PopMatters

When Hip-Hop’s the LOX Reclaimed Their Power and Respect Looking back on when Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch took matters into their own hands as the Lox to reestablish themselves as the voice of the people. tinyurl.com/TheLox1998

PREMIERE: Tenille Townes’ “we could use a little more” works as a necessary anodyne to the troubled times in which we live. Extreme times call for radical responses. tinyurl.com/Tenille2026

Read this article on our Substack ad-free today. Soon, you will be able to read all PopMatters articles ad-free on Substack if you are a paid subscriber. @popmatters/note/p-191492179?r=4l5b0&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@popmatters/no…

Nigerian hip-hop artist Johnel creates what he calls “borderless music”, a synchronous vibration that resounds across nations and faith. tinyurl.com/Johnel26

María Silvia Esteve’s MAILIN, screened at @OneWorldFilm, drifts toward a dreamscape of surviving trauma and injustice. – Guilherme Quireza READ: tinyurl.com/MailinSurvival

Journalist and historian William J. Mann tries to conjure who the “Black Dahlia”, Elizabeth Short, really was, but time is a powerful killer. – Douglas C. MacLeod, Jr READ: tinyurl.com/DahliaTime

Hope for a better world lives on with artists like Margo Price calling out the powers that be, enabling fans to feel that sanity can still ultimately prevail. @gms111 writes about the recent Margo Price show at the @FillmoreSF. READ: tinyurl.com/MPrice26

Punk rockers D.R.L.N. have gotten closer than ever to capturing their live experience on their singles. tinyurl.com/DRLN2026

Jesper Lindell and company are faithful to the spirit of the original versions of these songs, but they bring their own energy as well. @lindell_jesper's '3614 Jackson Highway' is a #PMPick out now via @yeproc. tinyurl.com/JLindell26

Liz Phair’s Powerful Timidity Liz Phair is intent on making relics and shrines to her failures and flaws; there is romance to how she describes emptiness and loneliness. – Rebecca Karpen READ: tinyurl.com/PhairPwrTmd

The Microbudget Making of Richard Linklater Richard Linklater’s largely ignored pre-Slacker microbudget movie was just the start of his ambitious, driven, disciplined dream come true. – C.W. Thompson READ: tinyurl.com/LinklaterMicro

Carolina Chocolate Drops' third album is still revolutionary and lays out a singular vision that's traditional, innovative, scholarly, and fun. 'Genuine Negro Jig (15th Anniversary Edition)' #PMPick [9/10] is out now via @NonesuchRecords. tinyurl.com/CCDrops26

Why Sabrina Carpenter Can't Stop Being "Sabrina Carpenter" In a genre where almost everything is replaceable, @SabrinaAnnLynn achieves something rare: she is not only present, she is necessary. READ: tinyurl.com/SabrinaC26

Tinariwen's music is perhaps more poignant than ever, made with a reverence for history and a sense of community that grows stronger over time. 'Hoggar' is a brilliant, bittersweet homecoming. #PMPick [9/10] tinyurl.com/Tinariwen26

Jesse Kavdlo's ROCK OF PAGES makes a lively case that the theatricality of 1980s heavy metal concealed a more literate imagination than its critics would admit. – Jeremy McDonagh READ: tinyurl.com/RofPHighLow

Bloody Knees were national stars. By 2019, they had disappeared. 'What Else' was recorded in 2020: is it a time capsule of a brief moment, or did Bloody Knees form their own timeless path? tinyurl.com/BloodKnee26

What ‘Bridge of Spies’ Gets Right About America A ten-year-old Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks may seem a strange inspiration to fight anti-immigration in 2026, but that’s exactly what Bridge of Spies provides. – Kevin Craft READ: tinyurl.com/BridgeSpies