"Born of the internet on dark mode, hyperpop is all the sugary sweet appeal of mainstream pop but soaked in steroids – a garish reflection of the all-you-can-eat hunger of the material world... Too much is never enough" - The Forty-Five says in their introduction of an impossible task - ranking hyperpop's 45 best tracks. The list ends with Danny L Harle, starts with Sophie, with 100 Gecs, Charlie XCX, Slayyyter, and many more in between.

Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél has been ordered to report to prison to serve nine months and one day, for glorifying terrorism and insulting the Crown and state institutions in a series of tweets. After over 200 artists – including the filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar – signed a petition defending the rapper, the Spanish government announced that it is planning a reform to the criminal code that would eliminate prison terms for crimes involving freedom of expression, el Pais reports.

"Western bands, largely blessed with unrivaled marketing and export power, won over ears and hearts worldwide. Had African bands had similar reach and clout, at worst they would have gone toe to toe with Europe and North America’s most revered. At best, you may have never heard of your favorites. I would argue without respite that what was happening in the buzzing cultural citadels of Africa—the railway station hotel of Bamako with Rail Band, Mogadishu’s Jazira Hotel with Iftiin Band, Dakar’s Le Miami nightclub with Star Band, the recording studios of Cotonou with Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo, the musseques of Luanda with Jovens do Prenda—was simply a notch above" - Africa is a Country argues quite confidently, asking for a return of physical recordings of African music from independence onwards, large catalogs of which are no longer on the continent.

Their predecessors once flaunted such signifiers as cars and diamond chains, while the new generation of hip-hop artists is flaunting ownership of their masters. High Snobiety names several artists who kept their music sovereignty, quite successfully so, like Russ, Young Dolph, JACKBOY, Rich the Kid, King Von, 21 Savage, J Cole, and expects the list to grow bigger in time.

Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, Whitney Houston’s outfits, Ella Fitzgerald’s coat, vintage photos, and 1,500 other items are on view at the new National Museum of African American Music, which opened on Martin Luther King Jr Day in Nashville. It covers 400 years of black music, from gospel to jazz and R&B, presenting some of the most famous musicians like Elvis Presley, Jay-Z, and The Fugees, to some lesser-known like Ma Rainey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Guardian visited it.

A great thread by Music REDEF covering all the music released by an artist ranked from worst to best. There are Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Yes, Jay-Z, Van Halen, Taylor Swift, Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Schubert, and plenty more. Good stuff...

A very interesting article in Vice about tactics of police officers in Beverly Hills who have been playing music while being filmed, seemingly in an effort to trigger Instagram’s copyright filters and get those videos removed. Instagram in particular has been increasingly strict on posting copyrighted material. Any video that contains music, even if it’s playing in the background, is potentially subject to removal by Instagram.

Yves Jarvis drops the only freest song today - 'Projection'; Tyler, The Creator & A$AP Rocky share a funky banger 'Jingelin'; Cassandra Jenkins' 'Crosshairs' is as light and easy as the snow where the video was shot; Jay-Z shares his Nipsey Hussle collab 'What It Feels Like' from the 'Judas & the Black Messiah' soundtrack; Cult of Luna share a doom-sludge EP with 'I Remember' as the stand-out track from it; UK grime masters Digga D x AJ Tracey share ‘Bringing It Back’.

Rage Against the Machine, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, DEVO, Iron Maiden, The Go-Go’s, Carole King, New York Dolls, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Fela Kuti, Mary J. Blige, Todd Rundgren, and LL Cool J are the nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2021 class. The inductees will be announced in May, CNN reports.

The drone has bewitched for millennia, exhorting us to succumb to the joy of hypnotic immersion - author Harry Sword writes in the Guardian introducing his new book 'Monolithic Undertow' where he traces drone from its ancient beginnings through the 20th century. As a starting point to the genre drone he suggests: Éliane Radigue, Rolling Stone Brian Jones' early live albums, Earth, the original Velvet Underground drummer Angus MacLise, The Bug-Justin Broadrick-Moor Mother collab Zonal, and Sarah Davachi.