Music

Kelela's emotional remove paired with the ambiguity created by her vocal performance shifts this album from narrative-telling to mood-building. Photo by Alima Lee Since releasing her debut mixtape, CUT 4 ME, in 2013, the singer Kelela has always innovated at the crossroads of left-field R&B and forward-thinking electronic music. After six years away, she returns to a pop-music landscape that is focused on honoring the Black queer artists who invented […]

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: Lil Yachty performs on the Stage during day 2 of Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2017 at Exposition Park on October 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Rich Fury/Getty Images Lil Yachty often worked better as an idea than a rapper. The late-decade morass of grifters like Lil Pump, amidst the self-serious reign of Future and Drake (eventual Yachty collaborators, for what it's worth), created […]

Viola Davis just put the G in EGOT. She accepted the audio book, narration and storytelling recording award for Finding Me during the 65th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on Sunday, in Los Angeles. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Viola Davis has achieved EGOT status, after picking up her first Grammy. The 57-year-old actor won the award for the best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for […]

This is part of a series of features from All Things Considered on first-time Grammy nominees, ahead of the February 5 awards. Read the profiles on Molly Tuttle and Omar Apollo. Muni Long takes her Grammy nominations to heart. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR To hear Muni Long tell it, the success of her hit single "Hrs & Hrs" owes much to a coincidence of timing – and one of mistaken identity on […]

To hear the broadcast version of this story, use the audio player at the top of this page. J. Ivy, "the suave poet" from Chicago CTZN Chance/Burnculture/CTZN Chance/Burnculture For decades, the Grammys' spoken-word awards have gone to audio books, narrated by people like Barack and Michelle Obama, Carrie Fisher, Stephen Colbert and others – "Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording" is the official title for the statue. But this […]

A few years after winning a prestigious jazz vocal competition while still a college student, 23-year-old Samara Joy is now a multiple Grammy nominee for her album Linger Awhile. Meredith Truax/Courtesy of the artist Samara Joy stood gently swaying, within a rare circle of calm late last year, as a Hammond organ purred in sanctified accord. It was four days before Christmas. Joy was at Ardmore Music Hall just outside […]