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Kendrick Lamar surprise-released the new album GNX on Nov. 22, capping off a year of wins. pgLang/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
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
Erykah Badu opens up on whether there's more to reality than we can see or touch. Ron Jenkins/Getty Images hide caption
Soprano Lucy Shelton, at age 80, is starring in Lucidity, a new opera by Laura Kaminsky that focuses on aging and memory loss. Bowie Dunwoody hide caption
American composer Terry Riley performs in London in 2018. His groundbreaking work In C helped launch the musical movement called minimalism 60 years ago. Robin Little/Getty Images hide caption
Tyler, the Creator's seventh album, CHROMAKOPIA, finds the artist deeply reconsidering his own definitions of maturity. Khalif Sawyer hide caption
"I think I had a bit of a crisis of confidence, actually, through the last decade," Robert Smith says of the gap between Cure albums, "I sort of thought I'd written everything I had to write, but as it turns out, I haven't." Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Opera star Denyce Graves’ global compassion in red, white and blue
Classical California KDFC
Ka performs during the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival at Chicago's Union Park on July 19, 2014. Barry Brecheisen/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption
An undated photograph of composer Charles Ives (1874-1954). Pianist Jeremy Denk says "The crusty American composer had no shortage of utopian visions." Bettman/Bettman/Getty Images hide caption
Eisa Davis and Lin-Manuel Miranda have created a musical based on the cult classic The Warriors. Jimmy Fontaine/Atlantic Records hide caption
Nicolay of the Foreign Exchange Chris Charles hide caption
Jack Nicholson in a memorable moment from The Shining. The 1980 film's original music, by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, is among our picks for the most terrifying scores of all time. All Star Picture Library / Alamy/Warner Bros. hide caption
Mustafa in a quiet moment from the video for "SNL," a single from his album Dunya. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Gabriela Ortiz is occupying the Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall this season. Marta Arteaga hide caption
How Women Made Music, a new book out now from NPR Music, was inspired by our Turning The Tables series. Courtesy of Harper Collins hide caption
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
Following her death, SOPHIE's family says she left behind a collection of hundreds of unreleased songs, as well as a follow-up album to her debut. But the album wasn’t finished. James Bentley for NPR hide caption
Words, sounds and the art of listening with Aja Monet
Classical California KDFC
Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's opera The Listeners premiered Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Steven Pisano/Courtesy of Opera Philadelphia hide caption