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Lil Baby's "The Bigger Picture" is a conscious trap anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement. Matthew Geovany /Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Matthew Geovany /Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

Heat Check: Bigger Picture

June 16, 2020 • Whether it's a trap anthem for the protests or a tale of petty personal betrayal, this week's Heat Check considers the bigger picture.

Competition Lives On Dreamville's 'Revenge Of The Dreamers III' Album

J. Cole and his Dreamville label wanted to invite as many artists as possible to connect and create on the album Revenge of the Dreamers III. Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images hide caption

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Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images

New Music

Competition Lives On Dreamville's 'Revenge Of The Dreamers III' Album

July 5, 2019 • For Dreamville's third compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers III, J. Cole wanted to invite as many hip-hop and R&B artists as possible to collaborate for 10 days straight. It worked.

Illustration: Angela Hsieh/NPR

Best Music Of 2018

The 50 Best Albums Of 2018

December 4, 2018 • Even in an era when listeners have been primed to expect the unexpected, the best albums of 2018 are full of surprises: a cascade of discoveries, revelations and artistic rebirths.

New Music Friday For Nov. 30: The 5 Albums You Should Hear Now

Alessia Cara, performing live earlier this month in Spain, released one of our must-hear albums for Nov. 30, The Pains Of Growing. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic hide caption

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Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday For Nov. 30: The 5 Albums You Should Hear Now

November 30, 2018 • The 1975's Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, singer Alessia Cara's affecting coming-of-age manifesto The Pains Of Growing, an exercise in minimalism from rapper Earl Sweatshirt and more.

New Music Friday For Nov. 30: The 5 Albums You Should Hear Now

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21 Hip-Hop Albums That Reflected The Politics Of Race, Space And Place In 2017

Courtesy of the artist

Best Music Of 2017

21 Hip-Hop Albums That Reflected The Politics Of Race, Space And Place In 2017

December 28, 2017 • Many of the year's best challenged America's record on race, critiqued widespread cultural erasure, or broke conventions of genre, gender and identity within the space of rap itself.