Genre-Defying Innovator Sharod Virtuoso Breathing Fresh Life Into Hip-Hop With New Single 'Drop A Pin'. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, and now calling Atlanta, Georgia home, Sharod Virtuoso has become a respected force in the hip-hop community. A true musical polymath, Sharod is not only a gifted multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter, but also a Grammy nominee. When he's not working on his solo projects, you can find...

I spent a solid hour this morning watching dust motes suspended in a single shaft of sunlight, my entire nervous system held absolutely captive by Magdi Aboul-Kheir and his devastatingly immersive new album, "Slow Heat". The Germany-based journalist and classically trained pianist usually writes across a massive spectrum of genres, pivoting wildly from trance to late romanticism. Today, he has dropped an ambient, contemporary...