Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.

Music Features

Saturday September 30, 2017

Shania Twain On Being Respected And Finding Her Voice 'Now'

Shania Twain's new album, Now, is her first after a decade-and-a-half break. Mert Alas, Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Mert Alas, Marcus Piggott/Courtesy of the artist

Shania Twain On Being Respected And Finding Her Voice 'Now'

September 30, 2017 • After nerve damage, divorce and a decade-and-a-half break, Twain has returned to the studio with a much-altered relationship to her instrument. "The mic's become a very good friend of mine," she says.

Hear Shania Twain on Weekend Edition Sunday

Listen · 5:29 5:29

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/552659294/555436567" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday September 28, 2017

How Streaming Revolutionized Rap's Album Rollouts On The Road To No. 1

Future (left) and Kendrick Lamar, onstage at this summer's BET Awards, set their own rules when it came to album rollouts in 2017. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET hide caption

toggle caption

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET

How Streaming Revolutionized Rap's Album Rollouts On The Road To No. 1

September 28, 2017 • From Kendrick Lamar's TDE camp to Rick Ross's MMG, industry heavies weigh in on digital's continued disruption of the traditional album release calendar.

Saturday September 23, 2017

'Screaming Eagle Of Soul' Charles Bradley Dies At 68

Charles Bradley performing on July 16, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bradley passed away on Sept. 23, 2017 at the age of 68. Timothy Hiatt/WireImage hide caption

toggle caption

Timothy Hiatt/WireImage

'Screaming Eagle Of Soul' Charles Bradley Dies At 68

September 23, 2017 • The singer, inspired as a teen by James Brown, didn't release his first album until 2011, at the age of 62. For the six years that followed, through a battle with cancer, he never wasted a moment.

Friday September 15, 2017

Hacker Group OurMine Targets Vevo's Data (And Removes It By Request)

Vevo was hacked by the group OurMine following the group's claimed attempt at warning the company. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for VEVO hide caption

toggle caption

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for VEVO

Hacker Group OurMine Targets Vevo's Data (And Removes It By Request)

September 15, 2017 • The hacker group, which posted hundreds of gigabytes of data it took from the music video site on Friday, said that it had alerted Vevo about the site's failure to protect itself.

Thursday September 14, 2017

After Labels Object, White Nationalist Stormfront Radio Stops Using Johnny Cash

A 1969 headshot of singer and songwriter Johnny Cash. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

After Labels Object, White Nationalist Stormfront Radio Stops Using Johnny Cash

September 14, 2017 • Show producers received a cease-and-desist notice from Universal Music Group and American Recordings telling them to stop using Cash's cover of the Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne song "I Won't Back Down."

Wednesday September 13, 2017

From Baptist Roots To The Bedroom, Demo Taped Gives His Electro Groove A Gospel Redux

Demo Taped works his way out of the blues by returning to his gospel roots on "Insecure." Savana Ogburn hide caption

toggle caption

Savana Ogburn

From Baptist Roots To The Bedroom, Demo Taped Gives His Electro Groove A Gospel Redux

September 13, 2017 • The Atlanta anomaly and Young Thug labelmate faces his anxieties on new single, "Insecure."

Monday September 4, 2017

Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement

Walter Becker (left) and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan in 1977. Becker died on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 67 years old. Chris Walter/WireImage hide caption

toggle caption

Chris Walter/WireImage

Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement

September 4, 2017 • If pop music is a constant tug of war between the reassuringly familiar and the jolt of the modernist new, the Steely Dan guitarist's gift was the ability to hit both extremes at once.

Friday September 1, 2017

Why Black Boy Joy And Lil Uzi Vert's Melancholy Are All The Rage

Lil Uzi Vert, caught surfing the crowd at Coachella last April, released his album Luv Is Rage 2 last week. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella hide caption

toggle caption

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella

Why Black Boy Joy And Lil Uzi Vert's Melancholy Are All The Rage

September 1, 2017 • From fearless smiles to suicidal thoughts, mainstream rap is challenging the old black masculine tropes with a nod to mental health.

Wednesday August 16, 2017

One Of Music Row's Most Influential Leaders, Jo Walker-Meador, Has Died At 93

Jo Walker-Meador and Vince Gill at the Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee in 2015. Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMHOF hide caption

toggle caption

Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMHOF

One Of Music Row's Most Influential Leaders, Jo Walker-Meador, Has Died At 93

August 16, 2017 • She led the Country Music Association for nearly 30 years and oversaw the creation of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the CMA Awards and the CMA Music Festival. She died Tuesday night at age 93.

Wednesday August 9, 2017

Kehlani, And R&B's Women Of Color, Struggle To Be Heard In Pop Market

Tinashe's controversial comments on colorism in The Guardian overshadowed her critique of an industry where space for black women's success feels limited at best. Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic hide caption

toggle caption

Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic

The Record

Kehlani, And R&B's Women Of Color, Struggle To Be Heard In Pop Market

August 9, 2017 • They're expanding the genre's vocabulary, but commercial success often eludes them in an industry sold on prototypes

Friday August 4, 2017

Bandcamp Holds Fundraiser For Transgender Law Center

Car Seat Headrest is among the artists who are joining Bandcamp in donating proceeds to the Transgender Law Center. Chona Kasinger/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Chona Kasinger/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Bandcamp Holds Fundraiser For Transgender Law Center

August 4, 2017 • More than 200 record labels and artists will also be donating proceeds from their sales Friday to the nonprofit.

Thursday August 3, 2017

LL Cool J To Become Kennedy Center's First Hip-Hop Honoree

The Kennedy Center Honors will recognize the pioneering achievements of LL Cool J on Dec. 3. Ronald Martinez/BIG3/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Ronald Martinez/BIG3/Getty Images

The Record

LL Cool J To Become Kennedy Center's First Hip-Hop Honoree

August 3, 2017 • The rapper is part of an evolving appreciation of hip-hop for the Kennedy Center — and is also the youngest honoree in its history.

Wednesday July 26, 2017

Rickie Lee Jones On The Pirates Who Inspired 'Pirates' And Returning To New Orleans

Rickie Lee Jones performs on Saturday Night Live in 1982, the year after she released her second album, Pirates. NBC/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

NBC/Getty Images

The Record

Rickie Lee Jones On The Pirates Who Inspired 'Pirates' And Returning To New Orleans

July 26, 2017 • The second album by Rickie Lee Jones was released in 1981, following a breakup and the response to Jones' Grammy-winning debut, and gets its name and its concept from a band of local drug smugglers.

Tuesday July 25, 2017

Venezuelan President Repurposes 'Despacito' Ahead Of Sunday Vote

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, holding up a small copy of the country's constitution, during a press conference on June 22, 2017. Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

The Record

Venezuelan President Repurposes 'Despacito' Ahead Of Sunday Vote

July 25, 2017 • Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro repurposed the worldwide hit, which the song's creators have condemned.

Thursday July 20, 2017

Linkin Park Singer Chester Bennington Dead At 41

Chester Bennington, a lead singer for Linkin Park and former member of Stone Temple Pilots, performing in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 12, 2015. Jeff Hahne/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Jeff Hahne/Getty Images

The Record

Linkin Park Singer Chester Bennington Dead At 41

July 20, 2017 • One of the lead singers of the band Linkin Park, which found great success in the early 2000s, died Thursday in Los Angeles.