For many years now, the Bay Area has had one of the biggest and busiest hardcore scenes on the planet. In 2021, just as pandemic restrictions were starting to lift, the Bay Area bands Gulch, Drain, Sunami, and Scowl played an outdoor show in San Jose, and thousands of people showed up. That gig, presented as Real Bay Shit, has become a part of hardcore lore, and the RBS banner has united bands from across the Bay Area’s hardcore, punk, and metal spectrum. Now, 17 different Bay Area bands have contributed unreleased tracks to a new benefit compilation that’s raising money for Crossthread, a nonprofit that aims to open an all-ages DIY space in San Jose.

A few weeks ago, the world was confronted with the ghoulish, ghastly image of the new Smurfs trailer. Rihanna, who produced the latest Smurfs cinematic reboot and who plays the voice of Smurfette, introduced the preview. It promises new music from Rihanna, and it features what sounded like Rihanna singing a version of Belinda Carlile’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.” At one point, you can hear DJ Khaled yelling his own name. Well, the good news is that Rihanna didn’t actually have anything to do with that “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” reboot. The bad news is that DJ Khaled did and that the song is out now.

Fontaines D.C. had a big 2024 with the release of Romance, one of the best albums of the year. Now, the Dublin band is already back with a new song called “It’s Amazing To Be Young.”

Next month, Blackpink’s JENNIE will unveil her stacked debut solo album Ruby. Guests include Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino, Kali Uchis, and more, but today she’s unleashing the Doechii collab “ExtraL.”

Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick has inspired a lot of art over the decades: Two examples are Mastodon’s 2004 heavy metal classic Leviathan and, more recently, composer Jake Heggie’s opera that’s also called Moby-Dick. Initially having premiered in Dallas in 2010, that opera is coming to New York City’s famed Metropolitan Opera this March, just following the 20th anniversary of Leviathan. To celebrate, the Met Opera is throwing an event where members of Mastodon and Heggie will be in conversation about Moby-Dick‘s influence.

Joe Keery, the Stranger Things star-turned-electro-pop artist Djo, will release his new album The Crux this spring. He just finished a tour leg in Australia, where he stopped by Triple J to cover Haim’s “Gasoline” for their Like A Version series.

Last week, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco announced their collaborative album I Said I Love You First. Today, the couple are sharing the Gracie Abrams collab “Call Me When You Break Up.”

This year, Supergrass’ debut full-length I Should Coco turns 30. The British band is celebrating with a short tour, and they’ll be playing through the album live.

NINA is Nina Cristante, best known as the vocalist of London post-punk trio bar italia. Her solo music isn’t too much of a far cry from what she does with her band; she makes lo-fi guitar music that plays with elements of different subgenres, and the result tends to have a sleek, enticing darkness. That’s the case with NINA’s new single “Till The Devil Gets Bored.”

Chicago-based rapper McKinley Dixon has announced a guest-stacked new album called Magic, Alive! coming in June via City Slang. Its lead single “Sugar Water” (out now) features Quelle Chris and Anjimile. Elsewhere on Magic, Alive!, Dixon loops in Pink Siifu, ICECOLDBISHOP, Blu, Shamir, and Ghais Guevara.