Louder: Inside the $10 Million Bob Dylan Center

May 6, 2022

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

In 2016, Ben Sisario reported on Bob Dylan’s $20 million secret archives — now selections of that material will open up to the public at the $10 million Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Okla. Ben flew out for a first look at the space, which provides some thrills, including the chance to watch song lyrics evolve from version to version. (Since Dylan has demonstrated little interest in revealing his secrets, the materials here offer a rare look into his world.) The center doesn’t exist in a vacuum, though: It has a broader focus on creativity, and in the years since it was planned, awareness has spread about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. How will the center accomplish its own goals, appeal to both Dylan novices and experts and play into the city’s larger reckonings?

Also this week! Isabelia Herrera tracked down Bad Bunny, who said of his semi-surprise LP “Un Verano Sin Ti” (“A Summer Without You”), “The album is very Caribbean, in every sense: with its reggaeton, its mambo, with all those rhythms, and I like it that way.” As for people outside of Latino culture attempting the same, he’s taken notice: “But remember that it’s from here, and that we know how to do it like it’s supposed to be done.”

Jack Harlow opened up to Jon Caramanica about his place as a white star in hip-hop and how having a large Black female audience “has heightened my awareness of my responsibility to protect them, and just being thoughtful for the position they might be in versus white women.”

Phoebe Reilly also spoke with Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine (about horror movies and smelling things), Lindsay Zoladz reviewed the new Arcade Fire album, Black Star returned with its first new LP in 24 years, Dolly Parton got voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (despite her recent plea to leave her out of it) and we published fascinating obituaries for Régine, Judy Henske and Naomi Judd.

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The $10 Million Bob Dylan Center Opens Up His Songwriting Secrets

A new space in Tulsa, Okla., built to display Dylan’s vast archive, celebrates one of the world’s most elusive creators, and gives visitors a close-up look at notebooks and fan mail.

By Ben Sisario

THE CRITICS

Album Review

Arcade Fire’s Enduring Anxiety

The band’s sixth album, “We,” shares many of its predecessor’s thematic fixations on dangerous digital rabbit holes. The music sometimes can’t find its way out, either.

By Lindsay Zoladz

The Playlist

Black Star’s First Album in 24 Years Arrives, and 11 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Sharon Van Etten, Carly Rae Jepsen, 070 Shake and others.

By Jon Pareles and Lindsay Zoladz

INTERVIEWS

Luisa Opalesky for The New York Times

Jack Harlow Knows What He Wants. And Where He Stands.

On the heels of his first solo No. 1 hit, the 24-year-old rapper is releasing “Come Home the Kids Miss You,” an album that appeals to the vastly different corners of his fan base.

By Jon Caramanica

Josefina Santos for The New York Times

Behind Bad Bunny’s Summery Surprise, ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’

“I’ve made it clear to people that I’m never going to make a record that’s the same as another,” the pop star said. His fourth album was inspired by a spectrum of Caribbean music.

By Isabelia Herrera

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‘Ahora todos quieren ser latinos’: Bad Bunny habla de ‘Un verano sin ti’, su nuevo disco, y de su futuro artístico

“Desde siempre le he dejado claro a la gente que nunca voy a hacer un disco que sea igual a otro”, dijo la estrella del pop mundial. Su cuarto álbum se inspiró en la música caribeña.

By Isabelia Herrera

Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

My Ten

Florence Welch Thrives on Horror. And She Still Wants to Smell You.

The Florence + the Machine frontwoman reveals what kept her motivated while working on the band’s next album: dancers, “Dracula” and daffodils.

By Phoebe Reilly

NEWS

Dolly Parton Voted Into Rock Hall Alongside Eminem and Lionel Richie

The country singer had objected to being included, but will join a class that includes Carly Simon, Duran Duran and others from across genres.

By Joe Coscarelli

The Charts

Pusha T Earns First No. 1 Album With ‘It’s Almost Dry’

The rapper, 44, tops the Billboard chart this week, more than 20 years into a workmanlike career.

By Joe Coscarelli

Kidd Creole, a Hip-Hop Pioneer, Sentenced to 16 Years in Killing

Nathaniel Glover, who had been a member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, stabbed a homeless man on the way to his copy-shop job.

By Jonah E. Bromwich

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Making Up for Lost Time as Ibiza’s Clubs Reopen

After more than two years of pandemic-mandated uncertainty, Europe’s nightlife industry is hoping for a return to the days before Covid-19.

By Thomas Rogers

New York’s Dancehall Parties Are ‘A Different Type of Turn Up’

From a Sean Paul show in Brooklyn to a 1,000-person yacht party on the Hudson River, the city’s dancehall fans are showing up in droves.

By Julia Carmel

Where to Go for Live Music in New York: Pop, Jazz and Classical

Our critic’s favorite venues, from mega arenas showcasing Top 40 pop stars to quirky clubs featuring Klezmer quartets.

By Giovanni Russonello

OBITUARIES

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Judy Henske, a Distinctive Voice on the Folk Scene, Dies at 85

Her versatile vocals were a trademark, as was her comic stage patter. The character Annie Hall owed her a debt.

By Neil Genzlinger

Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Régine, Whose Discotheque Gave Nightlife a New Dawn, Dies at 92

Credited with opening the first disco, she built an empire of glittering playgrounds for the Beautiful People in Paris, New York and beyond.

By Robert D. McFadden

Josh Anderson/Associated Press

Naomi Judd, of Grammy-Winning the Judds, Dies at 76

The country music duo, made up of Naomi and Wynonna Judd, was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.

By Clay Risen

MOVIES

‘Sheryl’ Review: The High Highs and Low Lows of Pop Stardom

This documentary about Sheryl Crow depicts a musician whose work ethic did not allow a lot of time for frivolity.

By Glenn Kenny

‘Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon’ Review: Beyond ‘Crazy Train’

Forty years after Rhoads’s death, small rock venues across the nation still host tribute shows honoring him. This new documentary explains why.

By Glenn Kenny

Abigail Varney for The New York Times

Australia Dispatch

How the King of Rock ’n’ Roll Still Makes Australia Sing

Elvis never played a concert “down under,” but that hasn’t stopped tens of thousands of Australians from making him their own at an annual festival.

By Damien Cave and Abigail Varney

SCIENCE

Trilobites

You Hear the Musical Saw. These Mathematicians Heard Geometry.

A scientist who has studied falling playing cards, coiling rope and other phenomena has now analyzed what transforms a carpenter’s tool into a sonorous instrument.

By Nicholas Bakalar