Timothy Wilson of Urban Lights Music talks about how to take care of your records

“It totally skipped a generation,” Timothy Wilson says. “There was about a 10-year gap, maybe 15, where everything [vinyl] just kind of stopped. Now, it’s spun back around again.”

Wilson would know. He’s the owner and operator of City Lights Music, a record store on University Avenue in St. Paul that has been a mainstay in the community for 30 years. “We’ve seen the rise and fall of vinyl and the rise and fall of CDs and cassettes,” Wilson says. “And now we’re back to vinyl again, so that’s an awesome experience, and we’re excited.” 

There’s a large customer base who are excited, too. Wilson has noticed that it’s a lot of younger people who are the collectors now, and he’s thrilled that they’re getting to experience the sound quality of vinyl, to view the artwork, and to read the liner notes while listening, giving them “a chance to know the artists — who played bass, who played drums, who played guitar.”

Every Saturday, Urban Lights hosts Faders Up, an event that brings in area DJs to talk equipment, to discuss new music and goings-on in the industry — and of course, to spin a live DJ set. Every fourth Saturday, Faders Up is strictly vinyl, where DJs can bring in their crates and spin 45s, 12-inch singles and album cuts.

Wilson says he often gets people visiting the store who want to learn how to DJ, and he and his team will spend time teaching them the basics. “Believe it or not, there are people that we’ve had come in that we’ve actually taught to DJ, and over the course of six months now, they’re booked for the next year as far as weddings and corporate events and all kinds of stuff,” he says.

It's the young people who seem to energize Wilson. “They come in and they’re like, ‘Hey, talk to me about Al Green. Talk to me about Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston’ — whoever they want to know about, and they want to know about it on vinyl,” he says. “So that’s a cool thing. 

“Vinyl’s final,” Wilson enthuses. “Get with it!”

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Luke Taylor

Photographer

Eric Romani

Urban Lights Music owner and operator Timothy Wilson is energized by a new generation excited about vinyl records.


Eric Xu Romani | MPR

“Vinyl’s final — get with it!” 

Zora stopped by to talk to Carbon Sound’s host Sanni about music she’s been working on since the release of her first album ”Z1”, themes and sounds people can expect from her next album, her everlasting love for hip-hop and performing, and a whole lot more.


The Message - Zora Interview Pt. 1

The Message - Zora Interview Pt. 2

ZORA - The Bitch is Back (Live @ The Fillmore)

RUNNITUP

Beyoncé on Her Alter Ego, Sasha Fierce | The Oprah Winfrey Show | Oprah Winfrey Network

Rihanna - Disturbia

ANTI (Deluxe)

ZORA - hush [official music video]

John Kueppers

Interview: Zora on The Message

 on an issue of utmost national importance: Who would win in a rap battle between 

? "Gotta go with Kendrick," he said. "I think Drake is an outstanding entertainer, but Kendrick, his lyrics ..." It was pretty clear what distance he was covering between "entertainer" and "lyricist"; it's one that has been subject to debate since hip-hop's earliest days. But just as fascinating, to me, is the idea of asking the commander-in-chief such a question in the first place: not simply pitting the two divergent stars against each other in the critical imagination, but supposing that any such showdown could be conclusive — that it could say something substantial about the artists' standing — when even the framing of Obama's answer seems to be partitioning them.

Such a battle may yet come to fruition thanks to Kendrick Lamar, who recently made a surprise appearance on Future and Metro Boomin's "

" to take aim at Drake and the other peer with whom they have formed the defining rap triumvirate of the last decade, 

. Kendrick, no stranger to putting others on notice, made plain his distaste for the duo collaborating and asserting their primacy on the chart-topping 2023 single "

," and decided to shoot back. On Friday, only a few weeks removed from the explosive Kendrick verse, Cole provided his own lukewarm response on the song "

. His fire didn't even last the weekend: During a set at his Dreamville festival, 

, calling it "the lamest s*** I ever did." "I felt conflicted 'cause I'm like, bruh, I know I don't really feel no way," he continued, "but the world wanna see blood" — in essence admitting he was going through the motions of a ritual he does not believe in.

In recent years, Kendrick, Drake and Cole have been frequently lumped together as a stable of thoroughbreds sometimes known as the "big three," in part because of how their respective rises overlapped across the 2010s. Drake was the first to break through, as a teen-drama bit player turned passive-aggressive love bomber, and his performance of emotional availability and inclination toward pop melody quickly made him a pervasive (and sometimes malignant) presence, consuming everything in his path. As Drake was expanding from Young Money scion to 

, Kendrick emerged from the indie-rap giant TDE's Black Hippy supergroup as a world-weary eyewitness powered by a formidable, disarming lyricism; his cinematic debut, 

, set the stage for a blue-ribbon career, elevated by the intrepid jazz-rap pièce de résistance 

 for music. Cole, a small-market rapper-producer studying at St. John's, realized his rap dream by becoming a 

, and the striving, parochial focus and withdrawn disposition of his subsequent albums made him a self-tormented rap monk for a devout following of armchair intellectuals.

Every aspect of the recent exchange between these three makes me question who and what beef is for, especially now. There is an obvious thrill in rappers going head-to-head for the sport of it, particularly at this level of visibility, where exposure becomes theater. But in today's game, the terms of the wager feel opaque: None of the participants seem to even be playing by the same rules, much less for the same prize. Any pursuit of rap's invisible throne seems almost immaterial without real matters of succession to be settled. Can such a thing have meaning if the factions don't at least agree on what is being fought for?

Even if the gladiatorial spectacle of great competitors duking it out for glory has historically been entertaining and at times career-making, rap beef has usually come with tangible stakes. 

 were fought over territory, airplay and rap's birthright. 

 was about authorship. His feud with Pusha T is an extension of Pusha's feud with Drake's mentor, Lil Wayne, over style. Every Nicki feud — Lil Kim, Remy Ma, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion — seems to come back to the Highlander principle that there can only be 

, which has long been dispelled and yet seems to remain primary directive driving her quarrels. Even Jay-Z's shots at Nas on "

" were a response to Nas claiming he was taking Biggie's name in vain, as both men made a play for his vacated title as King of New York. This latest feud isn't predicated on any slight, real or perceived, but instead is largely about positioning — who gets to finally break away from the pack — and yet there is little for any of them to lose, and less to be gained.

Drake and Kendrick are natural foils that play into an established binary, the commercial juggernaut facing down the highbrow philosopher messiah. Neither portrayal is entirely fair: Drake has, on many occasions, displayed not just bars but battle savvy (and a love of the form, co-hosting a King of the Dot rap battle in 2011), and Kendrick spent much of his last album 

 to put him on the cross as a lyrical emancipator. Yet there is still something symbolic at play in pitting them against one another. It is hard to imagine a more blatant dividing line for hip-hop morality, and it helps that they are the most celebrated rappers of their era, if by vastly different measures.

Cole has often felt like the odd man out in this conversation. Neither hitmaker nor auteur, his inclusion in the so-called "big three" seems to be out of respect for the relevance he enjoys via a reverent fanbase, but his limitations stand out when compared directly to his peer group. What's more, even though it was in part his invocation of the "big three" on "First Person Shooter" that started all this upset, he has never had the disposition for the pugnaciousness and scheming of rap kingmaking. Drake is petty and has never met a dig he couldn't take to the grave. Kendrick is proud and has never met a challenge he couldn't take personally. Both modes lend themselves not only to settling gripes in the open, but the shoulder-checking required to emerge atop a hip-hop scrum. Even releasing his diss on a project called 

 implies an apprehension in Cole that simply does not fit the format.

As declarations of war, "Like That" and "7 Minute Drill" could not be further from one another, and each one says a lot about the rapper who made it, perhaps more so now that Cole has backed down. On "Like That," the barbs are strung together like razor wire, and there is a charge that runs through it, the exhilaration of getting something off your chest. Kendrick is teeming with energy, on the front foot, making a case for his skill as singular and undercutting Drake's advantage in the process. "I'm really like that / And your best work is a light pack / N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack," he raps, nodding to Drake's recent move into a dead heat with the King of Pop for most Hot 100 No. 1 singles. (It is clear that most of his vitriol is for Drake, with whom he has traded jabs for many years.) The verse was effective in riling up the internet, enough to pressure a response from Cole, and it's hard to argue against its potency, but it's unclear what is being accomplished. Unlike his scorched-earth verse on Big Sean's "

," where Kendrick was an upstart staking claim to an authority that had yet to materialize but felt inevitable, "Like That" does not say anything his work hasn't already said for him, and it cannot cut into the market cap of his competitors. He also has not changed the state of play, as Pusha T once did. He sidesteps detailed talking points for undermining both artists to come at them straight on, which is more in line with a move to maintain the status quo than to shake things up.

"7 Minute Drill" is the response it deserves — halfhearted and full of pulled punches. The song and its subsequent disavowal are befitting of the rapper who made "

," one wrestling with the pressure of his ego at all times. Cole directly cites "Takeover," critiquing the Kendrick album arc (and 

, specifically) by reusing Jay's blueprint: "Four albums in 12 years, n****, I can divide." There was never a path to victory in this for Cole; the worst Kendrick album, whatever it may be, is better than the best Cole album. His has always been an underdog story, underscored by the "platinum with no features" mantra, and to play to that persona in this situation is a tacit acknowledgement that he is punching above his weight. In this way, Cole recusing himself from the clash feels less like some damning confirmation that he is not The One, and more like proof that he and his opponents are simply after different things. And it underscores something that fan accounting of rap beefs tends to overlook: The case for your legacy is made by your music in its totality, no matter what you do in battle. After all, Jay-Z, the one being cited for his landmark offensive against Nas, is recognized by many (myself included) as the greatest rapper ever — and he lost that fight.

Each member of the "big three" has, at one time or another, revealed themselves to be students of Jay's tactics; though Nas' "

" ruled the day back in 2001, "Takeover" has held as a defining document for them. Kendrick once said that the latter was better because Jay was "saying more facts." I'd say it's more that it makes you believe a fiction — that it carefully rewrites the Nas narrative to suit Jay's ends. You can hear Kendrick's obsession with "facts" in the upfront "Like That" verse; Cole clearly shares the ethic in his bending of the truth; and the debater's methodology surfaces in a Drake diss like "

." But their paths diverge in their adoption of this gospel, as each seems to have a different Hovism running in their mind. For Cole, it is "

, I been doing my best just to stay hater-free / Still, watch what you say to me," as the ease-seeking, reluctant combatant. For Kendrick: "

 / He's all right, but he's not real," as the obsessive heir apparent. For Drake: "

," as the all-consuming data machine in a time when fans wield figures like a cudgel. One seeks success in solitude, one in culture-shifting, one in quantifiable ubiquity. Militancy suits Kendrick best, and to play by those rules is to skew the elusive target at the center of rap discourse in his favor.

That's why it is hardest to imagine what Drake might get out of all of this if it continues into a second phase. He has yet to respond, but it feels as if any response would only diminish him. 

, a chart certainty at this point, and he will likely never be "rap" enough for those who really value this kind of exercise. Unlike previous Drake foes, Kendrick is the only rapper in his class who isn't dwarfed by his numbers, and thus presents a true challenge for a shrewd competitor. Why take the risk for no reward? There is no cachet to be earned in such a clash because, as every Drake album this decade makes clear, he has no interest in playing the prestige game anymore. His security lies in his sheer undeniability — an armor that even a perception-shifting diss labeling him a 

 couldn't pierce. This even being a conversation must be as unfathomable to him as it is to Kendrick.

If that feels like an anticlimactic outcome for hip-hop's reigning titans squaring off, blame it on the context-flattening effect of our current social reality. Rap purists and pop number-crunchers are all wading around in the same murky discourse soup, and a lot of the metrics that used to feel like a given are looser now, superimposing a shape on something gray and amorphous. It figures, then, that the truest means of ascent is to try and to get to the top of the trending list, and to stay as long as possible; the only thing of equal value to everyone is collective attention. The diehards will never admit it, but beef has become far more about the drama than the bars or even the hostility, which explains both the overenthusiasm for a pretty down-the-middle shot from Kendrick, and the sourpuss complaints about Cole's retraction. Watching the video of that apology, I can't stop thinking about his characterization of beef as a vicious spectacle: "The world wanna see 

." In that context, you can think of the "Like That" verse as chum in the tank, bait that hooked Cole into a squabble he didn't even really want. Maybe if there was something that actually needed hashing out, it'd be worth it.  

Sheldon Pearce

If the current conflict between J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Drake feels confusing, it's because the artists often hailed as hip-hop's "big three" have never played by the same rules.


J. Cole and Drake stand together on stage

Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage

Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage/Getty Images

Takeover

Can rap beef exist when no one agrees on what's being fought for?

Natalia Mendez

The British singer, songwriter, producer, and musician put on a mesmerizing show in Minneapolis on Saturday. Treanne and Ruthven opened up. 


Sara Fish for MPR

Sampha casts soulful spell over sold-out First Avenue crowd

Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

 If you want to give feedback directly, reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

Tune in to hear our host Sanni B. live on The Message from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday through Thursday!

Keep all these tracks in one place with the 

 Spotify playlist. This playlist is updated weekly with all the new adds. When that playlist is cycled with new tracks, the tracks live forever on the 

 playlist. That playlist contains all of the music that we've added since the week of July 11, 2022 in chronological order of when it was added. All of the tracks available on Spotify, at least.

Vegyn - “Turn Me Inside” feat. Léa Sen

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the weeks of March 25 and April 8, 2024.


Image for New on Carbon Sound Spotify playlist

Natalia Toledo

New on Carbon Sound

Old on Carbon Sound

New Music on Carbon Sound - Weeks of March 25 and April 8, 2024

Kwey's mix for Carbon Sound features Afrobeats and amapiano grooves so hard, so smooth, you might forget we recorded it in the cold of Minnesota. Kwey works diligently to bring this global music to the Twin Cities with SAMAMBO, an event series that features local and national DJs

Stay tuned for new mixes on Carbon Sound every other Wednesday. If you’re a DJ and want to be considered for the series, email a mix of yours to jgreen@mpr.org.

Kwey champions Afrobeats and amapiano in his mix for Carbon Sound


Kwey (4/3/2024)

Kwey (4/3/24)

How long have fans been speculating over the details of 

's new album? It depends when you start counting: Some began buzzing over it the second her previous record, the dance-centric 

, was released in 2022 and touted as "act one" of a trilogy. But the chatter has been especially fervent in the past two months, as singles, visuals and other teases popped up during the Grammys, Super Bowl and on the artist's own social media. The Beyhive's busiest bees analyzed clues that pointed toward a country music-inspired sound; they dissected the history of that genre, and how Black musicians have often been written out of it.

 has finally arrived. Is it a country album? In many ways, yes — but it's also a sprawling work filled with disparate influences and references, while remaining a Beyoncé album at its heart. Two NPR Music staffers, reporter 

, have been listening since the stroke of midnight. They come to you now with the 10 most important things to know about exactly what 

, served as a world-building homage to the unsung Black queer youth who created house music, 

 continues the lesson plan. In a statement soon after the album's worldwide release, the artist's Parkwood Entertainment shared that each song on the 27-track project is its own version of a reimagined Western film: "She took inspiration from films like 

, often having the films playing on a screen during the recording process."

Each track, whether an interlude, collaboration or poignant solo, rides out like a full-length film full of scenic grandeur, character and conflicts that any Chitlin' Circuit aficionado or spaghetti Western cinephile can obsess over. As a whole, 

 serves as a well of discovery, full of samples, sonic Easter eggs, Knowles family callbacks and, most importantly, an appreciation for pioneers in the country world.

2. ... with a searing image of its titular central character.

In the cowboy, Beyoncé finds her ideal figure of the American West and South. She cites the rodeo as the first place where anyone who loved country music and culture could gather and mingle and feel welcome. It's an image that runs counter to the experience that inspired the album: performing her song "Daddy Lessons" at the CMA Awards in 2016, where she has said she "did not feel welcomed ... and it was very clear that I wasn't." The 

 character exists in conversation with the history of Black cowboys, the loaded meaning behind the term and its function in the American imagination.

There are plenty of categorically country sounds on 

. String instruments are its sonic heartbeat, and the do-si-do of the slide guitar on "DESERT EAGLE" and "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" feel perfectly matched with Bey's feathery vocals. The jovial wiggle of the accordions on "RIIVERDANCE" tip a hat to zydeco music and the artist's Creole heritage. "PROTECTOR" (featuring Beyoncé's youngest daughter, Rumi) is anchored by acoustic guitar. "SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN' " interpolates "I Fall to Pieces," the shuffling standard made famous by 

. Compared to Bey's past work in an R&B world full of glitz and glamor, many moments on the album, even with their layered arrangements, feel like intimate jam sessions straight out of a Nashville writing camp.

Across the track list, elements of hip-hop, bluegrass and Chicano rock, with pop, rock, Jersey club music and operatic runs. "YA YA" conjures the charisma of 

. "BODYGUARD" is a breezy surf-rock romp with Latin percussion and a little whiskey on its breath. "AMEN" rings to the rafters in true gospel splendor. "SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN' " stacks genre upon genre and yet never overwhelms, instead connecting the dots between them with dusty horse gallops. The production credits stretch far beyond the scope of country stalwarts, making the album a treasure hunt for fans and issuing a challenge to the ways country music has come to be defined.

5. It's got country and Americana icons to set the tone...

Voices from country lore appear throughout the track list, signposts for the album's deconstructions of genre. The outlaw country pioneer 

, who once bucked the Nashville sound himself, stands in as the host of KNTRY Radio Texas, Beyoncé's fictional pirate station. 

 draws a line from Becky with the good hair to Jolene, and turns up again before "TYRANT," encouraging Beyoncé to light up a juke joint. In a prelude to one of the album's most adventurous cuts, "SPAGHETTII," Linda Martell, an undersung, trailblazing Black country star of the '70s, lays out a sort of mission statement: "Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? Yes, they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined."

6. ... and it's flipping some old tropes.

There are covers of country classics here that stand out for how stealthily they're reimagined. Parton's 1973 hit "Jolene" shows up early in the album, but Beyoncé adds her own sauce to flip its storied narrative. A vigilant Bey (flip-flopping between being upset and unbothered) clocks the "bird" chirping round her man; unlike Dolly, who responds to a similar threat with a plea for mercy, she puts her rival on notice: "

I'm warnin' you, woman, find you your own man

Jolene, I know I'm a queen, Jolene / I'm still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisianne

." This twist renegotiates the common push and pull of rolling-stone / damsel-in-distress infidelity that's historically been a hallmark in country standards, and has only recently started to shift (see also: 

When Linda Martell shows up in the opening moments of "SPAGHETTII" to pose her question about genres, the slick rhetorical framing cuts to the main conceit of 

and centers Martell herself as a case in point. As a pioneer in the country space, Martell made history with her 1970 album, 

, and was the first Black woman to perform on the storied Grand Ole Opry. But because of the racist aggression she endured when moving from pop to country, Martell soon left the business. Now, at 82 years old, Martell's getting her due. Her voice is immortalized on both "SPAGHETTII" and "THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW," both tracks that play hopscotch with a range of genres. "I am proud that Beyoncé is exploring her country music roots," the veteran 

. "What she is doing is beautiful, and I'm honored to be a part of it. It's Beyoncé, after all!"

8. It shines a light on the stars of country's new age.

A recent study tracking country music programming from 2000 through 2020 revealed that only 29% of country songs played on format radio were by women artists, and of that 29%, 0.01% were Black women. And so along with honoring pioneers, 

 platforms new stars in the field who are still working their way through its entrenched gatekeeping and redlining.

 strums her banjo on the album's lead single, "TEXAS HOLD 'EM." Virginia's Shaboozey, whose 2022 release, 

, offered songs for a post-"Old Town Road" country-rap world, cuts through two tracks with his unforgettable tone. "BLACKBIIRD" features the vocals of four Black women — 

, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. This soulful cover of 

' classic about Black women's plights and resilience during the American Civil Rights movement puts its subjects in a spotlight that country radio rarely does, bringing home the reality that opportunities for artists like these have scarcely grown in the years since Martell broke ground.

9. It saddles up over the pop-country middle ground.

, Beyoncé is a pop star actively in conversation with the idea of country music, and traversing the distance between those genres seems to have made her consider the existing relationship between them. In two moments on the album, she enlists singers who have been blurring that binary for quite some time: 

. Miley, of course, is the daughter of "Achy Breaky Heart" sensation 

, and in her own pursuit of a pop identity, fiddled with Mike WiLL trap, 

 psychedelia, glam rock and country pop before settling on the centering sounds of last year's 

, which earned her a record of the year Grammy for "Flowers." For his part, Post broke out as a watercolor trap rockstar and has since shifted toward a sound more in line with his Texas roots. Both seem to resonate with the ambiguity Bey sees running through the music.

10. There's more beneath the rhinestone jewel case.

Beyond the many featured guests, other behind-the-scenes contributors help tell the story. 

 all helped produce the record. It also boasts an incredibly accomplished cast of supporting players: Pulitzer-winning folk revivalist 

, session luminary Nile Rodgers, gospel pedal steelist 

. The incredible variety of names and skills is the secret sauce behind 

Sidney Madden

Is the much-hyped sequel to Renaissance a country album? In many ways, yes — but it's also a sprawling collage of disparate references, while remaining a Beyoncé album at its heart.


Listen to the Story

Woman with white hair and sash stands firmly

Blair Caldwell/Courtesy of the artist

10 takeaways from Beyoncé's new album, 'Cowboy Carter'

Every 1st of the month, we’re creating an all-encompassing roundup of tracks, projects, and music videos that were released by Minnesota artists from that previous month. 

If we missed something Minnesota made that dropped in March, DM us on 

Keep all these tracks in one place with “Carbon Sound’s 1st of the Month” Spotify playlist. Expect an updated 1st of the Month Playlist on……every 1st of the Month.  Mark your calendars accordingly.

Blood $moke Body - The Road Not Specific ⭐

Blood $moke Body - The Road Not Specific 

YoShii | "Im Back" (DKG KIE Challenge) | Shot By; @A.OPRODUCTIONS (On MY Block Performance)

Roz x Chuchii - Code | Shot By BandoFilms

EssJay TheAfrocentricRatchet - IJS FREESTYLE [Official Music Video]

JuneThaKid & Ace P - FORBES (ft. Knucky) [Official Video] #SongsToLiveBy

every place you go (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

MOEDlow x TMoney "Free Tony Freestyle" - Drown The Mic Performance

#NEWUNDERWORLD freestyle pt. 3 (ft. @KayCyy )

Tailor Briann - Will's Pick (Official Video)

Student 1 "Notes" - Drown The Mic Performance

PM TEE - Prime (Official Music Video) Directed By @Alleuv

Author

Maria Gonzalez-Grimes

Cat Grimm

Nikhil Kumaran

Highlighting Minnesota made tracks, projects, and music videos released over the month of March, 2024.


Graphic for Carbon Sound's 1st of the Month Playlist

The Road Not Specific

NadoWorld (Deluxe)

Irationale

Carbon Sound's 1st of the Month

Tailor Briann - No Hook (Official Video)

Righteous Emcee - Bless This Kitchen

Reefa Rei - Bang Bang (Official Video)

EuphoriasRoom "At All Costs" - Studio Performance

Lauryn Banks - TELL ME YOU LOVE ME

Towers / Conduct

YUNG SCARFACE - TEPITO FT FRANCISCO

Minnesota Music Releases to check out from March 2024

Angela Davis sat down with Carbon Sound’s host Sanni where they talked about her esteemed journalism career spanning across TV and radio, her advice for women exploring careers in media, her conflicting thoughts on the song “I’m Every Woman,” and a whole lot more.


The Message - Angela Davis Pt. 1

The Message - Angela Davis Pt. 2

Saweetie - Tap In [Official Music Video]

Phyllis Hyman - Living All Alone (Official Video)

Interview: Angela Davis on The Message

Tyla's mission is clear. She's setting out to change the geography of pop stardom.

"It's something I feel like the industry is lacking," the singer declares. "An African pop star."

Fresh off a year of social media virality with her breakout single, a fashion campaign with Gap and her first Grammy win in the inaugural presentation of the best African Music Performance category, Tyla has just released her self-titled debut album. It's a 14-track stunner that positions the 22-year-old as the African pop star she's always wanted to see and be.

For many listeners, Tyla's 2023 hit song "Water" was their first taste of the sound of her homeland that's now taking over the music world. Amapiano is a new musical movement that started in the townships of South Africa in the 2010s. Roughly translated from Zulu to mean "the pianos" or "piano people," amapiano is a mash-up of a few different genres: deep house, jazz, kwaito and log drum percussives. Together it all creates entrancing, mid-tempo music that's a cultural staple of South Africa's party scene.

"Amapiano is a lifestyle. You're not supposed to sweat," says DJ Moma, a Sudanese-American DJ. "That's why amapiano is at this cool tempo. You can bust out a dance move or two .... But you're not constantly chasing a 125 bpm tempo."

Moma first got put on to amapiano in 2016 when he hopped in a Johannesburg taxi. Moma tipped his driver 50 U.S. dollars to let him download the music playing on the car's stereo from a jump stick straight to his laptop and took the sounds back to the states to start playing them at 

, a recurring day party he co-created for the Black diaspora.

The South African singer brought a homegrown genre, amapiano, to new ears with a viral hit and a Grammy. With her debut album, she wants to prove the world is ready for a full-blown African pop star.


Stories

“Vinyl’s final — get with it!”

Interview: Zora on The Message

Can rap beef exist when no one agrees on what's being fought for?

Get the Carbon Sound app

Sampha casts soulful spell over sold-out First Avenue crowd

New Music on Carbon Sound - Weeks of March 25 and April 8, 2024

Kwey (4/3/24)

10 takeaways from Beyoncé's new album, 'Cowboy Carter'

Connect with Carbon Sound

Minnesota Music Releases to check out from March 2024

Interview: Angela Davis on The Message

Tyla is the new face of African pop. She's aiming to take over the whole world

See more stories →