Mainstage
Kendrick Lamar’s Microphone was Shut Down at Austin City Limits for Exceeding Time Limit
Recently, Kendrick Lamar discovered that even headline performers are not exempt from festival curfews. He was the last performer on a Friday night at Austin City Limits and was told about a curfew set for 10pm. A video shared by a fan at 10:02pm displayed Lamar continuing his performance, informing the audience, “They’re going to have to turn off my microphone because we’re not finished.” At 10:18pm, the festival officials did exactly that. Lamar responded with grace, bowing and sending the audience kisses before he left the stage a few minutes later.
Austin City Limits is one of Texas’s largest music festivals, featuring an impressive lineup of musical talent. The second day of the show includes performances from Rina Sawayama, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, and the Foo Fighters. Sunday’s lineup includes Hozier, GloRilla, and Mumford & Sons. Lamar is set to return for the second weekend of the festival. Other hip-hop artists performing at the festival include Lil (Friday) and Coi Leray (Saturday).
In other news, Lamar’s song “HUMBLE” received an unexpected cover by Italian rock band Måneskin, winners of Eurovision 2021. The band performed the cover during a show at Madison Square Garden in late September. Lead singer Damiano David told the crowd, “We cannot be the last rock band. But maybe we can be the first rap band,” before launching into their rendition of “HUMBLE”.
Nonetheless, not all accolades to Lamar have been met with approval. A televised karaoke contest in Poland stirred up controversy when a participant sang “HUMBLE” in blackface. The participant, Kuba Szmajkowski, was the winner of that episode of Your Face Sounds Familiar, which resulted in considerable online backlash.
Artist Spotlight
Lisa Boostani creates a mesmerizing tidal realm in “Ocean”
Lisa Boostani’s “Ocean” takes you deep into a sensory world where body, spirit, and myth come together, beyond the surface of genre. Boostani makes a soundscape that is both ethereal and deeply human by combining the broad essence of psychedelic pop with the strong appeal of alternative rock.
Her voice rises as if it is coming from deep within her, shaped by emotion rather than action. She intentionally channels the intangible, turning weakness into strength rather than a source of pain, and “Ocean” tells people to get involved in this inner world, not just watch it. This release is an integral part of her first EP, “One,” which will come out in March 2026 and is based on love, sensuality, and unity.
If “Ocean” is any indication, the EP will show sensuality not as something pretty, but as a kind of spiritual intelligence, a way to know yourself by connecting with others. The song’s textures and structure have an aquatic quality, moving between clarity and delirium, rhythm and freedom. Its emotional focus is on immersion instead of resolution.
The striking quality of “Ocean” is the blend of the mystical worlds. Boostani understands that strength often shows up as gentleness and that deep feelings are better expressed through frequencies than words. She wants people to see consciousness as immediacy, sensation as truth, and openness as an undeniable strength.
Artist Spotlight
NOAH. captures the unspoken signals in enchanting R&B track “That’s Bless”
“That’s Bless” captures the unspoken late-night message, the smile that was exchanged from afar, and the feeling you sense but are afraid to say. NOAH. offers a song with a smoky R&B feel and lyrics that capture unspoken tension, firmly in the realm of emotional ambiguity, where connection is clear but not defined.
This piece concerns the subtle discomfort of mixed signals and quiet longings, when looks say more than words ever could. NOAH. handles the theme with restraint, letting the chemistry simmer rather than explode. NOAH.’s delivery shows a confident gentleness, recognizing that some feelings don’t need strict definitions to be real.
In “That’s Bless,” he captures the essence of connection and the compelling allure that endures, even when both parties pretend it is not there. The composition is based on real-life events, and it acknowledges that specific attachments endure in the heart long after one has persuaded oneself of having progressed.
“That’s Bless” is at the crossroads of closeness and distance, clarity and confusion. The song doesn’t resolve the tension it talks about, and that’s what makes it so powerful. It sums up the connection we say we don’t want but keep coming back to in memory, rhythm, and pulse.
Connect with NOAH. on Instagram
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