Music Features

In his first two albums, Maxo Kream mined his family history for material. His latest, Weight of the World, continues on that theme, marking his transition to family breadwinner.

Music & Culture

On 'Weight of the World,' Maxo Kream's world expands amid personal tragedy

8:00am October 23, 2021

by Christina Lee

"I always try to honor my family in my music," Maxo Kream says. On his third album, the rapper balances contemplations of newfound family responsibilities with a sense of charisma and triumph.

Music & Culture

Composer Huang Ruo gives voice to the dark history of Angel Island

6:18pm October 22, 2021

by Chloe Veltman

Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo has teamed up with the Del Sol Quartet and vocal ensemble Volti to explore the struggles of Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island in the early 1900s.

Music & Culture

How Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats became the loudest, unlikeliest duo in rap

5:30pm October 22, 2021

Rico Nasty and producer Kenny Beats explain how the vital collaboration that culminated in their joint 2019 mixtape Anger Management traces back to a single scream during an impromptu studio session.

"The way I talk about and think about sound and music is to think about things being shapes and colors and textures," Helado Negro tells NPR. "That's, as much as it is musical, kind of like a language."

Music & Culture

Helado Negro creates his own world on the cosmic 'Far In'

11:07am October 22, 2021

by Reanna Cruz

The Ecuadorian-American producer talks his spiritual new album Far In and building an artistic vocabulary

Mel Brown, 2019 Montavilla Jazz Festival

Music & Culture

Drummer and local legend Mel Brown endures as the humble godfather of Portland jazz

3:57pm October 21, 2021

by Alex Ariff

Portland drummer Mel Brown shares some Motown stories from the 1970s, and of how he returned to his hometown in order to build its scene. Also: a 2019 set from the Montavilla Jazz Festival.

Music & Culture

For percussionist Bonnie Whiting, any object can be an instrument

1:15pm October 20, 2021

by Maggie Molloy

Seattle percussionist and composer Bonnie Whiting speaks to the importance of independence and the close bond between voice and percussion.

Gil Rose and Boston Modern Orchestra Project recording in Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Mass.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project is honored for championing overlooked American music

1:59pm October 19, 2021

by Andrea Shea

The Gramophone Classical Music Awards recognized the group known as BMOP for its extraordinary service to overlooked American composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Music & Culture

PinkPantheress reimagines garage music for a new generation

3:25pm October 15, 2021

by Mano Sundaresan

The internet's buzziest new artist talks creating her new mixtape to hell with it, sample culture, and nostalgia

Marcus King (by Jamie Stow), Molly Tuttle (by Emily DeHart), Ondara (by Galea McGregor)

Music & Culture

World Cafe 30th Anniversary: 30 Under 30

12:50pm October 15, 2021

We've chosen 30 artists who are 30 years old or younger that we believe are poised to be the next generation of World Cafe stars. Each week, we'll reveal one of the artists on that list.

Tracy Chapman's debut album "was the music that I needed at a time when I felt pressure to know everything before it was taught," says writer and scholar Francesca T. Royster.

Music & Culture

Meeting Tracy Chapman In The Spaces Between

10:44am October 15, 2021

by Francesca T. Royster

After Chapman released her 1988 debut, she was everywhere in pop and always on the mind of writer Francesca T. Royster. Hearing that album, she writes, "helped me say what I hadn't yet said out loud."