Green Day performs during BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 23, 2025. Steve Carlson and Sean Liming/STAFF. NAPA —Whether it was the good weather or the lineup, it felt a little busier than usual at BottleRock Napa Valley as the three-day festival opened its gates…

“Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon.” You know Chuck D. He and his counterpart Flavor Flav have been the founders and constant members of legendary hip-hop group and protest music legends Public Enemy for 40 years. If you’re not familiar with Fear of a Black Planet you should…

Johnny Cash poses for a portrait in Memphis in 1957. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. This Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so it’s worth taking some time to remember the man and his legacy rather than just treating it like whatever President’s Day is supposed to…

Our list of the 20 best hip-hop albums of 2020 includes Megan Thee Stallion, Big Sean, Backxwash, Dizzee Rascal, Busta Rhymes, Aminé, Bambu, Nas, Public Enemy, R.A. the Rugged Man, Benny the Butcher, Eminem, Logic, Homeboy Sandman, Royce da 5’9″, Aesop Rock, clipping., Black Thought, Run the Jewels and…

Public Enemy is one of the most influential and transformational figures in the history of protest music. Chuck D, Flavor Flav and DJ Lord show why once again on their return to Def Jam with What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? What You Gonna Do When…

Clockwise from top left: Resistance Revival Chorus, Public Enemy, Ruth B, theMIND, Amber Mark, Songhoy Blues, Greyboy Allstars and The Asteroid No. 4.Every week, there’s more new music waiting to be discovered. But this week approaches amid more protests and marches nationwide. Perhaps you are getting marching, or donating,…

  So dreamy Double-length edition again! I try to keep to my rules, but it was looking I’d have to cut either Sex Packets or Flood, and I’m just not going to do that. Turns out way too many of my favorite albums came out in 1990 to cut anything. And,…

The year 1988 was a great year. For example, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” came out! And the Taylor Dayne classic “Tell It To My Heart!” Everyone loves both unironically, right? Ok, so not those. But 1988 did give us two of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time in Straight…

Rage Against the Machine broke up on October 18, 2000, just 20 days before George W. Bush won the Presidency. It’s safe to say the nation has slid away from their vision since then. But despite all that’s transpired in the last 17 years, aside from a brief tour in 2007 and…

If you’re like me—and odds are either you are or you aspire to be—you don’t really want to be associated with Valentine’s Day. Some people spend weeks festooning everything in cutesy red hearts and some spend those weeks raging against the mere concept with songs about getting dumped. But not people…