Celebrate Women’s History Month With Turning The Tables

Plus, our video exploring the racist roots of rap on trial.

by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage/Getty Images March is Women’s History Month, but your newsletter editors never need an excuse to celebrate the achievements of game-changing women musicians. Enter: Turning the Tables, NPR Music’s annual project dedicated to recasting the canon in more inclusive and accurate ways — and a great place to dig into the history of women in popular music. Our very first Turning the Tables project was a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind list: the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. We’ve also highlighted the sounds shaping the new millennium with our list of the 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women. In addition to our canon-busting lists, our project offers rich insight into the lives and legacies of some of the most important women musicians of the past century. Our series on the 8 Women Who Invented American Popular Music highlights historical figures without whom the music we love today simply wouldn’t exist. Whether you want to learn to swing like Mary Lou Williams, acquaint yourself with Ella Fitzgerald’s catalogue or read about Maybelle Carter’s role as a matriarch and mentor, we’ve got you covered. And throughout the past year, we’ve also shared profiles of artists whose whose contributions and influence are undersung but undeniable, including Roberta Flack and The Pointer Sisters. Or how about looking to the future? We’ve got a whole series of profiles about the 25 most influential women and non-binary artists of the 21st century.  And of course, women working in music today are dominating hip-hop and taking on entrenched sexism in country music. There’s no shortage of achievements worth celebrating, and a simple note here is but a start.  Stepped up,  Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna  Newsletter continues after sponsor message New Music Valerie June’s new album, The Moon and Stars: Prescription for Dreamers, finds her plumbing the origins of her own inspirations. World Cafe spoke to June about the creation of the album and the importance of radical imagination. This week on All Songs Considered: new music from Cautious Clay and Lightning Bug, plus your newsletter editor Marissa brings a devastating song from Lucy Dacus and textural rock from Sour Widows. Plus, New Music Friday highlights the best albums out March 19, including new releases from Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste, country legend Loretta Lynn, rapper Benny the Butcher and more. As part of the Morning Edition Song Project, Michael League — multi-instrumentalist and leader of the jazz-fusion group Snarky Puppy — shared a new song that reimagines death not as a severance, but as a compassionate force. This week, our friends at WFUV shared a live performance by Lake Street Dive of "Hypotheticals.” Featuring Explore the history of Haiti and its influence on the music, culture and identity of the Crescent City on WXPN’s four-part audio documentary series, Kanaval: Haitian Rhythms and the Music of New Orleans, hosted by Leyla McCalla, a founding member of Our Native Daughters and an alumna of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops.  The conductor James Levine, died on March 9 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77. Levine wielded immense influence in classical music, but his tenure at the Metropolitan Opera ended with his removal following allegations of sexual abuse.  Pulling a film’s score can be disruptive and expensive, but it’s not uncommon. But bringing back an original composer? It’s remarkably rare. The hotly-anticipated “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, the four-hour extended edition of the epic DC Universe movie, restores much of the film, as well as its intended score from Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL. What’s an opera company to do during a pandemic? Opera Philadelphia is virtual for now, with video projects aimed at bringing a wider range of voices into the repertory. The company’s latest video premiere, The Island We Made, stars RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Sasha Velour in an opera composed by Angélica Negrón. Louder Than A Riot Since the early 1990s, police and prosecutors have used lyrics to build and try hundreds of criminal cases against rap artists. The practice continues despite research and appeals courts’ finding that rap music can be prejudicial when presented before a judge or jury without context. This week, the team at Louder Than A Riot shared a video tracing Black music's criminalized history and laying out the racist implications behind prosecuting hip-hop. Tiny Desk NPR R&B singer Xavier Omär originally wanted to perform his Tiny Desk (home) concert in a library — recreating the look of the overstuffed bookshelves at NPR HQ — but ultimately wound up performing in a local cafe and wine shop in Omär’s hometown of San Antonio instead. As it turns out, the shop’s spacious, airy ambience was the perfect backdrop to Omär and his band’s charismatic and vocally rich show. Also this week: We shared a set from pop megastar Justin Bieber, including the world premiere of a new song called “Peaches.” One More Thing “The time has come for you to lipsync for your life.” Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Vermont Public Radio (edit station). 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! They can sign up here. 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