Why this might be Ariana Grande's boldest era yet
Rolling Stone UK|April/May 2024
The pop star is gloriously unpredictable - and it feels like she wants to play in a historic league with stars like Madonna
ROB SHEFFIELD
Why this might be Ariana Grande's boldest era yet

ARIANA GRANDE has built such a mighty pop legacy over the past decade as one of the most consistently kicky hitmakers around - but also as one of the weirdest minds in the game. 'Yes, And?' is her number one comeback, a disco rage-queen anthem that raises expectations for her long-awaited return, Eternal Sunshine. It's a brilliantly nasty manifesto to kick off the new Ariana era. She's just hit her thirties, wrapping up her Saturn return, and she's making music after a four-year layoff. But she's got some nonholistic shit to talk about to anyone gossiping about her between albums. "Don't comment on my body, do not reply," Ari sneers. "Your business is yours and mine is mine/ Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?"

Madonna, one of Grande's idols, is the guiding spirit of 'Yes, And?', which rides a 'Vogue'-style house beat. It's a clever salute to the queen, who invented this power move of reminding people how controversial you are by complaining how controversial you are. But it's also a spiritually perfect shout-out at a pivotal time for Grande. She's 30, around the age when Madonna made her big move into the future with Like a Prayer, the album that catapulted her into one of the most dizzyingly brilliant thirties any pop artist ever had. So for Grande to invoke 'Vogue', right from Madonna's change-of-decade moment, feels like a bold statement about her ambitions she wants to play in that historic league. Thirtysomething Madonna had it both ways: sophisticated mega-pop depth and disco bombast. Why shouldn't Ariana?

Bu hikaye Rolling Stone UK dergisinin April/May 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Rolling Stone UK dergisinin April/May 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

ROLLING STONE UK DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Back to the Grind - The Clipse broke up when a spiritual path called to one of the brothers from Virginia. Now, one of the greatest duos in rap returns
Rolling Stone UK

Back to the Grind - The Clipse broke up when a spiritual path called to one of the brothers from Virginia. Now, one of the greatest duos in rap returns

In Norfolk, Virginia, a medium-size city teeming with unassuming single-family townhouses, homes and Pusha T's contemporary pad looks airlifted from the Hollywood Hills. With a waterfront view, large glass windows inviting in natural light, and state-of-the-art interior design, it's as if the architects asked him for inspiration and the self-proclaimed merchant of "high-taste level, luxury, drug raps" gave them a playlist of his songs.

time-read
10+ dak  |
October/November 2024
Chappell Roan The Pain & Pleasure of a Pop Supernova - Do you want to bedazzle my grinder?
Rolling Stone UK

Chappell Roan The Pain & Pleasure of a Pop Supernova - Do you want to bedazzle my grinder?

Do you want to bedazzle my grinder?" Chappell Roan is standing in front of a vintage armoire, holding the silver weed-crushing tool and contemplating what to do today. It's a hot, gorgeous July Friday, and she has a rare day off in between her increasingly viral festival performances. The crimson curls that usually fall to her lower back are pinned up, her face bare except for a swipe of black liner around her eyes. In lieu of, say, a pink cowgirl suit or a Hannah Montana wig or a latex wrestling uniform, all of which she's worn onstage, she's opted for grey cargo trousers and a matching bodysuit. "I wear grey and black IRL because I can't handle the shit that I wear [onstage]," she says.

time-read
10+ dak  |
October/November 2024
The Scream Queen Next Door - In just a few short years, Hunter Schafer has gone from small-town North Carolina to global runways, Euphoria stardom, and her first lead role, in the horror flick Cuckoo
Rolling Stone UK

The Scream Queen Next Door - In just a few short years, Hunter Schafer has gone from small-town North Carolina to global runways, Euphoria stardom, and her first lead role, in the horror flick Cuckoo

Hunter Schafer greets me with a confession. Beckoning me through a small gated fence into the winding maze of Chateau Marmont's lush, greenery-covered courtyard, she gives me a hug, then yawns. There's a lot happening right now, she says. I've barely gotten a handle on it. There's a grey vape in her hand, worn split-toe Tabis on her feet, and a wry smile on her face. To be fully honest with you, I'd forgotten this was happening.

time-read
10 dak  |
October/November 2024
Together in Electronic Dreams - Raphaella Lima of video game publisher Electronic Arts brings music to her childhood love of gaming to spotlight many of the most exciting emerging acts of the past two decades in the hit football game EA SPORTS FC
Rolling Stone UK

Together in Electronic Dreams - Raphaella Lima of video game publisher Electronic Arts brings music to her childhood love of gaming to spotlight many of the most exciting emerging acts of the past two decades in the hit football game EA SPORTS FC

Raphaella Lima of video game publisher Electronic Arts brings music to her childhood love of gaming to spotlight many of the most exciting emerging acts of the past two decades in the hit football game EA SPORTS FC. ME AND A$AP just clicked, says Raphaella Lima, global music marketing director at video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA). I met him when I was just coming off maternity leave, so I wasn't drinking, and he'd been in the dentist's chair all day, so he wasn't drinking either. But we sat in the hotel, and he thought, 'You know what? I f**k with this girl! Let's go to the studio.' So, my partner and I went, we heard his music, and we thought, 'This guy is incredible.

time-read
8 dak  |
October/November 2024
The Mix - String Theory - On new album Odyssey, Nubya Garcia conducts sweeping strings over her innovative saxophone playing to mark herself out as a unique star of the UK jazz world
Rolling Stone UK

The Mix - String Theory - On new album Odyssey, Nubya Garcia conducts sweeping strings over her innovative saxophone playing to mark herself out as a unique star of the UK jazz world

There are clichéd 'difficult second albums', and then there are those where you start almost from scratch. The difficulty with jazz prodigy Nubya Garcia's second LP, Odyssey, came when she decided that this new batch of songs she had written needed the sweeping majesty of a string section, before deciding to learn how to write and conduct it all herself.

time-read
5 dak  |
October/November 2024
Daydream Believer - Welsh techno-pop artist Kelly Lee Owens is the first signing to Dirty Hit's new dance label, dh2. She talks
Rolling Stone UK

Daydream Believer - Welsh techno-pop artist Kelly Lee Owens is the first signing to Dirty Hit's new dance label, dh2. She talks

Welsh techno-pop artist Kelly Lee Owens is the first signing to Dirty Hit's new dance label, dh2. She talks "transcending my bullshit" on the euphoric, thumping club tunes of fourth album, Dreamstate. While writing the new album, Owens was determined to make the art that my soul wants to make, ignoring outside influences and following a path and an energy that felt like it was coming to her from a higher place. "I always hoped that I'd find a home in a label that would carry that vision through," she says. When she met Daniel in Los Angeles, she asked him, "Do you care about the long term? How much time are you willing to invest in this project? What do you see?"

time-read
5 dak  |
October/November 2024
Sounding the Alert - The UK music industry is calling for the new Labour government to make essential changes to rescue British music - from halting the closure of venues to providing essential opportunities for new talent
Rolling Stone UK

Sounding the Alert - The UK music industry is calling for the new Labour government to make essential changes to rescue British music - from halting the closure of venues to providing essential opportunities for new talent

To quote one Bob Dylan: "the times they are a-changin." After 14 years of Tory rule, 4 July saw a changing of the guard in British politics as Sir Keir Starmer stood on the steps of Downing Street to mark the start of a new Labour government and - according to the man himself - a decade of national renewal.Not that the result was ever in doubt, however. A cursory look at polls over the preceding year showed that a Labour landslide was very much on the cards, and it seemed like those aforementioned Dylan lyrics were about to ring true.

time-read
9 dak  |
October/November 2024
Staying Power- As they gave their first performance in the UK for five years, Rolling Stone UK caught up with Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, HAN, Felix, Seungmin and I.N, who together make up the record-breaking K-pop phenomenon Stray Kids
Rolling Stone UK

Staying Power- As they gave their first performance in the UK for five years, Rolling Stone UK caught up with Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, HAN, Felix, Seungmin and I.N, who together make up the record-breaking K-pop phenomenon Stray Kids

As they gave their first performance in the UK for five years, Rolling Stone UK caught up with Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, HAN, Felix, Seungmin and I.N, who together make up the record-breaking K-pop phenomenon Stray Kids. Here, they open up about the bonds they share between themselves and their devoted fans, as well as their common goal of super stardom

time-read
10+ dak  |
October/November 2024
JAMIE XX WAVE AFTER WAVE
Rolling Stone UK

JAMIE XX WAVE AFTER WAVE

Nine years after his decade-defining debut album In Colour, Jamie xx returns with In Waves, a darker and broodier follow-up that saw him fall back in love with making music

time-read
10 dak  |
October/November 2024
"You can feel trapped when people perceive you as one thing"
Rolling Stone UK

"You can feel trapped when people perceive you as one thing"

On their career-best fourth album, Fontaines D.C. have shed their skin of old to deliver something more fantastical. Grian Chatten tells us the story behind their evolution

time-read
5 dak  |
October/November 2024