Table of contents for February 2019 in Rolling Stone

“I’m a punk. It’s questioning the system because you want to make it better.”—JACK DORSEY IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE that just two years ago, Jordan Peele was best known as one half of the Comedy Central duo Key and Peele — a sketch artist who did a masterful range of characters, from a low-energy Latino gang boss, a nightmare girlfriend and a Game of Thrones-obsessed parking valet to a spot-on President Obama. Then came Get Out, in 2017, the self-described “social thriller” Peele wrote and directed about a black man who comes to realize that his white girlfriend and her family are part of an evil body-snatching unit, and he’s their next victim. Get Out came out of nowhere — it cost $4.5 million to make and grossed $255…

MATT SHULTZ could make it through only one take. The lead singer of the Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant was recently in the studio recording “Goodbye,” a John Lennon-inspired ballad Shultz wrote for his wife as their seven-year relationship was ending. Shultz delivered it lying on the studio floor. Afterward, he walked out and canceled the next two weeks of work. “There were times like that,” says his brother, guitarist Brad Shultz. “We’d think he was getting back to normal, then he would melt down.” Admits Matt, “There was a fair amount of self-medication . . . and intense isolation.” Those erratic sessions produced Social Cues (out April 19th), which adds new depth to the band’s sound — hear “Ready to Let Go,” about a trip to Pompei, where Matt and his…

Nelson, who will back Neil Young with Promise of the Real at shows this spring and summer, listens to these tunes when he’s feeling apocalyptic. RAY CHARLES “Come Rain or Come Shine” The statement of this song is so defiant: I’ll be your rock in a world that’s falling apart. That’s a good sentiment to have in a trying time. NEIL YOUNG “Sail Away” This is from Rust Never Sleeps. He’s got friends he’s lost, but everything is OK as long as he can get to a sailboat. I feel that. WILLIE NELSON “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” Pretty self-explanatory: ashes to dust, dust to ashes and so forth. It’s a jovial romp on one’s inevitable demise. TOM WAITS ”Come on Up to the House”…

J.S. Ondara can trace his entire career back to a bad bet. As a teenager in Kenya, he once swore to a friend that “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was written by his favorite band, Guns N’ Roses, and not by someone named Bob Dylan. After he lost, Ondara became obsessed with the singer-songwriter, skipping school to spend his days in Nairobi internet cafes researching American folk music. When he won a green-card lottery in 2012, he chose Dylan’s home state, settling with a relative outside Minneapolis. “One of the reasons I love Dylan is that he was this romantic dude: ‘I’m going to go to New York because Woody Guthrie’s there,’ ” says Ondara, 26. “I’m the same way.” His debut, Tales of America, is a stark observation of his…

WEEZER’S CAREER has seen more than a few surprise twists over the years, but the pop-cultural renaissance they’ve enjoyed lately — a chart-topping cover of Toto’s “Africa,” a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album for 2017’s Pacific Daydream, December’s bizarrely hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch about Weezer superfans — is unprecedented even for them. “For whatever reason, the last few months have brought a lot of really good luck,” says Rivers Cuomo, 48. “It’s like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?’ ” The frontman called from his L.A. home studio to talk about the band’s remarkable hot streak, plus its upcoming Black Album, due out in March. That Weezer sketch was SNL’s most talked-about moment in months. What did you make of it? They really nailed it, right? I still can’t believe…

WHEN JACK DORSEY co-founded Twitter, in 2006, he had no idea he and his colleagues were creating what would become a universally accessible, global, seamless, 24/7 platform for tens of thousands of people to yell at him. In any case, back then, billionaire tech execs were still — at least in some circles — figures of admiration, rather than a locus of fear and suspicion for many on the left and right alike. Social media has succeeded all too well in its disruptive mission, reshaping societies in ways they’re still struggling to understand. That leaves the likes of Dorsey, who’s been the CEO of Twitter since 2015 (after an abortive initial run from 2006 to 2008), grappling, Sorcerer’s Apprentice-style, with an ever-growing slate of issues of daunting complexity. ¶…

Better Oblivion Community Center Oblivion Community Center Army Jessica Pratt Quiet Signs Cass McCombs Tip of the Sphere WHAT IS it about dashed expectations that breed singer-songwriters? As the Sixties dream cratered, a golden era peaked in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon — think Joni, Jackson, Sweet Baby James. Now, a new one is blooming as the American experiment contemplates its doom. Father John Misty’s cosmic snark, Mitski’s aching character studies, Kurt Vile’s transcendent vagueness — all offer strangely comforting proof that hopelessness springs eternal. This year has plenty more on offer. Phoebe Bridgers’ tenderly spooky debut, Stranger in the Alps, was followed by last year’s dazzling Crosby, Stills and Nash-style Boygenius EP, cut with kindred aces Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. Now, the 24-year-old Bridgers has another low-key supergroup. The…

Black Leopard, Red Wolf Marlon James RIVERHEAD BOOKS THEY CALL HIM Tracker, a “hunter known by no other name” who, for the right price, will find anyone you need found. Once upon a time, this mysterious figure tells his jailhouse inquisitor, he was hired to join a group of nine and track down a boy who’d mysteriously gone missing. Readers of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James’ dizzying new novel, already know the case does not end well: “The child is dead. There is nothing left to know,” he informs us in the book’s first two lines. The second statement, however, is a lie. This antihero proceeds to recount a long, perilous journey through a mythical land that could be the African continent in ancient times. Or it could…

“This interview is so sick(o). The sweetest part is hearing Travis Scott’s autistic brother is also the inspiration for the rapper to bring kids up onstage.”—Carly L., via the internet Travis Scott Flies High When Travis Scott appeared on our January cover, he opened up to contributing editor Jonah Weiner about his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner; his family ties to Houston; Kanye West; and much more [“The Supersonic, Superstoned Adventures of Travis Scott,” RS 1323]. Scott’s admission that Jenner is “the one” and that he wants to propose to her in a “fire way” allegedly brought the young mogul to tears when she read the article, according to a source close to her family. Other readers were also moved by the profile. One reader, Art V., tweeted, “I remember discovering…

LAST FALL, Ezra Koenig experienced a brief moment of panic regarding Post Malone’s hit single “Sunflower.” “We have a song on this record called ‘Sunflower,’” the Vampire Weekend frontman, 34, recalls thinking. “ ‘God, we have to get this out!’ ” The album he’s talking about is Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend’s first release in six years. Koenig spent so long writing and recording it that he started noticing coincidences everywhere — not to mention all the social media messages he got from fans pleading for new music. “Sometimes funny, sometimes legitimately frightening,” he says. “I’m just happy there are still people who are waiting.” It started with a break to recharge after 2013’s acclaimed Modern Vampires of the City. “I had a dream journal when I was 12,” Koenig…

AFTER 12 YEARS AND five records, Brandi Carlile was done trying to please other people by the time she wrote 2018’s By the Way, I Forgive You. Inspired by Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Carlile decided to write about personal issues like being a queer mother and the pressures of marriage. That approach earned her a top-five chart debut with more nominations than any artist, except for Drake and Kendrick Lamar. “I never thought in a million years this would hit the mainstream like it has,” says Carlile. “I’m a 38-year-old gay-mom chicken-farmer lady. I could care less what people think is cool.” Carlile grew up in rural Washington, raised by her mom, a country singer, and as a teen worked as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator. She broke…

IT’S ALREADY PAST MIDNIGHT, but Gary Clark Jr. wants to keep going. The guitarist is standing in the center of a darkened room at Arlyn Studios, an unmarked building hidden behind a housing development in South Austin. Clark has been hard at work all night teaching his band a new song, “This Land,” taking breaks only to smoke spliffs and sip 90-proof whiskey. Clark counts yet another take of the song — a thunderous blues stomper marked by synth-bass and a hip-hop beat — before unleashing a flurry of wah-wah notes on his Gibson SG. He howls about living on “50 acres with a Model A/Right in the middle of Trump country,” next to a neighbor who “can’t wait to call the police on me.” He closes his eyes…

RollingStone GUIDE Drake combines the yin and yang of hip-hop in ways that seemed impossible until he showed up. He’s a blockbuster pop heartthrob who doubles as a rap warrior, having more feelings per bar than anyone else in the game. He’s mastered the more-is-more streaming economy, with a crazy sprawl of albums, mixtapes, deep cuts, one-off loosies, duets, SoundCloud digital dashes. Hold on, we’re going home. Must-Haves Take Care 2011 Drake’s big creative breakthrough proved he can swerve from the street to the club to the after-hours drunk-dialing disaster without losing any of himself along the way. The title duet with Rihanna radiates erotic tension, and in “Headlines” and “The Motto” he takes care of hip-hop braggadocio. But after the party’s over, he opens up with “Marvin’s Room,”…

Stephen Colbert recently called you “the living history of late night.” How did that make you feel? I felt he was measuring me for my casket. It’s funny how my career flipped so quickly. There’s years and years where you’re the kid. I used to walk into a restaurant, and people in their fifties would look at me with disdain. Then, overnight, it flips. I am technically the guy that’s been in late night the longest. What I find fascinating is because of YouTube I’m constantly accosted by 18-year-old skater punks. As long as it’s keeping them from doing schoolwork, I’m happy. What’s the biggest lesson you took from losing The Tonight Show in 2010? If you block out all the white noise and focus on making something good,…

1. Lizzo “Juice” Is it just us, or does Lizzo keep getting cooler? The Minneapolis supernova follows up her fantastic run of 2018 confidence-boosters (“Fitness,” “Boys”) with the sweetest groove of all. “I’m like chardonnay, get better over time,” she chuckles. Cheers to that! 2. Nilüfer Yanya “In Your Head” This London singer won us over with the sly minimalism of her 2017 single “Baby Luv.” The first taste of her forthcoming full-length debut, Miss Universe, ups the ante with bigger guitars and a chorus that sticks like glitter-spangled glue. 3. Panda Bear “Token” Holy echo pedal! Animal Collective’s sunshine superman sends one of his nicest-ever melodies cruising into space on this choice tune from his new LP, Buoys. Set your headphones to “wow.” 4. Our Native Daughters…

WHEN ARIANA GRANDE first showed up on the radio, she came off like the ultimate teen-pop robo-princess, a bubblegum diva wearing a pair of kitten ears. She relished the role of the coy starlet, flashing her Mini Mariah pipes, Bardot ponytail and Edie Sedgwick fashion sense. In her videos, she kept trying to sing with her fingers in her mouth. Her smizing never stopped, even when delivering the kind of dippy lyrics only Swedish producers could write. (“I only wanna die alive” — really?) Yet she was so great at this role, nobody really asked for more. In a way, the moment that summed her up was her 2014 disco hit “Break Free,” when she belted that ridiculous hook: “Now that I’ve become who I really are.” Who knew…

WHAT ARE DUA LIPA’S new rules for 2019? There’s just one: “Working really hard to get my new album out,” she says. “I’m going to be in the studio making sure that I come back with some fun stuff for everyone.” That sounds about right. The London pop phenom blew up with hits like “New Rules” and “IDGAF,” full of disco glitz and tough talk about her post-breakup regimen for taking control and leaving that ex behind. (The punchline: “If you’re under him, you ain’t getting over him.”) It’s been a dazzling rise to the top. But, as Lipa says, “I’ve learned that just by being honest and speaking my truth, I guess it hits home with some people — just like it does with me.” Success has been…

RECORD OF THE YEAR “I Like It” Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin “The Joke” Brandi Carlile “This Is America” Childish Gambino “God’s Plan” Drake “Shallow” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper “All the Stars” Kendrick Lamar and SZA “Rockstar” Post Malone feat. 21 Savage “The Middle” Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey THE EXPERTS PICK “God’s Plan” “The Grammys have never given this prize to a hip-hop track,” notes Scott Plagenhoef, global head of music programming at Apple Music. “It’d be nice to see ‘I Like It’ honored — multicultural and multi-genre hits were the pop narrative of the year — but Drake is the likely winner.” “The Middle” Shannon Cook, trends expert at Spotify, says “God’s Plan” “had godlike status” with her listeners, who streamed it more than…

DURING THE UNITED NATIONS climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland, in December, the cavernous modern convention center at the heart of this grim industrial city was like a spaceship in coal country. Outside, the air was so sulfurous and polluted it gave at least one negotiator a nosebleed as they walked from their hotel to the conference center. Katowice is the coal capital of the European Union, where hills are hollowed out with mines and the livelihoods of some 90,000 workers are dependent on what the Polish prime minister has called “black gold.” Inside the center, thousands of climate negotiators in dark suits — many of whom had likely never seen a chunk of coal in their lives — scurried down echoing hallways and engaged in long meetings about arcane…

ONE DAY IN THE SUMMER of 2017, Daniel Hernandez, better known as the rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, appeared outside a Brooklyn row house to shoot the video that would make him a star, and eventually ruin his life. Against the menacing strains of his viral hit “Gummo,” he and a crowd of men in red bandannas danced, waved guns and made cryptic symbols with their hands. Hernandez, clad in a green tracksuit, thrashed his rainbow hair and bared his multicolored teeth. At one point, he removed his own bandanna to show off a recent tattoo that would become his most identifying feature: the numerals “6” and “9” that covered half his forehead. The tattoo was part of a personal rebrand that shocked Hernandez’s friends when he debuted it on Instagram.…