Doja Cat: Vie review – master pop provocateur splits the difference between sugar and spice
On her fifth album, the Californian tempers the bite of 2023’s Scarlet with glossy, lovestruck sounds – but never loses her instinct for mischief
Post Malone review – megawatt charisma and anthemic hooks from an irresistibly genial outlaw
Though his slick country is more Jon Bon Jovi that Johnny Cash, there’s only one artist who could unite rock, rap and twang with such effortless panache
Cardi B: Am I the Drama? review – vigorous score-settling and brutally witty put-downs
Seven years after her debut, Cardi B is back with a ferociously enjoyable 70-minute album of eclecticism and enthusiastic annihilation of her enemies
Gorillaz review – after 25 years, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon band are still riveting and relevant
Dressed like a vicar, Albarn leads his band – joined by a choir, a string quartet, De La Soul and more – in renewing Demon Days’ downbeat drama
Will Smith review – post-slap tour has shoutalongs, self-help sermons and a touch of David Brent
His most recent album may have tanked but it works better played live, and Smith is endearing as he continues to get jiggy with it
Earl Sweatshirt: Live Laugh Love review – a head-spinning trip with rap’s great rulebreaker
With a sunlit disposition and paeans to his daughter, the mood turns lighter on the US MC’s sixth album – but the glitching, crashing beats are as esoteric as ever
Green Man festival review – Kneecap and CMAT lead the charge in a utopian Welsh idyll
Progressive, independent and more sonically diverse than ever, the Brecon Beacons festival offered sterling sets from MJ Lenderman to Mike, Jasmine.4.t to Joshua Idehen
Tyler, the Creator: Don’t Tap the Glass review – contradictions and confessions on a dancefloor
The soul-searching of last year’s Chromakopia is expelled – for the most part – by half an hour of early 80s rhythms and slick one-liners with the IDGAF attitude of his early years
Jim Legxacy: Black British Music review – London iconoclast catalyses chaos into a major mixtape
The rapper and producer doubles down on his vaulting style, lurching from alt-rock to distortion and chipmunk soul on an astonishingly coherent and melodic third record
Wireless festival review – Drake’s disjointed three-night headline run smacks of desperation
An all-star lineup of supporting turns – including, astonishingly, Lauryn Hill – show up to bolster the beleaguered megastar, but this is a very scrappy affair
Clipse: Let God Sort Em Out review – reunited rap greats deliver one of the albums of the year
Scathing disses, star guests, inspired Pharrell beats and great lines from chilling to laugh-out-loud: the duo’s first album since 2009 is so much more than the drama around it
Blackhaine: And Now I Know What Love Is review – avant garde dance that grabs hold of your senses
The convulsing figures in Tom Heyes’ choreography, paired with intense sound and a guttural MC, are caught in a mesmerising struggle for human connection
Kendrick Lamar & SZA review – a pyrotechnic party of dark and light
He’s icy, she’s all sunshine – but the rapper and R&B star’s talents prove perfectly complementary in a historic two-hander
Doechii at Glastonbury review – an education in rap from the greatest teacher in the game
Theatrical, flirtatious and athletic, this debut UK festival performance from the US MC is unrelentingly brilliant
Skepta’s surprise Glastonbury set review – British rap’s MVP has matchless mic technique
Filling in last minute after Deftones pulled out, the Londoner shows he’s still top of his game with a kinetic performance that jumps from garage to grime to Fred Again bangers