Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Jay Electronica's Debut Album Is Here — Finally

5:58pm March 13, 2020

Hip-hop artist Jay Electronica has finally dropped his debut album, A Written Testimony. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with music writer Kiana Fitzgerald about a release over 10 years in the making.

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Singer R. Kelly, appearing in court in Chicago in June 2019.

New York Federal Prosecutors File New Charges Against R. Kelly

5:02pm March 13, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

In a superseding indictment filed Friday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn levied nine charges against the R&B singer, including racketeering and sexual trafficking.

Soccer Mommy inside the World Cafe Performance Studio.

Music & Culture

Soccer Mommy Is In Control

2:28pm March 13, 2020

Sophie Allison has a keen understanding of how music works – not just the technical intricacies, but how it all fits together, too.

Chika plays a Tiny Desk concert (Max Posner/NPR).

Music & Culture

Chika: Tiny Desk Concert

1:12pm March 13, 2020

by Abby O'Neill

The 23-year old rapper from Alabama went for a stripped-down set anchored by a Peruvian cajón.

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Harry Styles discusses his Green Bay Packers fandom with NPR Music's Stephen Thompson.

2 Green Bay Packers Fans Chat Behind The Tiny Desk, And One Of Them Is Harry Styles

12:39pm March 13, 2020

by Stephen Thompson

The English pop star has a Packers logo tattooed on his upper arm. So NPR Music's biggest Packers fan sat him down at the Tiny Desk to ask: What's the deal with that?

Damian Kulash Jr.: How Can We Reimagine The Creative Process?

11:40am March 13, 2020

by NPR/TED Staff

Imagine surrounding yourself with images and sounds, in order to set old ideas in a new context. OK Go's Damian Kulash Jr. describes the process that has inspired the band's hits and viral videos.

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Music & Culture

Canadian Band Sets Record For Deepest Underground Concert

7:14am March 13, 2020

The Shaft Bottom Boys played for nearly an hour — more than 6,00 feet below sea level. The venue was the Creighton Mine in Sudbury, Ontario - a community with a deep history in mining.

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The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center is one of the venues closed by the coronavirus crisis, leaving musicians and other gig workers without income.

Musicians Were Depending On Those Jazz Nights And Senior Living Gigs

6:56am March 13, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

As organizations close their doors, COVID-19 cancellations are taking their toll on independent artists, who don't know where their next paycheck will come from.

Bad Bunny's new album YHLQMDLG, which stands for "I do whatever I want" in Spanish, is the highest charting all-Spanish-language record in the history of the Billboard 200.

Music & Culture

Reviving Classic Reggaeton, Bad Bunny's New Album 'YHLQMDLG' Breaks Records

5:03am March 13, 2020

by Stefanie Fernández

Bad Bunny's new album has had unprecedented U.S. chart success for an all Spanish-language record. NPR Music contributor Stefanie Fernández explains what makes the artist and the album so special.

Left to right: Sean Watkins, Sara Watkins and Chris Thile chat with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in June 2001.

Music & Culture

The Year Folk Broke: How Nickel Creek Made Americana The New Indie Rock

5:00am March 13, 2020

by Brittney McKenna

Roots music has always had rule-breakers, but its shift this century toward genre-twisting innovation owes a lot to a 2000 album by three kids barely old enough to vote.