Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Jessie Reyez On The Power Of Sad Songs

9:32am February 01, 2020

Singer Jessie Reyez is a rising star; she's sold out shows, appeared on TV and received her first Grammy nomination for her EP, Being Human in Public. The producers of Latino USA have the profile.

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We've got all the content you need for Black History Month.

A Code Switch Playlist For Black History Month

6:18am February 01, 2020

Black History Month is here, and it's the perfect time to catch up on stories about the hidden heroes and buried history of black America.

Kaytranada's song "What You Need" is featured in this month's edition of Heavy Rotation.

Music & Culture

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

6:01am February 01, 2020

Hear the latest from Doja Cat, Tame Impala, a collaboration between Leon Bridges and Khruangbin and more.

"Simmer," the first single from Paramore singer Hayley Williams' solo album, is one of the best songs of the month.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 20 Songs Of January

4:38pm January 31, 2020

Phony Ppl and Megan Thee Stallion finally released the studio version of their Tiny Desk premiere. Hear that, plus Thundercat and Paramore's Hayley Williams on a playlist of the month's best tracks.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 10 Albums Of January

4:34pm January 31, 2020

One month into 2020 and it already feels like we've got strong contenders for albums of the year.

Bobby Gillespie onstage with Primal Scream, circa 2000.

Music & Culture

Pills, Police And Endless War: 20 Years Ago, Primal Scream Saw Our Future

1:46pm January 31, 2020

by Matthew Perpetua

The Scottish band's 2000 album XTRMNTR isn't as well remembered as its thematic twin, Radiohead's Kid A. But its dark premonition of a world in socioeconomic crisis looks startlingly accurate today.

The Lone Bellow's album, Half Moon Light, is out next Friday. Hear live performances of a few new songs in this session.

Music & Culture

The Lone Bellow Brings Light Into A World That Can Seem Pretty Dark Sometimes

12:30pm January 31, 2020

The band's new record, Half Moon Light, features sing-along choruses, hand-clapping rhythms and melodies that somehow sound familiar even on a first listen.

Megan Thee Stallion gives a verse to Phony Ppl's raunchy "Fkn Around."

Music & Culture

Phony Ppl Enlists Megan Thee Stallion For Raunchy And Hilarious 'Fkn Around'

6:42am January 31, 2020

by Sidney Madden

After first premiering the song exclusively at NPR Music's Tiny Desk, Phony Ppl has finally decided to bless fans with "Fkn Around," a grooving, sorry-not-sorry romp.

Rising Appalachia performs during tiny desk on November, 19, 2019. (Photo by Mhari Shaw/NPR)

Music & Culture

Rising Appalachia: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am January 31, 2020

by Bob Boilen

The Atlanta-based band came to NPR in a van packed with a bodhrán (Irish drum), an ngoni (West African harp) a huge gourd, a cello, a baritone guitar and more.

Cuban singer Cimafunk performs with Tank and the Bangas (winners of NPR's 2017 Tiny Desk Contest), The Soul Rebels and the Queen of the Guardians of the Flame during a concert at La Tropical in Havana.

Music & Culture

Photographing A Musical Exchange Between New Orleans And Havana

6:07pm January 30, 2020

An indomitable musical culture survived the tragedy of the international slave trade. Alt.Latino captured a weeklong celebration featuring artists Trombone Shorty, Tank and the Bangas and Cimafunk.