Kiana Fitzgerald : NPR

Beyoncé performs onstage at Coachella on April 14, 2018. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We Celebrate Beyoncé's 'Homecoming'

April 22, 2019 • On Wednesday, Beyoncé released two major projects. On Netflix, a new documentary captures the process of putting on headlining appearances at last year's Coachella Music Festival. She also surprise-released a double-length live album that contains just some of the highlights from Beyoncé's two ambitious Coachella performances. Both projects are called Homecoming, and they help immortalize a huge stage show full of dancers and drum lines and impeccable choreography and songs that reach across Beyoncé's career.

We Celebrate Beyoncé's 'Homecoming'

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Beyoncé Is The 21st Century's Master Of Leveling Up

Beyoncé performs at Coachella in 2018. Photo illustration: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella and Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

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Photo illustration: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella and Angela Hsieh/NPR

Music Features

Beyoncé Is The 21st Century's Master Of Leveling Up

October 12, 2018 • Through her career, Bey has shown that there are more levels to her artistry than we could have imagined. And she's using those levels to delve further into her personalized elevation of black women.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before'

Noah Centineo and Lana Condor star in the Netflix adaptation of the young adult novel To All The Boys I've Loved Before. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before'

September 5, 2018 • The Netflix young adult romance To All The Boys I've Loved Before tells the story of a high school pair who may or may not — but come on, they will — end up together. You've probably seen it on your Twitter feed, and today we assemble a very special panel to talk about it.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before'

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5 Essential R&B Albums You Slept On In 2016

SiR's album Seven Sundays deserved more love in 2016. Dana Washington/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dana Washington/Courtesy of the artist

Best Music Of 2016

5 Essential R&B Albums You Slept On In 2016

December 17, 2016 • While you were watching Frank Ocean build a staircase, NPR Music contributors Bobby Carter and Kiana Fitzgerald were listening to these records.

5 Essential Hip-Hop Albums You Slept On In 2016

Saba's Bucket List Project should have been on more lists. Bryan Allen Lamb/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Bryan Allen Lamb/Courtesy of the artist

Best Music Of 2016

5 Essential Hip-Hop Albums You Slept On In 2016

December 17, 2016 • Chance the Rapper and A Tribe Called Quest received deserved accolades, but there were many more rap records worthy of celebration this year.

Isaiah Rashad Dusts Himself Off And Tries Again

Isaiah Rashad greets fans outside a signing in downtown Los Angeles this fall. His new album, The Sun's Tirade, is out now. Jorge Cano/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jorge Cano/Courtesy of the artist

Review

The Record

Isaiah Rashad Dusts Himself Off And Tries Again

September 27, 2016 • Depression and addiction stymied the rapper after a promising debut on the same label that launched Kendrick Lamar. On The Sun's Tirade, he sounds like a new man, refreshed and self-aware.

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

People participate in the annual Afropunk Music festival on August 27, 2016 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images hide caption

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Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Opinion

Code Switch

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

August 28, 2016 • This year's AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn features artists who are expanding the universe of punk and ideas about who belongs there.

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

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Sango (left) and Dave B's new album, Tomorrow, comes out July 22. Alan Danilo/Courtesy of Big Hassle Media hide caption

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Alan Danilo/Courtesy of Big Hassle Media

Review

First Listen

Review: Sango And Dave B, 'Tomorrow'

July 15, 2016 • The two — one the face of a new-age quiet storm entity and the other a low-key rapper making small, but steady, waves at home — are convincing. Seattle has something to say.

Songs We Love: denitia and sene., 'olive.'

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Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Songs We Love: denitia and sene., 'olive.'

July 1, 2016 • With an assist from producer Sly5thave, the R&B-adjacent duo transitions from a precipitous moment into a stone-cold jam session with a lustfully bubbly mood.

olive.

5:10

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Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Songs We Love: IGBO, 'ThunderLove'

June 13, 2016 • We could all use a little extra light, with just a hint of cheesiness. That's exactly what the Brooklyn duo offers in its new video.

01ThunderLove

4:29

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Song
ThunderLove
Album
ThunderLove
Artist
IGBO
Released
1969

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First Watch: Alexis Roberts, 'Play House'

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YouTube

All Songs TV

First Watch: Alexis Roberts, 'Play House'

June 10, 2016 • Seemingly banal at surface level, the visuals for the Atlanta singer-songwriter's only song to date represent the impossibility of meeting in the middle once a relationship is beyond repair.

All Songs TV

Watch D∆WN's Fashion Film, 'Wake Up'

June 10, 2016 • The powerhouse singer and her army of beautifully diverse women turn out a post-apocalyptic land.

Tunji Ige in a scene from his new video for the song "War." Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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All Songs TV

First Watch: Tunji Ige, 'War'

June 7, 2016 • The Philadelphia rapper continues to set himself apart visually with a surrealist twist in this video for the standout track from his Missed Calls EP.

Review: Kitty Cash, 'Love The Free Vol. 3'

Kitty Cash's new mixtape, Love The Free Vol. 3, comes out June 10. Hannah Sider/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Hannah Sider/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

Review: Kitty Cash, 'Love The Free Vol. 3'

June 6, 2016 • The Brooklyn DJ's final installment of her curated mixtape series is a patient journey toward personal excellence, crafted with a steady hand and a discerning ear fixed to the streets.

Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' Reveals Shades Of Gospel

Chance The Rapper performs in October 2015, in New York City. Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for vitaminwater hide caption

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Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for vitaminwater

Review

Music Reviews

Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' Reveals Shades Of Gospel

May 15, 2016 • The Chicago rapper's new mixtape, Coloring Book, walks a line between the secular and the religious, bringing gospel sounds to listeners who may not have darkened the doors of a church in a while.

Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' Reveals Shades Of Gospel

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Transcript

Kiana Fitzgerald

Review

We Celebrate Beyoncé's 'Homecoming'

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before'

Review

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

Review

olive.

01ThunderLove

Buy Featured Music

Review

Chance The Rapper's 'Coloring Book' Reveals Shades Of Gospel