Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Rapper Snoop Dogg partners with a smokeless firepit brand

6:02am November 21, 2023

We told you last week that Snoop Dogg, a legendary stoner, said on social media that he had decided to "give up smoke." He's posted a new video promoting a firepit that claims to be smokeless.

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"I'm better than ever," Brown says. "It just took some time for me to get back to being me again."

Music & Culture

Danny Brown's clean slate

3:53pm November 20, 2023

by William E. Ketchum III

After battling drug addiction and alcoholism, the Detroit rapper emerges from a downward spiral with Quaranta, his most thoughtful album, embracing the wisdom of his 40s.

Colombian performer Shakira leaves court in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday. The global pop star struck a deal with prosecutors as her trial on tax fraud charges was scheduled to begin.

Shakira reaches a deal with Spanish prosecutors on the first day of tax fraud trial

2:37pm November 20, 2023

by The Associated Press

After maintaining innocence for nearly five years, the pop star acknowledged failing to pay about $15.8 million in taxes. She will receive a suspended three-year sentence and a fine of $7.6 million.

Music & Culture

Guitarist Marnie Stern mixes wit and warmth on 'The Comeback Kid'

1:50pm November 20, 2023

by Ken Tucker

Stern is known for the eight years she spent as a guitarist in Seth Meyers' late-night-talk-show house band, but her own upbeat, highlight original music is unlike anything you'll ever hear on TV.

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'I've been trying to do this for over 30 years' — Billy Porter sings on his terms

6:41am November 20, 2023

by Phil Harrell

Following star-making roles in Broadway's Kinky Boots and FX's Pose, Billy Porter has released an original album that plays out like mini-autobiographies: Black Mona Lisa.

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Shucked performs a Tiny Desk concert at NPR Music in Washington, D.C.

Music & Culture

Shucked: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am November 20, 2023

by Josh Rogosin

Songwriting team Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally take us on a musical journey from Nashville to Broadway with their musical, Shucked.

Music & Culture

Choral rock gets pared down on The Polyphonic Spree's new album

7:53am November 19, 2023

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with musician Tim DeLaughter about his choral rock group, The Polyphonic Spree, and its new album, "Salvage Enterprise."

Music & Culture

How a Reconstruction-era singing tour changed popular music

7:53am November 19, 2023

A decision by Fisk University in 1871 helped shape American popular music, according to Vann Newkirk of The Atlantic. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with him about his article on the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Street vendors sell bottled water to Taylor Swift fans amid a heat wave before her Eras Tour concert outside the Nilton Santos Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.

Taylor Swift postpones Brazil show due to heat, day after fan dies during concert

1:54am November 19, 2023

by The Associated Press

Taylor Swift postponed an Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro Saturday after a 23-year-old fan died during her Friday night show, according to a message posted on the singer's Instagram.

Music & Culture

Reflecting on the legacy of the flute in pop music

8:53am November 18, 2023

by Scott Simon

This week, Andre 3000 released an instrumental album featuring the flute instead of an expected rap album. Scott Simon asks LA Times' August Brown about the flute's decades-long role in pop music.

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