It’s dead quiet backstage at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, save for the sound of Brandi Carlile’s patent Gucci loafers clicking against the floor on the way into the greenroom. Fresh off a win for Artist of the Year at the Americana Honors and Awards the night before, Carlile is talking fondly […]
Lauren Mayberry was recently stuck in traffic, as is often the case in Los Angeles. With time on her hands, she decided to listen to a playlist of “New Alternative Music” that an algorithm had recommended for her. Zooming from her Los Angeles home, Mayberry is wearing a red and white ringer t-shirt of fellow […]
LP has been promised all the right things by all the right people. Her voice, a glorious warble that spans three octaves, has incited bidding wars between major labels. She’s been signed as an artist six different times, all while fine-tuning her craft as a songwriter — writing hit songs for the likes of Rihanna, […]
The 29-year-old, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, is laying, damn near flat, in the passenger’s seat of a car that’s probably worth more than twice my salary. We’re gossiping about movie roles that would be good looks for him and, without hesitation, he says that being a gangbanger on screen is the exact opposite of what […]
Most people wouldn’t expect polite golf chat from Kings of Leon. Not from the group who emerged in the early aughts like a garage-rock thunderbolt. Proudly discussing the exploits of their young children? Sure, they are fathers, after all. But golf? Even with all their accolades and successes, one prize stands out for 41-year-old Nathan Followill, the […]
As women claim space, power, and influence, there continues to be #MeToo reckonings in every business field, and none more so than the traditionally permissive music industry. It’s a world that values art and creation and catharsis, but along with it, the ’70s cliche of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. And with that […]
After years of watching pop stars like Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna perform at MTV’s Video Music Awards, Rico Nasty yearned to dominate that very stage. But insecurities like appearing too shallow or not looking like a glamorous “bad bitch” made the rapper question if this was her rightful path. “In my brain, there […]
DJ Drama was in no rush to return from his lunch break. Sandwiched between the outskirts of Atlanta’s Bankhead neighborhood and the sprawling campus of Georgia Tech University is Means Street Studios. This hub of hip hop recording has played host to a litany of stars since its 2013 inception. Playboi Carti, Gucci Mane, Lil […]
This article originally appeared in the August 1999 issue of SPIN. Fred Durst likes it to the right, with a swivel and bounce. “Yeah, like that, with the knee out. And do that thing with your hips,” he says, then pauses a moment, narrows his gaze, and rubs the furry soul patch on his chin. Five […]
In a year filled with chaos, social reckoning, protests, rage and financial ruin, there appeared to be no light that would save the world from the roiling political issues that had been brewing for decades. There was no Death Star, though it would have surprised no one if the Earth imploded like Alderaan. At least […]