Source: Jason Kempin / Getty The gospel titan Richard Smallwood died Dec. 30, at the age of 77, from complications of kidney failure, and Black America responded the way it always does when a true architect of our inner lives leaves us.  We responded with sound. Choirs leaned into his harmonies. Church musicians pulled his […]

Source: BG048/Bauer-Griffin / Getty Where is the prevailing subversive music in the Trump era? Is the scarcity merely a reflection of U.S. imperial collapse being met with the wider disgruntled masses’ inaction?  The Trump administration has confronted a record number of protests, but the music of this moment is generally not reflective of the ire […]

✕ If every musical note in New Orleans were history, then Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club could be the city’s master historian. For more than five decades, this intimate music house has welcomed locals and travelers alike, offering traditional Creole dishes and some of the best jazz, blues, and R&B the city has to offer. It’s not just […]

Source: Roger Kisby / Getty I entered July thinking I’d spend the rest of summer listening to Clipse’s phenomenal Let God Sort Em Out and contemplating giving up my career to try my hand at cooking a brick in the air fryer. So imagine my surprise last week when Tyler, The Creator announced not only […]

Getty Images for ESSENCE Tamar Braxton has always been one to use her voice for good — good music, that is! — and now she’s getting even louder with a new partnership alongside Gilead Sciences that will aim to promote HIV prevention like PrEP specifically to Black women. The big news was revealed this past […]

Source: Taylor Hill / Getty Let the Church say “Yugh!” Friday, July 11, marks the drop of Let God Sort Em Out, the long-awaited new album from Clipse, our favorite brotherly rap duo from Virginia Beach (757 REPRESENT!) and the undisputed pen-wielding philosophers of powdery prosperity. To be clear, this is not just some album […]

A new horizon is making its way over the city of Baltimore, one that’s rich in community development, hopeful in the advancement of hometown athletics and by the grace of God experiencing its lowest homicide rate in 50 years for the first half of 2025. Of course, that elevated purview in particular is being credited […]

Source: Prince Williams / Getty At his best, one of the things that made Timbaland’s music so great was the way it oozed personality.  Even now in 2025, his beats from the 90s and 2000s still sound ahead of their time. Splicing baby coos, Godzilla shrieks, and mouth-made percussion into his creations made for some […]

Source: Courtesy of Tre Media / Tre Media At a time when Black millennials are watching every version of the “American Dream” fall apart, Brandy and Monica announcing their first-ever tour isn’t just an iconic moment in music; it’s a powerful reminder that some things we thought were lost can still come back to us, […]

Source: Focus On Sport / Getty It’s been a year since Kendrick Lamar dropped the diss heard ’round the world and reminded folks that everyone is ”Not Like Us.”  While the cultural aftershocks are still shaking the industry, what started as a lyrical boxing match with Drake quickly became something much bigger: a declaration of […]