliated independent Quality Control. The mixtape featured “Minnesota” along with “One Night,” a woozy party cut that reached number 30 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and cracked the Hot 100. An appearance at Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show followed soon after, along with an appearance on Chance the Rapper’s Top Ten mixtape Coloring Book. A second Quality Control mixtape, Summer Songs 2, arrived that August and debuted on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart at number 44. By the end of the year, Yachty scored a hit with D.R.A.M.’s playful “Broccoli,” which peaked at […]

Tory Lanez was one of the more versatile commercial artists to surface during the early 2010s. A songwriter and producer who flits between and fuses R&B and rap — his vocals alternate between swift and rugged boasts and smooth and sensitive come-ons — he made steady strides toward the mainstream with numerous mixtapes, guest appearances, and self-directed videos. He spent parts of his early life in Toronto, his birthplace, as well as in Montreal, Miami, Atlanta, and New York. Although he was known underground well before his 20th birthday, and was supported early on by Sean Kingston, he made some of his biggest moves in 2014. During that year, he was featured on “Me & My Bitch” — a track off YG’s Top Five album My Krazy Life — and among his own tracks that circulated in 2014 was “The Mission,” his first cut to hit Billboard’s Twitter Emerging Artists chart. In July 2015, after he had signed an Interscope-affiliated deal with Benny Blanco’s Mad Love label, he released “Say It,” an R&B slow jam that sampled Brownstone’s mid-’90s hit “If You Love Me” and peaked the following February at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. A handful of […]

Ricky Martin is nervous about planning his big wedding party. The singer revealed last week (ends12Jan18) that he and longtime partner Jwan Yosef had tied the knot and were keen to have a “heavy” wedding celebration in a few months. Get the full Music-news.com story here 

Solange Knowles has lost out on opportunities because of her determination to “own” her body.The 31-year-old singer has found huge success in the music industry and released her latest album A Seat At The Table last year. However, the younger sister of Beyonce admitted that her strong morals have often led to her missing out on gigs. Get the full music-news.com story here 

Looks like the main thing we’ll be making Taylor Swift do this week is absolutely nothing, except stay at the top of the Official Singles Chart. As promotion for the American singer’s sixth album Reputation ramps us, her revenge anthem Look What You Made Me Do is still out in front at this halfway stage, with former Number 1 New Rules from Dua Lipa trailing by over 3,000 combined sales. Although stranger things have happened… Get the full in depth music-news.com story over here 

Lady Gaga has agreed to hand over text messages related to her friend Kesha’s ongoing legal battle with producer Dr. Luke. Last year (16), evidence of text exchanges between Gaga and Kesha were submitted to the courts as evidence, but the judge sealed the messages, making the content confidential. Find out the full facts at music-news.com where you can get the full in depth story 

“Never Tear Us Apart” is a single released by Australian rock group INXS in August 1988. It was included on the band’s sixth studio album, Kick. The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded a blues-style demo and gave it to vocalist Michael Hutchence who wrote the lyrics. “Never Tear Us Apart” is a sensuous ballad, written in the tempo of a modern Viennese waltz, layered with synthesizers and containing dramatic pauses before the instrumental breaks. Kirk Pengilly lends a cathartic saxophone solo near the end. According to the liner notes of Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979–1997), the song was composed on piano as a bluesy number in the style of Fats Domino. Producer Chris Thomas suggested a synth-based arrangement instead. The video for the song, featuring an extended intro, was filmed in various locations in Prague[2] along with “Guns in the Sky” and “New Sensation“, all directed by Richard Lowenstein. Get more of this Wikipedia story here