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Sheldon Pearce.
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Sheldon Pearce

Sheldon Pearce

Editor, NPR Music

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Monday

Thursday

Rapper and producer MF DOOM circa 2004, the year he released both the game-changing collab Madvillainy and the sleeper classic MM..FOOD.

Rapper and producer MF DOOM circa 2004, the year he released both the game-changing collab Madvillainy and the sleeper classic MM..FOOD. Courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment hide caption

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Courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment

Review

Music Features

MF DOOM's music was his legend. The man himself was the myth

The late rapper's 2004 album MM..FOOD may never have the classic status of its sister release, Madvillainy. But 20 years later, it's the one to play if you want to hear the essence of his artistry.

Saturday

Monday

Tuesday

The Contenders, Vol. 19: The songs we can't stop playing this week

Sam Phillips' 20th anniversary edition of A Boot And A Shoe includes "I Wanted To Be Alone," one of the tracks we can't stop playing this week. Rocky Schenck/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Rocky Schenck/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

The Contenders, Vol. 19: The songs we can't stop playing this week

We debate the pros and cons of small-town living through the music of Christian Lee Hutson, Youth Lagoon, Bartees Strange and more in our biweekly update of the year's best songs.

The Contenders, Vol. 19: The songs we can't stop playing this week

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Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 18

Joy Oladokun's Observations From a Crowded Room is among the best albums out Oct. 11. Rachel Deeb/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Rachel Deeb/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 18

NPR Music's Ann Powers and Sheldon Pearce are your guides to this week's most compelling new musical offerings. For October 18, their selections include an array of ambitious, melodic and emotional new albums spanning genres.

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 18

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Wednesday

Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 4

The Smile — Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner — released their second LP of 2024, Cutouts, on Friday. ShinKatan x Weirdcore/Courtesy of XL Recordings hide caption

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ShinKatan x Weirdcore/Courtesy of XL Recordings

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 4

NPR Music's Lars Gotrich and Sheldon Pearce round up the most exciting albums out this Friday, and reflect on the history of instrumental music as protest.

New Music Friday: The best albums out Oct. 4

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Saturday

LL Cool J's 2024 album The FORCE finds the rapper looser and more agile than he's sounded in years, assisted by eclectic production from Q-Tip.

LL Cool J's 2024 album The FORCE finds the rapper looser and more agile than he's sounded in years, assisted by eclectic production from Q-Tip. Cory Grimes hide caption

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Cory Grimes

Review

Music Features

Golden-age rappers make a digital-age leap — and survive

On surprising new albums, '80s trailblazers LL Cool J and MC Lyte sound thrillingly revitalized, thanks to sharp production choices and a willingness to bend their signature styles toward the moment.

Saturday

Young Thug (left) and Rich Homie Quan perform during the 2014 BET Hip Hop Awards at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta, Ga.

Young Thug (left) and Rich Homie Quan perform during the 2014 BET Hip Hop Awards at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta, Ga. Brad Barket/BET/Getty Images for BET hide caption

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Brad Barket/BET/Getty Images for BET

Music Features

Requiem for a team: the lost promise of Rich Gang

Ten years ago, two rappers found a chemistry so potent it couldn't be recreated. Today, even with one tragically absent and one indefinitely detained, the legacy of what they made is everywhere.

Thursday

Tuesday

Fall preview 2024

A recently discovered lost recording from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, titled Chain of Light, is one of the most-anticipated albums due out this fall. Robert Leslie/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Robert Leslie/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

Fall preview 2024

We look ahead to the final big push of releases for 2024, with fall albums from Mount Eerie, SOPHIE, Soccer Mommy, a newly discovered Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan recording and more.

Fall preview 2024

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Thursday

Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 23

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch. Alysse Gafkjen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Alysse Gafkjen/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 23

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Sheldon Pearce are your guides to seven anticipated albums out Aug. 23. During the second half of the episode, the two dig into the mercurial nature of the album format in 2024.

New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 23

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Thursday

Thursday

A photo illustration of both a younger Post Malone in braids and chains and a more recent image of the artist wearing a cowboy hat and playing an acoustic guitar

Just shy of a decade after debuting in hip-hop, Post Malone completes a long-gestating country turn with the new album F-1 Trillion. Photos by Randy Shropshire/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images/Illustration by Jackie Lay hide caption

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Photos by Randy Shropshire/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images/Illustration by Jackie Lay

Music Features

Post Malone's winding country road

The duet-packed F-1 Trillion marks a new chapter, but it's no wild swerve — the one-time SoundCloud rapper has had his eye on Nashville for years.

Thursday

Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out August 2

Meshell Ndegeocello's latest album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, is being released on August 2 in celebration of Baldwin's centennial. Andre Wagner/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Andre Wagner/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The best albums out August 2

NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Sheldon Pearce dig deep into the latest release by bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, who, more than 30 years into her career, continues to melt the boundaries between genres. Her latest album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, is being released on the centennial of the birth of the author and activist, and overflows with musical, political and historical ideas.

New Music Friday: The best albums out August 2

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Thursday

Thursday

Band

The new album Bando Stone & the New World, billed as a soundtrack to a coming film, revives some of the anarchic spirit of Donald Glover's earliest work as Childish Gambino. Pavielle Garcia/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Pavielle Garcia/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music

Childish Gambino, Denzel Curry and Curren$y channel rap's blog era

Three survivors of a chaotic moment in hip-hop conjure its best qualities, a decade and a few major career twists later, for three new albums released on the same day.

Tuesday

The Contenders, Vol. 14: The songs we can't stop playing this week

Alisa Amador, 2022's Tiny Desk contest winner, has released her debut album, Multitudes. Sasha Pedro/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Sasha Pedro/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

The Contenders, Vol. 14: The songs we can't stop playing this week

We update our running tally of the year's best songs with a return from Moses Sumney, 2022 Tiny Desk Contest winner Alisa Amador, Orville Peck's collaboration with Beck and more.

The Contenders, Vol. 14: The songs we can't stop playing this week

Listen · 45:17
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Thursday

Wednesday

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour.

Megan Thee Stallion onstage in June at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, a stop on her Hot Girl Summer Tour. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation hide caption

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation

Review

Music Features

Unpacking hip-hop's sprawl in 2024's most eclectic release date

Megan Thee Stallion's post-traumatic reset, a left-field Lil Yachty collab, the raunchy return of cupcaKKe: June 28 delivered a truckload of major albums, and a portrait of modern rap's main tension.

Friday

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