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"Hip Hopera" Will Be Your New Favorite Genre

Babatunde Akinboboye in his video "A Bullfighter's Song (Hip Hopera)"
Babatunde Akinboboye in his video "A Bullfighter's Song (Hip Hopera)"

Yeah, you heard us right -- hip hopera! Also in this week's roundup: 5,000 pages of Verdi's drafts made public, Sufjan Stevens's new ballet, and classcial composers as John Mulaney quotes.

1. An old locked trunk turned out to be full of 5,000 pages of Verdi's papers -- and the contents are going public. 

2. Word nerds, this one's for you: Merriam Webster (yes, the dictionary) compiled a list of words with secret musical definitions. Think you know what "smite" means? Think again.

3. Her name is Jessica Bejarano, and she might just be America's coolest maestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw0sqCBkTkI&feature=youtu.be

4. Choreographer Justin Peck and singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens are collaborating on a new ballet called "Principia."

5. Learn the piano, and you can learn any instrument -- especially on THIS piano, which has 20 other instruments inside.

6. From sickly child to member of the Danish resistance to pioneering composer of electronic music, Else Marie Pade has a fascinating life story

7. This is far and away the best thread we've seen all week:

8. Baritone Babatunde Akinboboye is turning his love for opera and hip hop into some unbelievable jams! (P.S. -- he's crowdfunding to record an EP, which he's calling "Hip Hopera.")

Kendall Todd is the Content Manager for GBH Music.