Bad girls do it well: MIA’s 20 best songs – ranked!
Mathangi Arulpragasam has been mixing it up for more than 20 years, blending Bollywood and Suicide samples with funk, electro and hip-hop. We select her standout cuts
‘There was three of them waiting, like: play this track or else’: DJ EZ, the reality-bending maestro of the decks
The staunch champion of garage is one of the UK’s most talented musicians, manipulating tracks at lightning speed. In a rare interview he discusses neurodiversity, being teetotal – and the truth about his fees
Ghostface Killah review – Wu-Tang vet coasts as fans take up the slack
This lopsided night lacks atmosphere, but the enduring magnetism and mythos of Wu-Tang Clan lifts it a little
070 Shake: Petrichor review – maxes out on heightened feelings
The one-time rapper unleashes howling guitars, weeping strings and OTT vocals – including those of Courtney Love – on her overcooked third album
‘Leave your ego at the door’: from Thriller to Sinatra, Quincy Jones collaborators tell the stories behind his songs
Whether hashing out Beat It over the phone or jamming with Snoop Dogg, artists who worked alongside Jones recall his skill, kindness and lust for life
Quincy Jones obituary
Musician, producer and arranger who had global hits with Michael Jackson, was the first black composer to find acceptance in Hollywood and won 28 Grammys
IDK: Bravado + Intimo review – bright beats, retrograde rhymes
The US rapper and Harvard mentor’s inventive, trap- and jazz-influenced tunes are let down by unreconstructed lyrics
50 Cent claims he turned down $3m to appear at Trump’s New York rally
Rapper says asked to join ex-president’s controversial Madison Square Garden event but is ‘afraid about politics’
Tyler, the Creator: Chromakopia review – early midlife crisis triggers a freaked-out psychodrama
Full of switchback turns, the rapper’s unsettled and unsettling seventh album zaps from Beach Boys harmonies to G-funk synths – and from boasts to self-loathing
New lawsuits add to growing ‘pile of evidence’ against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, say experts
The disgraced hip-hop mogul is facing scores of lawsuits, adding to his legal jeopardy as he remains in jail
‘We tried to get Mariah Carey … and found out she costs $1m’: the songs musicians chose for their first dance
Does Charlie Simpson regret choosing Sigur Rós? Did Chesney Hawkes play ‘that’ song? And who picked an eight-minute jam by LCD Soundsystem? Musicians on the songs they chose for their wedding dance, for better or for worse
Hip-hop Is History by Questlove review – the story of rap
The musician reflects on the ever-evolving art form, drawing on the front-row seat he had at key events such as the notorious 1995 Source awards
‘Young women from the ghetto were taken advantage of’: the power and pain of R&B’s ‘new jill swing’ era
The female counterpart to new jack swing, which exploded in the late 80s by fusing hip-hop, pop and R&B, was thrilling – but held back by sexism, racism and dodgy contracts
SXSW Sydney: now in its second year, has the festival found its feet?
The weeklong behemoth relishes its contradictions: punk gigs in front of sponsor logos; toilet paper pop-ups and Taiwanese pop stars; industry legends and new fans
My week at Kanye’s: John Safran on his time squatting in the rapper’s mansion
The Jewish Australian comedian-journalist spent a week living in one of West’s houses in Los Angeles. This is what he learned