Music & Culture
Jackson's Hip-Hop Scene Claims Its Own Lineage
A new wave of rappers and producers in the capital is drawing a straight line from the blues to the beats they make today.
The Hypnotic Survival of Hill Country Fife and Drum
One of the oldest African American musical traditions in the country persists at a handful of summer picnics in the north Mississippi hills.
Greenville's Blues Festival Returns, Leaner and Louder
After years of uncertainty, one of the Delta's signature music festivals is back with a stripped-down format and a renewed focus on local players.
At the Crossroads, a New Generation Rewrites the Delta Blues
In Clarksdale's juke joints, players barely out of high school are trading licks with elders who learned the music firsthand. The result is neither nostalgia nor reinvention, but something in between.
How a College Town Became an Unlikely Music Incubator
Oxford's mix of students, cheap rent, and stubborn independent venues has produced a music scene punching well above the town's size.
The Quilters Turning County Fairs Into Galleries
A generations-old craft is being reframed as fine art, and the women who practice it are finally getting the wall space to prove it.
The Natchez Literary Festival and the New Southern Voice
A long-running gathering of writers is making room for a younger, more varied chorus of Mississippi storytellers.
The Quiet Campaign to Save Mississippi's Last Juke Joints
Fewer than a dozen authentic juke joints still operate across the state. A coalition of owners and historians is racing to keep them from becoming parking lots.
Old-Time String Bands Find a Younger Audience
Fiddle-and-banjo music, long overshadowed by the blues, is drawing new players in the state's small towns and college towns alike.