Have I done some version of this introduction multiple times this year, most notably when Five on it happens to fall on Bandcamp Day? Yes, absolutely. But it bears repeating. This week, so many of us enjoyed poring through the weird data from streaming giant Spotify, to see what it has learned about us over […]

Photo credit: composite of DJ Lag ‘Ice Drop’ video (YouTube), will.iam Wikimedia Commons photo, plus record covers for Solomon Linda, Manu Dibango and Golden Sounds) I don’t know what I was expecting when I clicked on DJ Megan Ryte’s new music video for ‘Culture’, featuring will.I.am and A$AP Ferg, last week. As the video began, […]

Five on it image: The Weeknd’s After Hours artwork via Canva Listen, every year we have to have this conversation. Those “wow, I can’t believe the Grammys snubbed this artist/group/song/album” conversations. In 2020, it’s been: “sorry did they forget women in rap put out albums too?” “Are they aware of the Weeknd releasing some of […]

Five on it image: Megan Thee Stallion – ‘Body’ screenshot This week in music has been hectic. In the UK, it’s been a bad week on Twitter for a few men in the music industry. Not3s and Dutchavelli have become hot topics on the TL, both being dragged by users for some personal drama. If […]

Five on it image: Pa Salieu artwork cover There’s been a lot of grim news in music this week and trust me when I say we will get into that ASAP. For now, though, let me just offer my solidarity with anyone affected. I hope you are also taking a moment to pause and rest […]

I vividly remember sitting down on a Sunday night as many of us did to watch the latest series of The X Factor in 2010. While millions tuned into the popular talent show to see who would take the crown, part of its allure for me was the many famous acts that performed on the […]

Five on it Bandcamp Day meme via Inzanely Rejected / canva Few things have felt consistent this year. Even fail-safe Five on it has not always been like clockwork these past few months (take last week, for example, wherein due to last-minute circumstances I was unable to write it up). It’s weird, because in some […]

The world was left mesmerised by Normani’s flexibility in ‘Motivation’. Chloe X Halle’s backyard tennis court has become as renowned as Wimbledon. Einstein has been shamed and outclassed since Rina Sawayama invented musicality.  With an increasing turn of critically-acclaimed work, this is a new age of pop with people of colour (POC) at the centre.    […]

Five on it imagery: composite artist photos from YouTube If you’re feeling overwhelmed (at best) lately, that’s no surprise. Bad news keeps rolling in around the globe but, unlike in normal times, we can’t be there to hold one another through it all. Instead, we are more plugged in than ever and the privilege of […]

Remembering the first time she played the guitar, Bea Kristi Laus shrugs her shoulders: “Everything made sense.” Her simple but poignant answer feels telling. Bea – best known as beabadoobee – makes music that feels effortlessly striking. In fact, NME has described her as “devastatingly cool”, an interpretation that Bea cringes at.“It’s so weird”, she […]

Five on it photography: image of Jess Fisher via Reshape Music Understandably, it feels like everyone has been fuming lately. Fuming about the government’s response to the pandemic, fuming about the ongoing destruction of the creative industries, fuming about already-precarious jobs becoming more and more insecure. But the thing is, for a lot of people […]

anaïs and Azekel photography by Lynn Hayleigh What comes to your mind when you think of Black love? For some it might be Love & Basketball for others it might be Barack and Michelle Obama. Whatever the case, Black love is important and something we often don’t see represented in mainstream media.  Singers anaïs and […]