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Which do you prefer -- the high-pitched wails of Mariah Carey, Prince, and Brian Wilson? Or the throaty roars of Barry White, Leonard Cohen, and Nina Simone? In this week's Soundcheck Smackdown, high voices face off against low ones to determine which makes for better music.

Joining ...

The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" hit the disco and pop charts 30 years ago this week, transforming hip-hop from live street perfomance to a mainstream moneymaker. We look at the impact of 30 years of "Rapper's Delight" on music and culture with Mark Anthony Neal, professor of black pop culture at Duke University, and Paul Miller (better known as DJ Spooky). And for a firsthand account of the phenomenon that was the Sugar Hill Gang, we talk to Keith Shocklee of The Bomb Squad, and a producer for Public Enemy.

(Celeste continued the conversation with Miller and Shocklee in an After-Air conversation: Check it out below.)

The word "genius" is used and abused in our culture. Musicians are praised as “genius” after a great album and terms like “boy genius” and “evil genius” resonate in popular culture. Today -- a week after the MacArthur “Genius” Awards were granted -- we ask: just what is genius? Joining ...

Despite hopes that electing our first black president would usher in a "post-racial" era, race has become a prominent issue in the Obama presidency. From overt cases – the Henry Louis Gates incident – to more coded and/or ambiguous examples – the "birther" movement, Representative Joe Wilson's outburst on the House floor – racial flare-ups have featured prominently in the first seven months of this, our first African-American-led administration. Now, the conversation about Wilson's yell last week has increasingly turned to its racial implications. Earlier this week, former President Jimmy Carter said Wilson's outburst was racist. (The White House disagreed.) For two perspectives on the way this conversation is playing out, we speak to Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African American Studies at Duke University, and Joe Hicks, talk show host for KFI Radio in Los Angeles, California.

The lives and lyrics of pop music are filled with domestic violence. The latest chapter: an alleged assault involving pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown. Today we discuss the history of abuse in pop recordings -- and in real life. We're joined by Elizabeth Mendez Berry, a music journalist who ...

After three decades, hip hop is more segmented than ever, by both regional styles (East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South) and in stylistic terms (Gangsta rap, conscious hip-hop, "alternative" rap). From these many parts a canon is emerging and today we debate its meaning. Joining us is Mark Anthony Neal, ...

As hip hop reaches its 30th year, the genre is more segmented than ever, by both regional styles (East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South) and in stylistic terms (Gangsta rap, conscious hip-hop, "alternative" rap). From these many parts a canon is emerging and today we debate its meaning. Joining us ...