Cover Story
Women’s History Month: The Path Forward
As women claim space, power, and influence, there continues to be #MeToo reckonings in every business field, and none more so than the traditionally permissive music industry. It’s a world that values art and creation and catharsis, but along with it, the ’70s cliche of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. And with that came — and still comes — commensurate and all-too-true stories of abhorrent behavior both backstage and behind desks at record companies. There are triumphant tales: Tina Turner, ultimately, painfully escaped Ike Turner and his abuse to become one of the strongest, most successful and revered women not just in music, but in pop culture. And where one woman is brave enough to come forth and name her abuser, others are empowered to share their stories, as allegations against Mari...
Rico Nasty Has Landed
After years of watching pop stars like Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna perform at MTV’s Video Music Awards, Rico Nasty yearned to dominate that very stage. But insecurities like appearing too shallow or not looking like a glamorous “bad bitch” made the rapper question if this was her rightful path. “In my brain, there was always a timer where I just go back to regular life and look on this time like, ‘Girl, you did that,’” the 23-year-old explains over Zoom, settling into her new Virginia home. “Then this shit just started a snowball effect — it literally never stopped. I remember being like, ‘I’m really doing this.’” Rico’s refusal to fit into female rap’s stereotype has separated her from her peers. It was always in her blood, though: Her father was a rapper, and while he didn’t direc...
Jack Harlow Knew This Was Coming
DJ Drama was in no rush to return from his lunch break. Sandwiched between the outskirts of Atlanta’s Bankhead neighborhood and the sprawling campus of Georgia Tech University is Means Street Studios. This hub of hip hop recording has played host to a litany of stars since its 2013 inception. Playboi Carti, Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert and the late Nipsey Hussle are just some of the artists who’ve graced its halls. However, on this day in November 2017, the Means Street corridors were not especially glamorous. Atlantic Records had selected the studio complex to host its quarterly A&R conference in which DJ Drama, legendary mixtape arbiter and co-founder of Atlantic’s Generation Now imprint (Lil Uzi Vert, Killuminati), played a significant role. Overnight success stories often begin at conf...
How to Succeed in Bizness… By Really, Really Trying: Our 1999 Limp Bizkit Cover Story
This article originally appeared in the August 1999 issue of SPIN. Fred Durst likes it to the right, with a swivel and bounce. “Yeah, like that, with the knee out. And do that thing with your hips,” he says, then pauses a moment, narrows his gaze, and rubs the furry soul patch on his chin. Five lithe female dancers in clingy black synthetic fibers stare back at him, hanging on his every word. “Like this?” one asks, doing that thing with her hips. “Nah, to the right,” he replies. “The right is dope; the left is wack!” The dancer complies, and Durst’s eyes widen. “Yeah, that’s the dope shit!” The Limp Bizkit frontman is choreographing his “Bizkettes” in a small dance rehearsal space near Times Square in New York City. There’s an old wooden piano in the corner, but the only music in the ...
Artist of the Year: Run the Jewels
In a year filled with chaos, social reckoning, protests, rage and financial ruin, there appeared to be no light that would save the world from the roiling political issues that had been brewing for decades. There was no Death Star, though it would have surprised no one if the Earth imploded like Alderaan. At least we had the two heroes we definitely needed but didn’t deserve: Run the Jewels. In February, El-P and Killer Mike were gearing up for what was set to be the biggest year of their career. Run the Jewels had become a tour de force with each of their studio albums (and of course, the cat-themed remix album Meow the Jewels), and opening for Rage Against the Machine on the band’s latest reunion tour would have opened up the duo to a much wider audience. Then, March 2020 happened. The p...
Machine Gun Kelly Picked Up a Guitar to Save Rock — and Himself
The guitar always meant a lot to Machine Gun Kelly. Even as a solidly successful hip-hop star, he passed his time on the tour bus tripping on acid and watching classic Nirvana shows, noodling around on guitar. Turning to guitar-based music may not seem like the best career move for a 30-year-old rapper, eking out a successful-enough hip-hop career to earn him a few solid acting roles. Safer to make the movies, cash the Hollywood checks, and release enough hip-hop singles to keep some street cred. But then there’s his dad. His dad who left him with an aunt, when he was just a teen. After his mom left, too, when he was only nine. His dad who got him his first guitar. Credit: Noah Schutz An only child, Colson Baker’s parents were Christian missionaries who took him all over the world before h...
Haim Have Been Through It
I’ve smelled a lot of things at gigs before but fresh-cut pastrami was a new one. Back in March, Haim performed what would be one of their last shows of the year to a crowd drunk on coleslaw and corned beef on rye. Squeezed between the back tables and bathroom of Sarge’s Deli in New York City, they covered Britney Spears’ “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” between their own hits like “Summer Girl” and “The Wire” to a bustling crowd of guests — fans, media, record label employees and Glee’s Darren Criss. The trio, who had their first musical performance as kids at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles’ Fairfax neighborhood, paid homage to their beginnings with a five-city deli tour ahead of their striking, self-aware third album Women in Music Pt. III. At Sarge’s, Este Haim recalled her love f...
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