Music

Ahmad Jamal, pictured in 2016. Rémy Gabalda/AFP via Getty Images For most jazz performers, a song is part of a performance. For Ahmad Jamal, each song was a performance. Over the course of a remarkable eight-decade career, Jamal, who passed away Sunday at the age of 92, created stellar recordings both as an ambitious youth and a sagely veteran. Jamal's death was confirmed by his daughter, Sumayah Jamal. He died […]

RAYE performs a Tiny Desk concert. "I'm a songwriter for a living, okay. I usually have all the words but I'm genuinely speechless." RAYE told the audience at her Tiny Desk. "All I've wanted is to be seen and respected as a musician." The South London-bred singer-songwriter had finally made her way to NPR headquarters, her signature cherry-hued pin curls full of bounce and a radiant smile spread across her […]

Trina performs a Tiny Desk concert "I wanna introduce you guys to the baddest bitch," Trina told the audience of her Tiny Desk. "The original baddest bitch." It's a title no one but the hip-hop icon herself could been able to claim at the Tiny Desk — and for good reason. As a rapper, Trina has been pushing P since before her successors were even sitting up in Pampers and […]

Atlanta rapper Latto belongs to a lineage of women inspired by Miami icon Trina, whose sexually explicit bars have both challenged gendered double standards and shown their staying power. Breyona Holt/Courtesy of the artist This story was adapted from reporting for Episode 4 of Louder Than A Riot, Season 2. For more about sexual agency in hip-hop, including the pioneering raunch of Miami icon Trina and her complex journey with […]

Kassa Overall is no stranger to NPR. Back in 2020 he was a featured vocalist and percussionist on the Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science Tiny Desk concert and in the same year he scored the original music for the first season of NPR Music's Louder Than A Riot podcast. (His catchy theme song has been remixed by producer Suzi Analogue for the show's second season.) Now, Kassa's back again, […]

DreamDoll, Doechii and Baby Tate Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR In 2019, DreamDoll vlogged about her body being 100% plastic-free. In 2021, Baby Tate clapped back at body-shaming trolls on social media. And in 2022, Doechii appeared in the visual for her major label debut completely nude. What do these three moments in time, and these three unique artists, have in common? The subversion of the male gaze. The male […]