Rapper YAS is Iran's Persian hip hop laureate. A disciple of Tupac and Rumi, YAS uses uplifting poetic imagery delivered through an impassioned, at times ferocious, flow to communicate uplifting rhymes about his culture and people.

Rapper YAS is Iran's Persian hip hop laureate. A disciple of Tupac and Rumi, YAS uses uplifting poetic imagery delivered through an impassioned, at times ferocious, flow to communicate uplifting rhymes about his culture and people. The 29-year-old Tehran native broke ground in Iran by becoming the

One of Hong Kong's most refreshing new bands, All for A Vision takes the electronicore tactics of a heavily tattooed group like Asking Alexandria and retools them in the service of a more innocent perspective. Their recently released self-produced EP Reasons and Devices consists of four earnest yet

A listen to the French-sung “gypsy jazz” of Isabelle Geffroy, better known as “Zaz”, reveals smoky-voiced chanteuse...

If you think about it, incorporating throat singing and Mongolian instruments and shamanic traditions into black metal is really a totally logical move. Mongolian shamanism = pagan practices, revering the natural world, and badass costumes, which = black metal, obvs. Also, despite centuries of

It took a superhero to bring Just A Band back from the future. His name: Makmende. His look: Blaxploitation chic—sharp tan jacket, flared trousers, broad-rimmed shades, Afro pick. His modus operandi: Appears in the streets of Nairobi to beat down miscreants, send robbers fleeing, fight off masked

Some of us grew up hearing tales of Hanuman lifting mountains and Krishna dancing atop a giant cobra's head, so the idea of Desis with superpowers isn't too

It took a superhero to bring Just A Band back from the future. His name: Makmende. His look: Blaxploitation chic—sharp tan jacket, flared trousers, broad-rimmed shades, Afro pick. His modus operandi: Appears in the streets of Nairobi to beat down miscreants, send robbers fleeing, fight off masked

We think of Zowie in cartoon superhero terms: this New Zealander’s first ever single raced up charts in 2010, and now, with just a handful of singles under her belt and a Bettie-Page-as-a-sexy-robot look, she’s poised to challenge the Ke$has and Gagas of this world for total pop music dominance.

The Bastard is a new villainous rap duo with slow disheveled flow, a thinly veiled Irish brogue, and low-fi, dark sampling flavors. Batman quotes, Swan Lake, and loong talking samples from the 70s American flick Network occupy the space between their very grim lyrics.

On last week’s SM-centric episode of Studio 5, Grace counted down our ten favorite Girls’ Generation music videos, from the girls’ debut single, “Into the New World,” all the way to their latest chart-topping release, “The Boys.”

After three decades of world tours and ever-rotating band members, Japanese punk-pop legends Shonen Knife are still smiling and rocking out. With their gazillionth European tour completed in May and an upcoming Japan tour in July, the delightful trio is still hitting the stage with songs about

American DJ/Producer Diplo has built a career on exposing new music -- from baile funk to dupstep to New Orlean's Bounce -- to a mainstream audience. Naturally, he had a LOT to say about our finalists! And while he liked them all, he says one band will be "like battling a superhero."...

Just in time for the holiday season, and right before Kajol's announced hiatus from films, director Kireet Khurana is releasing Bollywood's first live-action 3D

The readers hath (haveth?) spoken. Brooklyn's Xray Eyeballs are MTV Iggy's Artist of the Week! Xray Eyeballs is the murkier, morbid-er incarnation of Golden Triangle. Armed with reverb, washed-out lyrics, an angry beach punk sound, and an affinity for the undead, the band is about to terrorize

Para ler em português clique aqui! Through her distinct blend of bossa nova, samba, and a Joni Mitchell set of pipes, Tulipa Ruiz is giving indiepop a Brazilian twist. The chanteuse recently debuted her album Efemera, which launched her into home country fame, and not long thereafter, right into

KJ, Walter a.k.a. Nyambane, and Tony are three friends who met at Kenyatta Univerity - Nairobi- and have been effectively influencing Kenyan politics via their comedy group Redykyulass. The group focuses on parody acts which aim to criticize past and present politicians in Kenya (Kenyatta, Moi and

"They once made a makmende toilet paper, but there was a problem: It wouldn’t take sh*t from anybody!!!” wrote one Kenyan blogger. "After platinum, albums go Makmende," wrote another. "For me, this is the Olympics come early," said one YouTube user. So who is this Makmende? There could not be a

Yesterday, the crazy awesome Beijing bands Carsick Cars, P.K. 14, and Xiao He set off on their first-ever tour of the US. I was lucky enough to see these bands live last year in Beijing's teensiest, grittiest clubs. So to be in a museum-like gallery space in Brooklyn, watching them charm a totally

France’s Quadricolor seems to have a bit of kitchen-sink approach to their indie rock--and it totally works for them. The Nice-based quartet’s two EPs--2009’s Euphony and their latest Hide/Lie/Pretend/More/Than--draw from punk, prog, new wave, garage, grunge and more, yet are wholly original and

Michael Caine's days of looking out for Bruce Wayne are coming to a close. The Oscar winner's final turn as trusted butler Alfred Pennyworth is coming up in this summer's "Dark Knight Rises," and as is the case with all things from the Christopher Nolan era of Batman movies, we'll miss him dearly.

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Consider this sentence the equivalent of me jumping up and down, waving red flags and shouting, "MAJOR 'DARK KNIGHT RISES' SPOILERS! MAJOR 'DARK KNIGHT RISES' SPOILERS!"