Music

"I feel like people are not educated at a young age to know like, 'OK, you have a choice to go behind bars and become a number and for somebody to profit off you for free labor and it's enslaving your brain," Raphael Saadiq says.

Music & Culture

Raphael Saadiq Sets His Dark Meditation To Music With 'Jimmy Lee'

10:44am August 23, 2019

Raphael Saadiq says his latest album, Jimmy Lee, is an examination on cycles of addiction and issues plaguing black communities. The album is inspired by the deaths of his brothers.

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Missy Elliott performs onstage at Something in the Water Festival in April 2019 in Virginia Beach City. The rapper's latest EP, Iconology, is out now.

Music & Culture

Missy Elliott Drops 'ICONOLOGY,' Her First Original Project In 14 Years

10:43am August 23, 2019

by Sidney Madden

The Virginia game-changer and Grammy winner drops a five-song EP ahead of being honored at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Billie Holiday performs on stage at the Sugar Hill nightclub in Newark, N.J. Farah Jasmine Griffin's 2001 book posed a challenge to biographers and helped reimagine Holiday's legacy.

Music & Culture

Returning To Lady: A Reflection On Two Decades 'In Search Of Billie Holiday'

10:12am August 23, 2019

by Farah Jasmine Griffin

Farah Jasmine Griffin's 2001 book on Billie Holiday posed a challenge to biographers and our understanding of Holiday. Here, she reflects on her changing connection to Lady Day since its release.

Taylor Swift, performing in June 2019 in Carson, Calif.

Music & Culture

Stream Taylor Swift's New Album, 'Lover'

9:49am August 23, 2019

by Lyndsey McKenna

The promotional campaign was protracted, the messaging confusing, and the music ... well, let's find out, shall we?

Mandolin Orange plays a Tiny Desk Concert on June 21, 2019 (Shuran Huang/NPR).

Music & Culture

Mandolin Orange: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am August 23, 2019

by Bob Boilen

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz made everything seem so easy, with just a few acoustic instruments and a single microphone behind the Tiny Desk, performing songs full of joy and thoughtfulness.

NYT#NYTimes#08-18-2019#SundayAdvance#1#MagCoolDress#1#159233

The 1619 Project

4:42pm August 22, 2019

It has been 400 years since over 20 enslaved African people landed in Virginia.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Jay Z at Roc Nation's Manhattan headquarters on August 14, announcing a partnership between the sports league and the rapper's entertainment company.

Opinion: Jay-Z Can't Roc With The NFL Unless Kaepernick Gets A Seat At The Table

4:15pm August 22, 2019

by Rodney Carmichael

There's still room for Roc Nation's controversial NFL partnership to do impressive work — as long as the black billionaire behind it makes room for the struggle already in progress.

Music & Culture

The 1975's 'People' Thrashes With Millennial Anxiety

2:30pm August 22, 2019

by Marissa Lorusso

Notes On A Conditional Form comes out Feb. 21, 2020. On its first single, Matty Healy warns: "It's Monday morning and we've only got a thousand of them left."

Music & Culture

Teitur On Mountain Stage

12:00pm August 22, 2019

by Dave Lavender

Teitur Lassen's fertile imagination has cooked up savory, soul-baring songs cut by Seal, Corrine Bailey Rae and Mandy Patinkin.

Taylor Swift performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" at SummerStage at Central Park on Thursday.

Music & Culture

Look What They Made Her Do: Taylor Swift To Re-Record Her Catalog

12:00pm August 22, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The pop star said Thursday she plans to record new versions of her self-titled album, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989.