Pitchfork talked to five promising new artists about structural racism, the many conundrums of relying on streaming services, the effect of COVID on their careers and communities, over recording techniques, album art, and other topics. Amaarae sums up their common identity - "We fought to have our voices heard and to unlearn a lot of our past traumas" - and looks into the future - "I think the generation after us is just so radical and self-aware in a way that we’ve just started to learn. They’re fearless".

Boys and girls geniuses
February 04, 2021

Best new songs today: Julien Baker, The Lasso, Miss Grit

Miss Grit

Miss Grit releases noise-y and club-y 'Grow Up To'; a nice touch on 'Sixers' - hip-hop producer Old City samples Black Flag; one jazz great Alan Braufman gets remixed by one other jazz great - Angel Bat Dawid, on 'Sunrise'; Death From Above 1979 just play some rawk on 'One + One'; Julien Baker is joined by her boygenius bandmates Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus on 'Favor'; producer Adrian Younge shared a moving/disturbing 'American Negro'; hip-hop producer The Lasso of Small Bills shares the collaboration with Hemlock Ernst of Future Islands - 'Will We Be Us Again'.

Polo G, YouTube screenshot

Rolling Stone presents eight US cities where big things are going on, this time around it's Chicago. Makaya McCraven, Angel Bat Dawid, and Nicole Mitchell are leading a major jazz renaissance - they're connecting Chicago’s long history of avant-garde innovation with inspirations ranging from hip-hop beats to Nineties post-rock. On the other side, there are hip-hop up-and-comers like Calboy, Polo G, and Lil Zay Osama, who have softened some of drill’s hard edges, pairing deeply honest lyrics with delicate melodies over lilting beats.

Makaya McCraven

People behind Chicago label International Anthem like it to be defined as "boundary-defying music", or at least “jazz and its offshoots”, “jazz-identified music”, and “post-jazz” instead, especially with its two founders, Scottie McNiece and David Allen, coming from a DIY-punk scene. McNiece said they wanted to create publish music that was modern and less academic - “It was very important to us to create a more inviting entry point”. by now, they've released local musicians such as Makaya McCraven, jaimie branch, Damon Locks, Junius Paul, and Angel Bat Dawid.