For a brief moment it felt like Lil Uzi Vert had lost a step. Though you wouldn’t be able to tell from his enraptured fanbase, or the rap writers still reminiscing over his prolific 2016 assault, the Uzi that redefined the rockstar template with petulant, high energy odes to nihilism …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Yebba, 'Evergreen'
Yebba Smith’s gospel roots bleed through her single “Evergreen,” a slow-burning ballad full of mettle and longing. It’s over a year old now, but very worth revisiting — especially as Smith gets ready to contend at the 2019 Grammy Awards for another song, her PJ Morton collaboration “How Deep Is …
Read More »Song You Need To Know: Roddy Ricch, 'Die Young'
It isn’t clear when rappers started singing better than pop stars. Maybe the opportunity was always present, just never fully cultivated. Maybe it was when waves of artists like Ja Rule and 50 Cent, T-Pain or Future, Kanye or Drake began bursting onto the scene. It might just be a …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: St. Vincent, 'Hang On Me (Piano Version)'
Last year, St. Vincent (a.k.a Annie Clark) releasedMasseduction, the noise-pop masterpiece that had her firing on all cylinders. WithMassEducation, Clark reimagines every song on Masseduction as a piano ballad, stripping them down to an emotionally raw core and even flipping the LP’s running order. “Hang On Me” originally led offMasseduction: …
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