Music

Music & Culture

The South Got Something To Say: A Celebration Of Southern Rap

2:58pm August 03, 2020

Our list of the best songs, albums and mixtapes by Southern rappers is a celebration that recenters the South as a creative center of hip-hop and honors the region for all that it has given to us.

John Legend plays a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

John Legend: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

10:00am August 03, 2020

by Bob Boilen

This four-song set for Tiny Desk's quarantine series is utter joy.

Pianist Leon Fleisher eventually resumed playing with both hands after an injury sidelined him at age 36.

Music & Culture

Leon Fleisher, The Pianist Who Reinvented Himself, Dies At 92

10:58pm August 02, 2020

by Tom Huizenga

The beloved pianist was a young lion of his generation until a hand injury forced him to rethink his relationship to music.

When thinking about putting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to music on Voices, Max Richter tried to capture the essence of "the world we haven't made yet."

Music & Culture

Composer Max Richter On 'Voices,' A New Album That Envisions A Better World

6:40pm August 02, 2020

by Gemma Watters

Composer Max Richter's new album drew inspiration from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt which he calls "a blueprint for a better world."

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Jorja Smith's cover of the song "Rose Rouge" is featured in July's edition of Heavy Rotation.

Music & Culture

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

10:41am August 01, 2020

This month, NPR member stations bring you a mix of the most popular songs playing on their airwaves, featuring music from Jorja Smith, Taylor Swift, Fontaines D.C. and more.

As a professor, musician and community advocate, Pierce Freelon has his hands in many different pots. His new children's album, D.a.D., mixes a bit of all three of his vocations for educational fun.

Music & Culture

Pierce Freelon On His Children's Album And The Legacy Of His Creative Black Family

10:31am August 01, 2020

by Mandalit del Barco

Musician Pierce Freelon grew up in a creative and famous Black family and now he's dropping his first children's jazz/hip-hop album, D.a.D., featuring his experiences as a Black millennial father.

The Psychedelic Furs' Richard Butler says the decision to make a new album was intuitive. "It just felt like 'Why don't we write a record? This band is as good as it ever sounded.' "

Music & Culture

The Psychedelic Furs' Richard Butler On The Band's First New Album In 29 Years

5:00pm July 31, 2020

Singer Richard Butler talks about the power of '80s nostalgia, the state of rock and roll today and the freedom of making the band's new record, Made of Rain, on its own terms.

Music & Culture

Remembering Jazz Singer Annie Ross

2:04pm July 31, 2020

by Terry Gross

Ross, who died July 21, was a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She wrote "Twisted," which was recorded by both Joni Mitchell and Bette Midler. Originally broadcast in 1990.

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Music & Culture

With 'Folklore,' Taylor Swift Marks Off Her Past And Enters A New Phase

2:04pm July 31, 2020

by Ken Tucker

Swift's eighth studio album came as a surprise. In the isolation of the past months, she's cooked up a yeasty kind of sugar-free pop that rises above much recent music-making.

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Beyoncé, in a promotional still for her visual album Black Is King.

Beyonce's Visual Ode, 'Black Is King,' Arrives

7:27am July 31, 2020

by Emma Bowers

The project leapfrogged from last year's Bey-curated soundtrack to The Lion King to now arriving on Disney's new streaming service.