Kiana Fitzgerald
Kiana Fitzgerald is a freelance music journalist, cultural critic, and DJ. She writes for the world from deep in the heart of Texas.
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Hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Commentator Kiana Fitzgerald is looking back at the albums that changed the game. -
Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the Netflix show Twentysomethings: Austin, a look back at 20 years of The Onion and more. -
"Black Parade," a call to action and a salve for a wounded nation, is the latest example of Beyoncé using her pop domination to put Black pride front and center.
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Andre Harrell, a record executive who shepherded the careers of Mary J. Blige and Sean "Diddy" Combs and combined the sounds of R&B and hip-hop with his label, Uptown Records, has died. -
Through her career, Bey has shown that there are more levels to her artistry than we could have imagined. And she's using those levels to delve further into her personalized elevation of black women. -
This year's AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn features artists who are expanding the universe of punk and ideas about who belongs there. -
The Chicago rapper's new mixtape, Coloring Book, walks a line between the secular and the religious, bringing gospel sounds to listeners who may not have darkened the doors of a church in a while. -
The Brooklyn rapper-producer's latest instrumental album is evenly weighted from front to back. There's never an off moment — or even a precarious one.
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The R&B stalwart has long vibrated on a different wavelength than do his contemporaries; in a turbulent, bruising world, he's stayed rock-steady.
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Out of nowhere, Kendrick Lamar dropped a new record this week, called untitled unmastered. Reviewer Kiana Fitzgerald says that listening to these demos "feels like we're playing catch-up."
