Music

This year's Black History Month celebration at the Tiny Desk features a carefully crafted lineup spanning many genres, generations and walks of life. Each artist represents the best in their class and will be performing at the Tiny Desk for the first time. Credit: Photo: Bob Boilen Hip-hop artists arguably make the most significant adjustments to play behind the Tiny Desk. The essence is two turntables and a microphone which, […]

Updated February 22, 2023 at 6:07 PM ET Eric R. Holder Jr. sits in the courtroom at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Sept. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles. Holder, who was convicted last year of fatally shooting rapper Nipsey Hussle in 2019, was sentenced Wednesday to 60 years to life in prison. Apu Gomes/AP The killer of a celebrated Los Angeles rapper was sentenced Wednesday after a legal […]

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 […]