15 years after her first single went to No. 1, Alicia Keys says her songwriting still relies on instinct. "I never know how it happens," she says. "And I kinda always wanna be like that."
This summer, R&B singer Anthony Hamilton took NPR Music on a tour of the places in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C. that shaped his voice.
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This summer, Hamilton met NPR Music in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C. for a tour of some of the places — from his boyhood church to the where he cut hair as a singing barber — that shaped his voice.
BANKS' second album, The Altar, comes out Sept. 30.
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As she prepares to release her second album, The Altar, the singer talks about overcoming stage fright, embracing the power of her femininity and the importance of her grandmother's house.
In Episode 3 of Noteworthy, go behind the scenes with one of Europe's fastest rising pop stars as she prepares for her introduction to the United States: a performance on The Tonight Show.
Maxwell sat down in his studio to speak with NPR Music about his creative process.
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Our new video documentary series on the creative process kicks off with the Grammy-winning soul singer. Watch him break down the origins of "Come Through And Chill" and "Adorn" with host Jason King.
A day after performing "Hotter Than Hell" on The Tonight Show, the European pop star performed another one of her songs for a much smaller audience: our Noteworthy video crew.
NPR contributor Jason King (right) sits down with R&B star Maxwell in an episode of the documentary series Noteworthy.
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Audie Cornish speaks with NPR's Jason King about the new documentary series Noteworthy, in which he profiles prominent musicians and reveals the secrets behind how they write, produce and record.
Zooming In On The Creative Process, One Artist At A Time
Watch the boundary-pushing R&B singer perform "What's Normal Anyway" live in the studio.
"I didn't know what I was going to do. It just happened," Maxwell says of recording his new song "Lost," which he tracked in one take.
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The R&B singer can work fast — he recorded two of the tracks on his new album totally off the cuff. So why did the album take so long to make? "Well, because you gotta live something," he says.