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Absent any pining or angst, SZA's rapping on "Smoking on my Ex Pack" is matter of fact, leaving no room for questions, letting you know up top she's that girl.

NPR Music critics, editors and Tiny Desk producers each singled out one album they would recommend to anyone who came calling. The elite, no-skips albums of the year.

As the jolt of adrenaline lit by the clash between the two biggest rappers of a generation fades, it's worth holding onto the possibility — however slim — that something new can grow from the chaos.

Critics widely consider 1971 one of the best years in music history. For NPR's 50th anniversary, public radio stations turn back the clock and reflect on the year's best tracks.

In 2015, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly spawned a protest anthem, Hamilton rewrote history and Sufjan Stevens dug into his own past.

The German-born vocalist Theo Bleckmann has made his name in the U.S. traversing the fields of jazz, cabaret and contemporary classical music. On his new album, one idiosyncratic, border-crossing singer reinterprets another.

Fifty years ago, a 23-year-old piano student from Los Angeles took a chance, competing in the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Daniel Pollack didn't take home the top prize, but he did carve out a unique career, preserved with bittersweet memories.

Americans remember The Four Tops for "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)." But Italians may know it by a different name: "Piangono Gli Uomini." A new compilation spotlights the Italian, German, French and Spanish versions of classic R&B songs.

Tou Saik Lee is a Hmong American living in Minnesota. He felt disconnected from his culture. Then he discovered hip hop and the traditional songs of his grandmother. They began performing together.

25-year-old rapper Shelem sees his latest project as an artistic watershed for him: The production is slick, it has a solid hook and the lyrics show a writer who's continuing to advance in his art.