Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Week 3 Of The 'El Tiny' Takeover: Bachata And Reggaeton Musicians

6:46am September 29, 2021

For National Hispanic Heritage Month, NPR's Tiny Desk Home Concert Series is showcasing some of the best acts in Latin music. A preview of what's in store for this week.

Music & Culture

Dr. Lonnie Smith, Master Of The Hammond Organ, Dies At 79

11:16pm September 28, 2021

by Greg Bryant

The NEA Jazz Master died Tuesday from pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 79.

Britney Spears performs onstage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas in 2016.

What New Netflix And Hulu Documentaries Reveal About Britney Spears' Conservatorship

7:08pm September 28, 2021

by Eric Deggans

Netflix's Britney vs Spears and Hulu's Controlling Britney Spears — released right before an important hearing on the singer's conservatorship — piece together how Spears lost control of her life.

Rather than a heroic journey, the story at the center of Blanchard's opera is one of self-discovery, with an assured, tactile specificity which includes a boistrous fraternity step routine that opens Act III.

Terence Blanchard's Met Opera Debut Is A Singular Achievement And A Shared Success

6:20pm September 28, 2021

by Nate Chinen

The composer's magnetically powerful Fire Shut Up in My Bones lands with a force of authenticity, a too-rare window into Black life in an operatic setting.

How An Author And Illustrator Adapted Nina Simone's Complicated Life Story For Kids

5:04pm September 28, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with author Traci Todd and illustrator Christian Robinson about their new children's book 'NINA: A Story of Nina Simone,' and adapting a complicated figure's story for kids.

A selection of MacArthur fellows from the Class of 2021 (left to right, top row to bottom): Hanif Abdurraqib, Daniel Alarcón, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Jordan Casteel, Don Mee Choi, Nicole Fleetwood, Cristina Ibarra, Ibram X. Kendi, Daniel Lind-Ramos, Monic

This Year's MacArthur 'Genius Grants' Were Just Announced—Here's The Full Winner List

3:56pm September 28, 2021

by Andrew Limbong

Yes, we know they're technically called "MacArthur fellows." But for this group of artists, scientists and scholars, the term fits well enough as any other.

Colombian singer Camilo is up for album of the year, song the year and record of the year across 10 nominations for the Latin Grammys.

Music & Culture

Camilo Nabs 10 Latin Grammy Nominations. Reggaeton Still Largely Shut Out

1:48pm September 28, 2021

by Anamaria Sayre

The Latin Grammys nominations favor a wider range of artists, genre, and fusion pieces, but mostly relegate reggaeton music to its own category.

Cover art for Friction's Conditioned to Chaos.

Music & Culture

Friction, 'Take It Or Leave It'

11:25am September 28, 2021

by Lars Gotrich

A two-minute bruiser taken from the Toronto five-piece's new album, Conditioned to Chaos.

Cover art for The Eivind Aarset 4-tet's Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey.

Music & Culture

The Eivind Aarset 4-Tet, 'Manta Ray, Or Soft Spot'

11:00am September 28, 2021

by Lars Gotrich

Resonant gongs, vibraphone, fluttering trumpet and groaning, synth-like transmissions from Aarset's guitar coalesce over the seven minutes of "Manta Ray."

Music & Culture

NoSo, 'Suburbia'

9:59am September 28, 2021

by Marissa Lorusso

The latest song from the former Tiny Desk Contest entrant is about the indignities and joys of growing up in the suburbs.