Makaya McCraven ENTER TEASER

Makaya McCraven

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Pop Smoke's Meet the Woo 2, released less than two weeks before his death, is one of the best albums of the month. Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption

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Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images

NPR Music's Top 10 Albums Of February

February 28, 2020 • We kept coming back to Pop Smoke's Meet the Woo 2, Soccer Mommy's deceptively sunny '90s pop and Makaya McCraven's creative reimagining of Gil Scott-Heron's poetry.

Victoria Monét melds fantasy with reality for her latest, "Moment." Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist

Heat Check: Going All Out

February 10, 2020 • The slow asphyxiation of heartache. The deep resonance of bravado. Heat Check's playlist returns with Victoria Monét, Denzel Curry and Kayla Steen.

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

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Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

February 28, 2019 • Drummer/producer Makaya McCraven creates beat-driven jazz with post-production wizardry.

Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats

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Mary Halvorson's volatile and cagey album Code Girl is her first set full of songs with lyrics, both a departure from and extension of her earlier work and one of Nate Chinen's favorite albums of 2018. Ross Mantle for NPR hide caption

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Ross Mantle for NPR