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Chris Schwartz's Memoir on Founding Ruffhouse Records Gleans but Doesn't Illuminate

Chris Schwartz's memoir on founding Ruffhouse Records attempts to be many things but doesn't fully deliver on any of them, making for a conventionally-structured memoir that often reads as slapdash and dry.

Books

French Rapper Nekfeu Creates One of the Year's Best Hip-Hop Albums with 'Les étoiles vagabondes'

Through a discerning balance of Nekfeu's competitive rap instincts and the contemporary trend of embracing grief in sixteens, Les étoiles vagabondes excels as a multifaceted, exhilarating and ultimately inspired body of hip-hop.

Music

Lil Nas X's 7 (EP) Is the Work of a Canny Prankster

The genre-agnostic "Old Town Road" rapper's lyrics are less interesting than the scenery Lil Nas X drops them in.

Music

Mndsgn Blends R&B, Hip-Hop, Electronics, and Jazz on 'Snaxx'

As we should expect from Mndsgn by now, he creates fantastic layers of atmosphere throughout Snaxx. The rest, though, is a lush, wondrous surprise, promising much more to come.

Music

Flying Lotus Does Not Always Soar on 'Flamagra'

Flying Lotus' fifth album Flamagra contains plenty of strong material but ultimately lacks a unifying coherence.

Music

Machinedrum and Jimmy Edgar Team Up as 'J-E-T-S' on Their First Collaboration, 'Zoospa'

Zoospa finds producers Machinedrum and Jimmy Edgar finding plenty of shared musical ground, laying charges, and then detonating them.

Music

20 Questions: Porter Ray

Quiet and thoughtful, yet nimble in his poetic applications, hip-hop artist Porter Ray has much to say in our 20 Questions feature.

Music

Baloji Confronts the Cell Phone Zombies on 'Kaniama: The Yellow Version'

Congolese-Belgian musician and filmmaker Baloji revisits his kaleidoscopic 137 Avenue Kaniama album as a mixtape and short film.

Music

'Dead Precedents' Explores How Hip-Hop Created the Future

Roy Christopher's dense book-length essay, Dead Precedents, takes much of what is now axiomatic about hip-hop and reminds us how revolutionary its innovations and practices really were.

Books

Lizzo Needs More Depth on 'Cuz I Love You'

Lizzo's mainstream debut comes on strong, but its self-absorption can feel like an endgame.

Music

Artist As Pure Ego: Beyoncé's 'Homecoming: The Live Album'

Beyoncé's Homecoming is one of the most impressive shows ever, but its need to tell us how impressive it is deflates some of its awe.

Music

Every Song on Fémina's 'Perlas & Conchas' Is a True Gem

The women of ethereal Patagonian trio Fémina team up with Iggy Pop and Quantic on exquisite third album Perlas & Conchas.

Music

20 Questions: Ishmael Butler from Shabazz Palaces and Knife Knights

Our 20 Questions feature sums up the quality that Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler only reveals once you get to talking with him: his dry, clipped humor.

Music

Kehlani's 'While We Wait' Waxes Poetic on the Art of Patience

On While We Wait, Kehlani rests her case on the ins and outs of modern love on her latest project with defiant candor, featuring some of the freshest sonic accouterments millennial R&B has to offer.

Music

South African Rapper Yugen Blakrok Rules an Arcane Realm on 'Anima Mysterium'

On Anima Mysterium, the first album from South African rapper Yugen Blakrok since her international high-profile feature on last year's Black Panther soundtrack, magic of the heaviest variety abounds.

Music

Sleaford Mods Kick Out the Jams and So Much More

Sleaford Mods' astonishing and deceptively subtle Eton Alive provides plenty of food for thought to counter the bread and circuses on offer during a time of political austerity.

Music

Pop Ten

The 50 Best Albums of 2019 So Far

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

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