G Slim's Revenge, a certain rap archetype that has faded since its '90s ubiquity appears to be alive and well.'/>
A familiar rap character, the Cali hustler cruising in a low-rider, has faded in the 21st century. On new albums by G Perico, Mozzy and Gangrene, that figure is alive and well, living in the margins.
(Image credit: Estevan Oriol)
Though Swift performs a range of experience and emotions, the music on her 11th album feels thin and is often in service of lyrics that could have used a red pencil.
Taylor Swift dropped an epic new album that spans two hours — and two high-profile breakups. The Tortured Poets Department delves deeply into two of the singer's recent relationships — one with the English actor Joe Alwyn and the other with Matty Healy, who's the lead singer of The 1975. And while Taylor Swift indulges in a few beefs on this record, the target she returns to most often is herself.
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(Image credit: Beth Garrabrant)
After a decade ruled by their influence, the buzzy reunion of two hip-hop giants finds one imbued with a startling new power.
(Image credit: Theo Wargo)
The Tortured Poets Department, her artistry is tangled up in the details of her private life and her deployment of celebrity. But Swift's lack of concern about whether these songs speak to and for anyone but herself is audible throughout the album.'/>
With The Tortured Poets Department, the defining pop star of her era has made an album as messy and confrontational as any good girl's work can get.
(Image credit: Beth Garrabrant)
Cowboy Carter has ignited discourse about the place of Black musicians in country music. But it's also evidence of its creator's desire to break genre walls by following her most eccentric impulses.'/>
Cowboy Carter has spurred plenty of discussion for being a groundbreaking country album. But for one critic, it calls to mind is a cult favorite '70s psych-rock concept album.
(Image credit: Mason Poole)
Grab your cowboy hat, and saddle up that horse, because Beyoncé's highly anticipated album, Cowboy Carter is here. So far, the album has spurred praise, criticism, and questions about what the actual goal of this project is and how it fits into the Renaissance trilogy. To get into all of that, Brittany joined NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour to discuss whether this foray into country is an exercise in experimentation or industry validation.
In C, which helped launch the style of music called minimalism.'/>
Armed with just her cello, a looping machine and a pair of percussionists, Beiser crafts a rendition of Terry Riley's pioneering In C that is equally mesmerizing and graceful.
(Image credit: Boyang Hu)
Embedded in genre : sadboy, a collaborative release by rappers MGK and Trippie Redd, is an accidental lesson in what once made the collision of rap and pop-punk so electrifying.
(Image credit: Christopher Polk)
While Beyoncé's new album suggests the country-music industry's problematic history of excluding Black artists, the collection as a whole is as much a celebration as it is a critique.
Born in 1924 in Newark, N.J., Vaughan came up in the '40s, alongside bebop, a new jazz style she instantly took to. In the following decades, she proved to be one of the best singers of any genre.
The Philadelphia rapper and singer is known for her playful side, but she widens her subject matter on World Wide Whack, with emotions ranging from ecstatic happiness to the deepest despair.
Katie Crutchfield's gorgeous sixth album affirms that real lives are lived not in clear chapters, but as a zig-zag of pitfalls and revelations one can only hope to learn from.
(Image credit: Molly Matalon)
A new album, American Counterpoints, reasserts the importance of two 20th century Black composers whose work has been neglected.
(Image credit: David Lees)
Composer Darcy James Argue runs a jazz big band — but imagines its sound as if big bands had stayed current rather than faded away. The music's clarity, contrasts and rhythms are all impressive.
* This article was originally published here
The indie rocker's guitar playing conveys a confidence in making music — even when the songs themselves detail doubt and vulnerability. Untame the Tiger is her first solo album in 15 years.
* This article was originally published here
The Beatles' final song could never live up to the body of work that precedes it. But it could never diminish it, either.
(Image credit: Bruce McBroom)
A new album of music by the 88-year-old Estonian mystic seems to put an arm around you and whisper, "In troubled times, music can help."
(Image credit: Luciano Rossetti)
Sanchez's latest album, Night Creatures, features music for nine instruments that variously contrast, blend or clash — channeling the open-air feeling of the pitch-dark woods at night.
* This article was originally published here
This week, Andre 3000 released an instrumental album featuring the flute instead of an expected rap album. Scott Simon asks LA Times' August Brown about the flute's decades-long role in pop music.
* This article was originally published here
Stern is known for the eight years she spent as a guitarist in Seth Meyers' late-night-talk-show house band, but her own upbeat, highlight original music is unlike anything you'll ever hear on TV.
* This article was originally published here
Given the ceaseless torrent of music being released, it's almost inevitable that worthy artists slip through the cracks. Rocker King Tuff and hip-hop's Brown deserve a special mention.
* This article was originally published here
In 2018, three years before his death, the pianist and composer gave a concert in Sardinia that included both Mozart and George Gershwin. A live recording of that concert is now available.
* This article was originally published here
Vultures 1. His new collab with Ty Dolla $ign is now a No. 1. album.'/>
Kanye West has made stumbling rollouts, toxic comments and blown deals his calling card. But at the launch for his new album Vultures 1, it's clear there's one place where his magnetism hasn't faded.
(Image credit: Jason Martinez)
The second album from Radiohead offshoot The Smile is very good. But can its singer ever transcend his role in his revolutionary other band?
The Washington D.C.-based band is led by Elizabeth Nelson, who is also a published music critic. It shows — the music is packed with wordplay, jokes and an undercurrent of serious dread.
* This article was originally published here
During his residency of the famed Blue Note jazz club in New York, the OutKast-rapper-turned-flutist showed us why New Blue Sun is both less and more than that question.
(Image credit: Dervon Dixon)
Fresh Air's rock critic recommends three songs that transcend age and genre: Howard's "Another Day," Kweskin's duet with Maria Muldaur, "Let's Get Happy Together," and Helms' "Leanne."
* This article was originally published here
The former Alabama Shakes leader is in total control of her new album's genre-defying odyssey through this thing called life, evoking the mastery of another do-it-all maestro: Prince.
(Image credit: Medios y Media)
The former Alabama Shakes leader is in total control of her new album's genre-defying odyssey through this thing called life, evoking the mastery of another do-it-all maestro: Prince.
(Image credit: Medios y Media/Getty Images)
Fresh Air's rock critic recommends three songs that transcend age and genre: Howard's "Another Day," Kweskin's duet with Maria Muldaur, "Let's Get Happy Together," and Helms' "Leanne."
During his residency of the famed Blue Note jazz club in New York, the OutKast-rapper-turned-flutist showed us why New Blue Sun is both less and more than that question.
(Image credit: Dervon Dixon/Courtesy of Blue Note)
The second album from Radiohead offshoot The Smile is very good. But can its singer ever transcend his role in his revolutionary other band?
(Image credit: Photos by Helle Arensbak / Leon Neal / Rich Fury / Getty Images/Design by Jackie Lay)
The Washington D.C.-based band is led by Elizabeth Nelson, who is also a published music critic. It shows — the music is packed with wordplay, jokes and an undercurrent of serious dread.
In 2018, three years before his death, the pianist and composer gave a concert in Sardinia that included both Mozart and George Gershwin. A live recording of that concert is now available.
Who is She?
