Makaya McCraven Sulyiman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Makaya McCraven ENTER TEASER
Makaya McCraven
FKA twigs' mixtape Caprisongs is NPR hip-hop and R&B editor Sheldon Pearce's top album of the year. Photo Illustration: Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption
Immanuel Wilkins' album The 7th Hand tops WRTI editorial director Nate Chinen's album list this year. Courtesy of Blue Note Records/NPR hide caption
The best music of September includes releases from (top left, clockwise) Björk, Makaya McCraven, Sudan Archives, Alex G and Tyler Childers. Courtesy of the artists hide caption
NPR's favorite music of September, from untraditional gospel to mushroom music
With In These Times, Makaya McCraven has perfected a method in which he weaves jazz improvisation and hip-hop recording techniques together with sensitivity that masks an obsessive attention to detail. Sulyiman Stokes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Beth Orton's new record, Weather Alive, finds the singer taking control of her own sound. Eliot Lee Hazel/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Adele's long-awaited 30 tops NPR Music's picks for the best albums out on Nov. 19. Simon Emmett/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Makaya McCraven has a unique style where he makes improvised live recordings, then builds on them in the studio. His new album, which uses this method, is called Universal Beings E&F Sides. David Marques/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Drummer Makaya McCraven, The 'Beat Scientist,' Talks About His New Album
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
Victoria Monét melds fantasy with reality for her latest, "Moment." Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Makaya McCraven: The Brain Behind The Mind-Bending Beats
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
