Becca Stevens performs inside the World Cafe Performance studio for this session. Jamie Stow/WXPN hide caption
Pop NPR Music stories that discuss pop music.
Pop
Grimes' fifth album, Miss Anthropocene, pushes the pleasure buttons of mainstream pop while also appearing to critique it. Mac Boucher/Neil Hansen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Review: On 'Miss Anthropocene,' Grimes Crafts Pop Both Visceral And Cryptic
Linda Diaz's "Magic" swirls in the watercolor pools of a quirky, young love. Jonah Zorn Koplin/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Whitney Houston photographed at the World Music Awards in 2004. Starting Feb. 25, a concert show starring a hologram of Houston, who died in 2012, will tour Europe. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images hide caption
'An Evening With Whitney' Hologram Tour Trades On The Image Of A Complicated Star
An aspiring K-pop group performs in the Hongdae district of Seoul on Jan. 5, 2020. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Elisapie performs during tiny desk on November, 26, 2019. (Photo by Mhari Shaw/NPR) Mhari Shaw/NPR hide caption
Madison McFerrin performs for a Key Studio Session at WXPN Jamie Stow/WXPN hide caption
Madison McFerrin On World Cafe
Justin Bieber, photographed with fans at the premiere of his self-produced YouTube documentary series Seasons, on Jan. 27, 2020 in Los Angeles. The pop star released his first album in five years, Changes, on Feb. 14. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images hide caption
"I feel like I've always been referencing back to those dark childlike adventure stories," Natasha Khan says of the '80s films that inspired the latest Bat for Lashes album, Lost Girls. Logan White/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
On 'Lost Girls,' Bat For Lashes Spins A Vampire Fairy Tale With Synth-Pop
Harry Nilsson's concept album The Point — about a round-headed boy in a world where everything is pointy — turns 50 this year. Stan Meagher/Getty Images hide caption
50 Years Of 'The Point,' Harry Nilsson's Wonderful, Weird Musical Fable
Fresh off his cameo in the Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny teamed up with Sech on "Ignorantes." Tom Pennington/Getty Images hide caption
The Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va., hosted live performances for World Cafe's Sense of Place episodes this past week. Ashley Travis/WNRN hide caption
Desiré Moses On World Cafe
Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, the band best known for the 1985 hit "Perfect Way." Music writer Maura Johnston argues that we should explore more of Gartside's work, which bridged punk and pop. Tom Sheehan /Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Maren Morris performs perform a Tiny Desk Concert on Feb. 16, 2017. (Claire Harbage/NPR) Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
Kate Bollinger Amber Carpenter/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Kate Bollinger On World Cafe
Victoria Monét melds fantasy with reality for her latest, "Moment." Dana Trippe/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The title of James Taylor's audio memoir Break Shot refers to the first shot in a game of pool when order is suddenly broken. "That seemed like an apt metaphor for what happened to my family," he says. Norman Seeff/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
James Taylor Narrates Life Before Fame And Sings American Standards On New Album
Justin Bieber, photographed during the 2018 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at Los Angeles Convention Center on February 16, 2018. Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images hide caption
"People, I've been sad" is Christine and the Queen's first solo single since her 2018 album, Chris. Camille Vivier/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
"A lot of this music, for me, was the therapy along the journey of finding who I am and really discovering my self worth," SayGrace says of her new EP, The Defining Moments of SayGrace. Courtesy of the artist hide caption