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Band

The new album Bando Stone & the New World, billed as a soundtrack to a coming film, revives some of the anarchic spirit of Donald Glover's earliest work as Childish Gambino. Pavielle Garcia/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Pavielle Garcia/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music

Childish Gambino, Denzel Curry and Curren$y channel rap's blog era

Three survivors of a chaotic moment in hip-hop conjure its best qualities, a decade and a few major career twists later, for three new albums released on the same day.

Wednesday

Beats for Buddhism: A South Korean DJ spins followers to the faith

South Korean comedian Yoon Seong-ho, known as NewJeansNim, wearing monk's robes and performing during an electronic dance music party event for the annual Lotus Lantern Festival to celebrate the Buddha's birthday in Seoul, on May 12. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images

State of the World from NPR

Beats for Buddhism: A South Korean DJ spins followers to the faith

Like many other countries, South Koreans are turning away from organized religions. But DJ Yoon Seong-ho is using his beats to attract new followers to his Buddhist faith.

Beats for Buddhism: A South Korean DJ spins followers to the faith

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Thursday

Tuesday

Zach Bryan's fifth album in five years, The Great American Bar Scene, features love songs, thorny anthems, autobiographical lore and even a mini-arc that directly invokes classic Bruce Springsteen songs.

Zach Bryan's fifth album in five years, The Great American Bar Scene, features love songs, thorny anthems, autobiographical lore and even a mini-arc that directly invokes classic Bruce Springsteen songs. Keith Griner/Getty Images hide caption

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Keith Griner/Getty Images

Review

Music

Zach Bryan makes — and breaks — his own myth on 'The Great American Bar Scene'

Bruce Springsteen, 40 years on from Born in the U.S.A., shows up on Bryan’s new album to offer the wisdom and regret of a lifetime of telling truths and spinning yarns.

Wednesday

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour.

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation

Review

Unpacking hip-hop's sprawl in 2024's most eclectic release date

Megan Thee Stallion's post-traumatic reset, a left-field Lil Yachty collab, the raunchy return of cupcaKKe: June 28 delivered a truckload of major albums, and a portrait of modern rap's main tension.

Tuesday

In 1984, Born in the U.S.A. made Bruce Springsteen the biggest rock star in the world. Along the way, one chapter of the album's legacy has nearly vanished from official history: club remixes of three of the album's biggest singles.

In 1984, Born in the U.S.A. made Bruce Springsteen the biggest rock star in the world. Along the way, one chapter of the album's legacy has nearly vanished from official history: club remixes of three of the album's biggest singles. Illustration by Jackie Lay. Photos by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis and SGranitz/WireImage (Getty Images) hide caption

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Illustration by Jackie Lay. Photos by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis and SGranitz/WireImage (Getty Images)

Music

The nearly forgotten story of the 'Born in the U.S.A.' remixes

In 1984, on the cusp of superstardom, Bruce Springsteen agreed to let a producer rework three songs from his upcoming album, Born in the U.S.A. 40 years later, those remixes have nearly vanished.

Thursday

Oran Ektin by José De Holanda

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Jazz Night In America

Oran Etkin's global jazz journeys and the magic of Timbalooloo

WBGO

Oran Etkin creates musical connections around the globe. He also makes instruments come to life in his Timbalooloo program for children.

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Pop Music's First Black Stars
Perry Bradford Music/New York Public Library

Throughline

Pop Music's First Black Stars

Today, the U.S. popular music industry is worth billions of dollars. And some of its deepest roots are in blackface minstrelsy and other racist genres. You may not have heard their names, but Black musicians like George Johnson, Ernest Hogan, and Mamie Smith were some of the country's first viral sensations, working within and pushing back against racist systems and tropes. Their work made a lasting imprint on American music — including some of the songs you might have on repeat right now.

Pop Music's First Black Stars

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Wednesday

Super-producer Edgar Barrera on turning old-school genres into pop hits
Natalia Aguilera

Alt.Latino

Super-producer Edgar Barrera on turning old-school genres into pop hits

Even if you don't know Edgar Barrera's name, you know his work. The multiple Grammy-winning writer and producer has worked with dozens of the biggest names in Latin music — Bad Bunny, Maluma, Karol G, Camilo — the list goes on. But he's also one of the main forces pushing regional Mexican into the mainstream over the past few years, and turning Pan-Latin sounds into pop perfection.

Super-producer Edgar Barrera on turning old-school genres into pop hits

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Tuesday

"Do I truly feel like hip-hop is dead? No, I don't," Questlove tells NPR. "However, I do believe that the landscape and the rules have changed. And some of its participants don't know it."

"Do I truly feel like hip-hop is dead? No, I don't," Questlove tells NPR. "However, I do believe that the landscape and the rules have changed. And some of its participants don't know it." Christian Germoso hide caption

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Christian Germoso

Music

In an industry of conformity, Questlove remains a hip-hop iconoclast

In a new interview, Questlove reveals why Drake vs. Kendrick was so triggering, how he regained his passion for hip-hop and what to expect from the new Roots album.

Questlove reflects on changes in culture and music with his book 'Hip-Hop Is History'

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Monday

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