A wave of continuous-take performance videos has turned the format into an audition reel that cannot be faked in post. Directors say the appeal is trust. Audiences have learned to spot a stitched vocal, and one unbroken shot removes the argument. The tradeoff is brutal shoot days. One session ran twenty-two takes before the singer […]
Jaÿ-Z is taking a deep dive into his three-decade career in an eight-part documentary series alongside legendary producer Rick Rubin. The first two episodes premiered on HBO last Friday (Sept. 18), with two new episodes arriving weekly from there. The series revisits more than 25 songs from Hov’s catalog, using each track as a lens […]
For fifteen years, a duet mostly meant two artists emailing files. The new wave is doing it in one room, on one microphone, on purpose. Engineers say the shift is audible. Singers phrase differently when they can hear each other breathe, and the small collisions that used to be edited out are being kept. The […]
Tay Keith‘s cause of death has reportedly been revealed. Three months after the Memphis producer passed away suddenly in his Nashville, Tenn., apartment, the Nashville Medical Examiner’s Office has disclosed how he died, according to an ABC News report published on Thursday (Sept. 17). Tay Keith, born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, passed away from a drug […]
The first thing you notice about ‘Velvet Hours’ is what is missing. No stacked ad-libs, no eight-bar drop, no guest verse parachuted in for a playlist look. Instead there is a band playing slightly behind the beat, a Rhodes that never quite resolves, and a vocalist who lets phrases end early and leaves the space […]
The Weeknd has confirmed he won’t be retiring any time soon, walking back previous plans to change his name and move into other endeavors beyond music. In a new interview with GQ Hong Kong published on Thursday (Sept. 17), Abel was asked about his past comments about retiring, including an interview with Variety in 2025. […]
Three major festivals have announced R&B-heavy headline bills for next season, marking one of the strongest showings for soul music on the big-stage circuit in years. Promoters say the bookings reflect ticket demand data rather than nostalgia, noting that R&B sets consistently drew some of the largest crowds at this year’s events. Agents for several […]
Drake has gifted two of his FOMO collaborators, Sexyy Red and Stunna Sandy, with their very own OVO chains customized with pink diamonds. Talking to N3on in a live stream shortly after FOMO premiered on Tuesday night (Sept. 15), Sandy revealed she had only gotten the chain the day before and that she has zero […]
Andre Solaine has written for more singers than he can name in one sitting, and until this year none of the records had his name on the front. He talks about songwriting like a service job: read the artist, find the phrase they would actually say, get out of the way. Keeping a song for […]
Fivio Foreign has decided to save himself for marriage as part of the faith journey he recently embarked on. On Thursday (Sept. 17), the Brooklyn rapper revealed the choice to abstain from sex has been the most difficult part of the major life change thus far. “No sex before marriage is the hardest part of […]