Two weeks ago, Spotify made headlines by announcing that it was extending its “hateful speech” and “hateful conduct” policies out into the real world, removing from its playlists music by artists whose off-stage actions are “so particularly out of line with our values, egregious, in a way that it becomes something…

Kendrick Lamar has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for last year’s Damn., an honor that has, in its 75-year history, previously only been awarded to classical and jazz records. The record was initially positioned as the Compton rapper’s back-to-basics effort after the sky-scraping ambition of To Pimp A…

In 1995, on Rosecrans Avenue in Compton, California, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur filmed the original music video for their song “California Love,” which featured the two West Coast rap icons rolling up to the swap meet in shiny new Bentleys. Unbeknownst to anyone, there was an 8-year-old watching from the sidelines that…

Kendrick Lamar put together a great soundtrack for Black Panther—or rather, an album inspired by Ryan Coogler’s groundbreaking entry into the MCU—and now he wants to book his ticket to Wakanda. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, the Damn. artist reveals he’s no longer content to just curate the music for superheroes…

Although Marvel’s Black Panther—and Kendrick Lamar’s accompanying soundtrack album for the film—have drawn strong reviews and massive box office takings over the last week, there’s at least one artist who’s unhappy with her unwanted (alleged) association with the film. Per Pitchfork, British-Liberian artist Lina…

It’s a good day to be a Wakandan. Or, if you prefer real-life winners (which thereby implies real-life losers, but let’s stay positive here, unless you want to talk about Fergie), it’s a good day to be Kendrick Lamar and the rest of the TDE crew responsible for the Black Panther soundtrack.

Here’s a best-case scenario confirmed: The Black Panther soundtrack is also one of the best rap albums of this young year, at once an expressive and cohesive addition to Kendrick Lamar’s oeuvre and a thoughtful mixtape from some of R&B and hip-hop’s best. Of course it comes from Top Dawg Entertainment, which has…

Most Black Panther fans nationwide still have to wait until February 16 to visit Wakanda, but they can already stream the soundtrack album curated by Kendrick Lamar and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. The 14-track compilation, Black Panther: The Album, is now out on Apple Music and Spotify, and features SZA, Khalid, Vince…

The anticipation for Black Panther couldn’t be higher. Ryan Coogler’s film is breaking presales records left and right, while his cast, led by Chadwick Boseman, is putting all other stars to shame on the red carpet. Kendrick Lamar’s done his part to stoke those flames, dropping songs here and there from the soundtrack…

It’s kind of a coin-flip about which one we’re excited for more: Ryan Coogler’s upcoming superhero throwdown, Black Panther, or Kendrick Lamar’s long-anticipated soundtrack for the film. As of today, that conundrum is at least a little more well-informed; Lamar released the track listing for the album on Twitter, and…

Due to Beyoncé’s penchant for developing her albums in secret and springing them on the public without notice, her fans have developed a kind of pop-music PTSD over the years, the result being that any sudden movement or cryptic quote from Queen B can throw the fandom into a panicked frenzy of anticipation. This…

Though the bulk of the statuettes had been handed out before the 60th Grammy Awards telecast began, the ceremony was still a lively affair thanks to stirring performances from Kendrick Lamar, Kesha, and Childish Gambino. But as the night went on, astute viewers noticed how few female nominees were making their way to…

Unlike the Emmys or the Academy Awards, the Grammys actually give out a bunch of awards before anyone is even on the red carpet, getting things like Best Music Video and Best Spoken World Album out of the way—despite the fact that the latter category seemed to be setting up a thrilling feud this year—before the…

Earlier this month, the Grammys announced that Kendrick Lamar would be returning to its stage for what we assumed would be another intense and powerful performance like his showing in 2016. Then, once rumors emerged that Lamar’s performance would feature a couple of special guests—specifically U2 and comedian Dave…

When a new tour is announced featuring two of the artists in The A.V. Club’s five best albums of 2017, it’s cause for us to get excited. But when that same tour includes other great musicians, including the guy who rapped, “Missus Piggy want her Biggie back...I’ma keep on eating till my ankles fat”? Perfection.

In 2016, Kendrick Lamar destroyed the stage at the Grammy Awards with a (somewhat literally) fiery showcase before going home with trophies for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Collaboration, and Best Rap Album. He might be looking for a repeat this year, with Billboard reporting that Lamar will open the…

Last night, Marvel released the new trailer for Black Panther, showing off a bunch of appealing new stuff from Ryan Coogler’s upcoming flick: painterly African vistas punctuated by spaceships, Forest Whitaker doing the groan-talk thing, a lot of high-flying action, and so on. But the clip also doubles as our second…

Interscope Records announced this morning that Kendrick Lamar and label exec Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith will “produce and curate” Black Panther: The Album in collaboration with the film’s director, Ryan Coogler. The upcoming Marvel film, due out February 16, stars Chadwick Boseman as the title character, and it will…

There was too much to listen to in 2017—not just albums, of which there were once again thousands, a barrage of releases from major-label veterans and SoundCloud up-and-comers alike, all vying for your attention. There was just too much of everything: a persistent, buzzing storm of push notifications and free-floating…