“I take the month off of gigs and use Ramadan to focus on my spirituality, giving back, making time for family and close friends, revisiting the areas in my life that need improvement. Islam is all about being intentional with the way we live our lives" - Minneapolis-based DJ Yasmeenah told Mix Mag about how she spends this month-long period. Kan D Man says “It is a detox for me for the mind, body and soul. Sometimes in our industry, we are always rushing and on the go, especially being in London my whole life; I know how fast-paced life can be on a daily basis. It is a month I like to detox, switch off and reset everything”.

HM Magazine presents an oral history of the beginning of Christian metal music, featuring interviews with members of Guardian, Tourniquet, Holy Soldier, Whitecross, and Stryper.

Behemoth frontman Nergal is facing a charge of blasphemy in his native Poland due to an image in which he is seen stepping on artwork that depicts the Virgin Mary, Loudwire reports. The Polish musician, real name Adam Darski, is accused of “publicly insulting the object of Christian religious worship in the form of the person of the Mother of God” by sharing the offending image on social media. Nergal confirmed there was “another lawsuit in the process”, but claimed it was “nonsense”.

"We’ll never run out of lyrics because there are so many sutras we can choose from” Jon Chang, rhythm guitarist of the Taiwanese Buddhist death-metal band Dharma says in LA Times interview - all the band's lyrics are Buddhist sutras or mantras. Five of the musicians dress in black and sport some make-up, but the singer seems to come from a continent away - head shaved and dressed in her religion’s traditional orange robe, Buddhist nun Miao Ben fronts the Buddhist metal band.

Church of England now co-owns Whitney Houston's 'I'm Your Baby Tonight', Bobby Brown's 'Don't Be Cruel', Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies', and Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams', BBC reports. English church is one of hundreds of investors in Hipgnosis, a company that spent over $1bn buying popular songs with the aim of generating income by streaming. Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis says the music he's bought is "more valuable than gold or oil", and expects it to generate income for decades to come.

"Adidas has allowed the production of a shoe that is named after an archangel in Islam. This is highly offensive to the Muslim community" - a petition, started on Change.org, reads, pushing for new Kanye West shoes be taken off the market, All Hip Hop reports. West has recently dropped sneakers that bear the name of two Islamic angels of judgment and death. The Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Israfil is a shoe Adidas already has on its way to market, and the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Asriel that should be released in September/October. The new petition demands cease of all sales and an apology.

Nissim is an orthodox Jew who was born a Sunni Muslim in Seattle by parents who were both rappers and drug abusers. He first converted to Christianity, and then to Judaism, which for him as an African-American makes perfect sense, as he's told the Level - “There’s really not too many other people in the world that should be able to relate over struggles and discrimination and prejudice than Jewish people and Black people".