Music

Charles Turner & Uptown Swing entered the Tiny Desk Contest with the song "Harlem Harlem Harlem."

Music & Culture

Tiny Desk Contest 2020: Entries Public Radio Loves

4:28pm July 21, 2020

Each year, the Tiny Desk Contest receives entries from all 50 states, thanks to help from NPR Member stations across the country. Here are some of the 2020 entries that Member stations love.

Music & Culture

HAIM Radiates Sunniness In 'Women In Music Pt. III'

1:30pm July 21, 2020

by Ken Tucker

The new album by three Los Angeles sisters feels like it was meant to be blasted loud in your car as you try to time all the green lights along Sunset Boulevard.

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In a string of deleted tweets, rapper Kanye West claimed that his wife Kim Kardashian was trying to get him hospitalized, following a campaign rally he held on Sunday.

Kanye West Tweets, Then Deletes, Claims Of His Family's Concern — And More

11:54am July 21, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

West has announced he's running for president. Following an apparent campaign rally on Sunday, the rapper said in a string of now-deleted tweets that his wife was trying to "lock me up with a doctor."

The inside of xBk, Tobi Parks' music venue in Des Moines, Iowa. Without help, hers and thousands of other small, independent spaces across the country are at risk of closing.

Independent Venues Face Bleak Future Without Aid

11:11am July 21, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

Small music venues in the US are looking for a lifeline — and a new bill in Congress called the Restart Act might be it. Advocates say the future of independent clubs relies on government relief.

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Tom Adams plays a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Tom Adams: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

7:48am July 21, 2020

by Bob Boilen

The singer and songwriter plays four new songs from his home in Cornwall, accompanied by a modular synthesizer and fronted by Adams' gifted falsetto.

Lenny Kravitz plays a Tiny Desk (Home) concert.

Music & Culture

Lenny Kravitz: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

6:28am July 20, 2020

by Abby O'Neill

The bohemian rock icon performs a Tiny Desk quarantine concert from his home in the Bahamas.

Asher Gamedze was first heard on Angel Bat Dawid's 15-minute "Capetown" from 2019. Dialectic Soul is his debut album as a bandleader.

Music & Culture

Asher Gamedze's Astral Jazz Will Carry Your Soul To Utopia

6:15am July 20, 2020

by Marcus J. Moore

Dialectic Soul, the South African drummer's debut as a bandleader, is a stunning protest album meant to soundtrack resistance anywhere in the world.

A parking lot in Nashville, photographed on Mar. 31, 2020, after Tennessee's governor issued a stay-at-home order in response to the developing coronavirus crisis.

Music & Culture

Breaking Into The Close-Knit World Of Country Music, While Keeping Distant

6:00am July 20, 2020

by Jewly Hight

Nashville has rigid hierarchy of success — particularly when it comes to artists promoting themselves and ascending the city's ladder. And then came a virus.

On her first album, Rina Sawayama blends metal and pop and tackles serious issues."It was such a risk to be a musician that I didn't want to do fluffy pop songs and hope it cut through," she says.

Music & Culture

Rina Sawayama Wants Her Success To Make Space For Asian Women In Pop Music

7:36pm July 19, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Rina Sawayama about her self-titled debut album, everyday racism against Asian women and going from a Cambridge student to a rising pop star.

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Legendary Violinist Isaac Stern's Legacy Lives On After 100 Years

8:00am July 19, 2020

by Jeff Lunden

Tuesday, July 21, marks the centennial of the birth of violinist Isaac Stern. He was not only an acclaimed musician, but a devoted teacher who was a mentor to generations of musicians.