John Morrison is a writer, DJ, and sample-flipper from Philadelphia. As a writer, his work has appeared in NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, Jazz Tokyo, Grammy.com, and more. He is also the host of Culture Cypher Radio, a hip-hop radio show on NPR member station WXPN.
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson's Made in America Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Soul II Soul's Club Classics Vol. One Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Stevie Wonder Thomas Hawk/Flickr hide caption
Kaytranada Liam Macrae/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Crystal Waters Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Known as The Godfather of House Music, Frankie Knuckles helped revolutionize electronic music in the '80s. The Frankie Knuckles Foundation hide caption
Stanley Wade (from left), Harold Wade, Earl Young, Robert Upchurch and Jimmy Ellis of the disco band The Trammps pose for a portrait in 1977. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Wu-Tang Clan Courtesy of the artist hide caption
2 Chainz and Lil Wayne teamed up for Welcome 2 Collegrove. Courtesy of Def Jam hide caption
Sampha's LAHAI tops our shortlist for the best releases out this week. Jesse Crankson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Earl Sweatshirt. Ryo Tanzawa/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Jorja Smith's long-awaited sophomore full-length, Falling or Flying, tops our shortlist for the best albums out this week. Mike Excell/Courtesy of the artists hide caption
The Singapore-born artist and producer yeule's new album, softscars, makes NPR Music's shortlist of the best albums out this week. Neil Krug/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Speedy Ortiz's Rabbit Rabbit tops this week's shortlist of the best albums out on Sept. 1. Chris Carreon/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Lil Uzi Vert Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption
Beastie Boys at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan, in September 1992. Masao Nakagami/Wikimedia Commons hide caption
The latest EP from NewJeans, Get Up, is on our shortlist of the best releases out on July 21. ADOR/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Public Enemy Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
Coi Leray's COI tops this week's shortlist of the best new albums out on June 23. Courtesy of the artist hide caption