A few popular artists in East Africa, clockwise from top left: Sauti Sol, Eddy Kenzo, Nina Ogot, Them Mushrooms, Mimi Mars and Diamond Platnumz. Skott Bennett/STAFF. The Grammys added a new category for 2024: Best African Performance. It’s a small step, as there are many dozens of musical styles…

Naomi receives a bike at Nef the Pharaoh’s toy giveaway at Shiloh Community Church in Vallejo on Dec. 23, 2023. VALLEJO, Calif. — As 8-year-old Mya rolled her new bike through the parking lot of Shiloh Community Church on Saturday, the handlebars with tassels gleaming in the sunlight, she…

Travis Japan, “Road To A.” It’s taken J-pop group Travis Japan more than a decade and several member changes to release its first collective bodies of work. But now that it has, with debut LP Road To A, it’s clear this septet has a lot to say. Road To A…

Muzi, courtesy Earl Abrahams. Many music records carry a thematic vehicle that bridges songs, whether an artist planned it that way or not. For South African electronic singer-songwriter and producer Muzi, that vehicle was more literal than most: his late father’s Toyota Cressida. uMUZI  Muzi Fool’s Gold, out now…

UMI performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. Updated: Dec. 25 OAKLAND — Seattle-born, L.A.-based neo-soul artist UMI and BTS’ Kim Tae-hyung, better known as V, recently announced on social media a collaborative song the two worked on remotely. UMI (Tierra Umi Wilson), who…

Depeche Mode performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023. Nate McKinley/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO —Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Depeche Mode brought their Memento Mori tour back to the Bay Area on Sunday, performing songs from throughout the band’s glossy songbook at Chase Center. The…

Jhené Aiko performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. OAKLAND — It’s been months—last summer–since soul vocalist Jhené Aiko last performed on stage. Back then, she canceled several shows to focus on her health and her family, including her second child, with rapper Big…

Lime Garden, courtesy Jono White. This week we bypass traditional rock and pop entirely, traveling from Los Angeles to England, Belgium, the Congo, Tanzania and back across the Atlantic to northern Quebec for what we hope you’ll find is a fun mix of genres and cultures with the likes…

Take That, “This Life.” With or without Robbie Williams, pop group Take That has remained one of the U.K.’s best-selling acts over the years. The one-time quintet, quartet and now trio ruled the charts and drove fans mad over the first half of the ’90s with songs like “Back…

Josh Radnor, courtesy Nikhil Suresh. While he recorded his debut full-length album in the throes of a breakup, Josh Radnor points out that the songs are considerably older and influenced more by bigger picture issues like the loss of the last of his childhood and mortality—hence, the title, Eulogy.…