NPR

Credit: Photo: Estefania Mitre/NPR "When did your heart break?" It's the question that Camae Ayewa asks to open this Tiny Desk, and one that's still rattling in my head. That soul puncture is an essential piece of Irreversible Entanglements, a free jazz band rooted in punk ethos. Individually, these folks have made some of the most creative and challenging music of the past decade: Ayewa's ever-evolving project Moor Mother, trumpeter […]

Burna Boy (center) has been nominated for the Grammy award for best global music album in four of the last five years. This year, he was among the nominees for the inaugural best African music performance prize and was the first Afrobeats artist to perform on the Grammy prime time telecast. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Earlier this month, the Nigerian superstar Burna Boy made history as the […]

Beyoncé watches Jay-Z as he accepts the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award during the 66th Grammy Awards on Feb. 4. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy An Oklahoma-based radio station said it is now playing Beyoncé's new country single, "Texas Hold 'Em," after its initial move to not play the song drew quick criticism from fans over what they perceive to be narrow-mindedness. A fan said he emailed KYKC […]

Howard's vocal malleability allows her to access a whole spectrum of contradictory emotions and gender expressions. Medios y Media/Getty Images For all the Prince worship present in pop culture, there aren't very many contemporary stars who are able to sustain the total relentlessness of his musicality — how talent oozed from every inch and in every direction, how jazz and gospel ran through his blood. Figures like Janelle Monáe have […]

Jay-Z (left) accepts the honorary Dr. Dre Global Impact Award alongside his daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, during the 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Standing on the stage at the 66th Grammys on Feb. 4 to accept an honorary award, Jay-Z's speech ended up being anything but accepting. "We love y'all," Jay said, diplomatically motioning to the room […]

André 3000's "New Blue Sun Live" tour spent three nights at the Blue Note jazz club in New York. Dervon Dixon/Courtesy of Blue Note Around halfway through a set during his Blue Note residency last Thursday, André 3000 took some time to survey his tools. The musician crouched over a rug arrayed with around a dozen varieties of the flute — the instrument that's come to symbolize the dramatic creative […]