An interesting interview with Rico Nasty in the New York Times:

“You don’t have to dress a certain way and you don’t have to sound a certain way to be a female rapper”

“To survive stan culture, you have to understand stan culture — you have to have been a stan. If anything, it makes me want to open up more”

“Being a mother taught me to go get some money. Once you become a mom, it’s just like, ‘OK, strategy. How are we going to pay for this?’ You do what’s necessary, and sometimes you get creative”

The new breed of punk isn't so punky sonically, it's the attitude, BBC argues: 30-year-old US rapper JPEGMAFIA channels the aggression of the crowd into brutal bursts of movement that sit somewhere between an intoxicated Iggy Pop and an irate DMX; snarling Northampton rapper Slowthai blasts what he sees as the toxicity of Brexit Britain […]

Guardian's picks for songs of the month of May is AWE-SOME!!! Made with the summer in mind there's: FKA Twigs power-ballad 'Cellophane' about fame obsession; Carly Rae Jepsen's dancey number 'Julien'; Dorian Electra's 'Flamboyant' - imagine Elton John and Freddie Mercury's imaginary son going "all the way"; Bruce Springsteen's 'Hello Sunshine' - made for driving […]