From the US and UK, drill has spread to Ghana, where it provides a voice for the excluded. On the streets of Kumasi, the scene’s MCs tell their storyAhead of a music video shoot on a leafy street in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city, Yaw Tog and his friends …
Why don’t you get a jab? Offspring drummer ousted after refusing Covid vaccine
Pete Parada says ‘it been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour’ after turning down treatment on medical groundsPete Parada, drummer with Californian pop-punks the Offspring, has said he has been ousted from the band over hi…
I’ve been trying to tell you
Pond House [YouTube] is the first music to surface from the forthcoming release I’ve Been Trying to Tell You by English trio Saint Etienne: an album (their tenth) “made largely from samples and sounds drawn from the years 1997-2001, a period that was t…
Charles Connor, drummer for Little Richard and music greats, dies aged 86
One of the ‘bricklayers’ who created rock’n’roll, he also worked with James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Sam CookeCharles Connor, who was a drummer for Little Richard and other music greats including James Brown and Sam Cooke, has died aged 86.Connor’s dau…
How we made: Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
‘The Sex Mix got so many complaints – even some gay clubs found it offensive’I wanted to be provocative with the way Frankie Goes to Hollywood looked and for the lyrical content to be modern and edgy. We had been living through a politically charged ti…
‘Community, not profit’: the creative renaissance of Birkenhead
Across the Mersey from Liverpool, a group of grassroots promoters is trying to avoid that city’s redevelopment errors as they champion a vibrant cultural renewalEmblazoned above Christopher Torpey, co-founder of music venue Future Yard, are the words “…
Composer-pianist Max Richter: ‘Creativity is activism’
The German-British composer explains why his new album, Exiles, addresses the refugee crisis – and is played by an orchestra who break all the rules When Max Richter sat down to compose a new ballet score in 2015 he knew what he wanted to say. In April…
Lollapalooza drops DaBaby performance after homophobic comments
Rapper appears to apologize in video on WednesdayArtists including Elton John and Madonna condemn remarks Lollapalooza cancelled a Chicago performance by the rapper DaBaby on Sunday because, the music festival said, it was “founded on diversity, inclus…
Welcome 2 America by Prince review – sub-par album from the vaults
(Legacy Recordings)This shelved collection from 2010 is not peak Prince – and he knew itEvery few months someone eagerly forwards me that clip of Prince’s majestic While My Guitar Gently Weeps solo at the 2004 Hall of Fame. It’s ages since anyone sent …
Dave: We’re All Alone in This Together review – a rival to his classic debut
(Neighbourhood)With introspective but operatic rap, Dave paints pictures on an album that’s part confessional, part social critique In 2019, Dave’s Mercury prize- and Brit award-winning debut, Psychodrama, became a classic overnight; now it has a riva…