Music Features

Music & Culture

Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera on the band's 50th anniversary and upcoming world tour

8:27am September 10, 2022

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Phil Manzanera, the lead guitarist of Roxy Music, about the influential band's 50th anniversary and upcoming world tour.

When kids yell "'Alexa, play poop,' you'll hear these songs

4:22pm September 09, 2022

If you have a smart speaker and small children in the same household, you might be surprised to find what plays when they inevitably yell, "Alexa, play poop."

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Puerto Rican rapper Residente is known as a leader in Latin American political thought.

Music & Culture

Puerto Rican rapper Residente is challenging the definition of 'America'

6:16am September 07, 2022

by enrique Rivera

Puerto Rican rapper Residente is ready for his biggest fight yet – challenging the meaning of America. "Everyone is American on this continent," he says.

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The group behind the 'It's Corn' viral song has been doing this for over 10 years

4:16pm September 02, 2022

People are discovering that some of their favorite videos that have been turned into meme songs during the last 10 years were all written by the same group — The Gregory Brothers.

Singer Samara Joy, the first to be featured in Jazz Night's new series Youngbloods, focusing in on five particularly promising young jazz artists. Photo by Meredith Truax

Music & Culture

Youngbloods: Vocalist Samara Joy

3:41pm September 01, 2022

Jazz Night In America puts the spotlight on Samara Joy, a young vocalist and songwriter who is taking cues from the past to create music that is both classic and contemporary.

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Nicki Minaj performs onstage at the 2022 MTV VMAs at Prudential Center on August 28, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey.

Music & Culture

Nicki Minaj shattered rap's glass ceiling — but never stopped fighting

2:12pm September 01, 2022

by Meaghan Garvey

For the better part of a decade, Nicki simply existing as Nicki felt like a radical act. Along the way, things changed: rap, the internet, fandom, feminism. Maybe Minaj did, too.

New Selena album 'Moonchild Mixes' sparks voice-aging debate

6:21am August 26, 2022

by Chloe Veltman

Some fans of the late singer have taken to social media to denounce the use of digital technology to make her sound older.

Debbie Harry and Clem Burke, 14th Street, NYC, circa 1976.

Against the odds: How Blondie shattered the conventions of punk and pop

9:16am August 25, 2022

by Allyson McCabe

From unreleased music to promotional flyers, photos, a mirrored dressing room sign, and even a stray Andy Warhol print, Blondie's out with a new box set, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982.

Traumazine raffirms Megan Thee Stalllion's skills as one of rap's bar-for-bar heavyweights.

Music & Culture

Megan Thee Stallion resets her terms with 'Traumazine'

9:32am August 19, 2022

by Shamira Ibrahim

The rapper's second studio album reaches for a confessional mode, making space for ruminations and grief — while reaffirming her skills as one of rap's bar-for-bar heavyweights.

French cellist Héloïse Luzzati, 37, launched La Boîte à Pépites to promote the forgotten works of women composers.

A new label revives forgotten female composers' music

10:39am August 17, 2022

by Olivia Hampton

The new record label La Boîte à Pépites is dedicated to raising the profile of female composers whose works have been neglected.

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