Madlib's music feels like a magic trick. On this edition of 8 Tracks, we bow down to Madlib's mastery, plus check out new music by Charly Bliss, Fana Hues and reminisce on an old Ted Leo record.
The singer-songwriter's fourth album is her best yet, with crisp, commanding songwriting, shades of '60s baroque pop and melodies that seem to have existed forever.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been popping up at universities around the world, and in the last few days things have escalated at a number of those campuses. Columbia University called on police to shutdown the encampment on their university lawn and 300 people were arrested. At University of California Los Angeles, about 200 pro-Israel counter-protestors raided a pro-Palestinian encampment. To get first hand accounts of the protests, Brittany talks to two student journalists: Shaanth Nanguneri, an undergraduate reporter at UCLA, and Claire Davenport, a graduate reporter at Columbia University in New York.
Then, Eurovision may seem like a quaint, quirky event to Americans but it's a huge cultural event that easily surpasses the Super Bowl in terms of global viewership. And for an apolitical event, Eurovision can teach us a lot about geopolitics. This year, all eyes are on Israel, which is not European but has been a competitor since the 70s. With Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza, there's a lot of politicking for and against its inclusion at the song contest. Brittany chats with Eurovision scholar Paul David Flood about Israel's controversial song and dance at Eurovision... and why Americans might want to pay attention.
A new documentary, Hip-Hop and the White House, considers rap's association with presidential politics — and in so doing, reveals a persistent misunderstanding of how both operate.
The National Trust's annual list includes Eatonville, the all-Black Florida town memorialized by Zora Neale Hurston, Alaska's Sitka Tlingit Clan houses, and the home of country singer Cindy Walker.
He was a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as "Rebel Rouser" and "Peter Gunn" influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians.
A few years ago, Jon Bon Jovi stopped performing due to a vocal cord injury. The Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight offers a career retrospective, plus a view of his surgery and return to the stage.
If it could be summed up in a sentence: Rico Wade's "celebration of life" April 26 at Ebenezer Baptist Church was something Rico Wade would understandably not stop talking about. A U.S. senator eulogized him, the current and a former mayor of Atlanta shared their passionate remarks, the 52-year old was given the city's honor and it was announced that a music industry executive training program will be launched in his name.
Billie Eilish, Fall Out Boy, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, Lorde, Sia, Diplo and Chappell Roan are among the signatories of an open letter urging a Senate committee to support the Fans First Act.
Entrepreneurial Swifties are selling crafty products inspired by Taylor Swift's music and style. Swift herself has been known to send notes and even homemade gifts to creative super-fans.
A familiar rap character, the Cali hustler cruising in a low-rider, has faded in the 21st century. On new albums by G Perico, Mozzy and Gangrene, that figure is alive and well, living in the margins.
Record and email us a voice memo telling us about a song that reminds you of Mom. We'll share select stories and songs on an upcoming episode of All Songs Considered.
