| Becoming a household name has been complicated. Because you don’t get to choose the people you become a household name for. |
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Little Richard in January 1990.
(Robert Knight Archive/Redferns/Getty Images)
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“Becoming a household name has been complicated. Because you don’t get to choose the people you become a household name for.”
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Lil Richard X
Time is a flat circle and LIL NAS X is LITTLE RICHARD. Conversations comparing the pop superstar and the rock progenitor—both Georgia natives— have become commonplace, for reasons that are obvious on the surface. Nas, like Richard, is a theatrical musician who combines sexualized Black art and gender-bending provocations. They both thrived in a time when the taboo nature of what they do had loud sociopolitical resonance. But there's more than that.
One of the most often asked questions about Lil Nas X is, exactly what type of music does he make? Little Richard was asked that, too. Just as "OLD TOWN ROAD" was a rap tune that aggressively interloped into country music, Little Richard's 1957 breakthrough, "TUTTI FRUTTI," blended piano boogie, sanctified gospel and rhythmic blues in a manner the pop marketplace had never heard. The song was so strange in its rhythmic construction and lyrical constitution that, when adding it to the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2010, the Library noted that the "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music."
Like Little Richard making everything from bluesy covers of WILBERT HARRISON's "KANSAS CITY" to seductive slow drags like "VALLEY OF TEARS," Lil Nas X's singles since his debut hit have expanded in a scattershot of directions. They've awed and frightened a lot of adults and served as a clarion call to free-thinking, progressive-minded ribaldry. The sounds, like Richard's, twist and turn in unexpected ways: 2021's most heart-stopping video is for devil-worship twerk-dancing anthem "MONTERO," composed as a SHAKIRA-recalling pop-tango. His current single, "SUN GOES DOWN," is introspective drum-machine R&B.
Asking Lil Nas X to settle on a genre classification for his sounds feels reductive. But it's a necessity in a pop marketplace that loves characterization and commodification in equal measure. Perhaps, as a homage to Little Richard, it's time to start thinking of Lil Nas X the latest in a long line of rock and roll stars. And to sit back, enjoy the ride and let rock and roll's nature take its course. Histrionic boogie-woogie blues, timeless gospel and a pounding rhythm yielded everything from hip-hop to house and more. Imagine where a meeting of country, 2000s pop, trap, and soul might lead. Calling Lil Nas X a rock star—and nothing more—feels ideal.
It's Friday
And that means AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS Artist of the Year BRANDI CARLILE's seventh studio album, IN THESE SILENT DAYS, has arrived... LIL WAYNE just turned 39 and appears to be rapping as well as he did at 29 and 19. He joins emerging Queens emcee RICH THE KID on the mixtape TRUST FUND BABIES... TONY BENNETT and LADY GAGA singing the American songbook never gets old... George Strait and Willie Nelson are among the A-list guests joining Western swing icons ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL's on their 50th anniversary album, HALF A HUNDRED YEARS.
Plus, new music from MEEK MILL, ILLUMINATI HOTTIES, TIRZAH, BOOKA600, WIKI, JOJO, MINISTRY, ADRIAN YOUNGE & ALI SHAHEEN MUHAMMAD, KURT ELLING & CHARLIE HUNTER, BEN MARC, KEDR LIVANSKIY, MELISSA ETHERIDGE, COOKIN' SOUL, HEADIE ONE, THE BODY & BIG|BRAVE, BOY SCOUTS, STRAND OF OAKS, the SPECIALS, YES and the DOOBIE BROTHERS.
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| Marcus K. Dowling (@marcuskdowling), guest curator |
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| the music really sends me |
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SPIN |
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| Brandi Carlile Is Right on Time |
| by Marissa R. Moss |
| When Brandi Carlile released 'By the Way, I Forgive You', it changed everything for her. With her new album, Carlile is conquering the world. |
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The New York Times |
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| Why Write About Pop Music? ‘I Like When People Disagree About Stuff.’ |
| by John Williams |
| Kelefa Sanneh hopes to start some arguments with his new book, “Major Labels,” which chronicles the past 50 years of rock, hip-hop, country and other musical genres. |
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TED Talks |
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| The Black history of twerking -- and how it taught me self-love |
| by Lizzo |
| Twerking is mainstream now ... but do you know where it came from? Superstar Lizzo traces booty shaking to a traditional West African dance and tells how Black women across generations kept the rhythm alive, from blues and jazz singers to modern rap and hip-hop performers. |
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NFL.com |
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| Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar to perform at Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show |
| The first Super Bowl in Los Angeles this century will feature a star-studded halftime show befitting of Hollywood. |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| Is Morgan Wallen still canceled? For Grammy voters, it's decision time |
| by Holly Gleason |
| Morgan Wallen's use of a racial slur cost him an invitation to November's CMA Awards but not an album of the year nomination. Next up: What will Grammy voters do? |
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Music x |
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| One billion music creators: what does that look like? |
| by Maarten Walraven-Freeling |
| Making a tune is now as easy as taking a photo and uploading it to Instagram. With its 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram has made photographers out of all us. As phone cameras improved, the Instagram filters did the rest. Music has spent most of this century battling the ghosts of piracy. |
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Business Insider |
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| I'm a musician with a side hustle turning pages for others while they perform. It's one of the most difficult jobs in the industry but often goes uncredited. |
| by Hugh Morris |
| Page-turners help musicians by turning the pages of their sheet music while they perform. Michael Graham, a freelance composer and conductor, gets up to $135 per engagement to turn pages. This is what it's like, as told to Hugh Morris for Insider. |
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Billboard |
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| Sony Music Now Offering Artists Mental Health Support, Retirement Services |
| by Chris Eggertsen |
| Sony Music Entertainment is expanding on its previously announced Artists Forward program with a new initiative covering mental health and retirement services. |
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Stereogum |
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| Lil Wayne Is Rapping Like A Legend Again |
| by Jayson Buford |
| Lil Wayne's verse on Tyler, The Creator's "Hot Wind Blows" begins with a familiar Weezy simile. The N'Awlins-bred emcee has just stopped the beat and said "excuse me, pardon me," like an elder preacher beginning a sermon. A bar later, he is lumping the hard-blowing wind into Mother Nature's family tree like it's "arguing about some baby father beef." |
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The New Yorker |
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| The Vibrant Life and Quiet Passing of Dottie Dodgion |
| by Megan Mayhew Bergman |
| For fourteen years, through her eighties and into her nineties, Dottie Dodgion played the Inn at Spanish Bay, in Pebble Beach, on Thursday nights. The valets carried her gear into the lounge, which overlooked the Monterey coastline. |
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Variety |
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| Power of Women 2021: The L.A.-Based Female Music Executives Making an Impact |
| by Brooke Mazurek, Lily Moayeri and Ellise Shafer |
| As the summer of 2021 drew near, the music world had high hopes for a return to something resembling "normal": vaccines were becoming available, tours were being rescheduled, and people were bracing to return to the office in September. |
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NPR |
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| In Labelle And Beyond, Sarah Dash Could Never Fade Into The Background |
| by Maureen Mahon |
| Even next to Patti Labelle's charisma and Nona Hendryx's songcraft, there is no Labelle without the range and clarity of Dash's silver throat -- and the trio's commitment to singing as equals. |
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The New York Times |
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| Rappers Come Shop for Jewelry. Icebox Turns the Cameras on |
| by Jon Caramanica |
| An Atlanta store where hip-hop’s big names buy diamond-encrusted watches and chains has become a social media phenomenon by capturing the safe spaces of the rich and flamboyant. |
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The Guardian |
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| Everybody salsa! Fania, the ramshackle New York label that sent Latin rhythms global |
| by Stevie Chick |
| Its founders went from flogging LPs from a car to defining a genre in the late 60s. As a box set is released, manager Harvey Averne and star Joe Bataan recall those heady days in East Harlem. |
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Americana Highways |
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| Dar Williams and the Desire Path |
| by Jason M. Burns |
| It has been six years since Dar Williams released an album, but writing the songs for what would eventually become "I'll Meet You Here" -- available October 1 on BMG's Renew Records -- did not feel like a daunting task. |
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Black Girl Songbook |
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| Black Girl Songbook: The Blue-Eyed Soul Black Girls Love |
| by Danyel Smith and Raquel Smith |
| This week, Danyel Smith talks blue-eyed soul and musical segregation of the past and the present and how it affects artists’ legacies. She also talks about the difficulty of reckoning with this truth as it relates to being a fan of talented white artists like Madonna and Adele. Later, Danyel is joined by her sister and friend of the show, Raquel Smith, to discuss Raquel’s all-time favorite, Teena Marie. |
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DJ Mag |
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| Tresor at 30: the evolution of a Berlin techno institution |
| by Holly Dicker |
| One of the world's most respected clubs, Berlin's Tresor, has been at the forefront of underground dance music for three decades. Led by Dimitri Hegemann, Tresor has grown as a club space and record label; in making connections with core British, German and American artists, it has played a significant role in shaping what we recognise as real, underground techno today. |
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Okayplayer |
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| An Oral History Of Zumbi From Those Who Knew Him Best |
| by Alan Chazaro |
| In remembrance of Stephen Gaines, better known as rapper Zumbi, we broke down his legacy with five figures who were close to the legendary Bay Area artist. |
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| Music of the day |
| "Tutti Frutti" |
| Little Richard |
| Nearly seven decades later, it still feels and sounds musically dangerous on every level. |
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Nearly seven decades later, it still feels and sounds musically dangerous on every level.
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| Video of the day |
| "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" |
| Taylor Hackford |
| Taylor Hackford's 1987 concert film highlights another essential rock and roller's life. |
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YouTube |
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Taylor Hackford's 1987 concert film highlights another essential rock and roller's life.
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| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
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“REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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| Jason Hirschhorn |
| CEO & Chief Curator |
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