New York Criminalizes Ticket Bots, Scalp...

The use of “ticket bots,” automated software that allows scalpers to buy up huge blocks of tickets for concerts, theater performances, and other events ahead of average customers, will soon be a crime in New York. Earlier this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new law making the use of a ticket bots a class A misdemeanor that could result in substantial fines or even imprisonment. “These unscrupulous speculators and their underhanded tactics have manipulated the marketplace and often leave New Yorkers and visitors alike with little choice but to buy tickets on the...

Vic Mensa Protests at Standing Rock

Recently, Vic Mensa went to the Standing Rock Reservation to join with protestors against the construction of the North Dakota Access Pipeline. In a series of videos and posts, Mensa gives some background about the situation, expresses his solidarity with the movement, and describes some of the violence against #NoDAPL protestors. In one of the videos, he says that he will return to the Reservation on December 4, and encourages fans to join him. Watch the videos, and see his posts, below. Sacred Bones Records has also joined in the #NoDAPL protest. Yesterday, the label...

Bob Dylan Skips White House Nobel Prize ...

Bob Dylan has passed on another Nobel Prize formality. Today, he skipped President Obama’s White House meet-and-greet with American Nobel Prize winners, according to The Hill (via Rolling Stone). “Unfortunately, Bob Dylan will not be at the White House today. So everyone can relax,” Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest, told reporters. Last month, Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, but remained conspicuously silent after the honor was announced. Reports emerged that he was not responding to the Nobel Committee’s emails. Once he finally accepted the prize, it...

Local Natives Cover Kanye’s “Ultralight ...

Local Natives have shared a new cover of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo opener “Ultralight Beam.” It arrives as part of Spotify’s “Singles” program, and comes with a live rendition of “Fountain of Youth,” from their latest record Sunlit Youth. In an accompanying tweet, the band wrote that they recorded the cover back in July, “but need the prayer of peace & serenity now more than ever.” Hear Local Natives’ “Ultralight Beam” cover below. Revisit Pitchfork’s feature interview with Local Natives We covered Ultralight Beam by Kanye for @Spotify in July but need the prayer...

Lil Wayne’s Bus Driver Sues Young Thug, ...

In April 2015, Lil Wayne’s tour bus was shot up in Atlanta following a performance. Reports later alleged that Young Thug and Birdman were conspiring to kill Wayne. Later, in November 2015, Jimmy Carlton Winfrey (aka Thug affiliate Peewee Roscoe) pleaded guilty to shooting at the bus, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Now, Wayne’s former tour bus driver Alvin Lewis has sued Thug, Birdman, and Roscoe, as well as Cash Money and Young Money, for placing him “in immediate fear of death and severe bodily harm by attacking and attempting to kill him without any just...