Woodland, the new album by Gillian Welch (left) and David Rawlings, is the latest in a long collaboration between two musicians who have built careers — and an influential legacy — out of the magnetic interplay between their voices and the strength of their musical ideas. Alysse Gafkjen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Doechii channels a panoramic relationship to her own thoughts and voice on the new mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. John Jay hide caption
Kacey Musgraves on Wild Card Getty hide caption
Gucci Mane in July, performing at the 2024 Exit Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images Europe hide caption
(Photo by Raven B. Varona) Raven B. Varona/Courtesy of Epic Records hide caption
Quantum Baby is Tinashe's seventh album, and the second in a purported trilogy that began with last year's BB/ANG3L. Raven B. Varona hide caption
On Nick Cave's his latest album, Wild God, out Aug. 30, the fragility of his recent recordings has evolved into a cathartic emotional and musical power that bursts out of the songs. Illustration by Jackie Lay/Photo courtesy of the artist hide caption
Just shy of a decade after debuting in hip-hop, Post Malone completes a long-gestating country turn with the new album F-1 Trillion. Photos by Randy Shropshire/Brett Carlsen/Getty Images/Illustration by Jackie Lay hide caption
Isata Kanneh-Mason's new album features music by brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. Karolina Wielocha/Decca Classics hide caption
JPEGMAFIA performs in 2023 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City. Keeyahtay Lewis on behalf of The Rooftop at Pier 17 hide caption
Oleh Kuznetsov, who goes by B-boy Kuzya, performs the freeze element, freezing for a few seconds in unusual and extremely difficult positions. Anna Gondek-Grodkiewicz for NPR hide caption
In 2023, after two decades in the rap game, Killer Mike turned a page in his career with the highly autobiographical album Michael, which won him multiple trophies at the Grammy Awards, where he was arrested backstage. On his new follow-up, Songs for Sinners and Saints, he reworks several songs from Michael by reaching even deeper back into the church music of his childhood. Andrew Clifton/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The Afghan Youth Orchestra with its founder, Ahmad Sarmast. Courtesy of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music hide caption
Two years after her breakthrough single, Ice Spice released her debut album, Y2K!, on July 26. Coughs/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Now in her 80s, the New York interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk remains best known for her extended vocal technique, a concept she found her way to in the 1960s. Christine Alicino hide caption
The artist's star power is distinctive and grounded in a moment where the music industry, and its ability to break dependable new artists, is chaotic. Erika Goldring/Getty Images hide caption
The new album Bando Stone & the New World, billed as a soundtrack to a coming film, revives some of the anarchic spirit of Donald Glover's earliest work as Childish Gambino. Pavielle Garcia/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
South Korean comedian Yoon Seong-ho, known as NewJeansNim, wearing monk's robes and performing during an electronic dance music party event for the annual Lotus Lantern Festival to celebrate the Buddha's birthday in Seoul, on May 12. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Eminem performs at the event "Live from Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central" on June 6, 2024. Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images hide caption
Zach Bryan's fifth album in five years, The Great American Bar Scene, features love songs, thorny anthems, autobiographical lore and even a mini-arc that directly invokes classic Bruce Springsteen songs. Keith Griner/Getty Images hide caption