Michael Gonik

JMSN's 2023 song "Soft Spot" found a new audience after going viral on TikTok and becoming a meme on Twitter. Now he's trying to see if he can crack the code again.

In an exclusive interview, De La Soul discusses why J Dilla beat tapes were treated as the holy grail amongst his peers and contemporaries, how they pulled off a heist to secure the instrumental for "Stakes is High" from Q-Tip, and whether we'll ever hear an official album from the group exclusively featuring beats by the late producer.

Here’s how rap titans Larry June and The Alchemist melded their styles into an album-of-the-year contender with The Great Escape.

Pete Rock geeks out over his new live band, an ever-expanding comic book collection, and what he learned from the late J Dilla, in an exclusive interview.

We spoke with Chicago legend Pastor T.L. Barrett about his musical legacy, his relationship with Earth, Wind & Fire, and what it’s like seeing contemporary rappers like Kanye West embrace his gospel all these years later.

Ab-Soul takes us through the inner working of his new album, Herbert, revealing how the embrace of therapy, asking for help, and remaining present, allowed him to reintroduce himself with the most personal and polished project of his career.

After a mostly quiet decade of sparse dispatches, Jai Paul is finally introducing himself on his own terms.

Featuring performances from Noname, Earl Sweatshirt, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and more, MIKE's annual Young World festival did an excellent job bridging and binding disparate communities, histories, and styles of creative expression.

In the new Rick Rubin book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, it's unclear who or what the producer is writing for.

Record Store Day was a vital vehicle for renewing interest in vinyl. But after more than a decade, the vinyl market's future seems untethered from the crate-digging holiday.

The high elder of Oneness of Juju, James "Plunky" Branch, recounts DC's Black Fire era, J Dilla's impossible precision, and the legacy of his debut album.

The artists to watch for in 2023 all contributed to one of the most riveting years for independent rap and R&B in recent memory.

From Madlib and DJ Premier to Pete Rock and Lauryn Hill, hip-hop has given Sister Nancy and her seminal recording "Bam Bam" as many lives as there are producers still excited to chop the 1982 dancehall anthem.

Whether casual and in plain sight or ornate and tucked away into a lot you'd least expect, the best Brooklyn coffee shops all have two things in common: slinging quality mud and cultivating unique spaces you'd actually want to spend some time in.

Brooklyn record stores are keeping analog sound accessible, affordable, and occasionally paired with a solid cut or pour of espresso.