Music

image generated by MidJourney This article was originally posted on my LinkedIn newsletter, 'Cultural Codex.' The late hip-hop icon J. Dilla is hailed as a production pioneer for his unorthodox jazz-tinged sampling and off-kilter rhythms showcased on the instrumental album “Donuts” in 2006. Now, over 15 years since his untimely death due to complications from lupus, an artificial intelligence (AI) musical experiment has set out to revive Dilla’s avant-garde sound […]

Long Beach rapper, actor, and producer Vince Staples is bringing his signature style to the small screen next month with "The Vince Staples Show." The highly-anticipated Netflix comedy series premieres February 15th with five fast-paced episodes that follow Staples through zany misadventures inspired by his real life in Long Beach. Fresh off acclaimed albums like "Big Fish Theory" and tours with Tyler, the Creator, Staples leaps into scripted television while […]

Prince's music is becoming a stage musical — eventually. Producer Orin Wolf announced Monday that he is developing a stage version of Purple Rain — the 1984, vaguely autobiographical film that made Prince a megastar and won him an Oscar for Best Original Song Score. In the film version, Prince starred as The Kid, an emerging musician on the Minneapolis rock scene. Wolf's credits include the Tony Award-winning The Band's […]

Beyoncé performs during the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2014, at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images Ten years ago today — at midnight on lucky Friday the 13th of December, 2013 — Beyoncé released a surprise, self-titled album, available only on iTunes for $15.99. Beyoncé was a project conceived in secrecy, but nothing about it was small: The album, which had no advance singles […]