Music

Nina Simone onstage at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1968.

Music & Culture

Nina Simone's 'Lovely, Precious Dream' For Black Children

2:01pm January 08, 2019

With "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," Simone aimed to capture joy in black identity amid bloody civil rights struggle. The song was addressed to children, but adults caught on, too.

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Sleater-Kinney and St. Vincent in the studio.

Music & Culture

New Sleater-Kinney Album, Produced By St. Vincent, Confirmed For This Year

1:17pm January 08, 2019

by Robin Hilton

Guitarist Carrie Brownstein tells NPR, "We always planned on getting back in the studio — it was just a matter of when."

Clockwise from upper left: Orquesta Akokán, Dakh Daughters, Combo Chimbita, Debashish Bhattacharya, Gato Preto

Music & Culture

No Translations Needed At globalFEST 2019

11:40am January 08, 2019

New York's exuberant and smartly programmed annual showcase of musicians from around the world often yields us some of our favorite artist discoveries. The 2019 edition was no exception.

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Music & Culture

Rubblebucket Break Up... And Don't Break Up

11:31am January 08, 2019

"We started out as romantic partners at the beginning of the album and then we weren't anymore by the end," musician Kalmia Traver says.

Meg Duffy, who was the longtime lead guitarist for Kevin Morby, switched their focus to Hand Habits in 2017.

Music & Culture

Hand Habits' 'Placeholder' Screams With A Sigh

10:25am January 08, 2019

by Kristy Guilbault

The title track from Hand Habits forthcoming album —placeholder, due March 1 — is a soft yet scathing lamentation of being secondary.

Music & Culture

Lawrence On World Cafe

4:17pm January 07, 2019

On the band's latest record, Living Room, Clyde and Gracie welcome new listeners and old fans into theirs, with the sounds of their childhood expressed through modern-day sounds.

The Golden Globes 2018: Best Original Song Nominees

5:30pm January 06, 2019

by Stephen Thompson

The Golden Globes mark the start of the awards season. We take a look at Sunday night's nominees for best original song.

Music & Culture

How 'Dixie' Became And Endured As An Anthem

7:44am January 06, 2019

by Bilal Qureshi

Despite its origins in the popular music of the North, the song "Dixie" became the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy during the Civil War and still endures as a divisive symbol in modern America.

Music & Culture

'Surviving R. Kelly' Documentary Details Decades Of Sexual Abuse Accusations

5:35pm January 05, 2019

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with filmmaker dream hampton about her new six-part docuseries on Lifetime.

Dom Flemons' Black Cowboys retells the settling of America's West through a new lens.

Music & Culture

Dom Flemons Presents A New Image Of The American Cowboy

5:11pm January 05, 2019

by Ryan Heinsius

The singer-songwriter's latest album, Black Cowboys, chronicles the role played by African-Americans in settling the West after the Civil War. The album has been nominated for a Grammy.

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