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Music Features

Thursday

Doechii's 'Crazy' tested the rules of YouTube, nudity and the male gaze

Rapper Doechii planned for the song "Crazy" to be her industry coming-out party — but the music video, with its focus on Black femme bodies, ran afoul of an unspoken rule. Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR hide caption

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Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR

Louder Than A Riot: Season 2

Doechii's 'Crazy' tested the rules of YouTube, nudity and the male gaze

Rapper Doechii hoped her video "Crazy" would make a statement by presenting her nude body as a vessel of power, not sex. YouTube saw things differently.

Monday

New trio Love In Exile is a manifestation of musical telepathy

Love In Exile is (from left) Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily. The trio just released its self-titled debut album. Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

New trio Love In Exile is a manifestation of musical telepathy

On their debut album, the improvisational supergroup — singer Arooj Aftab, pianist Vijay Iyer and bassist Shahzad Ismaily — try to answer a musical riddle: What does listening sound like?

New trio Love In Exile is a manifestation of musical telepathy

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Sunday

Visibility, with the volume up loud, in Tennessee

"Hate on me," Jake Wesley Rogers sang on stage at the Love Rising benefit concert in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on March 20. "You might as well hate the sun." Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Visibility, with the volume up loud, in Tennessee

A pop critic looks at two benefit shows in Nashville that put a rainbow-hued spotlight on the way a buzzword like "visibility" can become more than symbolic, especially in moments of crisis.

Friday

For the beloved trio's return, Nickel Creek created its own world

Sean Watkins, Chris Thile and Sara Watkins sequenced Nickel Creek's Celebrants as a way to write the album. "We wanted the songs to relate to each other," says Sara Watkins. Josh Goleman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Josh Goleman/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

For the beloved trio's return, Nickel Creek created its own world

"We had basically farmed every nutrient we could out of the potential of this band's soil and we needed to let it rest," Sara Watkins says of the nine-year break between Nickel Creek albums.

Thursday

'You gotta fight and fight and fight for your legacy'

MC Sha-Rock was the first woman to rap on national television in 1981, but hip-hop's double standards have left her legacy as the first female MC buried. Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR hide caption

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Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR

Louder Than A Riot: Season 2

'You gotta fight and fight and fight for your legacy'

Not everyone who was part of rap's ascent gets included in its story. MC Sha-Rock, of the original Funky 4 and the Funky 4 + 1, reaffirms her role in hip-hop's formative years as the first woman MC.

Wednesday

Tuesday

The Culture Corner: How Todd Rundgren shaped a generation of bedroom musicians

Todd Rundgren Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

World Cafe Words and Music Podcast

The Culture Corner: How Todd Rundgren shaped a generation of bedroom musicians

WXPN

World Cafe correspondent John Morrison dives into Rundren's 1973 album, A Wizard, a True Star.

The Culture Corner on World Cafe

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Tennessee musicians grapple with potential impact of new anti-drag legislation

At Monday night's Love Rising event in Nashville, Tenn., artists including Allison Russell, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Joy Oladokun and Amanda Shires, along with drag artists, united against new legislation targeting drag performances and transgender people. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Tennessee musicians grapple with potential impact of new anti-drag legislation

WPLN News

Due to a new Tennessee law limiting drag performances, many drag artists, as well as trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming musicians, worry about their prospects in Nashville and beyond.

Hear WPLN's radio version of this story

Monday

Thursday

Megan's Rule: Being exceptional doesn't make you the exception

Megan Thee Stallion. Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR hide caption

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Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR

Louder Than A Riot

Megan's Rule: Being exceptional doesn't make you the exception

It felt like the December 2022 trial of Tory Lanez sparked a divide in hip-hop, but it just stoked the flames of a 50-year-long battle for Black women to be heard. In the first episode of our new season, we take you into Megan Thee Stallion's testimony to unpack the impact of misogynoir on rap.

Megan's Rule: Being exceptional doesn't make you the exception

Listen · 36:34
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Monday

The Oscar for 'Naatu Naatu' fans the impossible dreams of India's musicians

Art school students in Mumbai finish up a painting of Indian actors N.T. Rama Rao Jr. (left) and Ram Charan of the movie RRR, whose dance song "Naatu Naatu" became the first song from an Indian film to win an Oscar. Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images

Goats and Soda

The Oscar for 'Naatu Naatu' fans the impossible dreams of India's musicians

A song from the blockbuster Indian film RRR won the Oscar for best song and is now the talk of India's music biz. But will it lift other musicians to — well, not fame but at least financial security?

Sunday

Friday

On its debut album, Meet Me @ The Altar carries a pop-punk legacy into the future

Meet Me @ The Altar's debut album, Past // Present // Future, features a punchy rhythm section and a momentum that reaches out a hand to yank potential friends into the fun. Jonathan Weiner/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jonathan Weiner/Courtesy of the artist

On its debut album, Meet Me @ The Altar carries a pop-punk legacy into the future

For many fans, MM@TA has become the face of a new, more inclusive era for pop-punk. But Past // Present // Future also proves the Florida-based band is deeply tied to the genre's history.

Thursday

Louder Than A Riot Returns Thursday, March 16
NPR

Louder Than A Riot

Louder Than A Riot Returns Thursday, March 16

Inside all corners of hip-hop, Black women and queer folk have dealt with the same oppression the music was built to escape. Season 2 of Louder Than A Riot examines who hip-hop marginalizes, and how misogynoir — the specific racist misogyny against Black women — is embedded into the fabric of the culture that we love.

Louder Than A Riot Returns Thursday, March 16

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Wednesday