"A political activist in the US civil rights movement - before it was even a movement" - biographer Robert Atkinson said about Babatunde Olatunji, Nigeria-born drummer who spent his life in the US playing drums, and staging anti-racism protests. BBC recollects how Olatunji, in 1952, three years before Rosa Parks helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama, staged his own protests on public buses in the south. His protest was brave and clever - he and a group of students boarded a racially segregated bus in Atlanta wearing traditional African clothes and were allowed to sit anywhere they wanted because they were not identified as African Americans, who had to sit at the back. Day after they boarded the same bus in their Western clothing and refused to sit in the back. Olatunji was, however, better known for his music - he became a pioneering drummer, releasing 17 studio albums, including his 1959 debut 'Drums of Passion', widely credited with helping to introduce the West to "world music".

Producer and DJ Erick Morillo, best known for the 1993 hit 'I Like to Move It', has died aged 49, Local 10 reports. He began making music in the early ’90s under the name Reel 2 Real. In 1993, he collaborated with Trinidadian vocalist the Mad Stuntman for his iconic song 'I Like to Move It'. Morillo made one more album as Reel 2 Real, before launching his own label, Subliminal Records, in 1997. He released numerous singles and remixes, and an album under his own name.

Complex made a list of the 35 best hip-hop movies covering four decades of hip-hop history on celluloid. The youngest movie on the list is 'Roxanne Roxanne' from 2017, directed by Michael Larnell, telling the story of one of the first female solo rappers, Roxanne Shante. The No. 1 movie - 'Wild Style', directed by Charlie Ahearn in 1983, depicted hip-hop’s early days, offering the initial look at its four elements: MCing, DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing.

English scientists created a miniature version of the Stonehenge monument to test its acoustic properties, and discovered it amplified voices and improved the sound of any music being played for people standing within the massive circle of stones. The stones were arranged in a way that would also have prevented sound from leaking outside the circle.

Dutch-Iranian singer Sevdaliza's 'Shabrang is an album of sad music bringing joy through sheer beauty. The album is slow, but her voice gives it strength. It's pop music, but its sadness makes it alternative. Technically, there's not much music here, but its emotional maximalism gives it richness. A case of beautiful alter-pop music...

Livestreaming platforms of the future need to offer these three features, Cherie Hu argues: high production quality, close intimacy or proximity with artists and fans and/or frequent and consistent output. It's kinda obvious, but Hu emphasizes that in general the future of music livestreaming platforms must match the kind of livestreaming content musicians love to make, and that their fans love to watch and are willing to pay for.

Bandcamp presents Madlib's 'Medicine Show', producer's series focused on different genres and themes, featuring unreleased remixes and verses from some of Madlib’s most noted collaborators, showing Madlib at his most unrestrained. Some are straight rap albums, some go left of the field educating in obscure Brazilian music, psychedelic jazz, reggae dub and forgotten disco...

Triptych' is a single from the debut album by New York singer-songwriter Samia; Black Thought, Pusha T, Killer Mike shared an uplifting soul hip-hop single 'Good Morning'; 'The Death of Us' is a classic Lamb of God ripper from 'Bill & Ted' soundtrack; jazz but-I-really-like-hip-hop pianist Robert Glasper is back with a smooth song 'Better Then I Imagined' featuring H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello; post-punk band Joanie covered Solange's 'Cranes in the Sky' "because it was such an important song for Black women"; Clipping go dark and industrial with 'Say the Name'.

Entrenched in tradition, the classic music industry has allowed its outdated systems to endure, largely unchallenged; Black musicians still make up less than two percent of the orchestral members in the US - Grammy.com reports about the important issue. One Instagram account, Orchestra Is Racist, lies at the epicenter of the movement to end racism in classics, with musicians of color coming forward to share their stories of racial injustice. The page provides a platform for musicians of color to share their stories of experienced racism in classical music, from education to orchestral hiring processes to dealings with arts' administration.

BTS have become the first all-Korean pop act to top the Billboard 100 singles chart, after their new English single 'Dynamite' reached 33.9 million in the US streams in its first week, Billboard reports. 'Dynamite' is their first song sung completely in English. The song broke records soon after its release on 21 August, with its pastel-coloured dance-heavy video reaching 101 million views on YouTube just 24 hours after its release.

“I got a whole bunch of varieties on my playlist now. I used to listen to all rap, now I’ve got rock, old music, 80s. I’d hear songs but I had no idea who made it” - Fred Williams, of the reaction-video twins TwinsthenewTrend told Guardian about how his listening habits changed since he started posting videos with his brother reacting to songs after hearing them for the first time. Williams brothers were raised on Twista and Lil Wayne, so different genres were a surprise - “I guess I’ve been most surprised by rock, which I never listened to growing up. It’s good, and I thought rock was bad”. Fred appreciates it because “There’s no computer or autotune. They just focus on voices, beats and instruments. It’s just interesting how they can make a song like that”. But life hasn't changed a lot since the boys became popular (over 570,000 subscribers) - Fred is still working at his day job as a barber...

"I don’t listen to any of my records any more. I just don’t do it. I’m not one of these artists that sits there compiling stuff from all the vaults and stuff like that - and live recordings... I’m more interested in what’s coming next than what went by" Elton John said in an interview, Music News reports. So, what is it he's listening to right now? - "the new record by the Lemon Twigs, which is called 'Songs for the General Public'. There’s two guys and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time".

Thousands of revellers have been attending illegal raves throughout the UK over the weekend, leading to clashes with police, NME reports. An event in South Wales saw around 3000 in attendance over the weekend with two organisers handed fixed penalty notices for £10,000, under thea new law. Bottles and cans were thrown at officers at police attempted to break up an unlicensed event in Thetford Forest, Norfolk on Saturday. Those attending the gatherings and who do not wear face coverings also face fines of £100, which double on each offence up to £3200.

10-year-old drum sensation Nandi Bushell challenged the Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl to a drum-off. She released a video of herself playing Foo Fighters' 'Everlong' and invited him to a drum-off challenge. He then released a video saying he was flattered by her choice and complimented her playing. However, he challenged her to a drum-off and offered her a song 'Dead End Friends' from his other band Them Crooked Vultures (Grohl + QOTSA's Josh Homme + Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones).

The Weeknd’s 'Blinding Lights' won video of the year at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga won the most awards during the night - five - followed closely by Ariana Grande and BTS, with four each. See the list of all the winners and all the nominees here. The Weeknd kicked off the 2020 ceremony with a stellar performance of his hit 'Blinding Lights', performed from above Manhattan.

Tyrese returns with his most powerful record to date, and his first song in over 5 years - 'Legendary', featuring CeeLo Green. The song depicts an “artist's response" to the unfair deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers. It is paired with an equally powerful visual directed by Deon Taylor, who’s seen and been through the worst of the worst coming up in Gary, Indiana. Tyrese strayed from his signature R&B ballads, and got into hip-hop/soul territory, with CeeLo Green adding his signature voice and gospel undertones.

Taylor Swift spends a fifth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with her pop-folk 'Folklore', becoming the first to rule for five weeks in a row at No. 1 since 2018 and Drake’s 'Scorpion', Billboard reports. Lil Baby had five nonconsecutive No 1 weeks on Billboard 200 this year with 'My Turn'. Nas and The Killers enter the top 10 as well - NYC rapper's 'King's Disease' bows at No. 5 with 47,000 equivalent album units earned, and Las Vegas stadium rockers land and No 8 with 37,000 in album sales of 'Imploding the Mirage'.

A funny little interview with Toni Braxton in the Guardian, about her religious upbringing, her being discovered at a gas station, and her regrets: "I regret not having more sex when I was younger. I should have drank more. I should have partied more. Smoked more, even. I think my religious upbringing stopped me doing a lot of things that I should have done. It’s not a good look at the age I am now. The way it works is you do that stuff in your 20s and 30s and then in your 40s you’ve earned enough to pay for the therapy".

Ninety-nine metal artists have banded together to sing '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall', a 23-minute song aimed to help dog charity. The collaboration was the brainchild of Scour guitarist Derek Engemann and bassist John Jarvis, as well as Gruesome bassist Robin Mazen, all under the moniker The Boozehoundz. They recruited the likes of their Scour bandmate Philip Anselmo (Pantera, Down), Kirk Windstein (Crowbar, Down), Bill Kelliher (Mastodon), Gary Holt (Slayer, Exodus), Brendon Small (Dethklok, Galaktikon), Derrick Green (Sepultura), Mark “Barney” Greenway (Napalm Death), Mike “XCIX” Williams (EyeHateGod), Chuck Billy (Testament), and dozens more to each sing a line from the traditional drinking song. Proceeds benefit Old Dog Haven, which helps provide foster care for older dogs.

Music streaming generated $10.3 billion in revenue in the US in 2019, US households had 87.2 million subscription accounts, which, through family plans and similar packages, covered 99 million people, according to the new report by Digital Media Association (represents Amazon, Apple, Google, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube). American music fans racked up an unprecedented one trillion streams in 2019. The report predicts that U.S. music revenue will finally topple its heights-of-the-CD-empire record of $14.6 billion by 2025. Yahoo reports.

"We came around to this idea that maybe what was significant about this moment in time with records was that the person we imagined being someone who liked records was changing. And that records were becoming a people's medium rather than a weirdo's or an eccentric's medium. When Chris said, 'Well, maybe this is a story about inclusion and connection', that was the moment I leapt off the chair and said, 'That's our movie'" - co-director Kevin Smokler said about his new documentary 'Vinyl Nation' (the other co-director being Christopher Boone). It documents he rise, fall and resurgence of vinyl through the eyes of musicians, labels, manufacturers, collectors and record store clerks. It's online now.

Inspired by the illegal parties in the UK, Guardian picks out the best of early 90s breakbeat hardcore. The informative list goes from Bug Khan and Plastic Jam's 'Made in Two Minutes', to 'Bombscare' by 2 Bad Mice.

Journalist Ken McNab goes into the nitty-gritty details of the last year of the Beatles in his book 'And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles'. As it turns out it was - money, and the fifth Beatle. "The idea that they'd set up their own company called Apple and run it themselves, smacks of incredible naivete... They were not equipped and didn't have the skills to be business managers" - McNab tells in an All Music interview about the beginning of the end The other reason was manager Allen Klein, "the demon king... who created this terrible schism between Lennon and McCartney". The other Beatles didn't really like Yoko Ono - "McCartney had to deal with tiptoeing around this relationship with John and Yoko... Harrison walked out on the band (...) Much of the reason for that was because he couldn't stand Yoko being in the studio, and her presence stymied John's creativity and made him very passive when it came to group decisions". Finally, Lennon got into a row with McCartney when he found out the bassist has been buying Beatles' shares, ignoring the gentlemen's agreement that all the four members will keep equal parts. But, there's a lot of light in the book - "When you get to 'Abbey Road', it's amazing how they were able to put down the boxing gloves and reunite for one last album, their last letter to the world".

50 Cent is developing a new police drama centered upon Derrick Parker, the "hip-hop cop" who investigated the murders of Notorious B.I.G. and Jam Master Jay, Variety reports. Dallas Jackson has created the screenplay based on Parker and Matt Diehl's book 'Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD’s First 'Hip-Hop Cop''. The "Hip-Hop Squad" evolved into the "Rap Unit" a task force that currently investigates Hip-Hop related crimes and monitors rappers in and around New York City.

Fans have flocked to record stores across the UK for the first part of 2020’s three-day Record Store Day, NME reports. This weekend’s batch includes live David Bowie LP ‘I’m Only Dancing’, a picture disc vinyl copy of The Cure‘s ‘Seventeen Seconds’, a coloured vinyl reissue of Robyn‘s self-titled 2005 debut, two Christine And The Queens 7″ singles, plus releases by Bastille, The Fall, Elton John, Jake Bugg, Morrissey, Manic Street Preachers, Mansun and Primal Scream. Next to events will follow on September 26 and October 24. September event sees the likes of Britney Spears, Declan McKenna, The Doors, Ellie Goulding, Fleetwood Mac and Nas putting out exclusive releases, while October’s event welcomes releases from Beck and St. Vincent, Def Leppard, Eminem, Suede, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Snoop Dogg and Thin Lizzy.

FKA twigs has released the video for 'Sad Day', directed by Hiro Murai; this is his first music video since directing Childish Gambino’s 'This Is America'. In the six-minute video, twigs engages in sword combat with dancer Teake, and her swordsmanship is the result of three years’ training in the art of Wushu under the guidance of Master Wu of the Shaolin Wushu Centre. “Everything I’ve previously done with my body, all the training and dancing, has led to this point” says twigs.

Power Trip climbed two separate Apple Music charts with their masterful trash metal, 2017 album 'Nightmare Logic', following the death of singer Riley Gale, Loudwire reports. 'Nightmare Logic' topped the Metal Albums chart, outselling classics such as Metallica’s 'Black Album' and Tool’s 'Lateralus'. Power Trip’s debut full length, 'Manifest Decimation', also surpassed those albums, hitting No. 2 on the Metal Albums chart. On the Rock Albums chart, 'Nightmare Logic' and 'Manifest Decimation' nabbed the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, outselling the Beatles’ 1 compilation and 'Greatest Hits' records by Journey, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac.

Sonic Youth have added 'The Whitey Album' from side project Ciccone Youth, which featured contributions from Mike Watt and J Mascis, to their Bandcamp. Ciccone Youth explored their fascination with pop culture -- and Madonna in particular -- while toying around with samplers and drum machines. The unreleased album includes a cover of Madonna's 'Into the Groove', as well as a cover of Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love'.

The 2020 Republican National Convention has closed out with opera singer Christopher Macchio belting out a version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'. Brooklyn Vegan is convinced that Trump hasn't even read the lyrics, because Cohen there sings "I've seen your flag on the marble arch / But love is not a victory march / It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah". In other disrespect-related news, Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination, and when his daughter Ivanka Trump arrived on the stage to introduce her father, she did so to the soundtrack of Elton John’s 'I’m Still Standing', causing the British singer’s name to light up social media. Billboard reports many fans weren't happy.

The auction for Wu-Tang Clan's seventh studio album 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' and its notorious aftermath is being turned into a Netflix film, Collider reports. The upcoming project - named after the album - is being helmed by 'Brittany Runs a Marathon' director Paul Downs Colaizzo, and the film aims to tell the true story behind pharma-villain Martin Shkreli's acquisition of the one and only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'.