Jiande

The First Time: Alessia Cara on 'Horrible' First Performance and the True Meaning of Popularity

Alessia Cara is known for her hit singles: She emerged with the triple-platinum breakout “Here” and followed that with another triple-platinum track, “Wild Things.” More recently, she contributed to the quintuple-platinum Logic and Khalid collaboration“1-800-273-8255.” All that commercial success appears relatively effortless. But it wasn’t always that way: The first …

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Hear Lucinda Williams Cover Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe'

Lucinda Williams adds a touch of her native Louisiana grit to the Southern Gothic of Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” in a version of the quintessentially mysterious tune that supplements Mercury Rev’s adventurous track-by-track re-imagining of Gentry’s largely forgotten 1968 sophomore album, The Delta Sweete. Set within darkly atmospheric …

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Song You Need to Know: Deerhunter, 'Plains'

Deerhunter’s excellent new album, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, is the closest the long-running Atlanta band has ever come to an outright pop LP. Highlights like “What Happens To People?” and “Futurism” revel in their smooth edges and sophisticated arrangements, and the album as a whole has an appealing sleekness, …

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R. Kelly's Ex-Manager Arrested for Terroristic Threats Against Joycelyn Savage's Family

UPDATE:A Henry County grand jury indicted R. Kelly’s former manager, Henry James Mason, on a charge of making terroristic threats, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Authorities say Mason threatened Tim Savage, the father of Joycelyn, whose family claims R. Kelly has “brainwashed.” Joycelyn has repeatedly denied the accusation. “Today’s indictment of Henry …

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