
Sidney Madden
Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.
Originally from Boston, Madden graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology. As a freelancer, she earned bylines at MTV, People's Choice, Nylon Magazine and more before joining the editorial team at storied hip-hop pillar XXL Magazine.
During her time at XXL, both as an editorial assistant and assistant editor, Madden pitched, wrote and edited news posts and features for the outlet and interviewed artists ranging from all eras and facets of rap — from Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent to Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and Lil Uzi Vert. In addition to working on cultural touchstones like the magazine's annual covers, in 2016, Madden assisted in reporting out one of the magazine's seminal investigative packages, , which revealed the high percentage of unsolved murders involving rappers over the last 30 years.
Madden joined the NPR Music team in 2017, serving as editorial lead for digitizing and editing music stories that air on NPR's premiere news magazine programs, Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. In 2018, she began producing Tiny Desk Concerts with a special focus on bringing burgeoning, left-of-center artists from the worlds of R&B and hip-hop to the desk. To date, her Tiny Desk Concert productions include Jorja Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, DVSN and Snoh Aalegra. She's also created reports for on-air and digital that contextualize hip-hop culture within society's larger strata — whether it's unpacking the genius marketing of , 's subversive heartbreak or the socioeconomics that fuel 's downhome Afrofuturism.
In September 2020, after two years of research, reporting and development, Madden became the co-host of Louder Than A Riot, NPR Music's first narrative investigative podcast that traces the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration.
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Rocketman star Taron Egerton and director Dexter Fletcher speak with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about memorializing Elton John while he's still here, the film's most meaningful scenes and more.
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The recording of her historic 2018 performance, titled Homecoming: Live Album, includes new songs and arrives just as a documentary about the concert begins streaming on Netflix.
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With just two days of warning, Solange shares the surprise album When I Get Home.
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TLC's 1999 smash was a song women loved about the men they wouldn't put up with. Two decades later, fans still take its message to heart when scrubs run amok.
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Watch the moving performance from 19-year-old award-winner during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
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With a major label debut looming, the Bronx rapper's unchecked charm remains her biggest asset — her Swarovski-encrusted skeleton key to the halls of fame.
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This year's batch of inductees bring the Recording Registry up to 500 entries.
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Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Childish Gambino, Brian Eno and more are up for the golden gramophone ahead of the Jan. 28, 2018 ceremony in New York.
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Farruko, Bad Bunny and Rvssian's trap en español hit from August gets updated with two high-profile new features.