A.D. Carson has been in high demand this summer. Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary is Friday and media outlets ranging from Vanity Fair to NPR to Rolling Stone have asked Carson, the University of Virginia’s associate professor of hip-hop and the global South, to weigh in on the genre’s evolution and importance. He has academic and practical expertise as a scholar of the genre and as a rapper himself.
The songs are already circulating. In April, a TikTok user released “Heart On My Sleeve,” a song that used generative artificial intelligence to create a track in the style of rappers Drake and The Weeknd. The song got 15 million views on TikTok and 600,000 streams on Spotify before it was removed from the platforms.
As part of the Charlottesville community’s celebration of Juneteenth, the Jefferson-designed landmark hosted “Rock and Reel: Monticello’s Folk Traditions,” presented by the Early Music Access Project.
American composer, sound artist, and educator Leah Reid has won first prize with her composition "Reverie."
I’m driving with Truth, a friend who is a music producer. We both make rap music, but he makes beats, too. I’m an undergraduate at the small, private university in my hometown, Decatur, Illinois. He finished his undergraduate degree a couple years ago. We are leaving Jay’s house — he’s another friend — driving from his West Side neighborhood toward the campus at its edge. It’s remarkable, while driving through this neighborhood, what distinguishes the town from university grounds. It’s not the manicured hedges and lawns. They aren’t greener, neater, or more meticulously trimmed on one side or the other. It’s the wrought iron fencing that separates them. The gates are a portal between worlds.
Opera’s most famous libertine, who embodies freedom not only from social and political constraints but from sexuality, religion, and morality itself, has always been a disturbing figure.
Not every musical genre can pinpoint the date and location of its start, but hip hop is distinctive in that way. Hip hop was born in the Bronx on August 11, 1973 when graffiti artist and b-girl Cindy Campbell threw a back-to-school party and had her brother Clive, who performed under the name DJ Kool Herc, play music in the recreation room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Celebrations and other events are marking the 50th anniversary, and libraries are playing a part in ways that would have been unimaginable decades ago. What was once a fringe genre slowly gained commercial dominance and cultural legitimacy. Although “rap” and “hip hop” are sometimes used interchangeably, the former refers just to the vocal style while the latter incorporates the whole culture, which also includes DJing, break dancing, and graffiti art.
After a nationwide search, the Tuesday Evening Concert Series has announced a new executive director. He is David J. Baldwin, an experienced professional in artist management and music series development. He will begin work on September 5, following a move to Charlottesville from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Baldwin succeeds Karen Pellón, who retired June 30 from the post she held for 32 years.
John D’earth knows Charlottesville music. Since settling in town in 1981, he’s come to define the local jazz scene—and beyond—with his considerable crossover into pop genres, and reach as a music teacher. So when D’earth decides to bring a French jazz pianist stateside for a local residency, culminating with a show alongside himself and the University of Virginia Jazz Ensemble at the Paramount Theater on April 28, the ears of jazz aficionados and casual music fans alike perk up.
Current, the source for news about public media, announced its first cohort of early and mid-career employees to be recognized as Rising Stars in Public Media who are making a mark on their organizations and communities. “There’s so much talent in public media,” said Current Executive Director Julie Drizin. “We wanted to recognize exceptional individuals and raise their profiles on a national level.”
Perspective by A.D. Carson and Felicia Angeja Viator • In April, a hot new track began circulating online, first appearing on streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music and then shared widely on social media platforms. The song, “Heart on My Sleeve,” was a fresh collaboration between pop royalty — rapper Drake and singer the Weeknd — with beats by esteemed producer Metro Boomin. Or so it seemed.
Third-year College student Luke Richard Powers is a rising star in the Charlottesville music scene, coming off not only a recent performance at The Southern Cafe & Music Hall but also the release of his new single “Red/Blue.”
