Faith Newman in late 1993 or early '94 at Sony Studios with, from left to right, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Nas, Q-Tip and L.E.S. — all the producers on Illmatic except for Pete Rock. Courtesy of Faith Newman hide caption
Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.
Music Features
Wednesday
NPR Music's Ann Powers (right) interviews musicians (from left) Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Alynda Lee Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff, Sharon Jones and Meshell Ndegeocello at the EMP Pop Conference in Seattle. Brady Harvey hide caption
Sharon Jones, Mike McCready, Meshell Ndegocello And Alynda Lee Segarra On Stage
Monday
DJ Rashad passed away on Saturday in Chicago at the age of 34. Courtesy of Ashes 57 hide caption
Wednesday
An image from The Smith Center's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest in Las Vegas. Geri Kodey/The Smith Center hide caption
Saturday
Thursday
Sturgill Simpson's second album, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, takes inspiration from both Ray Charles and research into near-death experiences. Crackerfarm/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Tuesday
Kanye West performing in New York City, 2012 13thWitness/Getty Images for Samsung hide caption
Monday
Big Boi (left) and Andre 3000 perform on stage at Coachella during the first stop on OutKast's reunion tour. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption
Friday
Jesse Winchester performs live in The Netherlands in 2011. Jordi Vidal/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
The view at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. Christopher Polk/Getty Images hide caption
Monday
Friday
These guys can get along. Why can't we? Kanye West (left) and Justin Vernon in 2010. Walik Goshorn ./Corbis hide caption
Wednesday
Frankie Knuckles performs at the 2009 Electric Zoo Festival in New York. Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Frankie Knuckles in 2007. Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Lil' Jon performing in Hollywood in March. Chelsea Lauren/WireImage hide caption