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      Is Beyoncé Linked to Sweden’s Inflation? An Economist Says So.

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      As fans from around the world spent money to witness the kick off of the star’s tour in Sweden, they may have caused the country’s inflation rate to stay higher than expected.In Europe’s relentless battle against inflation, another culprit has apparently emerged: Beyoncé.Last month, as the star kicked off her world tour in Stockholm, fans flocked from around the world to witness the shows, pushing up prices for hotel rooms. This could explain some of the reason Sweden’s inflation rate was higher than expected in May.Consumer prices in Sweden rose 9.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the country’s statistics agency, Statistics Sweden, said on Wednesday. The rate fell from the previous month’s 10.5 percent, but was slightly higher than economists had forecast.Michael Grahn, an economist at Danske Bank, said that the start of Beyoncé’s tour might have “colored” the inflation data. “How much is uncertain,” he wrote on Twitter, but it could be responsible for most of the 0.3 percentage point that restaurant and hotel prices added to the monthly increase in inflation.Restaurant and hotel prices rose 3.3 percent in May from the previous month, while prices for recreation and cultural activities and clothing also increased.Fans came from around the world to attend Beyoncé‘s sold-out shows. Their spending could explain some of the reason Sweden’s inflation rate was higher than expected in May.Felix Odell for The New York TimesBeyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, her first solo tour since 2016, started on May 10 in Stockholm, with two nights at a 50,000-capacity arena. Fans from around the world took advantage of favorable exchange rates and flew in to buy tickets that were cheaper than in the United States or Britain, for example.Mr. Grahn said in an email that he wouldn’t blame Beyoncé for the high inflation number but “her performance and global demand to see her perform in Sweden apparently added a little to it.”He added that the weakness of Sweden’s currency, the krona, would have added to demand as well as cheaper ticket prices. “The main impact on inflation, however, came from the fact that all fans needed somewhere to stay,” he said, adding that fans took up rooms as far as 40 miles away. But the impact will only be short-lived, as prices revert this month.While this is a “very rare” effect, he said that Sweden had seen this kind of inflationary effect on hotel prices before from a 2017 soccer cup final, when foreign teams played in the country.“So it is not unheard-of, albeit unusual,” Mr. Grahn said.Carl Martensson, a statistician at Statistics Sweden, said that “Beyoncé probably had an effect on hotel prices in Stockholm the week she performed here.” But he added, “it should not have had any significant impact of Sweden’s inflation in May.” More

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      Roger Payne, Biologist Who Heard Whales Singing, Dies at 88

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      His underwater microphones recorded “Songs of the Humpback Whale,” inspiring a movement that led to national and international bans on commercial whaling.Roger S. Payne, a biologist whose discovery that whales serenade one another prompted him to record their cacophonous repertoire of baying, booming, shrieking, squealing, mooing and caterwauling, resulting in both a hit album and a rallying cry to ban commercial whaling, died on Saturday at his home in South Woodstock, Vt. He was 88.The cause was metastatic squamous cell carcinoma, his wife, Lisa Harrow, said.Dr. Payne combined his captivating scientific research with the emotive power of music to spur one of the world’s most successful mammal conservation campaigns. He amplified whales’ voices to help win a congressional crackdown on commercial whaling in the 1970s and a global moratorium in the ’80s. And he established Ocean Alliance, a research and advocacy organization, as well as programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society and elsewhere that continue his groundbreaking work.“He was instrumental in protecting and saving those large animals throughout the world,” Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ocean Giants program, said in an interview.Prof. Diana Reiss, director of the Animal Behavior and Conservation Program at Hunter College of the City University of New York, said in an email that Dr. Payne’s album “Songs of the Humpback Whale” “had a profound effect in raising global awareness and empathy for whales” and “became a national anthem for the environmental movement.”In a Time magazine essay published just days before he died, Dr. Payne warned that human survival would be jeopardized unless efforts were made “to try to save all species of life, knowing that if we fail to save enough of the essential ones, we will have no future.”In pursuing those efforts, he wrote, society must heed other voices — including nonhumans, like whales — and listen to “what they love, fear, desire, avoid, hate, are intrigued by and treasure” in confronting threats like climate change and increasing acidity in the ocean.“Fifty years ago, people fell in love with the songs of humpback whales, and joined together to ignite a global conservation movement,” Dr. Payne wrote. “It’s time for us to once again listen to the whales — and, this time, to do it with every bit of empathy and ingenuity we can muster so that we might possibly understand them.”A humpback whale and her calf in a scene from the 1978 documentary “Humpbacks: The Gentle Giants,” one of the first films made about whales. It featured Dr. Payne, his wife, Katy Payne, and Sylia Earle.In 1971, Dr. Payne founded Ocean Alliance, now based in Gloucester, Mass., to study and protect whales and their environment. He was an assistant professor of biology at Rockefeller University and a research zoologist at what is now known as the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Center for Field Biology and Conservation, both in New York; he was also scientific director of the society’s Whale Fund until 1983. He was named a MacArthur Foundation fellow in 1984.Dr. Payne was the author of several books, including “Among Whales” (1995), and produced or hosted six documentaries, including the IMAX movie “Whales: An Unforgettable Journey” (1996). More recently, he signed on as the principal adviser to Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), founded in 2020 with the goal of translating the communication of sperm whales.In the early 1960s, Dr. Payne was a moth expert who had never seen a whale. His curiosity was piqued when a porpoise washed up on a Massachusetts beach and he heard whale sounds recorded by William Schevill of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Cape Cod, Mass.A friend suggested that he would have a better chance of seeing and hearing live whales in Bermuda. It was there that he met a Navy engineer who, while monitoring Soviet submarine traffic off the East Coast with underwater microphones, had detected another source of undersea sounds that formed thematic patterns and appeared to last as long as 30 minutes.The sounds emanated from whales, whose sequence of sounds Dr. Payne defined as songs, sung both solo and in ensemble. The songs could sometimes be audible for thousands of miles across an ocean.“What I heard blew my mind,” he told The New Yorker last year.Dr. Payne and a fellow researcher, Scott McVay, confirmed in 1967 that humpback whales sing in what Dr. Payne described as a chorus of “exuberant, uninterrupted rivers of sound.”He analyzed the audio with a sound spectrograph, and with collaborators including his wife and fellow researcher, Katherine (Boynton) Payne, known as Katy, as well as Mr. McVay and an engineer, Frank Watlington. They notated the rhythmic melody in what resembled an electronic-music score. Dr. Payne then wrote, in Science magazine in 1971, that humpback whales “produce a series of beautiful and varied sounds for a period of seven to 30 minutes and then repeat the same series with considerable precision.”How, why and even if the whales were actually communicating remained a mystery. Whales have no larynxes or vocal cords, so they appear to make the sounds by pushing air from their lungs through their nasal cavities. Male humpbacks seem to make the sounds especially during breeding season.Notwithstanding whatever advocacy and research Dr. Payne and his colleagues did, it was the whale songs that caught the public imagination and fired the global movement.The music critic Donal Henahan wrote in The New York Times in 1970 that the whales produced “strange and moving lyricism,” which the Times described in a separate article as akin to a haunting oboe-cornet duet trailing off to an eerie wailing bagpipe.“Songs of the Humpback Whale” landed on the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for several weeks in 1970, initially selling more than a hundred thousand copies. The track list included “Solo Whale,” “Slowed‐Down Solo Whale,” “Tower Whales,” “Distant Whales” and “Three Whale Trip.”“If, after hearing this (preferably in a dark room), you don’t feel you have been put in touch with your mammalian past,” Mr. Henahan wrote, “you had best give up listening to vocal music.”Some of the whales’ melodies were incorporated by Judy Collins on one track of her album “Whales and Nightingales.” Pete Seeger was inspired by the melodies to write “Song of the World’s Last Whale.” And the New York Philharmonic performed “And God Created Great Whales,” composed by Alan Hovhaness and incorporating recorded whale songs — sounds that, Mr. Henahan wrote, “carried overtones of ecological doom and a wordless communication from our primordial past.”In 1977, when NASA launched Voyagers 1 and 2 to probe the far reaches of the solar system, the songs of the humpback whales were carried into space on records that could be played by any alien with a stylus.Dr. Payne in the Gulf of Mexico in 2014, studying the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on whales.Ocean AllianceRoger Searle Payne was born on Jan. 29, 1935, in Manhattan to Elizabeth (Searle) Payne, a music teacher, and Edward Benedict Payne, an electrical engineer. He graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1956 and earned a doctorate in animal behavior from Cornell University in 1961.He married Katherine Boynton in 1960; their marriage ended in divorce in 1985. He and Ms. Harrow, an actress and environmentalist, married in 1991. In addition to her, he is survived by four children from his first marriage, John, Holly, Laura and Sam Payne; a stepson, Timothy Neill-Harrow; and 11 grandchildren.“Roger‘s career, his life, was marked by his deep commitment to the lives of whales and other marine life, and then to the interdependence of all species,” Prof. Stuart Firestein, a former chairman of the biology department at Columbia University, said by email. “Roger’s way was not coercion but creating in others the awe and wonder he felt for the beauty of life on this planet.”In his Time essay, Dr. Payne looked both backward and to the future. “As my time runs out,” he wrote, “I am possessed with the hope that humans worldwide are smart enough and adaptable enough to put the saving of other species where it belongs: at the top of the list of our most important jobs. I believe that science can help us survive our folly.” More

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      Popcast (Deluxe): A.I. Pop Stars and Luke Combs’s ‘Fast Car’

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Amazon MusicThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The recent wave of generative A.I. music, including songs “by” Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, Drake and the Weeknd, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Michael Jackson and othersLuke Combs’s cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which is now No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the original’s 1988 peak of No. 6Viewer questions about band reunions and pop star protestsNew songs from Doe Boy and Nia ArchivesSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. More

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      American Ballet Theater Chief Resigns Suddenly

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      Janet Rollé, who had helped lead the company through the turmoil of the pandemic, stepped down a week before its summer season begins.Janet Rollé, the chief executive and executive director of American Ballet Theater, resigned a week before the start of the company’s summer season after 17 months on the job, the company announced Wednesday.Rollé, who helped lead the company through the turmoil of the pandemic, did not offer an explanation for her departure, saying only that she would turn her focus to service on corporate and nonprofit boards.“It has been a privilege to lead such a storied company during such a crucial period of time, and I am grateful for this experience,” Rollé, a former leader of Beyoncé’s business empire, said in a statement. “I would like to extend my sincerest best wishes to A.B.T. as they embark on this new chapter.”Susan Jaffe, Ballet Theater’s artistic director, will serve as interim executive director until a successor to Rollé is found, the company said. “I am humbled by the board’s confidence in me and excited to lead A.B.T. during this transition,” Jaffe, a former Ballet Theater ballerina who took office in December, said in a statement.The announcement jarred the dance world, coming just before Ballet Theater begins its season at the Metropolitan Opera House on June 22 with an expensive New York premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate.” Ballet Theater’s leaders are set to host a gala that night to celebrate the start of the season, a high-profile event that draws donors, cultural executives, celebrities and artists.Rollé’s hiring was announced with much fanfare: She had made a name in the entertainment industry, having served as the general manager of Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé’s media and management company. Rollé, who is Black, was the first person of color to lead the company.Ballet Theater’s executives expressed gratitude to Rollé but offered no details about the circumstances surrounding her resignation. Rollé will advise the search for a successor, the company said.“Janet joined A.B.T. at a critical time, and we are appreciative of her leadership and contributions,” Andrew F. Barth, chairman of Ballet Theater’s board, said in a statement. “We thank her for her continued counsel during this transition period and wish her the very best.”Ballet Theater said that Rollé, Jaffe and Barth were not available for interviews. Rollé did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking further comment.When Rollé started, in January 2022, she faced several immediate challenges, including helping Ballet Theater recover from the pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation of two seasons and cost the company millions of dollars in anticipated ticket revenue and touring fees.In a rare interview with Sports Illustrated last year, she said that she hoped to find new audiences for Ballet Theater.“What I think about is how to make that definition of being America’s national ballet company real and true for all Americans,” she said in the interview.The company endured some artistic struggles under her tenure. In December, the renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky said he was leaving after 13 years as artist in residence, a significant blow to the company. Soon after, New York City Ballet announced he would join that company as artist in residence beginning in August. More

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      World Trade Center Arts Space to Open With Music, Theater and Dance

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      A one-man Laurence Fishburne show, a Bill T. Jones premiere and a new take on “Cats” will be among the offerings at the new Perelman Performing Arts Center.As the marble-clad, cube-like Perelman Performing Arts Center has taken shape at the World Trade Center site, questions have swirled about what will actually happen inside.Some answers came on Wednesday, when the center announced a first year of programming that will feature original work, including the premiere of an autobiographical play written by and starring the actor Laurence Fishburne called “Like They Do in the Movies,” as well as partnerships, including with the Tribeca Festival.Bill Rauch, the center’s artistic director, said the roster was deliberately eclectic.“We much want to give many different audiences many different reasons to come into our building,” he said in a telephone interview, adding that PAC NYC — as the center is being called — is invested in “creating connections.”The year will feature dance, opera, music and theater. Some highlights include:The world premiere of “Watch Night,” a new multidisciplinary piece by the dance artist Bill T. Jones, the poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph and the composer Tamar-kali, in November.The New York Premiere of “An American Soldier,” an opera by the composer Huang Ruo and the playwright David Henry Hwang. The opera, which will be staged in May, tells the true story of Danny Chen, a New Yorker who enlisted in the Army and was subjected to hazing and racist taunts in Afghanistan, and who killed himself at 19.A reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” set in New York City’s ballroom scene. The musical, planned for next June and July, will be directed by Zhailon Levingston and Rauch; its choreographers will be Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, and its dramaturg and gender consultant will be Josephine Kearns.Dance performances will include a celebration of street dance from around the world, including notable D.J.s. There will be a recital by the Easter Island pianist Mahani Teave, an evening with the Broadway performer Brian Stokes Mitchell and, in October, the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition.Performances at the center are to begin Sept. 19 with a five-evening, pay-what-you-wish concert series called “Refuge: A Concert Series to Welcome the World.”One night will feature New York artists who come from elsewhere, including Raven Chacon, Angélique Kidjo and Michael Mwenso. Another will focus on spiritually oriented performers, including the Klezmatics and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Other concerts will highlight educators (featuring Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra), family ensembles (such as the Villalobos Brothers) and childhood traditions (with Alphabet Rockers).The center is named for Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire who made a $75 million pledge in 2016. But its largest donor wound up being Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor, who gave $130 million to get it built. The center, which used to call itself “the Perelman” for short, now calls itself PAC NYC.“There will be something for everyone at PAC NYC,” Bloomberg, the center’s chairman, said in a statement.The Tribeca Festival will do its own programming, but Rauch described its presence as “a collaboration.”“It’s a natural allyship for us, given our location — it made great sense,” he said. “We’re very excited to have them in the building.”PAC NYC has also partnered with Creative Artists Agency to present conversations with celebrity authors like Kerry Washington, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush.“Part of what we want to do is not only reflect the dynamic energy of all five boroughs but to invite conversation in our spaces,” Rauch said, “so having events that are book readings and getting to hear from the authors just feels like it’s well aligned.”Beginning June 23, tickets, starting at $39, are available through February. PAC NYC memberships starting at $10 for the inaugural season are available as of Wednesday.There are three stages at the PAC seating 99, 250 and 450 people. David Rockwell and his Rockwell Group designed the interior of the lobby and restaurant, which will be run by the chef Marcus Samuelsson, along with the bar and outdoor terrace.Plans for programming in the building’s lobby space will be announced in the future and will generally be programmed with less lead time, Rauch said.“All the performances on that stage will be open and free,” Rauch said. “That commitment to access is really crucial.” More

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      Five Places to Visit in Oahu, Hawaii, With Singer Jack Johnson

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      Born and raised in Oahu’s North Shore, the singer-songwriter Jack Johnson can still remember a time when going surfing in Waikiki on the other side of the island was a bit of a trip. “When I was a kid back in the ’70s, that drive seemed extra long. It was mostly dirt roads to get there,” Mr. Johnson said during a video chat from his farm on the island.He also remembers hearing about a local chef, Ed Kinney, who supported and promoted local agriculture. “In Hawaii we have a problem where 90 percent of our food is shipped in. Ed was one of the first chefs, 20 years ago, who was really talking about how important it was to buy local ingredients. Not only for the local economy but also just so that when people are eating out, they’re tasting food that was grown in Hawaii.”The musician Jack Johnson at Kokua Learning Farm, part of a foundation he started with his wife, Kim. Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesA pro surfer before becoming a platinum-selling musical artist, Mr. Johnson is, with his wife Kim, an active environmentalist. In 2003 they founded Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which supports environmental education in Hawaii’s schools and communities. Over the years they have helped establish school gardens, launched recycling drive programs and encouraged the elimination of single-use plastics, and most recently, acquired a farm where school children visit for hands-on learning about the environment.A garden bed of mint, and nasturtium and cassava plants grow at Kokua Learning Farm, which is part of the foundation started by Mr. Johnson and his wife, Kim.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesThe partially restored wetlands at Kokua Learning Farm, which uses sustainable agricultural practices.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesMr. Johnson’s latest album, “In Between Dub,” released this month, is a collection of some of the musician’s favorite songs from his 20-year career, reimagined as dub remixes by some of reggae’s biggest names.Here are five of his favorite places to visit in Oahu.1. Waikiki BeachA surfer at Waikiki Beach, which Mr. Johnson says is “about the best place in the world to learn how to surf.” Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York Times“It can be pretty crowded, so it might seem like a funny place to recommend somebody to go, but it’s about the best place in the world to learn how to surf. Everybody at every level can get in the water and have fun at Waikiki,” said Mr. Johnson. “There are these beach boys who rent surfboards all along the beach. A lot of them grew up in the water and they’re the most competent people to teach you how to surf,” he added. Even if learning to hang ten is not part of the plan, Waikiki is a great place to watch the sun set while skilled surfers do their thing.2. Hungry Ear RecordsAn employee sorts records at Hungry Ear, one of Hawaii’s oldest record stores. Mr. Johnson says he often shops for albums when he’s on tour, in part because they are easy to carry home. Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York Times“It’s been around and moved locations over the years since I was a kid, but it’s where I bought my very first CDs,” Mr. Johnson said. “It’s kind of curated in the sense that the people who are working there are music fans, and when you come in and ask questions, they’re really friendly and show you around.” The store has what Mr. Johnson calls “an amazing collection” of vintage Hawaiian music on vinyl, making it “probably the best place in the world” for anybody curious about Hawaiian music, traditional or contemporary. “ I have a big record collection thanks to Hungry Ear,” said Mr. Johnson, who also likes to shop for records when he’s on tour. “I find that records are a good thing to buy when you’re traveling because they’re flat, so you can put them between your clothes and they don’t add too much space.Mr. Johnson especially likes Hungry Ear for its extensive collection of vintage Hawaiian music.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesForty-fives get their own storage space at the shop.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York Times3. Mud Hen WaterMud Hen Water, run by the chef Ed Kenney, sources its ingredients from local farmers and fishermen. Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York Times“Mud Hen Water is my favorite restaurant in Hawaii. Ed Kenney is the chef and he’s amazing. He’s the host on a PBS show called “Family Ingredients,” and it’s made here in Hawaii. The food is great and it’s done by somebody who was born and raised in Hawaii, who has a real grasp of Hawaiian traditions.” A favorite dish to try? “I would say anything on the menu with kalo, which is taro root and one of the most traditional staples in Hawaii cuisine.”The menu at Mud Hen Water takes its inspiration from traditional Hawaiian cooking.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesInside Mud Hen Water, the restaurant manager Valentina Williams greets some regular customers.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York Times4. Honolulu Theater for YouthA production of “Peter Pop Pan” at the Honolulu Theater for Youth, which Mr. Johnson says is “very Hawaii-centric” in its storytelling. Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York Times“Somebody got us some tickets as a gift when our kids were probably around five years old. And we’ve taken our kids to pretty much every production they’ve ever put on because it’s just amazing,” said Mr. Johnson, who called the theater’s storytelling “very Hawaii-centric.”“It’s a lot of traditional myths and stories about people like Eddie Aikau or Duke Kahanamoku,” Mr. Johnson said, referring to two legendary Hawaiian surfers. “They tell stories that you would only be able to hear or see if you’re here. I would highly recommend going if you’re traveling with kids.”5. Waimea ValleyA bridge over a stream at the Waimea Valley botanical garden, which Mr. Johnson likes for its deep roots in Hawaiian history and traditions.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesNeglected for decades, Waimea Valley is now a nonprofit botanical garden and preservation area that offers workshops on Hawaiian history and culture, as well as performances and educational demonstrations. “It’s a beautiful valley and, I would say, a very sacred place,” Mr. Johnson said, referring to Waimea’s deep roots in Hawaiian history and traditions, including the remains of sacred sites, houses and shrines — some believed to have been constructed around 1470 A.D. “There’s a nice waterfall at the back of the valley and there’s a long trail that’s accessible for everyone,” he said, referring to the nearly mile-long paved path that winds across the valley to Wailele Falls. Along the trail, are magnificent examples of “native plants and tropical plants from around the world,” as well as interpretive signs that provide insight into the flora, fauna and history of the valley.Visitors take a selfie in front of Wailele Falls, which can be reached by a mile-long path.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesThe botanical garden at Waimea Valley, where visitors can learn about the islands’ native plants.Michelle Mishina Kunz for The New York TimesFollow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2023. More

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      The Fierce, Flourishing World of Battle Rap

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      The Fierce, Flourishing World of Battle RapBattle rap is an art form and a sport, as well as an industry that has been slowly growing over the last decade. While there are proving grounds all over the country, New York is its epicenter.Bosevich4 (center, in cap) and Bizzness (arms crossed) at a January battle rap tournament at the Trap NY in Brooklyn.Dexter (center, in hoodie and glasses) at an iBattle event in Staten Island in February.The crowd at a Chrome 23 tournament hosted by Remy Ma in Manhattan in February.Christopher Lee for The New York TimesOn the eastern edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant — a Brooklyn neighborhood synonymous with hip-hop excellence — a tiny wellness center is tucked between a Pentecostal church and a real estate office. Inside its sterile, 800 or so square feet, there’s a wall of mirrors, stock photos of people performing various exercises and fluorescent lighting that makes the plastic plants in the corner look even more fake. On certain nights, one could be excused for thinking this is a waiting room and not what it actually is: a battleground.Here, in this unassuming room, the Trap NY — one of several battle rap leagues based in New York City — hosts most of its events. If your only exposure to these face-offs is the climactic scene of “8 Mile,” this venue might seem underwhelming at first; it’s certainly less colorful than the steampunk underground arena where Eminem triumphed over Anthony Mackie.But those tapped into today’s vibrant and multilayered battle rap ecosystem know that this modest gym is far more than a setting where wannabe rappers roast each other. Founded by Tyrell Reid, known as No Mercy, the Trap NY is a well-known institution where future stars of this culture are born.Tyrell Reid, a.k.a. No Mercy of the Trap NY, at a coin toss to determine which rapper will perform first at a January event.“This is one of those places where you can make a statement with the right type of performance,” said Hero, 29, a rapper from Dallas. “It’s a place where you’ve got to prove you’re one of them guys that matter in battle rap.”Battle rap is an art form and a sport, as well as an industry that has been slowly growing over the last decade. Leagues like the Ultimate Rap League (URL), King of the Dot and Rare Breed Entertainment have amassed large and devoted followings by presenting national events with some of the best battlers in the world. These organizations now pay top dollar to M.C.s who can keep their fans engaged — and prove themselves against the competition.The audience at Chrome 23’s Manhattan battle.Mazi and Dexter at iBattle’s Staten Island event.Today, hundreds of aspiring rappers are after the money and respect that come with being a top-tier battle rapper. For many, that journey starts in spots like the Trap NY. Hero is one of a host of rappers who fly halfway across the country just to rap at the wellness center. Almost none of them get paid. They come to the Trap because they know one good performance there can mean a chance to become a part of battle rap’s next generation of elites.These battles often have a simple structure: three rounds in which two M.C.s try to out-rap each other with a cappella verses crafted specifically for their opponent. In the end, there’s usually no official victor. Half the fun for many viewers — both in person and online — is debating who won.Competitions like these are one of the most foundational and time-honored traditions in hip-hop, a culture celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. While battle rap operates outside the machine of the hip-hop industry, organizations like the Ultimate Rap League are dedicated to bringing it to a wider audience. Founded in 2009, URL has accrued hundreds of millions of streams and sold out venues of 1,000-plus seats with its thrillingly produced events. Between ticket sales, ad revenue, pay-per-view broadcasts and app subscriptions, outfits like URL have taken the street art of battle rap and turned it into a legitimate business.Remy Ma, center, started a league of her own with the goal of providing more opportunities for women in battle rap.“This was a sport that didn’t really have the recognition nor the respect from hip-hop culture to the point where these M.C.s could get paid,” said Troy Mitchell, known as Smack, one of the founders and owners of URL. “Once we brought it from the streets and took it to venues, we started to create a business out of it, a business where we could actually pay M.C.s to do something that they love to do.”The immense lyrical talent on URL’s roster has been key to its success. Unlike recording artists, battlers don’t have to worry about musical trends or chart data; hiring producers or booking studio time; TikTok virality or playlist placement. This frees them up to focus on intricate wordplay and detailed storytelling.However, it also means that if their pen isn’t mighty enough to impress the excitable, often ruthless audience, there’s not much else they can do to win them over. With a crowded field of highly skilled M.C.s, this sport has achieved a standard of lyricism that many feel is missing from mainstream hip-hop today. As DNA, a well-known 31-year-old battler from Queens put it, “I can name on one hand how many people I think are as lyrically inclined as a battle rapper.”Alex Braga — known as Lexx Luthor, a Staten Island-based battle rapper and owner of iBattle — blows smoke in the air at a February event.This perhaps explains why big names in hip-hop are increasingly taking note. Drake has hosted and sponsored several URL events, and said at one of them that these rappers are “people that I’m obviously extremely inspired by, that motivate me when I’m writing.” URL’s “Homecoming” event, which sold out Irving Plaza in Manhattan this past November, attracted New York royalty including Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and Ghostface Killah as spectators. Remy Ma even started a battle rap league of her own, Chrome 23, with the goal of providing more opportunities for women in battle rap. The organization sold out New York’s Sony Hall in February with an event that included the finals of a $25,000 all-female tournament, a milestone in this male-dominated sport.“There’s such a huge pay gap when it comes to men and women in battle rap,” Remy Ma — who got her start in these kinds of competitions — said in an interview, “and I feel like somebody who knows battle rap really needed to step in and give them a chance to even out the playing field.” (The $25,000 prize went to C3, a Queens native.)AS THE AUDIENCE and respect for battle rap has grown, so has the money. Today, URL pays its biggest stars up to six figures, and many rappers now feel their talent is better compensated and more appreciated in battle rap than it would be in the recording industry.According to DNA, a lot of the people in the recording business “have all the popularity in the world but then the deals that they have are terrible. Top battle rappers, we make more than a lot of recording artists get and we have the creative freedom of independent contractors.”But in order to earn a spot in a league like URL, rappers must first cut their teeth in smaller, more humble arenas. And while battle rap has proving grounds all over the country, New York is its epicenter. Aspiring talent flocks to the city, hoping to get noticed via local leagues like the Trap NY, iBattle or WeGoHardTV. Their battles take place in rented-out gyms, galleries and clubhouses where audiences as small as a dozen crowd around unpaid talent in cramped semicircles.What they lack in size or flash, though, they make up for in import. The people who run them are well-respected and highly connected in the world of battle rap, and bigger organizations like URL often look to them to scout their next stars. Today, many of battle rap’s biggest talents — like the hardened yet deeply human Eazy‌ the Block Captain or the Indian American rapper Real Sikh, known for his dizzying flow and wordplay — were groomed and discovered in places like the Trap NY.“A lot of people sleep on the battles that happen here,” said Chris Dubbs, a 20-year-old rapper from New Jersey and one of ‌the Trap’s rising stars, “but naw, man, this is where you’re seeing the stars of tomorrow.”From left: Bosevich4, Chris Dubbs and Bizzness at the Trap NY in January.Since founding the Trap NY in 2013, No Mercy, 35, hasn’t turned much of a profit. In fact, he usually loses money on his events. But for him, the point isn’t to create a successful business, it’s to nurture promising new M.C.s and give them tools to succeed. While rappers on the Trap may not find immediate fame or fortune, they will gain a mentor who can take their battle rap career to the next level if they’re willing to work hard and listen to feedback.“We don’t want to sell people on the idea that if you do one battle over here, you’re going to be this huge star overnight,” No Mercy said. “No, expect that, for at least a year, you’re going to be grinding with us in order to elevate. Look at where you are now and see where you are within the next year; see if there hasn’t been a change.”However, Alex Braga — known as Lexx Luthor, a Staten Island-based battle rapper and owner of iBattle — argues that institutions like his are far more than just a steppingstone. As URL gains more of a national profile, he believes small franchises are crucial for maintaining a sense of community and highlighting talent that may not be as traditionally marketable. (While the majority of URL’s stars are straight Black men, iBattle regularly hosts rappers of all races, religions, sexual orientations and genders. A recent battle featured a white Christian rapper facing off against a bisexual Jew.)Hitman Holla and Eazy the Block Captain at the Chrome 23 battle.Pristavia at Chrome 23’s February event.Lexx became a league owner about six years ago. His career as a battler was just beginning to take off when iBattle, a league he grew up performing in, started to decline. It was then that he realized how important places like these were to him.“It just felt like the longer I stayed a battle rapper, the less and less there was of a community,” Lexx said. “So when iBattle went defunct and the original league owner couldn’t run it anymore because of health issues, I knew I couldn’t let it die.”IT MAY BE confusing to hear battle rap called a community when events often involve rappers spraying insults, death threats and literal spit in their opponents’ faces. During one of the Trap’s events, Chris Dubbs rapped to Xcel, “Your death all over social media once I blast mags/Soon as I click that bro, It’s tic-tac-toe: y’all gonna see X on a hashtag.”But look beneath the violent tenor of these battles and you’ll notice signs of deep camaraderie. Rappers will often nod in approval or even give a pat on the back when their competition lands a particularly good punchline; if someone starts forgetting what they wrote, their opponent might mutter words of encouragement; and when it’s all over, the rappers will, almost without fail, exchange congratulatory daps and embraces.Smiledini and Cashis Clay at iBattle’s February tournament.“It’s like boxing,” explained Cheeko, one of the owners of URL. “Boxers, they appreciate each other’s skill sets, they root for each other. You rarely see M.C.s that have a disdain for each other. It’s almost like a brotherhood.”This mutual respect plays a big role in battle rap’s appeal. To many M.C.s, this culture offers a necessary but all-too-rare opportunity to express themselves in a way that is productive and safe.“Battle rap is the only place where you can have two people get their frustration out, say what they don’t like about each other and then at the end of it shake hands,” said Xcel, 37, who got his start on the Trap and has since performed on battle rap’s biggest platforms. “It’s the only place in the world where a Crip can battle a Blood and nobody dies.”There are many unifying forces in the battle rap community, but perhaps the strongest is a deep belief in the art form itself. As hip-hop continues to be a dominating force in popular culture, some in this world say battle rap could make a leap into the mainstream.“Within the next 10 years, I guarantee you battle rappers are going to be household names the same way industry artists are household names,” said Dubbs, who is vying to become one of URL’s next big stars. “People are finally starting to take notice and it’s a beautiful thing. Get into it now so you can appreciate it while it’s still in its beginning stages.” More

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      Paul McCartney Says A.I. Helped Complete ‘Last’ Beatles Song

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      The song was made using a demo with John Lennon’s voice and will be released later this year, McCartney said.More than 50 years after the Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney said artificial intelligence helped create one last Beatles song that will be released later this year.The song was made using a demo with John Lennon’s voice, McCartney said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that was released on Tuesday. He did not give the title of the song or offer any clues about its lyrics.“When we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had, that we worked on,” McCartney said. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this A.I., so then we could mix the record, as you would normally do.”Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer on the Beatles at the University of Liverpool, said in an interview on Tuesday there was speculation that the song might be “Now and Then,” a song Lennon composed and recorded as a demo in the late 1970s.Lennon was fatally shot outside his New York apartment building in December 1980. His widow, Yoko Ono, gave the tape to McCartney as he, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who died in 2001, were working on “The Beatles Anthology,” a career-retrospective documentary, record and book series.Two other songs on that tape, “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” were later completed by the three surviving Beatles using Lennon’s original voice recording and were officially released in 1995 and 1996.It is unclear exactly how McCartney was using the latest demo and whether any new lyrics would be incorporated.The use of A.I. technology to create music with the voices of established artists has raised a number of ethical and legal questions around authorship and ownership in recent months.This spring, an A.I.-produced song called “Heart on My Sleeve,” which claimed to use the voices of Drake and the Weeknd, became popular on social media before it was flagged by Universal Music Group. Similarly created tracks, including one using A.I. versions of Rihanna to cover a Beyoncé song and another using A.I vocals from Kanye West to cover the song “Hey There Delilah,” continue to rack up plays on social media.Other artists are embracing the technology. Grimes, the producer and pop singer, put out a call in April for anyone to make an A.I.-generated song using her voice. The results were mixed.Proponents of the technology say it has the power to disrupt the music business in the ways that synthesizers, sampling, and file-sharing services did.McCartney’s use of A.I. technology may recruit new fans, but it may also alienate older fans and Beatles purists, Tessler said.“We have absolutely no way of knowing, creatively, if John were alive, what he’d want to do with these or what he’d want his contribution to be,” she said, adding that it creates an ethical gray area.Over McCartney’s career, he has been quick to engage with new creative technologies, whether talking about synthesizers or samplers, she said.“I think he’s just curious to see what it can do,” Ms. Tessler said of McCartney. “I mean, it gives us some insight into his mind and what his creative priorities are, that given how much of the music industry is at his fingertips, that what he chooses to do is finish a demo with John Lennon. In a way, it’s very poignant.” More