‘This isn’t politics’: Nelly defends decision to perform at Trump inauguration ball after backlash

Rapper says he is honoured to perform for the US president after he and other acts, including Village People and Billy Ray Cyrus, faced criticism

Drake’s lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar also puts artistic freedom on trial

Drake is understandably vexed about lyrics framing him as a ‘certified paedophile’ – but diss tracks are a deliberately lurid part of rap

Mobb Deep review – New York rap duo can still keep the temperature rising

Thirty years on from their album The Infamous, and seven years after the death of founder member Prodigy, Havoc teams up with Big Noyd for a breathlessly-paced set

Mac Miller: Balloonerism review – poignant second posthumous album

Made during a difficult time in the late rapper’s life, this abandoned work captures the musicianship and introspection of his fertile mid-career

Killer of teenager Jimmy Mizen is now rapper promoted by BBC, reports say

Parents of murdered schoolboy say prison rehabilitation does not seem to have made any difference to Jake Fahri

LiAngelo Ball was a basketball dropout. Then he released the song of the year

The middle of the much-hyped Ball brothers is the only one not to make the NBA. But his music career has many hailing his family’s nose for success

‘Prison is not a place for rehabilitation’: jailed rapper Marnz Malone on confronting inmate suicide

The British MC has amassed millions of streams for his careworn catalogue, recorded on a prison phone. Now, his new single addresses prisoners’ mental health

Drake files defamation lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar diss track

Drake is bringing legal action against Universal Music Group as a result of Lamar’s track Not Like Us, a decision the company calls ‘illogical’

Chuck D pleads for people to stop using Public Enemy’s Burn Hollywood Burn on videos of LA fires

The 1990 protest track ‘has nothing to do with families losing everything they have’ says the rapper, hitting out at TikTok and Instagram videos

Moonchild Sanelly: Full Moon review – hustle, energy and smut aplenty

(Transgressive)The sex-positive South African trailblazer deserves to break into the mainstream with the fullest expression so far of her wit and sheer verve

Moonchild Sanelly: Full Moon review – sex-positive South African swaggers towards stardom

Spinning the sounds of Johannesburg and Durban into distinctive, abrasive electro-pop, the blue-braided singer is filthy and sharply funny

Billie Eilish, Sex Pistols and Beethoven’s skull: music to listen out for in 2025

From stadium gigs by Linkin Park and Lana Del Rey to Central Cee’s long-awaited debut album, there’s plenty to look out for from pop’s A-list – while in classical, there’s a Festen opera and more

What music stars were really listening to in 2024: ‘I appear on my own top 10 three times .. every stream helps!’

Spotify’s end-of-year summary (other streaming services are available) is our chance to show off how much cool stuff we listened to this year. So what do the stars’ top track lists look like?

The best songs of 2024 … that you haven’t heard

From singing about a smoke break to an unusual tribute to John Grant, Guardian writers pick the greatest songs of the year with the smallest of followings

‘Attention spans are short. People want that dopamine hit’: Jordan Adetunji, the Belfast boy gunning for Grammys glory

Competing against Beyoncé, Future and others in the melodic rap category, the open-minded young vocalist explains how he ‘manifested’ his success