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Earlier this month, country music's longstanding problem with race became a hot topic after newly minted country chart-topper Morgan Wallen was caught on tape drunkenly shouting a racist slur. Wallen was promptly suspended by his label and dropped from country radio playlists, but his sales and streaming numbers remained steady.
Even before the Wallen scandal, Nashville-based writers Jewly Hight and Andrea Williams were planning to discuss the country music world’s various responses to the renewed national conversation about racial injustice, from corporate events to grassroots coalitions, led by big-name insiders and outsider up-and-comers. In a piece published this week, the writers discussed the backlash to Wallen’s actions (and lack thereof), the institutions working to highlight marginalized voices in Nashville and emerging Black artists who deserve more attention.
“I'm always saying that most people in Nashville are going to be late in terms of understanding country music's issue with racism and being willing to stand up and do something about it, Williams says. “Black people have lived this. We know it inside and out. There are some white people who are really just waking up to this and others who keep hitting the snooze button because they don't want to see it, let alone address it.” |
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| - On the All Songs Considered Tuesday mix, Bob Boilen spins a set of songs from longtime favorites tune-yards and Tōth, and your newsletter co-editor Lyndsey McKenna offers a pair of tracks from singer-songer Johanna Samuels and Chicago trio Moontype.
- Black Violin – the duo of Kevin Marcus and Wil Baptiste – met 25 years ago in a high school orchestra class. For the Morning Edition Song Project, the pair contribute “Time to Shine,” an original composition that processes the past year and offers a sense of hope.
- It’s a jam-packed release week on the All Songs Considered New Music Friday podcast roundup. Featured music includes U.K. singer and producer SG Lewis’ disco-inspired debut, the artful instrumentals of Mogwai and two records produced by Josh Kaufman from radically different artists: Cassandra Jenkins and The Hold Steady.
- In the 1980s, Pauline Anna Strom awakened new possibilities for synth music. Her new album – her first in more than 30 years – was meant to be a creative rebirth before her death at the age of 74 in December.
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- Carnival may have been canceled this year, but that doesn’t mean the music stopped. Listen to our playlist of dance music designed to bring Trinidad and Tobago’s annual party to your living room.
- NPR Music Live Sessions is honoring Black History Month with a playlist that documents the African American experience and community in this country, including this performance of “I Shall Not Be Moved” by the Blind Boys of Alabama at 2018’s XPoNential Music Festival.
- "Throw away your metronome and listen to your heart," Milford Graves once said. This week, the drummer, scientist, educator and improviser died in Queens, N.Y. at the age of 79.
- Pioneering Jamaican vocalist U-Roy died this week at the age of 78. U-Roy transformed the Jamaican art of toasting, or deejaying, into a hit-making art form that deeply influenced dancehall as well as the formation of early hip-hop.
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The Tiny Desk’s celebration of Black History Month continued this week with a spotlight on hip-hop, beginning with a luxurious set from one of the genre’s heavyweights, Rick Ross. Though today the Teflon Don calls Atlanta home, Ross insisted that his Tiny Desk (home) concert be captured in Miami, where he rose to prominence. And when it comes to (home) concert settings, 2 Chainz accomplished something few others could, performing from his very own Atlanta nail spa, getting a pedicure in the process. And finally, California emcee Rae Khalil first gained attention on Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow competition. For her Black History Month (home) concert, she included a recitation of Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again.”
Also this week: We shared a Black History Month Tiny Desk playlist from Clover Hope, author of The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop (recently featured in this very newsletter). “Several bright, young women rappers have owned the Tiny Desk stage in the past few years,” she says, “and I'm honored to highlight some of my favorites from the archives.” |
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