Back in December, Tennessee state senator Jeremy Faison proposed replacing a bust of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest currently on display in the state’s capitol building with one of an actual Tennessee hero: Dolly Parton. Now, amid racial unrest across the country spurred on by a rash of unarmed Black people being killed by police, the idea is picking up steam. This week, a petition was launched calling on local officials to replace problematic statues of Forrest and other Confederate leaders with ones of Parton. “History should not be forgotten, but we need not glamorize those who do not deserve our praise,” the petition reads. “Instead, let us honor a true Tennessee hero, Dolly Parton.” The petition goes on to note Parton’s many accomplishments beyond music, such ...
Christine and the Queens stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night to play “I Disappear in Your Arms”, a bonus track off this year’s La Vita Nuova EP. Héloïse Letissier, the artist behind the moniker, used the opportunity to turn the song into an emotionally moving performance in the middle of an empty venue — a stark reminder of all the concerts the coronavirus pandemic has canceled. In the live performance, Letissier belts out the lyrics to “I Disappear in Your Arms” while the booming synth percussion from the Christine and the Queens track echoes behind her. She finds herself standing in a shadow-laded venue, completely alone, while dolled up in a frilly white blouse. That’s when she begins pacing around the empty room, locking eyes with the camera, before she co...
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Artists and fans have been searching for the right way to say goodbye to John Prine and gain closure ever since the beloved songwriter passed away in April due to COVID-19. There has since been an outpouring of heartfelt messages, wishes, and tributes from around the world. Here at Consequence of Sound, we put on our own Instagram festival for Prine, which featured artists like John Darnielle, Colin Meloy, and Norah Jones and benefitted several charities handpicked by Prine’s family. As recently as Thursday night, celebrities like Bill Murray and Stephen Colbert joined artists such as Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson in a lives...
The mysterious masked hip-hop vocalist RMR is looking to build off the hype of his smash debut single, “Rascal”, with the release of an eight-track EP called Drug Dealing Is a Lost Art. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Due out today via Warner Records, the EP kicks off with a Westside Gunn collaboration called “Welfare”. Other guest contributors include Future and Lil Baby, who appear on a remix of RMR’s sophomore single, “Rascal”, which interpolates Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road”, closes out the EP. Drug Dealing Is a Lost Art EP Artwork: <img data-attachment-id="1044516" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/06/rmr-drops-debut-ep-drug-dealing-is-a-lost-art-stream/rmr-drug-deal-is-a-lost-art-ep/" data-orig-file="https://consequen...
Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and Denzel Curry have released their own protest song in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, as has Lil Baby. Rising Compton rapper Buddy is joining the conversation today with his own single, but his message is slightly different. On “Black 2”, the rising rapper calls out those who like to appropriate and profit from Black culture. He specifically addresses people who have the privilege of never having to actually deal with the stigma of being Black and those who remain silent about racism in America. “Everybody tryna get dreads and shit, but they ain’t African/ All the light girls gettin’ the tan so they can darken they skin,” raps Buddy. During the chorus, the former Vince Staples tour mate makes his missive even clearer: “Grew up in the w...
Reggae pioneers Toots and the Maytals have announced their first album of original music in ten years, Got to Be Tough. In anticipation of the August 28th release date, the legendary group has also shared the title track. Frederick “Toots” Hibbert formed the first iteration of the Maytals in 1962. A mainstay of Jamaica’s ska and rocksteady scenes, Toots expanded the world’s musical vocabulary with his first global hit, 1968’s “Do the Reggay”. Over the course of the band’s nearly six-decade career, the Maytals have gone through a number of lineups and explored a wide variety of genres, with the one constant being Toot’s smoky, expressive vocals. The new single “Got to Be Tough” has all of the classic reggae benchmarks, including offbeat rhythms and urgent, staccato chords. It also cont...
Lady A (aka Anita White), via YouTube, and Lady A (fka Lady Antebellum), via Instagram Yesterday, Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum announced that they were changing their name to Lady A. They intended for the rebranding to distance themselves from the so-called Antebellum South, which is the period in the US before the Civil War ended slavery. But it turns out that black blues singer Anita White has been performing under the name Lady A for more than twenty years. In an interview with Rolling Stone, White said that neither the band nor their representatives reached out to her before making the change. “I’m not about to stop using my name.” she said. “For them to not even reach out is pure privilege. I’m not going to lay down and let this happen to me. But now the...