‘We love life – but death loves us more’: the pain and power of Iraqi music

In the second part of a series marking 20 years since the Iraq war, genre-spanning artists explain the difficulties of working in the country – and the poignancy for those outside it

‘We are a forgotten people’: how rap music processed trauma in Iraq

In the first of two features exploring Iraqi music 20 years on from the Iraq war, the country’s rappers explain why using a US artform carries such satirical power

Rapper NF: ‘In the Christian world everyone wants to pretend everything is OK’

The Nashville-based artist has attracted a huge audience with his deeply personal rhymes about depression, trauma and ‘the Almighty’ – just don’t call him a Christian rapper

David Attenborough, weed and ‘American apartheid’: the awesome mind of rapper Billy Woods

After absorbing the culture shock of moving to the US from Zimbabwe, and spending two decades toiling in obscurity, Woods has become America’s most feted underground MC

IDK: F65 review – lush, sprawling soundscapes

The lyrics matter less than the music on the British-American rapper’s overlong but sumptuous jazz-inflected third album

French awards to honour rap and other genres shunned by mainstream

Absence of genres from country’s mainstream music awards has long been source of controversy

‘The phone stops ringing. You never hear from anyone again’: the UK’s Eurovision flops on 25 years of hurt

Excitement is building for next week’s song contest in Liverpool – but Britain hasn’t won since 1997. Artists from Blue and Bonnie Tyler to Scooch and SuRie reveal what disastrous scores meant for their careers

Tim Finn, Ninajirachi and Kirin J Callinan: Australia’s best new music for May

Each month our critics pick 20 new songs for our Spotify playlist. Read about 10 of our favourites here – and subscribe on Spotify, which updates with the full list at the start of each month

Kate Bush ‘shocked and honoured’ to earn place in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

British singer is inducted alongside George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, the Spinners and Missy Elliott

Flume wins song of the year at 2023 Apra awards for Say Nothing

Same track that topped Triple J’s Hottest 100 takes top gong, with Rüfüs Du Sol, the Kid Laroi and Sampa the Great also winning

US rapper MoneySign Suede killed in prison aged 22

Mexican-American rapper who released popular debut album last year was found ‘with injuries consistent with a homicide’ in California prison

Rapper Meek Mill vows to fight antisemitism after visit to Auschwitz

Musician took part in remembrance march with billionaire Robert Kraft, who Mill said supported him at a ‘very high level’

Rapper Aitch inspired by sister to skydive for Down’s syndrome awareness

Musician cheered on during jump by his sister Gracie, who has the condition and regularly features in his work

‘They’re doing this by stealth’: how the Met police continues to target Black music

Exclusive: London’s force denies conflating rap with criminality, but venues accuse them of ongoing racial profiling and censorship

Alfa Mist: Variables review – his own universe of genre-transcending music

Warm, subtle jazz rubs shoulders with hip-hop and R&B in an evocative album that hits the sweet spot between accessible and experimental