Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. has topped dozens of best of lists for 2017. NPR's hip hop critic Rodney Carmichael says that Lamar is telling the story of our time in prophetic terms.
NPR Music's year-end interview series concludes with an analog baby turned digital savant, who says that how we consume music today has become a political, emotional and existential choice.
Rudd started out playing dixieland before graduating to free jazz. Now he's collaborating with singer Fay Victor on his latest album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Embrace has a "valedictory air."
Smith, who died Saturday, was discovered by bandleader Louis Prima as a teenager. She later married Prima, and the two became a popular Las Vegas lounge act. Originally broadcast in 2000.
From the first gifts they ever exchanged to their tree-trimming traditions at Graceland, hear heartwarming holiday stories and music from Christmas with Elvis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.