On Wednesday, Kanye West went on an anti-Grammys rant on Twitter. He accused the awards of neglecting important and popular black artists like Young Thug and Future. (West also said that he has a new album “coming this summer.”) National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Neil Portnow replied that the Academy’s “doors are always open” to West.…

This year’s Record Store Day ambassadors will be Metallica. The band have released a video in which all four members describe their love of vinyl, and they plan to take the occasion — April 16 — to release a new live album. Recorded at Le Bataclan in Paris on 2003, the album will benefit the Give For France…

David Bowie‘s album Blackstar is the inspiration and soundtrack for an upcoming “InstaMiniSeries” of 16 episodes that will begin Thursday on Instagram. The series, which will star Tavi Gevinson and Patricia Clarkson, was approved by Bowie in concept, though it’s unclear whether he saw the finished product before his Jan. 10 death. (Rolling Stone) "UNBOUND: A ★ InstaMiniSeries”…

Damon Albarn has been named a “local king” in Mali, where he’s frequently visited to perform and collaborate with Malian musicians. When Albarn performed at the Festival Acoustik Bamako, he was given the honorary status of “local king” and an elementary classroom was named after him. “I’m not used to this sort of thing,” said the Blur…

Apollonia, who was recruited to star in Purple Rain after Vanity parted ways with Prince, says that Vanity was “a pioneer, a strong woman, she was a diva, the princess of funk.” Apollonia tells the Associated Press that Vanity, who died Monday at age 57, was “an inspiration to me, just like she was to all the ladies…

There’s a new frontier in audiophile vinyl: six classic albums have been remastered at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios using a new “half-speed” process. That doesn’t mean you’ll need to play the records at 16 2/3 RPM — but that’s the speed they’ll be recorded at. The process “brings a clear, crisp sound with much better…

As part of Jimmy Kimmel‘s ongoing Mashup Mondays series, Maple Grove superstar Sisqo joined forces with Panic! at the Disco to perform “The Thong Song” as — what else? — Panic! at the Sisqo. (Rolling Stone) Drama! at the Grammys Kimmel also rounded up a star-studded group of music stars — including Lionel Richie, James Taylor, Meghan Trainor, and Mumford and Sons — to…

Bob Dylan is currently in the studio working on a standards album that will be a follow-up to Shadows in the Night, his 2015 collection of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. Engineer Al Schmitt says “it’s going great” and that Dylan’s “mood in the studio is fabulous.” (Billboard) The Current will be covering the 2016 Grammys live. Follow…

Bon Iver is “no longer winding down” as a project, said Justin Vernon as the lineup for this year’s Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival was announced — featuring, as it did last year, Bon Iver. “You know, we’re not just gonna play the same set we did last year,” Vernon told Billboard. Don’t camp out at…

Lana Del Rey has released an 11-minute video for her song “Freak.” Though Father John Misty does not perform on the song itself, he co-stars in the video, which features the pair going on a surreal odyssey together. (Paper) More new videos Mark Ronson and Tame Impala‘s Kevin Smith have also released a new video — for “Summer…