Hip Hop/R&B

NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Kanye West Stands Alone
May 21, 2013 | NPR · On his new songs, the rapper points fingers in every direction, including back at himself.
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Courtesy of the artist
Marques Toliver: An R&B Crooner With Strings Attached
May 19, 2013 | NPR · Toliver’s music is anchored by the violin, on which he is classically trained. He says he discovered the instrument in fifth grade — and that in a way, it chose him.
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Courtesy of the artist
First Listen: G&D, ‘The Lighthouse’
May 12, 2013 | NPR · On The Lighthouse, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins engineer an overstuffed, idea-packed collision of funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, psychedelic space-rock, spoken-word poetry, protest music and more. Along the way, they examine innumerable intersections of love, politics, spirituality, healthy living, parenthood and world citizenship.
 

Courtesy of the artist
LL Cool J On ‘Accidental Racist’ And Authenticity
May 11, 2013 | NPR · “The last thing that I want to do is be a hack,” says the rapper and actor. His latest album, his first since splitting with the record label that launched his career, is called Authentic.
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Courtesy of the artist
On Two New R&B Albums, An Old Soul Sound That Glows
May 8, 2013 | NPR · New York’s Charles Bradley and London’s James Hunter Six both mix inspiration and replication.
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Courtesy of Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros
20 Years Ago Biz Markie Got The Last Laugh
May 6, 2013 | NPR · After the rapper lost a legal battle with far-reaching consequences over sampling, the mere existence of All Samples Cleared! was a triumph.
 

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film ‘The Great Gatsby’
May 2, 2013 | NPR · The soundtrack to The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann’s latest high-end refurbishing of a lived-in classic, doesn’t try to re-imagine Jazz Age tunes in a modern context. Instead, it attempts to transplant the sensibility of the 1920s to the hip-hop era, with genre-busting collaborations overseen by Jay-Z.
 

Courtesy of the artist
‘The Talent Comes First’: Roc Marciano Takes An A&R Gig
April 30, 2013 | NPR · The New York rapper on his new role, Lil B’s brilliance and doing business with good people.
 

WireImage
The Tyler Interview: Silly, But With A Purpose
April 26, 2013 | NPR · In front of a paying audience, Tyler answered the questions of rap journalist Elliott Wilson. Tyler’s buoyancy contrasted with Wilson’s laid-back style, and resulted in a conversation that was at turns intimate and crude.
 

Courtesy of Press Here Publicity
Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop And Honoring The Old School
April 24, 2013 | NPR · The New York rapper’s political and layered rhymes have been pegged as “conscious rap,” a label that has now become pejorative. His latest album challenges that image, paying homage to old-school hip-hop and working with the present.
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News

Getty Images
Court Rules That Arizona Sheriff Engages In Racial Profiling
May 24, 2013 | NPR · Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s department violated the rights of Latinos in its crackdown on illegal immigration, a federal judge says, issuing an injunction against the practice.
 

Associated Press
Toronto Mayor: ‘I Do Not Use Crack Cocaine’
May 24, 2013 | NPR · Rob Ford responded to a video that surfaced last week that The Toronto Star says appears to show him smoking the drug.
 

AP
Obama’s Terrorism Fight Is Colored Gray, Not Black And White
May 24, 2013 | NPR · If President Obama’s newly recalibrated counterterrorism strategy demonstrates anything, it is his penchant for nuance.
 

Arts & Life

Sony Pictures Classics
More Time Together, Though ‘Midnight’ Looms
May 25, 2013 | NPR · Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke return for the third in Richard Linklater’s loosely peerless Before series, and they’ve never been more persuasive — nor has the storytelling. (Recommended)
 

Getty Images
NFL Sideline Reporter Michele Tafoya Plays Not My Job
May 25, 2013 | NPR · As one of the first female reporters to be allowed inside the NFL locker room, Tafoya has been a pioneer in her field. But there are still places out there where they believe in cooties, so Tafoya will answer three questions about men’s-only clubs.
 

Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A Race Against Time To Find WWI’s Last ‘Doughboys’
May 24, 2013 | NPR · In 2003, Richard Rubin set out to talk to every American veteran of World War I he could find. With help from the French, he tracked down dozens of centenarian vets and recorded their stories in a new book called The Last of the Doughboys.
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Music

James Bailey for NPR
First Listen Live: Queens Of The Stone Age, ‘…Like Clockwork’
May 24, 2013 | NPR · Josh Homme presides over a dense, textured, unpredictable sound that’s equal parts mystery, intensity, beauty and bluster. QOTSA performed …Like Clockwork in its entirety, plus an assortment of older material, in a sold-out show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
 

Mountain Stage
Overmountain Men On Mountain Stage
May 24, 2013 | NPR · The folk group brings a fresh sense of wonder to classic bluegrass sounds. Hear three songs from Overmountain Men, recorded live at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, W.Va.
Windows Media
 

Courtesy of the artist
Kobo Town: A Haunted ‘Jukebox’ Filled With Caribbean Sounds
May 24, 2013 | NPR · The Toronto band plays a mix of old-school calypso, ska and West Indian styles. But its new album, Jumbie in the Jukebox, doesn’t so much revive classic genres as reinvent them for a new time.
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