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A few years after winning a prestigious jazz vocal competition while still a college student, 23-year-old Samara Joy is now a multiple Grammy nominee for her album Linger Awhile. Meredith Truax/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Meredith Truax/Courtesy of the artist

Samara Joy's polyphonic stardom

February 4, 2023 • Don't be shocked by the 23-year-old jazz singer's breakneck rise from precocious college student to best new artist Grammy nominee. In those few years, she's been building three careers at once.

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Hand-picked songs curated by the NPR Music staff

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NPR Classical

Mahler is having a moment. With the composer's 5th Symphony at the center of the movie Tár, now is a good time to dive into his massive, emotionally diverse symphonic world.

Comic book artist Daniel Warren Johnson (Murder Falcon, Extremity) illustrates the music of Viking's Choice. Horns up! Daniel Warren Johnson hide caption

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Daniel Warren Johnson

Viking's Choice

This week: Florry's scraggly country-rock, Nabalayo's electronic folktale, GEL's hardcore groove, Don Cherry's free-jazz synths, Wolf Eyes' collab with Wolf Raven.

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#NowPlaying: Essential New Music Playlist

NPR Music staff and NPR Member stations share today's essential new music that makes us dance, smile and weep.

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The Alt.Latino Playlist

From your parents' favorite boleros reimagined to cumbia-punk, trapchata and the most PG-13 pop, Alt.Latino's got you you covered.

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Essential stories and videos from npr music

Cimafunk: How his Afro-Cuban funk tells a bigger story about the African diaspora

Cimafunk is this week's guest on Alt.Latino. Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images hide caption

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Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images

Cimafunk: How his Afro-Cuban funk tells a bigger story about the African diaspora

Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras sit down with Erik Rodríguez of Cimafunk to talk about how he's created his singular sound, the complex African lineage of his music and why his band is his "tribe."

Omar Apollo taught himself how to sing from YouTube. Now he's up for a Grammy

Omar Apollo poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Jan. 8, 2023. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption

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Grace Widyatmadja/NPR

Omar Apollo taught himself how to sing from YouTube. Now he's up for a Grammy

Omar Apollo has been nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys, an accolade that usually takes artists years to achieve. But not for Apollo.

Patrick Shiroishi's music moves a Japanese American saga forward

Patrick Shiroishi — pictured here in Los Angeles — released 19 albums in 2022; at least three were standouts in their respective fields, in part because of the questions of identity they examine. Sean Hazen for NPR hide caption

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Sean Hazen for NPR