Little Simz review – hip-hop visionary radiates joy and Gallagher-level swagger
Switching from full-arena singalongs to horn-blaring funk to sweaty Detroit techno club vibes, the rapper is at the very top of her game
Sam Fender wins 2025 Mercury prize for his album People Watching
Geordie singer-songwriter’s album reached No 1 on the UK album chart, and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summer
Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group dismissed
Rapper had claimed UMG helped to damage his reputation by distributing Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us
Baker Boy on naming his album for his grandmother: ‘She was the reason that I fell in love with hip-hop’
The new music from the Aria-winning Yolngu rapper is his most politically charged yet. ‘I want to show you the anger, the vulnerability,’ he says
UK campaign calls for restrictions on rap lyrics being used to convict people
Appeals against convictions where rap and drill music was part of the prosecution’s case have tripled in recent years
Doja Cat: Vie review – master pop provocateur splits the difference between sugar and spice
On her fifth album, the Californian tempers the bite of 2023’s Scarlet with glossy, lovestruck sounds – but never loses her instinct for mischief
From Blurred Lines to Genie in a Bottle: the late director Diane Martel’s best music videos
Last week, the celebrated US music video director died of breast cancer aged 63. We chart her best – and most controversial – music videos
Post Malone review – megawatt charisma and anthemic hooks from an irresistibly genial outlaw
Though his slick country is more Jon Bon Jovi that Johnny Cash, there’s only one artist who could unite rock, rap and twang with such effortless panache
Cardi B: Am I the Drama? review – vigorous score-settling and brutally witty put-downs
Seven years after her debut, Cardi B is back with a ferociously enjoyable 70-minute album of eclecticism and enthusiastic annihilation of her enemies
Add to playlist: ultra-prolific Leicester rapper Snoa and the week’s best tracks
With 71 singles and three albums so far this year, the teenage MC is keeping the quality control high as he swerves across cloud rap, grime and more
Gorillaz review – after 25 years, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon band are still riveting and relevant
Dressed like a vicar, Albarn leads his band – joined by a choir, a string quartet, De La Soul and more – in renewing Demon Days’ downbeat drama
Lil Nas X speaks out post-arrest: ‘That was terrifying’
Grammy winner posted on Instagram to comment on his arrest after pleading not guilty to attacking police in LA
Will Smith review – post-slap tour has shoutalongs, self-help sermons and a touch of David Brent
His most recent album may have tanked but it works better played live, and Smith is endearing as he continues to get jiggy with it
Add to playlist: Fakemink’s sugar-high rap and the week’s best new tracks
Making tracks in a blacked-out bedroom, the precocious UK rapper has an adrenaline-fuelled, overstimulated aesthetic
Earl Sweatshirt: Live Laugh Love review – a head-spinning trip with rap’s great rulebreaker
With a sunlit disposition and paeans to his daughter, the mood turns lighter on the US MC’s sixth album – but the glitching, crashing beats are as esoteric as ever