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What’s the defining Millennial song?

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What’s the defining Millennial song?

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We weigh the options and attempt to pick the one song that best captures the Millennial experience, from the dizzying highs of the dot-com boom, when anything seemed possible, to the post-9-11 bust, the "hope and change" of the Obama years, and prolonged period of generational disillusionment.

What’s the defining Millennial song?

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New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

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New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

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Aja Monet. Jack Antonoff's Bleachers. Radiohead's Ed O'Brien. Guest host Ann Powers chats with Aurora McGuckin of MVY Radio in Massachusetts about their favorite albums out Friday, May 22. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 22

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Trent Reznor singing into a microphone on stage.

Trent Renzor of Nine Inch Nails performs at 106.7 KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" at Gibson Ampitheater at Universal Studios on December 10, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Karl Walter/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR Music+: "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails

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It’s a song that contains one of the most notorious F-bombs ever committed to tape, but if you scrub underneath its grimy surface, you can find the influences of industrial music, transgressive art, and even Prince. You may also find the seeds that led to Trent Reznor’s perhaps surprising, multifaceted career today.

NPR Music+: "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails

All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

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Julie Greve

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All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

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Our latest mix of the week’s best new songs includes a moody reflection on burnout from Gracie Abrams, rising L.A. duo Evening Elephants, the elusive electronic collagists Ear and more.  

All Songs Considered: Gracie Abrams hits a wall, more best new songs

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Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

Isaiah Rashad's new album is called It's Been Awful Quil Lemons/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Quil Lemons/Courtesy of the artist

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Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

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It’s been five years since we last heard music from Isaiah Rashad. And four years since he largely disappeared from the public eye after two leaked sex tapes, featuring Rashad with other men, upended his life. Now, he's back. On his album, 'It's Been Awful,' he reaches new levels of clarity and intimacy. Having survived hypervisibility, this new music encapsulates what it means to truly be seen. 

Interview: Isaiah Rashad is ready to bare his soul

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Dua Saleh

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Ghostly International

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

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Jobi Riccio. Dua Saleh. Tank and the Bangas. Plus, others not named Drake! NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Joe Kendrick of WNCW in North Carolina about their favorite albums out Friday, May 15. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 15

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Charli xcx, Beastie Boys' Mike D, Boards of Canada and the week's best new songs

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Tyrell Hampton

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Charli xcx, Beastie Boys' Mike D, Boards of Canada and the week's best new songs

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Our latest mix of the best new tracks this week includes a massive eye-roll from Charli xcx, the first-ever solo music from Mike D of the Beastie Boys, another surprise drop from electronic music icons Boards of Canada, and more.

All Songs Considered: Charli XCX, Mike D, more Boards of Canada

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MUNA

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Dean Bradshaw

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8

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MUNA. Stephen Sanchez. Lykke Li. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Celia Gregory from WNXP in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, May 8. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round. 

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 8

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Salt-N-Pepa standing in front of a green wall, holding Grammy Awards.

Salt-N-Pepa pose with their Grammys for Best Rap Performance by a Group on March 1, 1995, at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Philippe AIMAR / AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Philippe AIMAR / AFP via Getty Images

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NPR Music+: "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

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On paper, “Push It” seems incredibly simple. But once you dig into the details—the vocal expressivity, the creative interpolations, the clever innuendos—you can see why this song became the moment when two girls from Queens found their sound, made it their own, and soon became one of the most revered and respected rap groups in history.  

NPR Music+: "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

NPR listeners share the songs that remind them of Mom
Jackie Lay

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NPR listeners share the songs that remind them of Mom

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With Mother’s Day nearing, listeners share songs that remind them of their moms and the deeply moving stories behind them.

Call your mom

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American Football

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Alexa Viscius/Polyvinyl

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1

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Kacey Musgraves. American Football. Tori Amos. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Jewly Hight from WPLN in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, May 1. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out May 1

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All Songs Considered: Peter Gabriel goes pop, Olivia Rodrigo might 'drop dead'

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All Songs Considered: Peter Gabriel goes pop, Olivia Rodrigo might 'drop dead'

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Our latest picks for the week’s best new songs include Olivia Rodrigo’s head-over-heels earworm “drop dead,” a stunning bonus cut from Rosalía’s LUX album, a surprising pop turn from Peter Gabriel, twisted dance beats from Nine Inch Nails and more.

All Songs Considered: Olivia Rodrigo might drop dead, Peter Gabriel goes pop

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New Music Friday: The best albums out April 24

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 24

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Noah Kahan. Kehlani. The return of Metric. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with DJ Llu from Vermont Public about their favorite albums out Friday, April 24. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 24

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Joey Ramone holding his microphone, Tommy Ramone on drums, the Ramones presidential seal logo on the backdrop behind them on stage.

Joey Ramone, singer with U.S. punk band the Ramones, on stage during a live concert performance by the band, with drummer Tommy Ramone in the background behind his drumkit, 1977. The backdrop has the band's 'presidential seal' logo and name. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR Music+: "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Ramones

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It’s been 50 years since the Ramones released their debut self-titled album, establishing themselves as the forefathers of American punk. But what made them special, and why do they still continue to resonate today? 

NPR Music+: "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones

All Songs Considered: Jack White shreds, Boards of Canada transcend, more

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David Swanson

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All Songs Considered: Jack White shreds, Boards of Canada transcend, more

Our latest mix of the best new songs out now includes a scorching new cut from Jack White, a surprise (and breathtaking) return of electronic legends Boards of Canada, outlaw country from Charley Crockett and more.  

All Songs Considered: Jack White shreds, Boards of Canada split the universe, more

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Interview: Beck returns, rides lonesome on new song

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Autumn De Wilde

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Interview: Beck returns, rides lonesome on new song

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We talk with Beck about his gauzy new song, what he’s been up to since releasing his last album seven years ago, and what he (maybe?) has planned for the coming year.

Interview: Beck returns to the spotlight

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New Music Friday: The best albums out April 17

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 17

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Honey Dijon. Yaya Bey. Shadowy pop from Sofia Isella. Guest host Hazel Cills chats with Nastia Voynovskaya from KQED in San Francisco about their favorite albums out Friday, April 17. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 17

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Alt.Latino: Jorge Drexler returns home

The new album from Jorge Drexler is called Taracá Manuel Velez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Manuel Velez/Courtesy of the artist

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Alt.Latino: Jorge Drexler returns home

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Jorge Drexler is one of the most decorated singer-songwriters in Latin America. His albums are always high profile events, and his latest record merits the attention. It's called Taracá, and to make it he returned home to his native Uruguay - after living in Spain for 30 years - to explore the roots of an Afro-Uruguayan tradition known as candombe. On this week's episode we chat with Drexler about the motivation for returning to his home country, making music after losing his parents, and how the album's title reflects the sound made by a candombe drum.

Alt.Latino: Jorge Drexler returns home

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All Songs Considered: Need a reset?
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All Songs Considered: Need a reset?

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We celebrate spring and new beginnings with a perfect mix of songs for starting over.  This can take many forms: songs that spark a good, cleansing cry; songs that offer wisdom, or just a sure-fire jolt of adrenaline. But in the end, all of the tracks herein can help reconfigure your mood, your day, maybe even ... your life. 

All Songs Considered: Need a reset?

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Ella Langley

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Columbia Records

New Music Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 10

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Ella Langley. Wesley Joseph. The spellbinding Juni Habel. NPR Music's Stephen Thompson chats with Chloe Kimes from WMOT in Nashville about their favorite albums out Friday, April 10. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer personal picks in our lightning round.

New Music Friday: The best albums out April 10

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The Chicks performing on stage.

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NPR Music+: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by The Chicks

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In the early 2000s, The Chicks (then known as The Dixie Chicks) were one of the biggest crossover acts in country music. But then, as the U.S. was embarking on a war in the Middle East, one onstage comment changed the world of the band forever.  

NPR Music+: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by The Chicks

Alt.Latino: Sonic Bloom: Fresh, funky new tracks from Rio, Granada and more

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Monserrat Reyes/Courtesy of the artist

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Alt.Latino: Sonic Bloom: Fresh, funky new tracks from Rio, Granada and more

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Listen to this episode out in the springtime air. It starts with a bucolic jaunt through Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento's latest orchestral project, then finds La Plazuela's fresh Spanish funk and Macha's irreverent side project. Other sounds along the way: Caribbean pop from Venezuela, feel-your-feels indie from northern Mexico and an electronic spin on the indigenous Náhuatl language.

Alt.Latino: A springtime walk through Brazil, Spain, Chile and more

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All Songs Considered

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