The 50 Best Albums Of 2020
Our guide to the greatest albums (Nos. 40-31) that emerged from a year's worth of cacophony.
Music Features
Drakeo The Ruler, Less Than A Month Out Of Prison, Releases 'We Know The Truth'
NPR Music speaks with the LA rapper, who struck a plea deal earlier this month resulting in his release from prison after a four-year legal battle.
Montage Of A Dream Deferred
In 2014, Bobby Shmurda aimed for a rap career and landed in prison. As the end of his sentence approaches, so do new questions about what happened, and who else paid a price.
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion's Year In Music
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with pop culture and music writer Taylor Crumpton about the artist's year in music and her debut album Good News.
'Hitman' Bang Si-hyuk, The Brand-New Billionaire Behind BTS
Formerly a producer and songwriter for K-pop's nascent idols, Si-hyuk's own label, Big Hit Entertainment, recently became larger than the other top labels in Seoul combined.
OutKast's 'Stankonia' Threw Us To The Wilderness
Experience the mayhem of what it means to create something new. Three Southern rap experts revisit the 20-year-old classic.
New Anthology Revisits Brief History Of The Gospel Truth Label
The Gospel Truth was a subsidiary of the famous soul label Stax Records. A new anthology, The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection, revisits its brief moment in gospel soul history.
Musicians From Mali Offer Advice On Getting Through Hard Times
Facing a pandemic lockdown, huge political upheavals and ongoing uncertainty about the future, musicians including Oumou Sangare and Songhoy Blues offer lessons in creativity and optimism.
Sade Saves
Rest assured, says writer Danyel Smith: There's always a Sade song for how you feel. Whether you live as a "King of Sorrow" or a "Soldier of Love" is up to you.
The Ballad Of Billy Joe Shaver And Jerry Jeff Walker, Country Outlaws
The deaths of Walker and Shaver this month prompted critic Charles Aaron to consider the impact of their work on the wider sound of American music.