Music

Music & Culture

Beyoncé To Drop Visual Album, 'Black Is King,' On Disney+ In July

6:51pm June 28, 2020

by Rachel Treisman

Beyoncé's upcoming visual album, Black Is King, is based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack. A press release calls it "a celebratory memoir for the world on the Black experience."

Music & Culture

Dirty Projectors On New EP, Sharing Vocals

7:57am June 27, 2020

Dave Longstreth and Felicia Douglass of Dirty Projectors talk about the band's new EP, Flight Tower, which is one of five in a cycle by the band, each featuring a different singer.

Music & Culture

A Look At Songs Inspired By The 2020 Protests For Racial Justice

7:57am June 27, 2020

We take a listen to some of the protest songs of 2020, including Black Lives Matter by Richard Alexander, Mercy by Joy Oladokun and Anderson Paak's Lockdown.

The song "True Trans Soul Rebel" by Against Me! is on Deborah Sprague's Pride playlist.

Music & Culture

A Different Kind Of Pride: Perspectives On 50 Years Of Celebration, Part 6

6:00am June 27, 2020

by Deborah Sprague

We asked writers in the LGBTQ+ community to reflect on the relationship between celebration, music and LGBTQ+ activism. Deborah Sprague writes about songs that reflect her experience as a trans woman.

A drawing of composer William Dawson in 1935 by Aaron Douglas. Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony, long neglected, has received a new recording.

Music & Culture

Someone Finally Remembered William Dawson's 'Negro Folk Symphony'

4:13pm June 26, 2020

by Tom Huizenga

Broadcast nationwide in 1934 and praised by listeners and critics alike, a masterful symphony soon fell silent. A new recording hopes to help revive an American treasure.

Rapper Huey attends a party held at 40/40 club on May 6, 2007 in New York City.

Music & Culture

Huey, The Rapper Behind 'Pop, Lock & Drop It,' Killed In St. Louis Shooting

3:47pm June 26, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

The Kinloch, Mo., native was shot Thursday night in his hometown, according to St. Louis County Police. He was 32 years old.

Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality.

Music & Culture

We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence

11:40am June 26, 2020

These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back.

Music & Culture

BEAM: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

7:39am June 26, 2020

by Abby O'Neill

The Miami-based reggae singer brings a green screen to his Tiny Desk quarantine concert.

Backxwash's song "Into the Void" is featured on Sasha Geffen's Pride playlist.

Music & Culture

A Different Kind Of Pride: Perspectives On 50 Years Of Celebration, Part 5

6:51am June 26, 2020

by Sasha Geffen

We asked writers in the LGBTQ+ community to reflect on the relationship between celebration, protest, music and LGBTQ+ activism. Sasha Geffen reflects on a Pride that feels "fed up with symbolism."

Members of the Dixie Chicks — now known simply as The Chicks — perform at the Grammy Awards in New York in 2003.

Dixie Chicks Change Band Name To The Chicks

7:57pm June 25, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The country trio has changed the band's name to The Chicks in an apparent distancing from its association with racism in the South. The move was accompanied by a new song, "March March."