NPR Music's top five albums of the year. (Clockwise from upper left) Process by Sampha, DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar, Melodrama by Lorde, Crtl by SZA and Capacity by Big Thief.
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NPR Music's best 100 songs of 2017. (Clockwise from upper left) Goldlink, Margo Price, IBEYI, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Tyler The Creator, Big Thief, SZA and Sharon Jones.
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Rainbow, Kesha's first album since the start of her legal battle with former producer Dr. Luke in 2016 after she accused him of sexual and emotional abuse, is a document of an artist taking reclaiming her story.
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Amelia Randall Meath and Nicholas Sanborn of Sylvan Esso perform at the NPR Music showcase during 2017's SXSW.
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Clockwise from upper left: Rata Negra, Chuck Johnson, Chepang, Circuit Des Yeux.
Miguel Martin Vargas, Andrew Paynter, Aaron Nichols, Michael Vallera
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Miguel Martin Vargas, Andrew Paynter, Aaron Nichols, Michael Vallera
Damon Krukowski's book, The New Analog, and podcast, Ways of Hearing, explore the ways digital culture has changed how music is both heard and made.
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Tatsuya Takahashi at his home workshop in early 2017, surrounded by a few of his signature machines.
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The premiere of "Folk Songs of Naboréa," a song cycle for seven voices and kora by Kavita Shah, presented at the Park Avenue Armory in New York in November, was one of Nate Chinen's gigs of the year.
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The 50th anniversary edition of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band included a startlingly impactful stereo remix of the album.
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Rapsody released Laila's Wisdom, her sophomore album and first since partnering with Jay-Z's Roc Nation, in September.
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Katie Alice Greer of Washington, D.C.'s Priests. The band released its full-length debut, Nothing Feels Natural, in the early weeks of 2017.
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Kendrick Lamar performs in New York City on Sept. 14, 2017. Critic Ken Tucker says Lamar's album DAMN captured the collective mood of the year.
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Clara Lionel Foundation