The New Wave: Rising Voices Shaping the Future of Rap

A collage featuring album covers from various up-and-coming rappers. The images display a variety of artistic styles from portrait photography to digital art. Some have rappers in expressive poses while others use bold color palettes, layered textures, and visual effects. Description: Images of album covers from up-and-coming artists

The New Wave: Rising Voices Shaping the Future of Rap

By: Emma Paff 2025 has been an undeniably remarkable year for rap music. Groundbreaking releases from established titans such as Tyler, the Creator, Clipse, and JID have captivated audiences and further demonstrated their powerful influence in the industry. As the music industry continues to evolve and embrace the digital age, new voices emerge, molding new sounds in hip-hop culture. These musical innovators are shaping the future of rap by challenging […]

October 8, 2025 90 3

a full scale shot of the club location showing the size of the crowd for a listening party

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Music

Lonely? Not When He Pulls Up to San Marcos

Ethan McConnell Local Music Director So, picture this, you’re chilling at work Friday and then boom, you get a message from your buddy asking if you’re wanting to see Destroy Lonely at the Marc on Sunday. Your mind races with numerous things. “Destroy Lonely is coming to San Marcos?” “Why the Marc?” “How?” “On a Sunday?” There’s no time to really think so you just respond that you’re all for […]

October 4, 2025 140 2

Black silhouette of a man wearing a hoodie in front of a blue background with splashes of darker shades of blue. There are warped pink pencils in the top left and a silhouette of a notebook. 4 sets of sheet Music notes are curved in the background.

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Music

Confrontation, Confessions, and Conversations in Rap Music

By: Emma Paff Throughout the decades, storytelling in rap has shifted from straightforward accounts of street life to more cinematic tales. Nowadays, artists have been more heavily exploring topics such as mental health, addiction, love, and family, giving their music an intimate tone. This shift has led us to more conversational pieces, allowing listeners a quick glimpse into the artist's personal hardships. The incorporation of narrative and dialogue gives the […]

September 21, 2025 107 16

A man relaxing with a joint in his mouth in front of two plants

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Music

Everyone Grows Up; Earl Sweatshirt’s “Live, Laugh, Love”

By: Jonathan Marin Earl Sweatshirt is back at it again with his newest release titled “Live Laugh Love.” Marking the 7th full length album in the artists discography. We find ourselves in the new album traveling with Earl to a new period of his life. Earl Sweatshirt, now 31 years old has recently become a family man. Years of grief-stricken and emotionally confused songs on “Doris” and “I don’t like […]

September 17, 2025 127 3

yellow green background with an IDK bust shot in the middle. IDK’s head is turned to the right. He is wearing a durag and two pearl necklaces.

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Music

IDK’s Life in Lyrics

Emma Paff Music Journalist From serving time in prison to teaching at Harvard, IDK, short for “Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge,” is a force to be reckoned with in the rap community. Born in London, IDK moved to the States when he was 2 and grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland. At the age of 17, he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery causing him to spend a year in […]

August 25, 2025 122 5 3

God Does Like Ugly album cover outlined in brown that has a brown, yellow, and orange smoky background. The album cover has a beige silhouette of a person and children with masks dancing in the foreground.

Music

God Does Like Ugly Album Review

Emma Paff Music Journalist Three long years post-Forever Story, there is finally a new chapter from JID: God Does Like Ugly. This 15-track album showcases JID’s maximalist style with stacked features, dense lyricism, and dramatic beat switches. Leaning into his narrative, each song has its own message and theme. In his lyricism, he explores spirituality, ambition, love, personal growth, and emotional resilience. The sound has a dynamic quality, constantly shifting […]

August 25, 2025 119

Let God Sort Em Out Album cover, grainy pink background with a black outlined skeleton and white gloved hand holding bones.

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Music

Clipse Returns: A Vengeful Comeback

Emma Paff Music Journalist When I first listened to “Let God Sort Em Out” I was hit with a range of emotions. At first, I was excited to listen to something new that reminded me of the music that first got me into rap. Then I felt lost. My various feeds have been flooded with so much trap music that I almost forgot about the power of storytelling. The genre […]

July 28, 2025 144 19 4

A series of promotional posters for the three most recent Super Bowl halftime performances. On the left is the photo for Usher’s performance, which is a picture of him in a dark room under purple lighting. The one in the middle is the photo for Rihanna’s performance, which is a picture of her hand carrying a football in front of a white background. On the right is the photo for Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming performance, which is a photo of him sitting on a football field with large red and white stripes behind him.

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Music

A Brief History of Super Bowl Halftime Performances

By Riley Watkins Music Journalist Finally, after 272 regular season games and 13 playoff matchups, Super Bowl LIX has completed. While there may not be anyone outside of Pennsylvania or Missouri (or the Taylor Swift fandom) who cared about the outcome of the game, there is one part of the broadcast that drew everyone’s attention: Kendrick Lamar headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIEKK_j0fss The Super Bowl has featured countless […]

February 10, 2025 786 12

Album cover of Not Like Us with a google maps bird’s-eye-view of Drake’s Toronto mansion with 13 red markers from the sex offenders list.

Music

Catharsis Through Hip-Hop: The Success of Not Like Us

By Kyle Halligan-Duffy Music Journalist In the wake of Kendrick Lamar winning five awards for “Not Like Us” at the 2025 Grammy’s, curiosity struck as to how the diss track turned cultural phenomenon took off like it did. It wasn’t just the clever yet nuclear lyrics that atomized Drake, or the catchy Mustard produced beat that made this track ascend past the genre of hip-hop and the entire musical category. […]

February 10, 2025 112

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