Rolling Stone June 2022

“DA-KI-TI! DA-KI-TI!” Jhayco had left the stage, but the fans at New York’s Terminal 5 wanted more — so of course the Puerto Rican rapper and producer formerly known as Jhay Cortez obliged, bounding back out to perform “Dákiti,” his 2020 blockbuster recorded with Bad Bunny. It was one highlight among many in an energetic set that showcased Jhayco’s flair for cool, clubby production (“En Mi Cuarto”) as much as his easy charm as a lead performer. As fans shouted the words to each verse till they echoed off the club’s walls, it was clear he’s a fast-rising star on his way to even bigger things.…

WHEN FIREBOY DML turned 10, his mother baked him a makeshift cake. She cut up some old cardboard to make a one and a zero, then stuck the numerals on top of the cake. It wasn’t the grandest of celebrations, but it was heartfelt, and it was all the family could afford at the time. What Fireboy remembers most, though, is how sad the other kids in their neighborhood seemed as they sang “Happy Birthday” to him. “I saw so much pain and struggle in their eyes, and that gave me clarity,” says the Nigerian singer, now 26. “Like, nobody really gives a fuck. Someone [could] say, ‘It’s someone’s birthday, let us go and celebrate’ — but it doesn’t mean they’re not feeling pain, it doesn’t mean they’re not miserable, it…

A FEW YEARS AGO, British indie-label owner Jonny Trunk grew nostalgic for his vinyl-shopping days: “You come across records you bought that might still have the stickers on them, but the shop’s gone.” He began collecting the bags that stores handed out with purchases — ending up with the 560 examples in his new book, A-Z of Record Shop Bags: 1940s to 1990s, each one recalling the days when record stores had their own aesthetics and personalities. “The bags conjure up very fond moments,” Trunk says. “People see bags from shops where they bought their first record, where they first heard a certain artist, met their girlfriend or boyfriend, first saw their first town punk or a local goth, or first got ripped off buying a reissue, not an original.”…

BOOK 1. ‘More Real Life Rock’ Greil Marcus is one of America’s most esteemed cultural critics. His latest must-read collection of “Real Life Rock Top 10” columns finds him navigating the Trump years, with brilliant riffs on everything from Sleater-Kinney to Better Call Saul. PODCAST 2. ‘Run, Bambi Run’ Who was Laurie “Bambi” Bembenek — and why couldn’t the public look away from her lurid 1980s murder trial? This new podcast explores the life of the Playboy Club bunny turned Wisconsin cop turned fugitive. ALBUM 3. The Suffers’ ‘It Starts With Love’ The first LP in four years from the Houston collective led by singer-songwriter Kam Franklin is a thrilling mix of textured R&B, soaring power ballads, and Gulf Coast funk. TOUR 4. Halsey Halsey is heading back on the road in the U.S. for the first time in four years…

WHEN ‘ROLLING STONE’ was a rickety operation being run out of a San Francisco loft, and the music business was still so low-key that you could score an interview with Jim Morrison by simply bumping into him, Ben Fong-Torres was there. One of RS’ first star writers, he finally gets his own spotlight in the excellent new documentary Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres, directed by Suzanne Joe Kai. Fong-Torres was a more-than-almost-famous figure in his own right in the Seventies, as he wrote about artists from Ike and Tina Turner to Ray Charles to Bob Dylan and George Harrison (whom he unforgettably took to task for a lackluster tour). In the film, former subjects (Elton John, Carlos Santana) and colleagues (RS founder Jann Wenner,…

‘NOBODY LIKES YOU when you’re 23,” as Blink-182 used to sing on MTV — 23 summers ago. But all these years later, pop punk isn’t merely all grown-up. In 2022, pop punk is back from the dead, more popular and influential than ever — suddenly, it’s the Teenager of the Year. It’s a massive resurgence for the music style that always fetishized the ideal of permanent adolescence, turning a bratty sneer into a way of life. But now, pop punk is downright respectable. How the hell did this happen? It’s beautifully bizarre, since pop punk was never about aiming for cultural significance. The whole artistic goal was encouraging listeners to take off their pants and jacket. But nobody could have predicted this music’s weird legacy, whether that means Avril Lavigne making…