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
“Empatia” by Aurien & Jab Vix set the tone for an atmospheric new era
“Empatia,“ the stunning electronic debut of Aurien, in collaboration with Jab Vix, is the start of a new creative universe under Aurien’s newly launched imprint Château Bonheur Musique. The track feels like a doorway into a curated emotional space, built from atmosphere, storytelling, and immersive sound design.
“Empatia” is founded upon a contemporary electronic aesthetics that favors texture. The production is sleek and considered, offering up soft rhythmic pulses within roomy layers that breathe. Working with Jab Vix gives texture and dynamics to Aurien’s perspective and sets the sound for the song. It’s more about feeling the music than looking for peaks of high energy. It builds slowly and invites you to sit in the mood.
A highlight is the “Elegant Mix,” which takes the original and gives it a more subdued, slicker makeover. It allows the heart of the composition to come through more intimately, and this duality reinforces the idea behind Château Bonheur Musique as environment, experience, and feeling. “Empatia” is a debut statement and manifesto for the immersive, emotionally intelligent electronic music that works as effortlessly as it does in shared spaces. It’s a thoughtful direction for Aurien, where sound is not just heard, but lived in.
Artist Spotlight
Hollow Shift explores emotional conflict and survival in new EP “War”
Hollow Shift’s “War” EP is a heavy electronic statement, born out of tension, memory, and emotional endurance. The project is the fulfillment of a long-standing creative chemistry between Athens-based duo Alex Zamparas and Jessica Bell, who have since moved on from earlier dream-pop explorations to a darker, more cinematic synthwave identity.
The opening track, “Hephaestus,” is a throbbing mechanical beat overlaid with synths. The production leans into metallic textures and slow-burning speed, as if something powerful is born out of chaos. “Nothing Dies Quietly” raises the emotional stakes with a melodic figure and understated electronic percussion. It is a sad, reflective piece, looking at the lingering echoes of conflict, internal and external. The vocals float above the waves of ambient sound that pulse like a fading memory.
The most experimental track to end the EP is “Frequencies Will Stumble.” The rhythms break and come apart, implying instability, like emotional disorientation. “War” is a meditation on fracture, resistance, and the fragile hope that follows disruption. Hollow Shift delivers a synth-driven tale of finely sharpened production and emotional depth that feels both intimate and expansive. This EP is a big step forward in their sound, and it is cinematic, introspective, and unapologetically human underneath the electronic surface.
Connect with Hollow Shift on | Website | X | Spotify | IG | TikTok |
-
Artist Spotlight6 days agoReeToxA’s “Love Keeps Burning Still” explores divorce, memory, and emotional fallout
-
Artist Spotlight6 days agoAlexa Kate reflects on beauty in the emotional on new release “The Aftermath”
-
Artist Spotlight6 days agoTABOO ZERO unveils tthe beauty of unexpected connection on new release “Stay”
-
Artist Spotlight6 days ago“The Great Refusal” arrives as Motihari Brigade’s bold statement on tech and control
-
Artist Spotlight3 days agoLouie Sace sets the dancefloor in motion with latest release “Body Bend”
-
Artist Spotlight3 days ago“Black Woman Are Not Cheap” by Deportee is a hip-hop statement of respect and identity
-
Artist Spotlight6 days agoLaf0822 flexes and drops hard bars on latest release “Pop My Collar”
-
Artist Spotlight3 days agoGeorge Montague follows the red light home on new release “Home”

