Patrick Jarenwattananon
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Sixto Rodriguez, the musician whose story was documented in the film Searching for Sugar Man, has died at 81. He had minor success in the U.S., but was surprised to learn his music was a hit abroad.
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In 2003, T.I. and other Atlanta rappers created new subgenre of rap: trap music. Twenty years later, its influence is everywhere.
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The MTV show Yo! MTV Raps helped bring hip-hop into mainstream American culture in the 1980s and was made by a scrappy team in the face of a skeptical corporate network.
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Hip-hop was born at a party in 1973, but it'd be another six years until the first commercial hip-hop records. People have differing views of it, but the release of "Rapper's Delight" changed history.
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For the 50th anniversary of hip-hop in August, NPR Music is pulling together all of its hip-hop Tiny Desk Concerts — the sleeper hits and the all-time favorites, plus some behind-the-scenes gossip.
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In August 1973, an 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc played his sister's back-to-school fundraiser in the rec room of their apartment building. But he and his friends sparked something much bigger.
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NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with musician Jason Isbell about his new album Weathervanes, much of which he wrote during the downtime he had on set in Oklahoma filming Killers of the Flower Moon.
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New recordings of old jazz performances at Baltimore's now-closed Famous Ballroom are being released for the first time.
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New recordings of old jazz performances at Baltimore's now-closed Famous Ballroom are being released for the very first time.
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A new wave of Arab artists are gaining global traction. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with music writer Danny Hajjar about this recent rise and the future of Arabic music.