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
Editors' Picks A selection of stories handpicked by NPR Music editors.
Editors' Picks
Soprano Jessye Norman left a number of recordings in the vault at the time of her death. Now some of them have been released for the first time. Decca Archives hide caption
The voice of Jessye Norman soars again in trove of unreleased recordings
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
In the controlled stillness of a theater stage-managed to match her songs' swirling moods, Adele seems to have found her place at last. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AD hide caption
A tough question led one woman to create the first Puerto Rican reggaeton archive
In their work as Fever Ray, artist Karin Dreijer has used eerie, experimental pop music to excavate love's more complicated or marginalized incarnations. Nina Andersson hide caption
Conductor Rafael Payare has released a recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony and taken it on tour. The music figures prominently in the Oscar-nominated film Tar. Gerard Collett/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Missy Mazzoli's new album, Dark with Excessive Bright, features the composer's orchestral compositions. Caroline Tompkins/courtesy of the artist hide caption
When you go back and listen to De La's early run you're getting a lesson about how hip-hop itself was born, how it survived in the past, how it functions at its most imaginative and how the artform can live on in the future. Jackie Lay/NPR hide caption
BBoy B, Flash, 38 Slugs and Skol's 'Frankie Knuckles' tribute mural is displayed in the Fulton Market neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois on July 6, 2019. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images hide caption
Muni Long takes her Grammy nominations to heart. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption
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
Molly Tuttle is right at home at The Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn. Joseph Ross for NPR hide caption
Omar Apollo poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Jan. 8, 2023. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption
Omar Apollo taught himself how to sing from YouTube. Now he's up for a Grammy
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
Missy Mazzoli's next opera, Lincoln in the Bardo, was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and is slated for a 2025 production. Caroline Tompkins/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) is among a handful of rappers who achieved massive streaming numbers in 2022 while remaining nearly invisible to the pop establishment. Simone Noronha for NPR hide caption
Bad Bunny has a preternatural gift for realness, one that he wields with fluidity, because that is what Caribbeanness demands. It makes his fame feel delightful and deviant. Illustration: Simone Noronha for NPR hide caption
