Rolling Stone

A Look Behind the Mask To play the champion boxer Adonis Creed, as he does again this month in Creed III, his directorial debut, Michael B. Jordan gets himself into Greek-godlike shape. So, as we conceptualized this month’s cover shoot, we called in multidisciplinary artist Holly Silius to paint his body. “He’s so statuesque,” says Silius, a makeup artist and sculptor who often uses the human form as an experimental canvas in her work. “It’s easy to wonder if his body is real or not.” Soon, the conversation with Jordan evolved, as he and Silius decided not just to paint him, but to make casts of his torso and face for the photo shoot as well, using images of ancient gods as a reference point. “Michael wanted the eyes sculpted back,…

SMINO AND J.I.D are the artists behind two of 2022’s most impressive hip-hop albums — Smino’s Luv 4 Rent and J.I.D’s The Forever Story — and this spring, they’re teaming up to co-headline the Luv Is 4ever Tour, which runs through March 29. “It feels so good to be back on the road in front of my fans again,” says J.I.D. “This being my most vulnerable album, the fans can expect a lot of different emotions throughout my set.” Smino is excited too. “Luv Is 4ever is L.I.F.E,” the St. Louis star adds over email. “And that’s what these kids gettin’ errnight. They mf LIFE!”…

WHAT’S NEW, WHAT’S NEXT, WHAT’S NUTS WHEN THE PANDEMIC SHUT down the world in March 2020, millions of people had to find ways to cope with an abundance of time indoors. Some baked bread. Others took up pottery. And on one very-early Friday morning, singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams got high, dove deep into Taylor Swift’s discography, and fired off a tweet: “i know places by taylor swift makes me feel like i’m being hunted down in the purge.” “That was one of like a dozen tweets explaining my feelings about her music in that state,” Abrams says, laughing, as I bring it up. (Other tweets sent in the spree suggest Abrams thinks Swift’s best song is “Innocent,” and “Mine” makes her crave overalls.) Abrams, 23, will have dozens of chances this summer to see…

EVER SINCE BEATS met rhymes, hip-hop has been shaping and reshaping fashion all over the globe. Authors Elizabeth Way and Elena Romero poured their fashion expertise and love for rap into their book Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Style, and paired it with an exhibit that will be on display at the Museum at FIT in New York, running through April 23. The exhibit was curated by interior designer Courtney Sloane and features shots from photographers like Jamel Shabazz. “What this exhibit hopes to accomplish,” Romero says, “is [showing] the public the wide variety of styles that incorporate what it is to be part of hip-hop culture.” FROM TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: GIFT OF DEPUIS 1924/© THE MUSEUM AT FIT; THE COLLECTION OF EILEEN COSTA/© THE MUSEUM AT FIT;…

TOUR 1. Margaret Cho She graced our screens last summer as the den mother to a chosen family of gay men in Fire Island — now, she’s launching her first major U.S. tour since 2019, which promises more of the brash takes the 54-year-old queer comic has become known for. ALBUM 2. Chloe Bailey’s ‘In Pieces’ Bailey shines alongside her sister in the R&B duo Chloe x Halle. But as she steps into the solo spotlight, she proves to be a musical force all on her own. Through complex internal reflections, the sensual singer delivers a bold reintroduction. VIDEO GAME 3. ’Resident Evil 4’ From changes in game play to new enemies and side quests, this remake of the franchise-rejuvenating 2005 hit has been at the top of most-anticipated lists for a reason — and it’s finally here. MUSEUM 4.…

PLAYING LIVE HAS always been rough — even for veterans of the road. “You get caught up in just trying to gauge how everybody else is doing onstage, the actual technicalities of what you’re doing,” Radiohead’s Philip Selway confesses in the new book Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual (out via Omnibus Press). It’s designed to help musicians and others on tour navigate mental health, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The book’s editor, Tamsin Embleton — a manager turned therapist and founder of the Music Industry Therapist Collective — set out to make a road map that prioritizes mental health, including addressing relationships, depression, and self-care. Research suggests the Covid lockdown has had an adverse impact: 87 percent of musicians in one survey experienced a deterioration in…