Music

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar

Music & Culture

NPR Music's 36 Favorite Albums of 2022 (So Far)

3:58pm June 28, 2022

The best albums from the first half of the year include sprawling offerings from Big Thief and Bad Bunny, works of fiery introspection from Kendrick Lamar and S.G. Goodman and an abundance in between.

Lido Pimienta performing live for World Cafe

Music & Culture

Hear a live mini-concert from Lido Pimienta

3:49pm June 28, 2022

by Stephen Kallao

What adds to Lido's Polaris Prize and Grammy award-winning resume is her ability to command the stage as a live performer.

Music & Culture

Rainbow Girls, 'Compassion to the Nth Degree'

1:12pm June 28, 2022

by Ann Powers

The song processes rage about "the world falling apart in every conceivable way" by coating it in sarcasm and shiny harmonies.

Music & Culture

Hatis Noit, 'Aura'

12:51pm June 28, 2022

by Tom Huizenga

With only her voice as an instrument, the Japanese singer conjures a world of sound and color, with operatic élan.

Vijay Gupta performing with some of the professional musicians in Street Symphony at the Midnight Mission on LA's Skid Row.

Street Symphony plays in harmony with Skid Row's 'sacred spaces'

1:09pm June 27, 2022

by Neda Ulaby

Vijay Gupta was a 19-year-old violin prodigy when he joined the LA Philharmonic. Now he runs Street Symphony, an organization bringing music to clinics, jails and homeless shelters on Skid Row.

Queue Listen Now

J'Nai Bridges performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

J'Nai Bridges: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

12:45pm June 27, 2022

by Suraya Mohamed

The Grammy Award-winning opera singer performs a classical, jazz and gospel influenced set.

Saba (left), Lizzo (center) and Rosalía have released some of our favorite songs of the year so far.

NPR Music's 36 Favorite Songs of 2022 (So Far)

8:30am June 27, 2022

The songs we love from the first half of the year span a wide emotional and musical range, from wild percussive romps to raw pleas for empathy to Beyoncé's command to leave it all on the dance floor.