Hip-hop continues to mount wins in 2025, with some big album releases serving as the score for the year. Things don’t slow down in September, with projects from some of the biggest names in rap scheduled to drop. Cardi B Preps Am I The Drama? Album Following a plethora of delays, Cardi B is finally ready to […]
Some groups sound like they were born at a crossroads. Buffalo Springfield felt like three roads meeting at once. Stephen Stills brought sculpted songcraft and a drummer’s ear for groove. Neil Young brought mystery, noise, and a poet’s magnetism. Richie Furay brought golden tone and a country shimmer that softened hard edges. Under the California […]
Cardi B’s second album, Am I The Drama? is just about a month away from release after over a half-decade of waiting, and now, Cardi’s teasing its next single, “Imaginary Players.” While we still don’t know what the single will sound like, Cardi posted its release date and pre-save link on Instagram, writing in the […]
A piano can be a confessional, a carnival ride, and a rocket launchpad. Few artists have proven that truth like Elton John. From barroom tenderness to arena sized uplift, his catalog maps a lifetime of melody and partnership, especially with lyricist Bernie Taupin. These ten songs capture the range that made him a fixture on […]
Need ItX-Games gold medalist snowboarder Zeb Powell is dead set on bringing hip-hop culture to the mountaintop.Interview: Joey EchevarriaEditor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. World-class snowboarder Zeb Powell is just as passionate about hip-hop as he is about the world […]
Velvet grit and Sunday morning light. That is how Al Green turns a room into a sanctuary. His voice can smile, plead, tease, and testify within a single verse, while the Hi Rhythm Section lays down grooves that move like warm rivers under city lights. Producer Willie Mitchell paints with horns, organ, and strings that […]
With the lyrics of Gunna‘s The Last Wun track “Just Say Dat” focusing on “the driver that go with the Maybach,” it’s only right that the song’s new music video features a small fleet of the luxury cars rolling through his old neighborhood in Atlanta. The video opens with comedians Desi Banks and Reggie Conquest […]
Johnny Cash sang like a train that had seen the desert and the courtroom and still believed in morning. That baritone could be warning, blessing, apology, and promise without changing shirts. He carried the snap of Sun sessions into folk confession and gospel thunder. Bass strings thumped like a boot on a pine floor. Guitars […]
Hip-hop artists flip samples, hustle new business moves, and showcase innovation as an art. Creativity and creation is in its DNA, so it should come as no surprise that hip-hop is at the forefront of digital payments and cryptocurrency now as both integrate into daily life. “New money” has a new meaning, and hip-hop is […]
Edwin Starr sang like a fuse already lit. His voice was gravel and gold, a trumpet and a sermon, a smile with its sleeves rolled up. From Detroit sidewalks to global stages, he turned rhythm into resolve and pleasure into purpose. Horns punched like sunshine through blinds. Drums marched with the certainty of a crowd […]
Steely Dan "Everything Must Go" (Clear)