2021’s Must-Read Features From NPR Music

Plus, our year-end staff picks [View this email online]( [NPR Music]( by Marissa Lorusso It’s a labor of love to make our annual lists of the year’s best [songs]( and [albums]( — but it’s not without some heartbreak. Every year we hear so much music we love that, despite our most impassioned pleas, doesn’t make the final cut. So this week on All Songs Considered, members of the NPR Music team came on the podcast [to talk about]( one song or album from 2021 they wish had made it onto our collective list. Plus, a bunch of us [shared our lists of personal favorite]( songs and albums to highlight even more great new music from the year. There was a lot of news (and new music) to keep up with this year, so we wouldn’t blame you for missing a few [Listening Parties]( or [#NowPlaying]( tracks. But if you’ve got a little extra reading time as the year winds down, today’s newsletter features a selection of the best essays, reviews, reporting and series (plus a few videos) our colleagues published this year. Here’s hoping you discover something you missed or revisit something you loved. In 2021, we’ve brought you the stories you need to hear – more in-depth conversations, more unheard voices. [Please donate to your NPR station]( so we can bring you more of what you love. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Our Must-Read Articles of 2021 Shane Tolentino for NPR [Saint Coltrane: The Church Built On 'A Love Supreme,’]( Jazz Night in America, Feb. 2 In 1964, a young couple in San Francisco heard John Coltrane’s music and shared a jolt of higher purpose. They went on to establish a church devoted to Coltrane and his spiritual message, which the Jazz Night in America team visits in this short documentary. [After U.S. Immigration Battle, Musician Kayhan Kalhor Returns To Iran]( Anastasia Tsioulcas, Feb. 10 Musician Kayhan Kalhor left Iran at age 17, and called the U.S. home for decades. Today, he’s a Grammy-winning artist whom Yo-Yo Ma has called "one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever had the privilege to know and work with.” But after chaotic encounters with American immigration at the height of the Trump-era travel ban, he made a difficult decision: to return to Iran, despite difficulties there. [I Grew Up Afraid. Lil Nas X's 'Montero' Is The Lesson I Needed]( Ashon Crawley, April 14 Lil Nas X caused some controversy when he released “Montero,” NPR Music’s No. 1 song of 2021, particularly due to its irreverent music video. Scholar and author Ashon Crawley wrote a powerful essay about how the video, and the backlash to it, reminded him how deeply fear can damage queer Black lives — and how art like Lil Nas X’s can help us find joy and peace beyond it. [On 'Sour,' Olivia Rodrigo Is A Lowercase Girl With Caps-Lock Feelings]( Lindsay Zoladz, May 21 Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album SOUR earned her seven Grammy nominations this year; on it, the singer’s ability to feel deeply and express herself becomes her superpower. Freelancer Lindsay Zoladz’s review of the record shows how Rodrigo’s teen-girl angst has cross-generational echoes of albums like Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill and early-2000s emo, updated for a new generation of lowercase girls. [‘We Can Rock The World's Foundation': 1971 And Black Music In Revolt]( Mark Anthony Neal, May 21 Marvin Gaye’s massively influential record What's Going On celebrated its 50th anniversary in May. But the tension and loss that drove Gaye wasn't lost on his peers; that same year, a wave of other Black music, from Aretha Franklin to Sly and the Family Stone to Blaxploitation soundtracks, made their politics unmistakable. [Her Kind Of Blue: Joni Mitchell's Masterpiece At 50]( Ann Powers, June 20 Joni Mitchell’s Blue, released in 1971, is the most beloved of her albums: the most written about, the one that encapsulates the essence of her talent. But how do we understand Blue in the 21st century? And what happens if we think about the album — long considered the apex of confessional songwriting — as a paradigm not of raw emotion, but of care and craft? [Julius Eastman, A Misunderstood Composer, Returns To The Light]( Tom Huizenga, June 21 To be proudly gay as a composer in the 1970s was brave enough; to be Black and gay in that world, even more so. Perhaps that’s why Julius Eastman was so misunderstood in his time — and why today, his music is making a richly deserved comeback (including a new interpretation of his 1974 work Femenine, released this year). [Explaining 'Patria Y Vida,' The Song That's Defined The Uprising In Cuba]( Anamaria Sayre, July 20 In July, Cuban protestors took to the streets, and on both sides of the Florida Strait one phrase rose above the noise again and again: "patria y vida," or homeland and life. The phrase comes from a hip-hop song of the same name, released as a collaboration between Cuban musicians in exile, which took home the Latin Grammy for song of the year in November. The Alt.Latino team translated and annotated the lyrics to better understand the song’s historical and current references. [This Song Is About You]( Ann Powers, July 22 This year, while discourse was brewing online about how much fiction writers can or should borrow from real life, confessional songs were all over the pop charts. So our critic Ann Powers asked: What, exactly, do musicians who blend fact and fiction owe their real-life subjects? [Why Do We Need Dolly To Be A Saint?]( Amanda Marie Martinez, Aug. 20 Over the summer, Dolly Parton claimed that decades ago, with the royalties she made from Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You," she had invested in a Black community in Nashville. Reporting on the story followed in a pattern of public feel-good stories about Parton, says writer Amanda Marie Martinez, but it missed some crucial context, triggering questions about how a collective infatuation with the singer has driven her beyond reproach — and adequate fact checking. [What Made Aaliyah So Special Is More Complicated Than It Seems,]( Aisha Harris, Aug. 25 For many years, most of Aaliyah’s music — aside from her first and most fraught album, Age Ain't Nothing But A Number — was unavailable on streaming platforms; this year, that changed. But relistening to Aaliyah’s music now is a reminder that while she may have stood out for her cool, "mature" demeanor, at the heart of that persona was a youth lost too soon. [When Making Music Breaks Your Body]( Grayson Haver Currin, Dec. 4 An arthritis diagnosis for guitarist Meric Long means The Dodos’ latest album, released this past November, is likely its last. And the band is far from alone; the physical consequences of playing music often go unadvertised for artists, hidden from fans for the sake of shows that must go on. Freelancer Grayson Haver Currin spoke to musicians — up-and-comers and long-haulers alike — who have felt the impact of chronic pain on their careers. [Stonecoldboldness: A many-sided memorial to the writing of Greg Tate]( Dec. 11 The revered music writer, cultural critic and journalist Greg Tate died this year. In his honor, we gathered a group of writers and artists to pay him tribute and share their praise of his writing, creating a guide to his essential works. [Turning the Tables]( For the past few years, our Turning the Tables project has focused on challenging sexist, hierarchical notions of musical greatness. This year, we got more personal, asking questions like: How do we know when a particular piece of music is important to us? What does it mean to make a truly personal canon? We asked women and non-binary writers to tell us about [one record that changed their lives](. The responses celebrated the monstrosity of [Kate Bush’s The Dreaming]( and the [New York dreams of Santigold]( the way artists like [Tracy Chapman]( and [Lauryn Hill]( approach Black identity; the feminist self-knowledge of [Salt-N-Pepa]( and [Fiona Apple]( and the new ways of thinking opened by experiences with music by [Yoko Ono]( and [PJ Harvey](. [The Formula]( The Formula is our video series about the foundational elements of hip-hop, and this year it was all about collaboration. The series highlighted some of our favorite artist-producer duos and asked them to explain their creative process, in their own words: from the combination of try-anything rapper [Tierra Whack]( and her soft-spoken but dedicated producer J Melodic to the secrets behind the no-compromise classic collab between [Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist]( to the loud, [unlikely and incredibly loveable duo]( of Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Find a Station]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [nprmusic@npr.org](mailto:nprmusic@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? 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