Left-handed, Elizabeth Cotten turned the guitar so the bass strings were at the bottom, therefore "backwards." She used her thumb to play the melody and her fingers for the low notes. John Cohen, courtesy Deborah Bell, New York/National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution hide caption
Norah Jones in a 2002 portrait to promote Come Away With Me. Lourdes Delgado hide caption
"With the pandemic, with the climate crisis, the world is becoming more and more inhospitable for more and more people," Zola Jesus tells NPR. "Arkhon is about all of that." Shervin Lainez hide caption
Composer Carlos Simon's Requiem for the Enslaved, commissioned by Georgetown University, is a reckoning with the school's troubled history. Toko Shiik/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
USA. Mississippi. Tunica. 1985. © Eli Reed/Magnum Photos hide caption
Is there anyone more deserving of a chart-altering music sync than Kate Bush? TV Times/TV Times via Getty Images hide caption
The Japanese psych-rock band Les Rallizes Dénudés were after a visceral — sometimes violent — impact, borne from unimaginable loudness. M. Tezuka and OZ Press/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
S.G. Goodman composed parts of her new album, Teeth Marks, to evoke the feeling of traumatic experiences building up in the body. Ryan Hartley/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Heaven and hell are places on Earth in Ethel Cain's discography. Helen Kirbo hide caption
Jack Harlow is a rising star in the hip-hop world, someone that legends praise and peers envy. Urban Wyatt hide caption
In the metal bands Sleep and High on Fire, Matt Pike has always looked to esoteric sources. Over the last decade, however, he's found inspiration in the conspiracy theories of David Icke. Photo Illustration by Estefania Mitre/NPR; Getty Images hide caption
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is the first album from Kendrick Lamar since DAMN., the 2017 release that made him the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize. Renell Medrano/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Argentine soldiers landing from a Sea King helicopter not far from Port Stanley, the capitol of the Falkland Islands (las Islas Malvinas). SeM/Universal Images Group via Getty hide caption
Leikeli47 (left) speaks with NPR's Sidney Madden about how Shape Up tracks the rapper's learning process to embody the confidence she so often preaches onstage to others. NPR hide caption
On his new album Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny opts for personal intimacy and cultural specificity, anchoring his music in the Caribbean. Eric Rojas hide caption
Third Coast Percussion's new album, Perspectives, is the group's most accessible. Saverio Truglia/Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Raven Chacon's Voiceless Mass has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. Adam Conte/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Jessie Montgomery's new work Hymn for Everyone receives its world premiere with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on April 28. Jiyang Chen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Tomberlin's sophomore album, i don't know who needs to hear this..., is a beautiful patchwork of expansive sounds that explores a wide spectrum of emotions. Michelle Yoon/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Flora Purim's If You Will is the first album by the influential jazz fusion artist in 15 years and, she says, her last. Mel Gabardo/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Greg Tate (right) levitates while conducting Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber. Laura Williams/Courtesy of the artist hide caption