The life- and career-changing friendship of boygenius

Plus, 'Louder Than A Riot' examines who gets remembered in hip-hop history

View this email online April 1, 2023 by Marissa Lorusso This week, we’re sharing a review of the new album by boygenius; plus, the latest from Louder Than A Riot. Courtesy of the artist For fans of a certain strain of contemporary indie rock, the music of the trio boygenius — made up of singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — feels like a revelation. (That cohort includes me and many of my colleagues at NPR Music. I still remember the day our team first received an email announcing the collaboration; I was working at NPR HQ, and a collective, noticeable gasp of pure joy went out across the room. “How soon can we book a Tiny Desk?!” someone asked immediately; their wish was granted a few months later.) When the group released its self-titled EP in 2018, it received enthusiastic acclaim from critics and immediate obsession from fans of the three artists’ solo output who saw the EP as a window into their adoring friendship. But after that, each songwriter went back to her own solo career, politely dodging repeated questions about when they’d get the band back together.   If boygenius hadn’t released any more music, I would have still considered it a minor miracle that the 2018 EP existed at all. I always found it touching that, at a moment when each of their solo careers were ascending, these artists chose to take a moment to focus on working collaboratively with their friends. They’ve each had considerable success since that release — Baker and Dacus released impressive third solo records; Bridgers’ sophomore record even earned her Grammy nominations. But they recently got the band back together for boygenius’ first full-length record, titled — appropriately — the record. I’ve been listening to the album on repeat for the past week while writing a review of it, and what struck me most about this new collection of songs is how much they are about the friendship among these three songwriters. Friendship isn’t just the band’s backstory; it’s the subject of its music and an essential component of the structure of these songs. Dacus, Bridgers and Baker also recently spoke to Weekend Edition about how the record came together and how their friendship informs their songwriting. For even more conversation about the record, listen to this week’s episode of New Music Friday from All Songs Considered, where our panel discussed boygenius, plus new releases from R&B singer Chlöe, veteran Senegalese artist Baaba Maal and more. Newsletter continues after sponsor message More to read, watch and hear This week, All Songs Considered is filled with exciting and powerful collaborations. On Bob Boilen’s New Mix, he plays a new song that came together thanks to the internet: After Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds shared an improvisation online, and, a thousand miles away, singer Ella McRobb posted herself singing over it; now, they’ve released the track, called “and we'll leave it there…” Also this week: WRTI’s Nate Chinen spoke to the members of Love In Exile — pianist and composer Vijay Iyer, singer Arooj Aftab and bassist Shahzad Ismaily — about the astounding interplay on their new record. Adele has long had a fraught relationship with the physical and emotional costs of touring. Critic Bilal Qureshi saw the powerhouse singer perform as part of her Las Vegas residency (which she announced this week would be extended for another set of dates ending in November) and wondered: In the controlled stillness of a Vegas theater, has she finally found her place? For the last two decades, Arcade Fire has been the most visible export of the Montréal music scene. But since the end of August, the city’s artists and fans have had to reckon with sexual abuse allegations against the band’s lead singer, Win Butler. Writer Yara El-Soueidi spoke to members of that community about how the scene is responding to the allegations and how they hope to rebuild in the aftermath.  Tiny Desk NPR “I'm not meant to be understood,” singer Durand Bernarr told the Tiny Desk team before his performance. “I'm meant to be experienced.” Watch his eclectic, high-energy Tiny Desk concert to experience it for yourself. Also this week: We shared a delightful set of fuzzy-yet-sparkling indie pop from The Beths and a Tiny Desk (home) concert filled with Easter eggs for fans of the Athens, Ga., music scene from The Bad Ends. Louder Than A Riot Louder Than A Riot, our podcast about rhyme and punishment, began its second season this month. Last week, the podcast told the story of the MC Sha-Rock, the first woman MC in hip-hop history. If you haven’t heard of her, you aren’t alone. “The retelling of hip-hop history centers men,” the podcast’s hosts, Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael explain, “often excluding the women in the same frame.” On the podcast, they tell MC Sha-Rock’s story: her entry into early hip-hop culture as a B-girl, her emergence as a pioneering MC, her groundbreaking performance on Saturday Night Live and her long-running fight to preserve her legacy. You can also read a digital version of the story — and see photos from throughout Sha-Rock’s life — on our site. And this week, the team took on another set of forces that hold women in hip-hop, past and present, back: beauty standards and body policing. “Whether it's coming from ex-boyfriends, internet trolls or entire corporations,” the Louder Than A Riot team writes, this pressure on women “is real and it's never been more normalized.” The podcast talks to three rappers — DreamDoll, Baby Tate and Doechii — who are pushing back against the male gaze. And on our site, you can read more about how Doechii tried to make a music video that subverted expectations about Black women’s bodies, but ended up being penalized by those very expectations. One More Thing Sequencing Beethoven’s genome Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (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! 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