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Every solo member of Tase Grip feeds back into the whole collective
01/13/2025

Every solo member of Tase Grip feeds back into the whole collective

Say hello to New York City’s next great rap collective.

It's like the 12 members of NYC rap collective Tase Grip are only ever creating for each other, and we’re all fortunate ...
01/13/2025

It's like the 12 members of NYC rap collective Tase Grip are only ever creating for each other, and we’re all fortunate enough to hear it

Say hello to New York City’s next great rap collective.

Blaze's 1990 album 𝟤𝟧 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 captures the nuances of Newark house music within a strikingly ambitious concept album...
01/10/2025

Blaze's 1990 album 𝟤𝟧 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 captures the nuances of Newark house music within a strikingly ambitious concept album—using the sound and style of Newark’s nightclubs to ask complex questions about the end of the Civil Rights Movement.

The New Jersey trio Blaze’s singular 1990 record ‘25 Years Later’ wrestles with the unfulfilled promises of Black liberation.

We're still not over this sociopolitical dance floor banger
01/07/2025

We're still not over this sociopolitical dance floor banger

This miraculous song by Nigerian British poet Joshua Idehen is a manifesto, stand-up routine, and dancefloor banger rolled into one.

“The energy is still there when [BeatKing's music] comes on, but it just feels weird knowing he’s not here anymore.”
01/07/2025

“The energy is still there when [BeatKing's music] comes on, but it just feels weird knowing he’s not here anymore.”

Reflecting on the past, present, and future of Houston’s club-rap scene now that its most colossal voice is gone

This fun but fleeting cipher from a 28-years-later sequel to an East Coast hip-hop classic Is profoundly removed from th...
01/07/2025

This fun but fleeting cipher from a 28-years-later sequel to an East Coast hip-hop classic Is profoundly removed from the zeitgeist, but it undeniably hits.

Redman gathered practically every rapper who’s ever repped Jersey on the mic. Who came out on top?

Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs can't live without a very specific kind of drum machine. In fact, many artists owe s...
01/07/2025

Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs can't live without a very specific kind of drum machine. In fact, many artists owe some of the biggest hits of their careers to it.

Adam Granduciel on why the LinnDrum—an instrument heard on countless ’80s hits—is a songwriting tool he can’t live without.

Redman's latest album Muddy Waters Too has a track called "Lite It Up," where he recruits 12 other New Jersey rap icons ...
01/07/2025

Redman's latest album Muddy Waters Too has a track called "Lite It Up," where he recruits 12 other New Jersey rap icons for an unbelievable cipher. From Queen Latifah and Rah Digga to Shaquille O'Neal, Dylan did a power ranking of all 13 verses. Enjoy!

Redman gathered practically every rapper who’s ever repped Jersey on the mic. Who came out on top?

BeatKing’s voice will forever flow through speakers In Houston—he was the Chuck D of booty-shaking acrobatics. In the wa...
01/07/2025

BeatKing’s voice will forever flow through speakers In Houston—he was the Chuck D of booty-shaking acrobatics. In the wake of his death last August, Brandon Caldwell reports on the past, present, and future of the club rap scene he helped elevate.

Reflecting on the past, present, and future of Houston’s club-rap scene now that its most colossal voice is gone

Maze’s “Joy and Pain” isn’t explicitly political, but the track’s spirit of uplift fits into the long canon of Black ode...
01/06/2025

Maze’s “Joy and Pain” isn’t explicitly political, but the track’s spirit of uplift fits into the long canon of Black odes to overcoming strife. It is the anti-Sunken Place.

The soul band’s signature 1980 track taps into ​​the small and fragile pleasures of enduring.

Our new Classic Songs series highlights tracks from across music history that resonate loudly today. First up: Legendary...
01/06/2025

Our new Classic Songs series highlights tracks from across music history that resonate loudly today. First up: Legendary R&B group Maze's signature 1980 track "Joy and Pain"

The soul band’s signature 1980 track taps into ​​the small and fragile pleasures of enduring.

The superstar kicks off the year with the amazing new video for "Denial Is a River" (and a really fun livestream to go a...
01/03/2025

The superstar kicks off the year with the amazing new video for "Denial Is a River" (and a really fun livestream to go along with it)

After a year-end slew of dazzlingly charismatic performances, from Colbert to Camp Flog Gnaw, the breakout rap star starts 2025 with a bonkers-good video

January is a sucky month but there's tons of new music on deck... let's chat about it!
01/03/2025

January is a sucky month but there's tons of new music on deck... let's chat about it!

I can’t believe my answer is a record called ‘Who Let the Dogs Out.’

It’s genuinely surprising that one of the newest contenders for the clubland limelight is that introspective and loopy f...
01/02/2025

It’s genuinely surprising that one of the newest contenders for the clubland limelight is that introspective and loopy favorite of festival stoner tents: dub techno

Chronicling dance music’s current pendulum shift to lower, slower sounds that go on forever

Inside the 38-track compilation 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘬, nestled among half-finished sketches and by-the-numbers exerc...
01/02/2025

Inside the 38-track compilation 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘬, nestled among half-finished sketches and by-the-numbers exercises, there is a great new Aphex Twin album

Somewhere within the imposing two-and-a-half-hour sprawl of ‘Music From the Merch Desk,’ there’s an Aphex Twin album that stands up to the best of his work.

Most peak-indie artists are now living alongside their other aging mortals as they try to muster some stability before t...
12/31/2024

Most peak-indie artists are now living alongside their other aging mortals as they try to muster some stability before the next global crisis takes hold

Vampire Weekend, How to Dress Well, Bat for Lashes, and Los Campesinos! all returned with their most rewarding albums in more than a decade.

If Nashville wouldn’t accept Beyoncé, maybe it was the country establishment whose credentials were lacking
12/31/2024

If Nashville wouldn’t accept Beyoncé, maybe it was the country establishment whose credentials were lacking

From Shaboozey and Beyoncé to Carín León and Grupo Frontera, country has never sounded—or looked—more like America itself.

Within a few years, the signature millennial whoop went from sounding like a life-affirming call to an echo from the bot...
12/31/2024

Within a few years, the signature millennial whoop went from sounding like a life-affirming call to an echo from the bottom of a well

Vampire Weekend, How to Dress Well, Bat for Lashes, and Los Campesinos! all returned with their most rewarding albums in more than a decade.

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Waste or Taste Year-End Wrap-Up
Waste or Taste Year-End Wrap-Up

In the year-end episode of our Waste or Taste podcast, Jill tells us how she really feels about fedora-core ambassador Benson Boone and his inescapable hit, "Beautiful Things." https://www.hearingthings.co/its-our-year-end-wrap-up-podcast/

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