ng Stone looks at the Russian rappers going against the war in Ukraine. "The big bosses will send [you] to the slaughterhouse. Bosses never gave a f*ck" - rapper Morgenshtern says in one of his songs. Oxxxymiron has opposed the war since its beginning, canceling Russian shows in protest. Siberian rapper-producer Slava Marlow shared footage on his Instagram story of the March 1 Russian strike on Kharkiv’s Freedom Square that killed at least 10 people. The Face is believed to have left Russia for Dubai sometime in early 2022. He said - “You made a wrong joke. And you wound up on the blacklist”.

Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova won a silver medal for her performance at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She danced to Florence and the Machine’s 'Call Me Cruella' and the Stooges classic 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'.

Universal Music Group has signed a first-of-its-kind partnership with digital therapeutics company MedRhythms, in order to help people with walking impairments, Rolling Stone reports. The partnership provides MedRhythms with access to UMG’s catalog in order to build “direct stimulation solutions” that use clinical-grade sensors, software and music to help restore function lost to neurologic disease or injury. MedRhythms is developing a patented platform of evidence-based, prescription digital therapeutics using music to address walking impairments.

Alana Haim of the sisters trio Haim stars in the new movie ''Licorice Pizza', directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, a frequent collaborator of her family trio. The film also stars Tom Waits, as well as Cooper Hoffman (the son of Anderson favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman), Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, and Benny Safdie. The film is about “growing up, running around and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973”. The trailer, soundtracked by David Bowie’s 'Life on Mars?' is out now.

'Karen Dalton: In My Own Time', a new documentary on the folk singer is coming out October 1st. The trailer, out now, features archival footage of Dalton, from her upbringing in Oklahoma to her days New York City’s Greenwich Village folk scene, where she sang with Bob Dylan, and Tim Hardin. It chronicles her tumultuous life that ended with her death in 1993 from AIDS when she was just 55 years old — and the cult following she’s had since.

George Harrison has returned to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart for the first time since 1971, following the launch of a new reissue of his former No. 1 album 'All Things Must Pass', Billboard reports. The album, now at No. 7 on Billboard, was newly mixed and reissued in a variety of formats. At the top Billboard spot for the second week in a row, it's Billie Eilish’s 'Happier Than Ever', as the set earns 85,000 equivalent album units in the U.S.

"I’ve been thinking about the idea of queer joy so much, because any kind of advocacy with anything that’s going on, any marginalized community, usually the advocacy is rooted in righteous anger or grieving. It’s actually so radical to express joy in the face of a world that writ large does not want you to have it. So, now I love Pride" - queer songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Julien Baker says in Slate podcast. She also talks about how she chooses to perform queerness or not perform it, and other themes.

Flying Lotus has scored and executive produced the new anime series 'Yasuke', which is set to premiere on Netflix on April 29th, and the trailer is out now. LeSean Thomas, a veteran of 'The Boondocks' and 'Black Dynamite', created and directed the series, while LaKeith Stanfield ('Atlanta') voices the titular character. Yasuke takes its name from the first Black samurai to serve a warlord in Japan.

Spanish singer-songwriter and rapper C. Tangana makes a detour on his newest album 'El Madrileño - on his third long-playing release the Madridian adds flamenco and folk elements to his hip-hop. He didn't do it alone - twelve out of fourteen tracks are a collaboration with other renowned artists from many countries and ages. Speaking to Rolling Stone he said - "it can please anyone in the world and you don’t have to be very intellectual for something to surprise you at a sound level".

London artist Nuha Nuby Ra has released her debut EP 'How To Move', an avant-garde pop record that draws from the punk DIY ethos in order to experiment with music. The Quietus hears Nuha Nuby Ra finding herself in opposition to many things on 'How To Move' – "convention, sensuality, misery, vexation – and transforms it all right in front of us". In the Wax Music interview, Nuha Nuby Ra explains what her influences are, and how she made her EP.

Recording Academy has revealed the recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards - Talking Heads, Selena, Salt-N-Pepa, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, opera singer Marilyn Horne, and late jazz great Lionel Hampton will all receive the Special Merit gramophones, Variety reports.

Travis Scott’s virtual concert in Fortnite in April reportedly earned him roughly $20million including merchandise sales, according to a new Forbes report. In comparison, Scott’s four-month-long, 56-stop Astroworld tour from 2018 to 2019 garnered approximately $53.5million, or roughly just under $1million per show. Despite the actual virtual concert’s length of nine minutes, it took months to put the event together. The show also attracted a record concurrent player count for Fortnite of 12.3 million.

Former The World We Knew singer Frank Fanelli has started a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe to help those whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by coronavirus – including roadies, sound technicians, booking agents and tour management. Fanelli, who owns CAT Clothing, has released a line of T-shirts labeled ‘Merch Daddy’ and he plans to split the money between anyone with proof that they’ve lost income as a touring crew member due to the coronavirus. The page was down for two days, now it's working again. By Thursday morning $15,160 was raised of $20,000 target.

Of course there's light at the end of corona-tunnel, and Mark, My Words sees it: "Personally, I’m not dreading the lockdown. I’m lucky that I can do most of my job from the comfort of my own bed mess. I’ve got a novel to finish, a million records to listen to, a virulent online poker habit to feed and Dry Januarys backdated to 2005 to catch up on. I’m actually looking forward to the convenience of watching major bands livestreaming their gigs rather than trudging to an ice cavern in North London to watch them from half a mile away with a 12 quid Coke".

"Heavens almighty, what beautiful music Lotus Thief have created" - Invisible Oranges starts it's text about 'Oresteia', new album by the post-black metal/doom/psychedelic New York band. "Lotus Thief have completely revamped their sound, adding significant dynamics, amplified emotions, and the absolute best singing from frontwoman Bezaelith yet... I bow my head to this level of mastery; I give my everything for this quality of music".

Toy and figure makers Funko are presenting a slew of new collectible vinyl Pop! figures at the annual London Toy Fair. They’ve unveiled a bunch of new additions to their “Pop Rocks” music collection, including Slayer, Motörhead, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, James Brown, Salt N Peppa, Lil Wayne, Slipknot, Eazy-E, Papa Nihil of Ghost, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.