Come on, Barbie, let’s go party

Plus, a look at the fascinating career and mission of rapper Killer Mike.

View this email online July 1, 2023 by Stephen Thompson We prepare you for the holiday weekend by recommending some music-themed BBQ ideas; plus, a look at the fascinating career and mission of rapper Killer Mike. Warner Bros. A couple weekends ago, some of my dear pals threw a “Barbie-Q,” which revolved around the not entirely unrelated themes of 1) Pride Month; and 2) the forthcoming release of the Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie movie. Attendees dressed in their finest Barbie- and Ken-adjacent attire, drank glitter-infused pink cocktails, splashed around in a kiddie pool and danced to a playlist that fused the world’s most excellent Pride favorites (MUNA, Tove Lo, et al) with, well, Aqua’s 1997 novelty hit “Barbie Girl.” It was, you will be unsurprised to learn, a fantastic party, and not just because this particular Ken got to rock his finest salmon-colored thrift-store shorts. (My plans to dress as Barbie’s friend Rosie O’Donnell were dashed late in the process due to a desire to avoid pantsuits in the 90-degree heat.) That Barbie-Q sprung immediately to mind when a few of my pals at Weekend Edition Saturday pinged me this week and asked if I could come on to recommend some music for listeners to play at their own July Fourth Weekend BBQs. Their request was for surprising suggestions — something beyond the usual patriotic anthems (“God Bless the USA,” et al) and protest-songs-mistaken-for-patriotic-anthems (“Born in the USA,” et al). So I took to my virtual whiteboard and scribbled out some theme ideas: * Barbie-Q! The story of America is the story of taking other people’s ideas and modifying them to suit your own purposes. In this case, I’m taking someone else’s idea (my friends’ Barbie-themed barbecue) and modifying it by keeping it exactly as-is but pretending I’m the one who thought of it. Suggested music: anything by MUNA, anything by Tove Lo, the Mark Ronson-curated Barbie soundtrack, Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl.” * Bar-Bey-Q! Celebrate American excellence by playing the music of an American original. Suggested music: the complete collected works of Beyoncé, played in any order you wish. (This is America, after all.) * Barb-B-Q! Barbra Streisand’s discography spans more than half a century, extending from 1963’s The Barbra Streisand Album to 2018’s Grammy-nominated Walls. Think of this as a Bar-Bey-Q, but for people who’ve actually heard 2018’s Grammy-nominated Walls. Suggested music: the complete collected works of Barbra Streisand, played in precise chronological order. (It just seems like Babs would be a stickler that way.) From there, the whiteboard suggestions got a little more obtuse and included something called a “Michael Des Barres-B-Q,” in honor of the English raconteur and MacGyver actor Michael Des Barres, and a “DeBarge-B-Q,” in honor of the R&B sibling act DeBarge. I’ve been cooped up in COVID isolation for a while now, so the whiteboard ideas were bound to produce mixed results. But I do have one more serious suggestion. I’ve lived in the Washington, D.C., area for 17 years now, so it’s no accident that I’ve come to associate the sound of summer BBQs with the sound of go-go music. Go-go is, in fact, the official music of D.C., and it just happens to sound absolutely amazing on swampy summer days (another D.C. staple, it turns out). So I recommend breaking out your Chuck Brown, Rare Essence, Trouble Funk and E.U. records for this weekend’s gatherings. I, for one, intend to throw my own personal Bar-B-Q’E.U. and listen to “Da Butt” on repeat from now until Wednesday morning. Also, there will be no actual barbecuing because the air where I am is thick with plumes of what appears to be some sort of poisonous ash. Enjoy the weekend! Newsletter continues after sponsor message More to read, watch and hear Outspoken rapper Killer Mike is half of the phenomenally successful Run the Jewels, but he first made his name as a solo artist. Now, he’s releasing Michael, his first solo album in nearly a decade. In a feature for NPR Music, our own Sheldon Pearce spends time with Killer Mike’s new record and examines the rapper’s career, with an emphasis on the way faith has shaped his story and his mission. New Music Friday is taking this week off, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new albums worth noting. Friday’s reviews roundup includes Tom Huizenga on the Aizuri Quartet’s Earthdrawn Skies, Dylan Tupper Rupert on Lucinda Williams’s Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart, Anamaria Artemisa Sayre on Peso Pluma’s Génesis and Matthew Perpetua on King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse. I especially appreciated the headline for the last one: “Here’s the deal with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.” I mean, we were all wondering. NPR Music’s #NowPlaying blog, which highlights essential new songs, mostly went quiet this week. But I did pop in to make note of a significant milestone: The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, just put out their first song together in more than a decade. Titled “The Answer Is Yes,” it’s a natural sequel and companion to their classic duet “Falling Slowly.” Looking for a favorite new artist? All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen has some terrific leads for you, as he gathers some early 2023 highlights with the aid of NPR Member stations. Picks include Blondshell, Hannah Jadagu, Nat Myers, Abraham Alexander, Madison McFerrin and Peter One. This seems like as good a time as any to remind you that our archive of NPR Music studio sessions extends well beyond Tiny Desk concerts: Bookmark this page for sessions from a bunch of our excellent Member stations. Remember that list of artists in the previous capsule? The archive includes recent sets from Peter One (on World Cafe), Hannah Jadagu (at WXPN for this year’s NON-COMM) and Abraham Alexander (in KUTX’s Studio 1A), among many others. NPR’s Picture Show blog just posted a gorgeous photo gallery showcasing “the emerging Americana stars of the Black Opry Revue.” Great to see Denitia getting some love there. Tiny Desk Catie Dull/NPR Back in April, someone on a lesser-known social-media platform asked rapper Juvenile if he’d ever perform a Tiny Desk concert. His response: “WTF is a Tiny Desk and no!” His stance has shifted in the two months since. Sometimes, I have to miss a particularly exciting Tiny Desk because I’m traveling, and word trickles back to me about all the great stuff I’m missing. I genuinely thought my colleagues were kidding: “Trombone Shorty came!” Yeah, right. They didn’t even mention DJ Mannie Fresh, or the fact that Jon Batiste flew in from London for the occasion. Seriously, the star power and joy on display are absolutely berserk. And, yes, they closed with “Back That A** Up.” Squint at my talking Master P doll on the top shelf; you’ll swear it’s nodding in approval. Also this week: Brandee Younger makes magic with the harp — and ties a bow on our Black Music Month festivities by opening her set with “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” And the new music ensemble Wild Up load-tests the Tiny Desk by cramming in 14 musicians to perform an exuberant 15-minute piece by Julius Eastman, an ahead-of-his-time visionary who died in 1990. One More Thing Jazz Night In America showcases the young pianist and composer Sean Mason as he plays his own groovy compositions, breaks out a little Ellington and pays tribute to his friend, the late pianist Frank Kimbrough. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? 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