Music

Cardi B's new album, already double platinum, debuts at No. 1

Stephen Thompson

Thanks to the inclusion of several gigantic hits like "WAP" and "Up" that had never appeared on an album, Cardi B's Am I the Drama? was guaranteed platinum status before it was even released.
Arts & Culture

Colombia: The birthplace of cumbia

Karla Gachet

Ivan Kashinsky

One of the most listened-to genres in the Americas, photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.
The BET Hip Hop Awards cut the cord as DEI dies

Rodney Carmichael

The show's suspension comes amid broader efforts to curb diversity at the institutional level. The next attempt to canonize the movement must learn lessons from its successes — and its missteps.
Politics

Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech

Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Committee for the First Amendment first launched in the 1940s, when the House Un-American Activities Committee accused Hollywood actors, directors and writers of being communists or sympathizers.
Taylor Swift popularized fighting for masters. Are more artists getting ownership?

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

Taylor Swift turned masters ownership from a behind-the-scenes conversation into a mainstream debate about artist autonomy. But how has that fight influenced other artists in the music industry?
'I can't stop DJing,' Mark Ronson says — never mind the back pain

Tonya Mosley

Ronson's memoir, Night People, is a love letter to late-night 1990s New York City. Ronson would go on to produce music for Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and other pop superstars.
Economy

Spotify's Daniel Ek announces that he'll step aside as CEO

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

The founder of the world's biggest music streaming service says he'll remain at the company as Executive Chairman, and will be replaced by two co-CEOs.
How Taylor Swift's accent and dialect have changed throughout her eras

Destinee Adams

In a rare study, two audiologists found that Taylor Swift's accent has, indeed, changed over the years, reflecting where she's lived, where she wants to go and who she's inspired by.
International

Lesotho's Famo music: from shepherd songs to gang wars

Kate Bartlett

In Lesotho, a style of traditional accordion music called Famo has become entangled with deadly gang rivalries. Once the soundtrack of shepherds and migrant workers, today it's linked to killings, government bans — and a fight over cultural identity.
While the pop girls skewer boys, Olivia Dean's 'Man I Need' has hope

Hazel Cills

Dean's "Man I Need" is her first song to chart on Billboard's Hot 100, and it joins a growing trend of young women writing frustrated pop hits about love and dating.