Music

Trixie Mattel attends the RuPaul's Drag Race finale on May 19, 2015 in Los Angeles. In the years since, Mattel has released two albums, brought a YouTube show into the Vice fold and won RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season three.

Music & Culture

Trixie Mattel: America's Next Top Folk-Country Comedy Drag Artist

7:01am March 23, 2018

by Marissa Lorusso

Part of an emerging legacy in drag spurred on by the mainstream success of RuPaul's Drag Race, Mattel has built a career as a comedy queen and folk singer with two albums and a TV show to her name.

VÄSEN performs a Tiny Desk Concert on March 5, 2018 (Eslah Attar/NPR).

Music & Culture

Väsen: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am March 23, 2018

by Bob Boilen

The Swedish trio brought a 30-string sonic blast to the Tiny Desk, performing on 12-string guitar, vioala and the nyckelharpa (a fiddle with keys — think 15th century keytar).

Nailah Blackman performs onstage during SXSW 2018.

Music & Culture

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Musical Discoveries From SXSW 2018

5:00am March 23, 2018

by Stephen Thompson

Rodney Carmichael, Katie Presley and Stephen Thompson join host Linda Holmes to effuse over some of the festival's highlights.

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Music & Culture

Molly Tuttle On Mountain Stage

4:11pm March 22, 2018

Tuttle was the first woman to earn the title of Guitarist of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association. Hear her perform on this Mountain Stage episode.

Clockwise from left: Dessa, Partner, Linqua Franqa

Music & Culture

On Repeat: World Cafe's Favorite Discoveries At SXSW 2018

4:05pm March 22, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

It's like discovering a flavor of something you've never tried before and needing to have it again and again. These are the artists we can't stop listening to after seeing them at SXSW.

Jean Grae & Quelle Chris' Everything's Fine comes out Mar. 30 on Mello Music Group.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Jean Grae & Quelle Chris, 'Everything's Fine'

3:13pm March 22, 2018

by Rodney Carmichael

The recently engaged creative partners give birth to a wellspring of sociopolitical satire on their new collaborative LP.

Music & Culture

After 'Colors,' Genevieve And Company Of Thieves 'Treasure' A Renewal

2:20pm March 22, 2018

by Stephen Thompson

The singer's 2015 solo single was a heart-swelling pop jam. Now, Genevieve has reunited her old band and released "Treasure," which picks up where "Colors" left off.

Music & Culture

I'm With Her On World Cafe

1:22pm March 22, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

With a blend so on point, they might as well be one person. Hear a live performance.

Terence Blanchard's new album with the E-Collective, LIVE, comes out April 20.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Terence Blanchard, 'Dear Jimi (Feat. The E-Collective)'

1:00pm March 22, 2018

by Nate Chinen

Blanchard's new record LIVE focuses on black art and black lives. For this Jimi Hendrix homage, he puts down the trumpet and pitch-bends the mournful melody on synth.

Ane Díaz, whose new record, Venezuela, collects the singer's reinterpretations of traditional songs from her home country, enwrapping them in delicately layered production.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Ane Díaz, 'Allá Viene Un Corazón'

12:35pm March 22, 2018

by Marisa Arbona-Ruiz

As political turmoil roiled her home country, Ane Díaz broke down the traditional danzas of Venezuela, rebuilding them with breadth and depth.