The island nation is abuzz with reports that the U.S. has cancelled visas for a number of top entertainers. At least one major concert has been postponed, and some say it's all about the extradition of a politically connected drug lord. Others wonder what a Los Angeles law firm was doing in the middle of the mess. Alternet

      
There's no precedent for Nas and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley's "Distant Relatives." As much as their respective genres have exchanged with one another over the years, a major rapper and a major reggae artist have never released a full-length album together before. But were there even a template, this idiosyncratic concept album threaded around the artists' shared African ancestry (and that continent's modern-day plight) would probably still feel anomalous and unexpected. ClickTrack (By Jesse Serwer)