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Tuesday

Young Thug performs at half time at the game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics on November 17, 2021 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Young Thug performs during halftime of a game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics on Nov. 17, 2021, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images hide caption

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Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images

Music

Why the judge in Young Thug’s trial was just recused from the case

Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville was taken off the YSL RICO case this week after his actions in an ex parte meeting were deemed damaging to public perception of the case.

Wednesday

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour.

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation

Review

Music Features

Unpacking hip-hop's sprawl in 2024's most eclectic release date

Megan Thee Stallion's post-traumatic reset, a left-field Lil Yachty collab, the raunchy return of cupcaKKe: June 28 delivered a truckload of major albums, and a portrait of modern rap's main tension.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Megan Thee Stallion performs during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption

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Rich Fury/Getty Images

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

A lot has happened to rapper Megan Thee Stallion over the last couple of years including a highly publicized trial after being shot by a former friend, a messy breakup, and a feud with artist Nicki Minaj. She confronts all of that and more on her boastful and vulnerable new album Megan. But she also has fun on playful tracks like 'Down Stairs DJ' and 'Otaku Hot Girl' that are odes to self-pleasure and her anime nerddom.

Megan Thee Stallion sheds her skin on 'Megan'

Listen · 19:59
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Wednesday

Tuesday

"Do I truly feel like hip-hop is dead? No, I don't," Questlove tells NPR. "However, I do believe that the landscape and the rules have changed. And some of its participants don't know it." Christian Germoso hide caption

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Christian Germoso

Music

In an industry of conformity, Questlove remains a hip-hop iconoclast

In a new interview, Questlove reveals why Drake vs. Kendrick was so triggering, how he regained his passion for hip-hop and what to expect from the new Roots album.

Questlove reflects on changes in culture and music with his book 'Hip-Hop Is History'

Listen · 7:00
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Friday

Thursday

Kendrick Lamar performs during

Kendrick Lamar performs during "The Pop Out — Ken & Friends," his June 19 concert event at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Timothy Norris/Getty Images for pgLang, Amazon/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Timothy Norris/Getty Images for pgLang, Amazon/Getty Images North America

Review

Music Features

Kendrick Lamar takes the West Coast off standby

Lamar's blowout Juneteenth concert, held at the Forum in Los Angeles and live-streamed on Amazon Music, planted flags for the future of LA rap, while uniting in hate for a certain Toronto titan.

Friday

Brittany Davis brings their life into vivid focus on 'Image Issues'

Brittany Davis Lance Mercer/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Lance Mercer/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe Words and Music Podcast

Brittany Davis brings their life into vivid focus on 'Image Issues'

WXPN

Born without sight, Davis uses their mastery of sound to bring their inner turmoil, and joy, to life on their new album.

Brittany Davis on World Cafe

Listen · 41:13
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Wednesday

For most of the film, hampton is a grinning, tomboy femme fly on the wall. She’s much more in documentarian mode than interviewer.

For most of the film, hampton is a grinning, tomboy femme fly on the wall. She’s much more in documentarian mode than interviewer. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music Features

‘It Was All a Dream’ shows the work of a nascent rap feminist

A new documentary by the hip-hop historian and critic dream hampton, culled from her own never-before-seen footage of rap's golden age, illustrates the hard labor for women who love the music.

Eminem, performing here during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in 2022, returns to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week with

Eminem, performing here during the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in 2022, returns to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week with "Houdini." Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images hide caption

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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Music News

The top songs of the week take a nostalgia trip, courtesy of Eminem

For a seventh straight week, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department rules the Billboard 200. On the singles chart, Eminem references both the Steve Miller Band and his own past glory.

TIKTOK 50 CHART

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Friday

Thursday

Wednesday

Thursday

Rapsody's album Please Don't Cry functions as a reintroduction to the rapper — long defined by her technique, now revealing some of the real person behind that prowess.

Rapsody's album Please Don't Cry functions as a reintroduction to the rapper — long defined by her technique, now revealing some of the real person behind that prowess. Jhalin Knowles/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jhalin Knowles/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music Features

Mask off: When rappers bust their own myths

Rapsody and Mach-Hommy, two rap technicians long defined by their skill above all, shake off that armor on a pair of striking new albums that demonstrate wildly different kinds of vulnerability.