NPR Music Playlists Spotify playlists curated by the NPR Music staff.

NPR Music Playlists

NPR

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.

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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Viking's Choice

Where heavy metal, heady psych, dreamy ambient, furious punk and cotton-candy pop music all come to freak out. Curated by Lars Gotrich.

Chris Sharron

NPR Classical

Need a deep discovery experience? Try 1000 years of music. Our mantra: Bach, Beethoven, before and beyond.

Angela Hsieh/NPR

Bob Boilen's Playlist

What the creator of NPR Music's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts is listening to right now.

"New Beyoncé is literally good for everybody in the world," Maggie Rogers says of Renaissance, which shares a release date with her own Surrender. "I'm so excited for this record." Olivia Bee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Maggie Rogers' summer mixtape sweats with sweetness

Filled with pop mosaics, Surrender feels like a quintessentially summer album. Naturally, we asked Maggie Rogers for a roséwave playlist.

Roséwave is light and breezy, but not necessarily unsophisticated — the sound of an experience kissed by sweet summer heat. Vanessa Leroy/NPR hide caption

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110 songs for your summer getaway

Hit play and vibe all day. Roséwave is a lifestyle, not a genre, based around summer feels. To kick things off, here's a seven-hour soundtrack for your getaway or staycation.

NPR

Louder Than A Riot: The Soundtrack

Louder Than A Riot reveals the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. Follow along with the music featured in every episode.

Not sure if you want to hit the function or stay home? This one's for you. Kara Frame/NPR hide caption

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Stay Or Go? 31 Chill Songs For Any Party

Roséwave is an entire vibe, but has never sounded so vibey. Whether you're on the way to the function or still shaking off outside jitters, this summer mix is for you.

YWCA camp for girls. Highland Beach, Maryland, 1930. These photos are from the Scurlock Studio Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Read more about the photos at the end of this story. Scurlock Studio Records/Archives Center/National Museum of American History hide caption

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Songs For Freedom: A Juneteenth Playlist From Pianist Lara Downes

Music offers freedom. Freedom of expression — a way to rejoice and to mourn, to offer comfort, to call for change.

Marvin Gaye's hit record "What's Going On" encapsulates the political turmoil of 1971 while also inspiring hope for change. Soul Train/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR's 50 Favorite Songs Of 1971

Critics widely consider 1971 one of the best years in music history. For NPR's 50th anniversary, public radio stations turn back the clock and reflect on the year's best tracks.

Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption

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We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence

These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back.

Espooky season has arrived. Ashley Sandberg/EyeEm/Getty images hide caption

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Alt.Latino's Espooky Szn

The leaves are changing colors, miniature candies are lining the walls of drug stores and tías y tíos are warning about the demonic roots of Halloween. Finally, Espooky season has arrived.