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Chris Kelly of Kris Kross Dead at 34 | ARTICLE

Chris Kelly, one-half the hip-hop duo Kris Kross that scored a radio hit with "Jump" in the early Nineties, has died, The Associated Press reports. Kelly, 34, was found unresponsive yesterday afternoon in his home...
May 1, 2013 10:45 PM ET
Lil Wayne Is 'Alive and Well': Mack Maine Denies Rapper Is in a Coma | ARTICLE

Lil Wayne is "alive and well," says his friend, rapper and Cash Money president Mack Maine, flatly denying reports that the rapper is in a coma. A publicist for Wayne also issued a brief statement to Rolling...
March 15, 2013 9:30 PM ET
Smashing Pumpkins to Play SXSW | ARTICLE

Add one more band to the list of big names playing SXSW: the Smashing Pumpkins will hit downtown Austin on Saturday, March 16th, for Red Bull's showcase, Sound Select: 120 Hours. Also on the...
March 12, 2013 7:15 PM ET
Rare Chandeliers | ALBUM REVIEW

Like the slabs of steak this part-time chef hands out at his shows, Action Bronson's musical formula is easy to love: nunchakus-speed boasts about weed, fellatio, food and B-film schemes ("Flick chives in the soup/Stick knives...
November 19, 2012 3:10 PM ET
Taylor Allderdice | ALBUM REVIEW

"My weed so strong, I swear to God you would think it’s cologne," brags the Pittsburgh MC on this mixtape, essentially an apology for the mass appeal of his 2011 debut. Wiz Khalifa tampers down the singsong...
April 2, 2012 10:00 AM ET
Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire Talk 'Hunger Games' | ARTICLE

Taylor Swift became famous with diary-entry-like songs about old exes and school bullies. But for her first new tunes since 2010, Swift is...
March 29, 2012 12:00 PM ET
"El Alma y el Cuerpo" | SONG REVIEW

On the Colombian electro-cumbia crew's latest, Liliana Saumet mysticizes about her blood boiling over bobbing, arrhythmic guitar and synth haze. Sexy. Listen to "El Alma y el Cuerpo": Related• Photos: Random Notes
March 27, 2012 4:40 PM ET
"All The Rowboats" | SONG REVIEW

The classically trained pianist's new single is a wickedly baroque paean to decaying classics."It's their own fault forbeing timeless," Spektor charges over chase-scene scales and spitball synths, her fingers secretlycrossed for a Night at the Museum-style revolt. Listen...
March 19, 2012 12:30 PM ET
4evaNaDay | ALBUM REVIEW

"I make albums, not hits," snarls Mississippi producer-rapper Big K.R.I.T. over howling electric blues on "Handwriting," stating his case with the kind of tunnel-vision zeal Kanye West reserves for awards-show rants. 4evaNaDay is K.R.I.T.'s eighth mixtape, a...
March 8, 2012 12:07 PM ET
Careless World: Rise of the Last King | ALBUM REVIEW

That Tyga ranks as the fourth-best rapper on Lil Wayne's label is hardly a sign of weakness. The 22-year-old's first LP for Young Money lays bare its Top 40 aspirations with misty-eyed R&B ("Far Away") and...
February 28, 2012 12:05 AM ET
"What Makes You Beautiful" | SONG REVIEW

The boy-band cycle rears its head with this inevitable tween lady-killer, a self-esteem jolt ("You’re insecure, don't know what for") sung over pop- rock crunch by five pristinely coiffed lads. They make the JoBros look like Betty...
February 21, 2012 10:00 AM ET
Nehru Jackets | ALBUM REVIEW

Das Racist's wiliest rhymer is also their most caustic joker. On his first solo mixtape, Himanshu snipes at the NYPD ("New York's spineless"), Whole Foods ("I be at bodegas") and his own success ("I went from 'Why...
February 9, 2012 12:00 PM ET
Ten$ion | ALBUM REVIEW

On their 2010 debut, these South African weirdos occasionally struck a sly balance between Ninja's deranged rhymes, Yo-Landi Vi$$er's evil-sexpot coos and DJ Hi-Tek's slippery rave-rap beats. The novelty runs dry on Die Antwoord's second album, a...
February 7, 2012 10:15 AM ET
Grammy Showdown: 2012 | ARTICLE

Can Adele pull off a clean sweep? Will Kanye West win solo or with big bro Jay-Z? Our all-star panel – and a Las Vegas oddsmaker – break it down. Panel of Experts:
February 6, 2012 2:43 PM ET
Purple Naked Ladies | ALBUM REVIEW

The debut from this Odd Future offshoot duo – beatmaker Matt Martians plus lone Odd Future female Syd the Kyd – is an endearingly scattershot take on spaced-out R&B, complete with drug fetishism and a load of...
January 31, 2012 12:00 AM ET
The Big 10 | ALBUM REVIEW

Released to toast the 10th anniversary of his first mixtape, 50 Cent Is the Future, the fallen star's latest street album time-warps back to his glory days, when he was gangsta rap's premier beefcake. 50 snarls uncouth...
January 12, 2012 3:53 PM ET
Danny Brown Plots Next Moves, Calls Mac Miller 'The Worst Guy Around' | ARTICLE

Danny Brown has a good feeling about 2012. The Detroit rapper – who earned praise all fall long for his release, XXX, and premiered the video for its track "Monopoly" on RollingStone.com last week – discussed his...
December 20, 2011 12:30 PM ET
Lady Gaga's Monster Ball Meets Z100's Jingle Ball in New York | ARTICLE

It's a strange thing, seeing Lady Gaga play to a half-empty Madison Square Garden.The all-star pop concert put on by her hometown's biggest Top-40 station would, on the surface, seem to be the perfect...
December 10, 2011 4:00 PM ET
Spotify Unveils New App Platform | ARTICLE

Spotify today announced the launch of a platform for third-party apps, allowing outside developers to build a host of new social features into the fast-growing digital music service. Sixteen first-generation apps from Spotify’s new brand...
November 30, 2011 3:50 PM ET
Radioactive | ALBUM REVIEW

Hick-hop juggernaut Yelawolf may strike some as Alabama's answer to Eminem (whosigned the 31-year-old rapper to his Shady label). But the boozy, stone-faced rhymes on his debut leave little room for laughs: "In this forest...
November 22, 2011 12:30 AM ET