It’s Pride Month, which means New York City will be brimming with LGBTQ+ events and festivities for the foreseeable future. One such event is the Dyke March, an annual protest which the organizers say is open to anyone identifying as a dyke. The march celebrates dykes, while dually protesting against the discrimination targeted at dykes. It begins in Bryant Park, NYC, at 5pm on June 25th, and ends in Washington Square Park at 8PM—but the events don’t stop once the marching does.  Afterparties are a hallmark...

Twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz make up the musical duo Ibeyi. The Afro-Cuban French musicians burst onto the scene in 2015 with their self-titled debut album, Ibeyi, a collection of tracks about love, family, and death. The second single “River” peaked at number 15 in France and received acclaim for the powerful and minimalist video concept. Appearances in Beyonce’s short film for 2016’s Lemonade, soon followed as well as a second album, Ash, in 2017. The children of acclaimed Cuban percussionist Anga Diaz, music was...

Interviewed by Sabrina Ford and photographed by Erik Carter, R & B artist Kehlani opens up about her infamous ink, coming out as lesbian, and how they're "just now starting to really know myself," in BUST magazine's new summer 2022 issue, on sale now. magazine's new summer 2022 issue, on sale now.  On coming out as a lesbian, and finally finding true love: “I was dating a man, and then literally mid-relationship, I was like, ‘Wait, I gotta have a conversation with you, bro! I think we’re…friends.’”  “I’ve...

BIG THIEF Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (4AD) It’s impossible not to listen to the opening track, “Change,” off Big Thief’s latest album without getting emotional. Adrianne Lenker’s vocals (backed by Buck Meek) coat the sublimely melodic track in a soothing way during troubling times. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a cautiously optimistic project, harnessing all of Big Thief’s superpowers in both songwriting and woozy folk-rock. Songs like “Time Escaping” and “Blurred View” challenge rock standards in a beautiful way, while...

Americana/Alt Country Music sensation, Orville Peck, sauntered into Brooklyn Steel this past Saturday. Peck with his proudly out, LGBTQ Cowboy persona and killer band, whooped things up playing a stellar show to an adoring sold out audience. After a blistering set by openers, Teddy and The Rough Riders, Orville hit the stage belting out a rendition of “New York, NY” prompting the crowd to sing along. Then on Mr. Peck and co. delivered a scorching versions of songs from his first album, Pony, the Pony Show EP, and his new...

  If you haven’t heard of Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna, you’re missing out on life. Since moving to America at 23, the Muslim singer has worked hard to carve out her own lane in the world of r&b and fashion while also staying true to herself. This is evident in the work she creates, like 2016 smash single “Crush” featuring Usher. A smooth and sexy track describing the the excitement of burgeoning desire, the black & white video features Yuna and Usher singing longingly while a montage...

  Sonic Youth is known for plenty of musical hits, but “Kool Thing”, featuring lead-singer Kim Gordon’s gorgeously deadpan, anti-patriarchal monologue, is a song that is drilled into the brainfolds of anyone who came of age in, or just before, the riotgrrrl era.  “Hey cool thing,” Gordon purrs, backed by a driving drum beat. “There’s something I gotta ask you. I just wanna know—what are you gonna do for me? I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls from male, white, corporate oppression?” And now, on Erica Dawn...

Pompeii (Mexican Summer) No one wields isolation more beautifully than Cate Le Bon, whose acclaimed 2019 album, Reward, was created during a solitary year of furniture building. Following the more recent, compulsory period of isolation, Le Bon returns with a follow up as intricately surreal and elegantly introspective as its predecessor. Opener “Dirt on the Bed” is oddly compelling, with atonal strumming an drooping horns, but second track “Moderation” sets Pompeii’s tone with a dexterous bass groove under a hazy, striking melody. There’s an aching pop forwardness throughout...

HAPPENING Co-written and directed by Audrey Diwan Out May 6 Happening is set in France in 1963, but without the period-appropriate costumes, it would be hard to distinguish it from present-day America—or plenty of other anti-choice countries around the world. Based on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel of the same name, this award-winning drama follows a young student named Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) as she attempts to end the unexpected pregnancy that threatens to derail her promising academic future. This was no easy feat at the time, as abortion was illegal in France until...

Nilüfer Yanya describes Painless as “a record about emotion.” The London-based singer/song-writer’s zany, jazz-pop debut, Miss Universe, certainly wasn’t emotionless, but her sophomore album is more direct, as well as more instinctive. Unafraid of unpretty truths, Yanya shows us exactly where it hurts, and we feel it. The tracks remain dancey, but with heavier thuds and piping-hot tears dropping straight to the chest. Guitars bend, bellow, and quiver; her breathy alt-rock vocals paint everything in midnight blue. Electronically sharp and approachably nihilistic, there’s an “evergreen grimness” reminiscent of...