The new year offers a new set of musical surprises. Here is a section of 10 acts — under-the-radar or about to explode — who are ready for their moment in the spotlight.
Santería ceremonies are for calling out to the spiritual world, and that spiritual connection is made through music. Felix Contreras explores how some sacred beats made a secular crossover.
Sixty years ago, opera singer Marian Anderson made her long overdue debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera. She was its first African-American soloist.
Beyonce's 2013 self-titled album explicitly connected feminism to sexual confidence; it cast a long shadow over the female-led pop singles that dominated Top 40 this year.
What makes one song sound like another? Sometimes it's coincidence; sometimes it's plagiarism. And sometimes, it's the byproduct of deliberate craftsmanship.
Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks should have been rivals: James Brown hired both of them to do one job. Instead, they stuck together, and laid the foundation for modern funk drumming in the process.