May 30, 2012 – If there's one complaint one could raise about Killer Mike's thoroughly Essential R.A.P. Music — one that perhaps goes some way toward explaining why he holds all politicians in equal contempt — it's the album's narrow, strip-club depiction of women. Big Boi, who rapped alongside his fellow Atlanta growler on Killer Mike's biggest solo hit to date, 2003's "A.D.I.D.A.S.," as well as on OutKast songs like "Snappin' and Trappin'" and "The Whole World," falls into a similar trap on "She Said OK," though here the lack of empathy is more glaring. After all, what could be more ridiculous than an unsexy sex jam? Big Boi recently revealed via Twitter that his follow-up to 2010's still-great Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty will be titled Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, rather than the previously speculated Daddy Fat Saxxx: Soul Funk Crusader.

May 30, 2012 – Be careful about turning up the headphones at the start of Beck's Jack White-produced "I Just Started Hating Some People Today," which as You Ain't No Picasso points out has surfaced on Beck's YouTube page. The A-side of a single that came out this week on White's Third Man Records, the song might begin as a gently loping country-rocker, like the Beta Band on a Gram Parsons binge, but after a few minutes it turns into a hardcore-punk hoedown, led by White on screaming guest vocals. By the time "Hating" ends, a female vocalist has joined in for a breathy cool-jazz cooldown, but the bitter mood remains in full effect. "I just started wanting to see you dead," the "Bob Dylan of the '90s" deadpans, in full-on Self Portrait mode. "I may be joking, you'll be choking instead." See? Your hearing loss might be funny! Like your imminent death at Beck's non-nunchuk-bearing hands!

May 30, 2012 – On June 5, David Bowie's landmark The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars will be available as a remastered reissue in honor of the album's 40th anniversary. The spruced-up audio is streaming in full over at the NME, although as we've said before, streaming audio is not exactly an ideal format for evaluating subtle studio tweaks. Still, if you're a Ziggy newbie, this is a great chance to listen to the influential concept album in full. At the very least, you should get a whole new perspective on bands from Of Montreal and Arcade Fire to Green Day. And since Bowie has let it be known he won't be making any new music anytime soon, re-listening to his great works is kind of all we've got. The vinyl edition of the reissue also comes with an audio-only DVD that includes four previously unreleased mixes of Bowie tracks.

May 30, 2012 – In 1997, when presenting Arthel "Doc" Watson with a National Medal of Arts, President Bill Clinton said, "There may not be a serious, committed Baby Boomer alive who didn't at some point in his or her youth try to spend a few minutes at least trying to pick a guitar like Doc Watson." Clinton wasn't the last — nor arguably even the highest-profile — figure to honor Watson, the Appalachian singer, songwriter, and guitarist who died Tuesday at age 89, but his words underscore Watson's heavy influence on American music. Watson passed away in a North Carolina hospital, his manager told CNN. He had recently undergone abdominal surgery. Along with the National Medal of Arts, Watson won multiple Grammy awards, including 2004 Lifetime Achievement honors.

May 30, 2012 – Jay-Z and Kanye West's latest joint video speaks like a Molotov cocktail. Directed by France's Romain Gavras, who also oversaw M.I.A.'s bloody "Born Free" video, the clip for Watch the Throne's martial, foreboding opener is as gripping and cinematic as it is oblique. Shot in the streets of Prague — which could almost be mistaken for lower Manhattan until you notice the Slovak storefront lettering and unfamiliar marble statues — the clip shows an apocalyptic confrontation that pits angry young people with improvised explosive devices against police in riot gear. As featured guest Frank Ocean softens Hova and Yeezy's sharply barbed existential musings with his own soaring croon, the conflict erupts into a Hobbesian state of nature, complete with brutality on both sides, lasers, and, of course, an elephant.

May 29, 2012 – Madonna keeps finding ever-cheekier ways to point out the obvious similarities between Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and the Material Girl's own "Express Yourself." The latest comes via freshly surfaced footage of Madonna performing "Express Yourself" during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv for her MDNA tour. The performance turns into a medley, with Madonna singing the chorus from "Born This Way" before returning to "Express Yourself," intermingling lyrics from both songs to drive the point home. And then, in the masterfully malicious coup de gras, Madonna weaves in a bit of her own Hard Candy track "She's Not Me." The point, we think, is obvious. Madonna has been playing cat-and-mouse with Lady Gaga over "Born This Way" for more than a year now.

May 29, 2012 – When it comes to fight songs, college sports almost always trump the pros. A quarter-century after "The Super Bowl Shuffle," however, Jim Jones' "We Fly High," Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow," and even Future's "Tony Montana" have emerged as pro teams' unofficial theme songs. Over the weekend, Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne unveiled his band's musical tribute to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, and here's hoping the team takes the hint. With a Go! Team-like "Thunder Up!" chant and fan-submitted lyrics gathered via Twitter, "Thunder Up: Racing for the Prize" is a weird, trippy little jock jam, but a highly serviceable jock jam nonetheless.

May 29, 2012 – Earlier this month, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel came out as transgender and revealed plans to begin living as a woman, taking the name Laura Jane Grace. On Friday night, Grace made her live debut under the new name when Against Me! opened for the Cult in San Diego. Rolling Stone reports that although Grace made no mention of her transition onstage, the crowd cheered when she sang, "If I could have chosen / I would have been born a woman," lines from "The Ocean," a song from the 2007 album New Wave. The Against Me! singer's name may have changed, but her voice remains as brusquely powerful as ever, judging by a fan video of the band's roaring rendition of 2005 single "Don't Lose Touch" (via Stereogum).

May 29, 2012 – "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness." That's the Bible verse that serves as the title of former Clipse half Pusha T's snarling, Notorious B.I.G.-sampling track released last week, "Exodus 23:1." Though most media reports so far have cited modern, Americanized translations, there's a certain poetry in the classic King James version. That word, "wicked," says a lot: The Virginia Beach hip-hop veteran didn't just quote the ninth of the Ten Commandments, which warns against bearing "false witness"; he carefully aimed his shots at someone who was teaming up with, in his Manichean worldview, the bad guys. It's masterful hip-hop marketing, and so far it looks like Pusha is winning.

May 25, 2012 – My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James plans to release his debut solo album in 2013, Rolling Stone reports. "It's done," James is quoted as saying. "I think it's gonna come out in early February of next year." Although no title or track list is available yet, James tells Rolling Stone he's planning on taking the material on the road. He says he's talking with old friends from back home in Kentucky. One longtime friend, who played with James in his first-ever band, is reportedly the drummer on the bulk of the album. As for the music itself, James' high, lonesome voice remains a constant, but don't expect the record to sound exactly like My Morning Jacket. "It's got some mellow stuff on there, but it's also got some really different stuff," James is quoted as saying. "I'm really proud of it.