Music Features

On The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the singer provides a re-education in Blackness 101, in which she's both student and teacher.

Music & Culture

How 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill' Taught Me To Love Blackness

12:00pm July 07, 2021

by Namwali Serpell

The theory of nigrescence describes the process of developing a Black identity. Namwali Serpell says it's like falling in love — and for her, it began when she first heard Lauryn Hill's 1998 album.

On Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part, Caroline Shaw's new album with Sō Percussion, the hyper-flexible composer reinvents as a singer-songwriter.

Music & Culture

Caroline Shaw Is Not Here To Save Classical Music

4:16pm July 06, 2021

by Elena Saavedra Buckley

The Pulitzer-winning, Kanye-collaborating composer began her career with a creative blank check, but she's spent much of the past decade moving sideways. Her latest trick: reinventing as a songwriter.

Min Kwon's America/Beautiful will be released July 4.

70 New Ways To Think About 'America The Beautiful'

4:31pm July 02, 2021

Pianist Min Kwon asked 70 artists to examine and interpret the patriotic standard on solo piano. "What they have in common is what they want America to sound like," she says.

Hearing Alan Stivell, the celebrated Breton harper and multi-instrumentalist, first inspired The Thistle & Shamrock® host Fiona Ritchie to investigate Celtic musical traditions and bring them to radio.

Music & Culture

From Vinyl To MP3: 50 Classic Celtic Songs That Shaped The Thistle & Shamrock

3:45pm July 02, 2021

by Fiona Ritchie

It reminds us to be tradition-bearers: talking to family members, friends and neighbors, so that treasured life experiences and cultural heritage is captured, preserved and shared.

Sly Stone performs at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969, in a still from the film Summer of Soul.

Music & Culture

Questlove Discusses His Must-See New Doc, 'Summer Of Soul'

1:02pm July 02, 2021

Summer of Soul is a new documentary telling the story of a series of six concerts that took place in Harlem in 1969 — and is also Amir "Questlove" Thompson's first gig as a film director.

On Lucy Dacus' new album, Home Video, nearly every song focuses on a particular moment in her youth and teen years

Music & Culture

Rewind, Be Kind: On 'Home Video,' Lucy Dacus Writes Her Own Rules For Friendship

10:25am June 28, 2021

by Marissa Lorusso

Dacus's third album is an intimate collection of snapshots from her youth and teen years. Both searching and empathetic, it channels what it means to revisit the past with the wisdom of distance.

Supporters of Britney Spears protesting during her conservatorship hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Opinion: Britney Is The Latest Victim Of The Industry Machine

9:28am June 25, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Britney Spears' appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday points to a broader history of how women in entertainment and the music business have been treated.

Mia Berrin of Pom Pom Squad. The band's full-length debut, Death of a Cheerleader, is out now.

Music & Culture

Life In Plastic: The Sweet And Sinister World Of Pom Pom Squad

6:01am June 25, 2021

by Alex Ramos

On their full-length debut, Death of a Cheerleader, Mia Berrin and her band queer the American adolescent experience with camp style, girl-group nostalgia and a dose of the uncanny.

On 4, Beyoncé presented a dynamic, multifaceted expression of womanhood — and took crucial steps toward claiming full artistic control over her work.

Music & Culture

Beyoncé's '4' Taught Me How To Become And Embrace Being An Emotional Woman

3:02pm June 24, 2021

by LaTesha Harris

The release of 4 found Beyoncé in a pivotal career moment — and set the stage for her as an auteur. For writer LaTesha Harris, the album also served as a much-needed guide to freedom and womanhood.

Music & Culture

Black Joe Lewis On Chasing, Living And Playing The Blues

2:12pm June 22, 2021

by Mira Kaplan

Amidst a slew of cancellation calls for his 2020 tour, Black Joe Lewis traded in his cowboy hat for a hard hat.