The FADER

01/05/2024

Billy Corgan and co. have put out a job posting for “an additional guitarist.” Interested parties can email them right now.

Smashing Pumpkins have put out a call for a new guitarist in advance of a big tour.

01/05/2024

Saltburn made up of songs that have stood the test of time; the film, however, may well be forgotten by the time the bath runs dry.

Saltburn's soundtrack, a mix of '00s indie rock, blog house, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder On The Dancefloor," goes a long way to mask the flaws that make watching the Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi movie so frustrating.

01/05/2024

Ludacris responded to Katt Williams’ Illuminati allegations with a freestyle: “Never been Illuminati, only Ill-Luda-nati.”

Ludacris has shared a freestyle in response to Katt Williams’ allegations that Luda made a $200 million deal with the Illuminati.

01/05/2024

New Music Friday: Listen to new projects from Luis R. Conriquez, Sprints, BEAR1BOSS, Pile, and more.

The FADER's New Music Friday roundup collects all the standout albums released this week including projects from Luis R. Conriquez, SPRINTS, and Bear1Boss.

01/04/2024

Explosive experimental rap from Nigeria, ominous folk-shrouded post-rock, and bruising underground electronica can be found on a few of the projects that we can’t stop listening to.

Discover Blogly collects some of The FADER's favorite new music discoveries. This week, we showcase albums from Aunty Razor, Yungwebster, Quade, Mia Koden, and Fenne Lily.

01/04/2024

UPDATE: Britney Spears has denied reports that she is working on a new album: "Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!"

Charli XCX and Julia Michaels are reportedly among the writers working on new material for Britney Spears' next album.

01/04/2024

Rage Against The Machine won’t tour again, says drummer Brad Wilk.

Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk says the band's reunion tour, postponed by an injury to frontman Zach de la Rocha, will not be rescheduled.

01/03/2024

Charli XCX is reportedly writing new music for Britney Spears' forthcoming album.

Charli XCX and Julia Michaels are reportedly among the writers working on new material for Britney Spears' next album.

01/03/2024

The xx are back in the studio, according to Romy.

Romy Croft told NME that The xx are back in the studio, working on a “wide open… exciting new album.”

01/03/2024

Watch Bad Bunny enjoy the single life in the new “No Me Quiero Casar” video.

Watch the music video for Bad Bunny’s “No Me Quiero Casar,” taken from his 2023 album Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana.

01/03/2024

Young Thug’s RICO trial has resumed following a three-week hiatus due to the stabbing of one of his co-defendants.

Young Thug’s RICO trial has resumed following a three-week hiatus due to the stabbing of one of his co-defendants, Shannon Stillwell, in early December.

12/30/2023

At the end of the day, it's up to the fans, the kinds of folks who upload cassette rips to YouTube, to keep rap’s history alive.

The FADER's Nadine Smith writes about the surge in vinyl pressings of classic mixtapes, and how they can start to feel more like gold rushes than loving tributes.

12/29/2023

Four and a half years and a mistrial later, YNW Melly is still in Broward County Jail, waiting to be tried for a second time on the same charges.

Read our explainer on the YNW Melly double murder trial.

On the eve of YNW Melly's second murder trial, The FADER explains everything you need to know about the Florida rapper's case.

12/29/2023

The Grammys have had a contentious relationship with rap pretty much forever.

In this week's Rap Report, The FADER's Vivian Medithi goes over hip-hop's fraught relationship with the Grammys, and whether or not it matters as much as it once did.

12/28/2023

If ever there was an artist made for unsolicited, pleading DMs, it's Drake, and the following list was assembled in that spirit.

Just before the release of Drake's new album For All The Dogs, we DM'd a bunch of our favorite artists on Instagram to get their favorite tracks from the 6 God, including Rema, Tiesto, Ice Spice, and more.

12/28/2023

Read our an explainer on DJ Envy's investment scandal, and what it says about the rap industry’s exploitative tendencies.

In this week's Rap Column, Nadine Smith explains the DJ Envy/Cesar Pina controversy, and how the rap industry allows scams to flourish.

12/27/2023

Cash Cobain is making bangers from instantly recognizable samples and reveling in his status as drill’s truest s*x symbol.

Revisit our Gen F profile.

Cash Cobain is making bangers from instantly recognizable samples and reveling in his status as drill’s truest s*x symbol.

12/27/2023

A good guest verse isn’t just well-executed, but a way of opening up new facets of a song, whether it’s finding new pockets in the beat or complicating emotional motifs with shades of nuance.

In this week's Rap Column, The FADER's Vivian Medithi selects 30 of the best features in hip-hop released in 2023.

12/26/2023

Did you know that there’s a tunnel... does away with the idea that Lana Del Rey is a pop musician in any traditional sense, but it arrived during a year in which she was more popular than ever.

It's No. 3 on our 50 best albums of 2023.

From bar italia to billy woods and yeule to Yves Tumor, these are the albums The FADER loved in 2023.

12/26/2023

More and more rappers are delving into the world of sportsbooks and casinos.

What does that mean for the fans who look up to them?

The FADER's Nadine Smith looks at the growing number of hip-hop collaborations with casinos and sportsbooks in this week's Rap Column.

12/24/2023

We ranked the 100 best Drake songs. We look forward to everyone agreeing with us and nobody being upset.

In advance of Drake’s eighth album, For All The Dogs, these are his best songs (so far), from “TSU” to “Tuscan Leather” and “Crew Love” to “Controlla.”

12/23/2023

Rappers like Jelly Roll have reached new heights by embracing country music.

Is this country-rap hybrid sound something new, or a return to tradition?

In this week's Rap Column, The FADER's Nadine Smith explores what the rise of Jelly Roll says about country music's relationship with hip-hop.

12/23/2023

a.s.o.'s a.s.o. is our No. 1 album of 2023.

Mere appropriation of the Gen X Soft Club aesthetic this album gestures to will be the goal of most ‘90s-mining artists; a.s.o. have a much deeper well of intention.

From bar italia to billy woods and yeule to Yves Tumor, these are the albums The FADER loved in 2023.

12/22/2023

.s.o.music’s a.s.o. is our No. 1 album of the year.

It’s dream-pop for an abandoned megacity airport terminal in a William Gibson story, conspiring for an album that does not seek to mirror what came before to create its power. That’s not to say it runs from the past: there are strands of trip-hop — a genre of greyscale samples, atrophied breakbeats, and ennui rendered rapturous — as well as its more demure sibling downtempo, where dub’s inherent s*xiness was integrated into rakish Eurodisco. But it’s in their confluence where something radical happens.

Mere appropriation of the Gen X Soft Club aesthetic this album gestures to will be the goal of most ‘90s-mining artists; a.s.o. have a much deeper well of intention. It’s what makes a.s.o a success rather than imitating styles of music created three or four decades ago, and how the album glides out of their echoes and into one of its own.

Hit the link in bio for our full list of the 50 best albums of 2023.

*o

12/22/2023

Spencer Eldin, the man who appeared on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind as a child, has had his lawsuit against the band revived by an appeals court.

12/21/2023

Check out indie soul artists Club Lotus.

The indie-soul outfit talk musical spontaneity, and how platforms like BandLab and ReverbNation can help lighten the load of doing it all.

12/21/2023

spent their first few years as a band quite literally defying identification. This only deepened the enigmatic qualities of a group putting out music indebted to the indie rock canon on a World Music label more renowned for its experimental output. It was a confusing introduction that raised many questions: chiefly, who is making these fuzzy lovelorn guitar jams?

The band have released two albums this year, Tracey Denim and The Twits (the latter on Matador), pushing them far closer to a permanent fixture than some kind of riddle and away from the “mysterious” tag they felt had begun to become a cliche.

“It tests your conviction,” Sam Fenton says. “You have to really believe in everything you do on a micro and macro level. At first it can feel like a crisis of identity. Especially when you have identified with being unsuccessful and being part of a scene. Then, when you come through it, it strengthens the things that you believe in.”

Read our interview with Bar Italia at the link in bio.

✍️
📸 Steve Gullick

12/21/2023

“Making music about being in a band is alienating and nobody likes it. It’s why by album three most bands are s**t. They’re not in touch with the world anymore.”


Read a rare interview with bar italia.

Bar Italia give a rare interview looking back over a year in which they released two albums: Tracey Denim and The Twits.

12/21/2023

Proceeds from the 12” will be donated to Doctors Without Borders staff working in Gaza.

Massive Attack announce exclusive vinly 12" ceasefire featuring Fontaines D.C. and Young Fathers. Proceeds from the EP will be donated to Dictors Without Borders working in Gaza.

12/20/2023

We spoke to Lord Finesse, DJ Spinna, and DJ Dahi about samplings past, present, and the endless possibilities of its future.

Producers Lord Finesse, DJ Spinna, and DJ Dahi weigh in on sampling’s past, present, and the endless possibilities of its future.