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He just released a top five album with Quavo and will soon drop his latest solo LP. But what hip-hop's enigmatic hitmaker really wants this year--besides a headlining arena tour [...]

Twenty years ago, Beck lost album of the year to Celine Dion. Two years ago, he beat out Beyonce in the same category. Having played both the innovative underdog and [...]

J. Cole's first album debuted at No. 1, helping ignite a new movement in hip-hop. But for his follow-up, he's taken on a new set of challenges: eschewing guest rappers [...]

'DAMN--I SHOULD'VE BROUGHT THE WEED with me,' says Miguel, staring out at the rows of yachts moored by the waterfront patio of the Marina del Rey Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles. [...]

From Aloe Blacc to Afrojack--and that's just the A's--29 of the most highly anticipated releases of the coming season, including Rick Ross, Shakira and even the late, great Johnny Cash [...]

PARK CITY, JAN. 21-24 NEITHER BAD WEATHER NOR JET LAG COULD STOP BILLBOARD'S second Winterfest from dominating the music scene at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. 'I was in Paris [...]

Janelle Monae, Tove Lo and other music stars share their most recent page-turners Tove Lo The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart 'It's about a [fictional] psychologist who uses dice to [...]

IT'S EASIER TO BREAK RULES IF THE RULES WERE never there.' That, says Nathan McLay, is the defining ethos of Future Classic, the indie label that is at ground zero [...]

AUSTIN, MARCH 17-22 'THANKS FOR STANDING IN THE F--ING RAIN FOR US,' AUSSIE rocker Courtney Barnett (see page 23), one of SXSW's biggest breakouts, told a soggy crowd at Stubb's [...]

There was a minute where I thought, 'Is this over?'" recalls Darius Rucker of the mid-20005, when the success of his alt-rock band Hootie & The Blowfish was winding down. […]

He has the hottest R&B single out, but no video or album to show for it. Even after label and personal drama, he admits, 'I only blame myself'. Fifty-two different [...]

Alt-R&B duo Chloe& Halle, ages 17 and 16, respectively, spent the night of April 23 like many other music fanatics: freaking out over Beyonce's innovative visual album, Lemonade. 'We had [...]

Martin Shkreli may be the only person to hear RZA's work on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the one-of-a-kind, $2 million Wu-Tang Clan LP. The MC-producer is guaranteed a [...]

Need another reminder that Nick Jonas ain't on Disney anymore? In the first few minutes of new movie Goat, he snorts coke and plots a foursome. But the film, an [...]

Days before new album Khalifa (Feb. 5, Atlantic), the rapper talks Oscars snub and diversity 'See You Again,' featuring Charlie Puth, is up for a song of the year Grammy [...]

KANYE WEST 'REAL FRIENDS' G.O.O.D. MUSIC **** West's last surprise drop, 'Facts,' had even his biggest stans fearing the upcoming Swish would end up an air-ball. Relax, everyone: 'Real Friends' [...]

VH1's new TV movie The Breaks depicts New York's rap industry circa 1990. But unlike Empire's over-the-top drama, the film (inspired by Dan Charnas' book The Big Payback: The History [...]

I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY REALLY GOOD IDEAS you get in a lifetime, but the idea of telling Hamilton as a hip-hop story was definitely one because you get to [...]

JEREMIH 'OUI' DEF JAM ***1/2 Jeremih is a master of the tease, and not just because his album Late Nights has been postponed since 2014. Today's radio-ready R&B is rarely [...]

MIIKE SNOW 'HEART IS FULL' ATLANTIC/DOWNTOWN ***1/2 Electro-pop supergroup Miike Snow's three members (Avant, Bloodshy and Andrew Wyatt) have written and produced for the likes of Britney Spears and Bruno [...]

DJ SNAKE 'MIDDLE' INTERSCOPE ***1/2 After following out-of-nowhere smash 'Turn Down for What' with eclectic hits with Aluna-George and Major Lazer, DJ Snake continues to surprise with this subtle but [...]

STRETCH AND BOBBITO: RADIO THAT CHANGED LIVES Saboteur Media **** Radio show that helped launch Nas, Jay Z and more gets a documentary IN THE EARLY DAYS, HIP-HOP DIDN'T have [...]

One of hip-hop's top songwriters, Rhymefest helped pen tracks like Kanye West's 'Jesus Walks' and John Legend and Common's Oscar-winning 'Glory.' But his most compelling work yet isn't a rap [...]

MILEY CYRUS 'HANDS OF LOVE' RCA ***1/2 It's not clear if this song from Freeheld, the new film about a gay cancer patient's fight to pass on her pension to [...]

HAMILTON (ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING) Atlantic Records ***** The epochal Broadway musical is nearly as thrilling on record 2015'S BEST RAP ALBUM ISN'T BY Drake or Kendrick Lamar--it's the cast [...]

PENTATONIX FEATURING TINK "CAN'T SLEEP LOVE" RCA **** A cappella is normally more suited for talent shows and holidays than radio. But this single, from the self-titled debut of the [...]

A decade ago, Matthew Morgan, 51, and Jocelyn Cooper, 46, started Afropunk, a free annual festival in Brooklyn that highlighted what they billed as 'alternative black culture' through eclectic headliners [...]

TATE KOBANG "BANK ROLLZ" 300 ENTERTAINMENT **** 1/2 Baltimore could use a feel-good story, and this danceable earworm by East Side newbie Tate Kobang could be it. Using the beat [...]

TINK AND TAZER 'WET DOLLARS' BLACK BUTTER RECORDS **1/2 One of the few female rappers Azealia Banks hasn't beefed with is also one of the most promising: Tink. But a [...]

GORGON CITY FEATURING ROMANS 'SAVING MY LIFE' PRIORITY/CAPITOL RECORDS **** Two years after Disclosure's breakthrough, London's neo-garage revolution is still going strong--maybe stronger, judging by this single from duo Gorgon [...]

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEATURING ED SHEERAN "GROWING UP (SLOANE'S SONG)" MACKLEMORE LLC ** 1/2 Following Kanye West's "Only One," 2015 has its second love-note from MC to child: Macklemore [...]

A year ago, everyone was worried about Mac Miller. In May 2014, a few months after splitting from Rostrum Records, the hometown indie that helped make him a star, the [...]

DISCLOSURE FEATURING SAM SMITH 'OMEN' CAPITOL **** In 2012, London unknowns Disclosure and Smith released 'Latch,' one of the best songs of the decade and an intro to the most [...]

A LOOK AT WHO'S SAYING WHAT IN MUSIC 'What's on the surface always looks like one big party, but inside there is a little boy looking for help and guidance.' [...]

From her lilting accent to what she calls an 'all day long' tea habit, folk-soul singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas is London to the core. But her gorgeous second LP, Blood [...]

** EMINEM FEATURING GWENSTEFANI 'KINGS NEVER DIE' SHADY/INTERSCOPE New film Southpaw was inspired by 8 Mile, and 'Kings Never Die,' the soundtrack's single, clearly was too. It's the ^same song [...]

**** VINCE STAPLES Summertime '06 Artium/Def Jam MOST PEOPLE LOOK BACK at the summers of their youth as a dreamy mix of beach trips, bike rides and puppy-love crushes. But [...]

TRAVIE McCOY FEATURING SIA "GOLDEN" D2DC/FUELED BY RAMEN ** McCoy debuted his spring-break-y pop-rap sound (emphasis on pop) almost 10 years ago. Hits by acts like Chiddy Bang followed the [...]

LIL WAYNE 'GLORY' CASH MONEY/YOUNG MONEY **** 1/2 With his album in limbo amid a lawsuit against Cash Money, Lil Wayne raps like his career depends on it on 'Glory,' [...]

VINCE STAPLES FEATURING FUTURE 'SENORITA' DEF JAM *** 1/2 Odd Future affiliate Vince Staples, one of rap's most promising, most underrated upstarts, finally has a song that could make him [...]

HUDSON MOHAWKE 'RYDERZ' WARP ***** This Glasgow beat prodigy has long straddled the line between EDM and rap, but 'Ryderz' is a grand-slam turn toward the latter. With 808 snares [...]

I've always had a husky voice, and that was fine --until my schedule went from this to this. I did Jimmy Kimmel Live! and I knew something was wrong. I [...]