Music

"I just feel like that kind of just followed me all throughout my life. I've always kind of been slept on a bit," Ari Lennox says.

Music & Culture

Ari Lennox Has Always Felt Slept On. That's What Motivates Her.

5:09pm August 25, 2019

Lennox became the first female signee to J. Cole's Dreamville label in 2015. Now, with the release of her debut album, Shea Butter Baby, fans are showing up for her soulful sound and storytelling.

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The Instrument of Hope is lacquered in black except for the shiny brass parts, which are clear lacquered. They include the lead pipe, which is made from bullets set end to end and drilled out so that air can flow through to make it a playable instrument.

A Trumpet Made Of Bullets And The Kids Who Inspired It Take Hope Around The Country

1:24pm August 25, 2019

by Talia Schlanger

The Instrument of Hope, a trumpet made partly of bullets and inspired by the survivors of the 2018 Parkland, Fla., mass shooting, is touring the country to promote healing.

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Composer John Williams and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter during a studio session for Across the Stars.

Music & Culture

John Williams And Anne-Sophie Mutter, 2 Geniuses For The Price Of One

8:32am August 24, 2019

by Tim Greiving

John Williams is an honored film composer, but he began as an arranger. Williams is now arranging again, this time with the acclaimed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter on the album Across the Stars.

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Music & Culture

My Signature Song: 'Jesus Dropped The Charges'

8:32am August 24, 2019

Listener Sue Cochrane shares her signature song, "Jesus Dropped the Charges," and explains how it helped get her to sobriety, influenced her work life and helped her deal with illness.

Music & Culture

Joan Shelley On Her Musical Love Letter To Kentucky

8:32am August 24, 2019

Folk musician Joan Shelley talks with Scott Simon about her album Like the River Loves the Sea, a love letter to her home state of Kentucky.

Tanya Tucker's While I'm Livin', out now, builds on her storied country legacy.

Music & Culture

Tanya Tucker Is Back And Taking No Prisoners

8:07pm August 23, 2019

After first shooting to fame in the 1970s, Tucker is back with her first full-length studio album in more than a decade called While I'm Livin'.

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An audience in los Angeleles share its love for Celso Piña.

Music & Culture

Accordion Master Celso Piña Dead At 66

1:25pm August 23, 2019

by Felix Contreras

Piña mined the traditions of cumbia and expanded the limits of the accordion.

Melina Duterte is otherwise known as Jay Som. Her latest album, Anak Ko, is on our shortlist of the best releases out Aug. 23.

Music & Culture

New Music Friday: Our Top 8 Albums Out Aug. 23

12:24pm August 23, 2019

by Robin Hilton

This week's podcast includes the stadium guitar rock of Sheer Mag, country legend Tanya Tucker, the hip-hop boy band BROCKHAMPTON, a wonderfully strange turn from R&B singer Raphael Saadiq and more.

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"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.