“Just having money in general, especially when you’re showcasing cars or things on your body, you’re obviously a target. Hip-hop often tries to sell wealth and success on social media. But at some point, you’re just giving somebody a list of potential victims” - Rapper Glasses Malone says to LA Times after the recent killing of PnB Rock. He's just the last one in a string of the city’s black music community losses over the last couple of years. The LA daily sees a change - more security and less public flamboyance among local rappers.

Jamaica's broadcasting agency has banned music that "glorifies illegal activity" - such as drug and gun use, the BBC reports. The ban covers TV and radio and lists specific topics that are off-limits - scamming, drug abuse and the illegal use of firearms. Swearing or "near-sounding" replacements are also banned. Some artists who argue music is a reflection of life have criticized the ban.

An American artist or an academic can't get nominated for MacArthur Fellows award, and the pool of candidates is a tightly-held secret. It's also a sweet cash prize. This year's 25 Fellows will each receive $800,000, a "no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential". This year's class of so-called 'geniuses' includes three musicians:

Martha Gonzalez of Scripps College is a musician, scholar and artist/activist "strengthening cross-border ties and advancing participatory methods of artistic knowledge production in the service of social justice"

Ikue Mori of New York, N.Y., is an electronic music composer and performer "transforming the use of percussion in improvisation and expanding the boundaries of machine-based music.

Tomeka Reid of Chicago, Ill, is a jazz cellist and composer "forging a unique jazz sound that draws from a range of musical traditions and expanding the expressive possibilities of the cello in improvised music"

WeTransfer presents artists who have put down roots in the deserts of the world – including Tinariwen, Cate Le Bon, Mdou Moctar, Imarhan, and Itasca – to find out how the landscape has shaped their sound and altered their perspective. Algerian desert rock quintet Imarhan's frontman Sadam has an interesting perspective: "In the nostalgia there is hope because you would always hope to find again what you miss. The space in the desert gives a lot of room for nostalgia. The wind specifically is an element that brings nostalgia. It makes you travel in your mind. You will feel carried by the wind, even if you are surrounded by people.”

Okkervil River's Will Sheff is about to embark on the US tour, and he estimates that he’ll lose approximately $5-7,000 end on his East and West coast tours. He expects to lose double that in Europe. He shares his thoughts in the Stereogum interview: “These tours feel like you have to charge in with the bayonets and cannons. You already know from the manager telling you and every other band telling you, ‘It’s a tough climate, there’s no money – go out and fail!'”. On the other hand, Animal Collective have cancelled their UK/EU dates, citing "inflation, currency devaluation, bloated shipping and transportation costs and much much more",

based singer-songwriter and guitarist Meg Baird has shared a video for 'Will You Follow Me Home?'. It's from her new album 'Furling', out January 27, her first solo record since 2015’s 'Don't Weigh Down the Light'. The mysterious London collective Sault have returned with a brand new single ‘Angel’, produced by SAULT frontman Inflo, featuring vocals from Jamaican artist Chronixx.

“Today, in wartime, our community is starting to make itself visible again. New parties awaken memories of a long-forgotten phenomenon: life” - Kyiv-based photographer Arthur Vovchenko and Anna Lukash told Mix Mag after STEZHKA, queer party, was held on the first weekend of October. “We are going through very dark times, so parties are valued differently now. I feel that the community needs this space, we need to see each other, kiss, talk, and dance in order to support each other and ourselves” - Arthur says.

Radio pioneer Art Laboe, who spent seven decades behind a microphone, brought rock 'n roll to the West Coast and coined the phrase "Oldies but Goodies", died at age 97 on Friday at his home in Palm Springs. The radio legend is credited with pioneering industry standards such as audience requests and song dedications, and he is believed to be the first DJ to play rock 'n roll tunes on Los Angeles radio. He was also among the first DJs to play music by both Black and white artists, and he built a major following among Latino communities across the region. Laboe’s last show was produced last week and broadcast on Sunday night, two days after he died. LA Times shares a lovely story about their co-citizen.

Protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini entered a fourth week in defiance of a bloody crackdown. Amini died on September 16, three days after she was arrested by “morality police” for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women. The nonprofit Iran Human Rights estimated that at least 154 people, including children, have been killed in the protests. Pitchfork points out to the de facto anthem of protests - 'Baraye', written by the 25-year-old singer Shervin Hajipour. The song’s lyrics are composed of crowdsourced social media posts from Iranians - “For my sister, your sister, our sister ... For dancing in the alleys ... For terror when kissing ... For women, life, freedom” - with each line beginning with “Baraye,” which translates to “Because of…” or “For…” in Farsi.

The Spectator introduces 'Industry', the British-made TV drama about young bankers: "More and more bankers are shirking expensive bottle-service clubs for those which can be considered ‘cool’ – venues such as Fabric, Fold and Oval Space, many nestled in the half-gentrified warehouse districts of east London. These play techno, house and other strands of electronic music which eschew the sugar-rush build-ups and bass drops of commercial dance. Many bankers treat this more in-the-know kind of clubbing as social camouflage: escaping the stigma of a boring corporate job with a night under strobe lights".