How St. Louis recalibrated rap radio
Call the melodic, countrified swing that took over early 2000s radio an overnight sensation if you like, but it didn't come from nowhere — just a city many considered to be nowhere.
Music Features
Tyler Childers is back, and taking chances
The grassroots country star, whose fan base crosses lines of identity and politics, is releasing a song called "In Your Love," from a new album. Its video tells a queer, Appalachian love story.
How Detroit and Flint became havens for rap dark horses
They don't say "Detroit Vs. Everybody" for nothing: Dismissed from the outside and splintered within, Michigan's rap cities turned scrap-or-die underdog status into a gritty aesthetic all its own.
Kurtis Blow breaks hip-hop nationally with his 1980 debut
Hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Commentator Kiana Fitzgerald is looking back at the albums that changed the game.
How Chicago rap became a home for controversial, visionary stars
Though defined from the start by outsiders — hip-hop flyover country one day, scrutiny magnet the next — Chicago's poets, brawlers and hustlers remain the last word on what gives the city its soul.
Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' is part of a long legacy with a very dark side
The 'anti-city' country song is a well-worn trope, one that pits idyllic country life against the corruption of the city. But Aldean's controversial song reveals the dark heart of the tradition.
The artists shaking up the industry at the Latin Alternative Music Conference
The Latin Alternative Music Conference just wrapped its 24th edition. Colombian hip-hop duo Dawer x Damper and Argentinian rock band Usted Señalemelo received this year's Discovery Awards.
How Memphis rap charted a passage from Delta blues
The "most known unknown" rap city found its voice by embracing the dark and light sides of its history equally: the horror stories and church hymns, the field hollers and Stax stacks.
After snub by Taylor Swift, Filipino 'Swifties' find solace in another Taylor
Taylor Sheesh, the Philippines' top Taylor Swift impersonator, has set out on her own tour across the country in a bid to get the global superstar's attention.
How Atlanta became the center of the rap universe
The current rap capital thrives on a thrilling contradiction: Its best music is at once hyperlocal and globally accessible, true to its roots but built for scale.