Music Features

When Ye calls, you answer. Take it from Digital Nas. Last April, the rapper and producer, whose real name is Nasir Pemberton, was living in Atlanta, making his own records as well as tracks for Lil Yachty, A$AP Ferg, Sheck Wes, and others at the time. Then he heard that …

When news broke of the tragic death of Memphis rapper Young Dolph on the afternoon of Nov. 18, it was a sorrowful reminder of the way violence has robbed us of so many hip-hop greats. Dolph, born Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. in Chicago and raised in Memphis, was innately talented. …

KennyHoopla is sitting on the steps behind the stage of Pier 17 in downtown Manhattan, his hands neatly folded in his lap, his head and shoulders hunching his body into a ball, his lips in a despondent frown. The 25-year-old pop-punk artist from Wisconsin — real name KennethLa’ron — is …

It was many a roadie’s worst nightmare: On Oct. 17, 53-year-old Francis Stueber died in his hotel room, nearly 2,300 miles from home, according to Kiss and his fellow backstage crew. The longtime guitar tech had been with the band for more than 20 years and was a beloved figure …

With the blooming renaissance of women in rap showcasing musical talents and lyrical agility greater than many of their male counterparts, Houston’s KenTheMan takes up space on her own terms. She makes it clear on her latest project, What’s My Name, introducing herself as “Big Ken,” a one-of-a-kind rapper and …

This piece is part of Rolling Stone’s second annual Grammy Preview special issue, released ahead of the start of first-round voting. We spoke to some of the year’s biggest artists about the albums and singles that could earn them a nomination — or even a statue come January — and …

Midway through our phone call last week, the musician Oklou abruptly stopped talking. We were discussing the making of her critically-acclaimed EP Galore, which dropped last year, when she suddenly went silent, only to return a few minutes later, laughing. It turns out she stepped away to gaze at the …

Less than two weeks before they were due in St. Paul, Minnesota, to launch a nearly sold-out, 27-date U.S. tour, British post-punk band Idles headed to the U.S. embassy in London to see if they’d have to cancel the whole thing. They’d spent the past 10 months desperately trying to …

My Obsessionis a regular column in which our favorite musicians show off their nonmusical passions.Rick Ross is a man of simple pleasures. He enjoys a fast car, a well-rolled blunt, and the clean look of his own freshly mowed lawn. “It’s something I look forward to,” Ross says, outfitted with …

F our rock musicians met secretly at an abandoned house in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. It was March 7th, just over a month after the country’s military had seized power in a pre-dawn coup, and they were there to record a song about security forces shooting to kill. …