Hyper-prolific rapper Boldy James: ‘I never settled for the cards life dealt me. I’ve always been the dealer’

He’s already put out seven albums this year alone – a work ethic inherited, he says, from selling drugs in Detroit. But will we ever hear his tracks with the late great J Dilla?

The best albums of 2025 so far

Bon Iver straddles stark indie-folk and poppy R&B while PinkPantheress makes an unarguable case for going out out as we revisit six months of the music you mustn’t miss

Pitbull review – like a children’s party, but with loads of booze

With a hedonistic seize-the-day message, the pop-rapper resembles a cult leader or motivational speaker – and his followers are willing to overlook the faults in his live show

Little Simz on breakthroughs, betrayal and becoming one of the UK’s best-ever rappers: ‘I don’t want to shy away from how I feel’

Critics’ favourite and curator of this month’s Meltdown festival, the British artist is flying high. But a nasty legal battle with her closest collaborator and a crisis of confidence left her close to calling it quits. Instead, she put it all on the new album

Ex-girlfriend of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says she was pressured into sex with escorts

Alleged victim identified as ‘Jane’ testifies she felt obliged to participate in drug-fueled ‘hotel nights’

Judge threatens to remove Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from court for nodding at jury

Music mogul warned to desist from looking and nodding at jury during sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial

‘Helping people survive’: how creating a hip-hop album supported incarcerated artists

Formerly or currently imprisoned artists in Florida came together to create an inspiring album, much of which was recorded under difficult circumstances

On the right track: the record label reaching out to Cameroon’s street talent

Born in Douala prison and hailed for helping young people stay out of trouble, the success of Jail Time Records has persuaded Burkina Faso to let the label branch out there

Add to playlist: GB’s open-hearted pop and the best of the week’s new tracks

The latest innovator to emerge from the RMC, Copenhagen’s music school and alt-hothouse, Gustav Berntsen combines off-kilter rock with unabashed yearning

Judge denies Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawyers’ bid for mistrial

Defense lawyers argued prosecutors had improperly suggested Combs was involved in destruction of evidence

Kid Cudi testifies Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs broke into his home at sex-trafficking trial

Scott Mescudi said his Porsche was set on fire with a molotov cocktail on day nine of Combs’s trial in New York

Drugs and guns found in raid on Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s Miami home, court told

Homeland security agent Gerard Gannon testifies about federal raid on Miami Beach property in March last year

Salt-N-Pepa sue Universal over ownership of master recordings

Push It hitmakers Sandra Denton and Cheryl James claim Universal is blocking the return of their copyright, but label claims it has repeatedly attempted a resolution

Cassie Ventura’s mother says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs blackmailed her for $20,000

Music mogul’s sex-trafficking trial continues as mother of key witness says she was ‘scared about my daughter’s safety’

Chart-topping French rapper Werenoi dies aged 31

French media report that award-winning artist suffered heart attack and died in hospital early on Saturday morning