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World Music Radio

World Music Radio is the seventh studio album by American singer Jon Batiste. It was released on August 18, 2023, through Verve Records and Interscope Records. The album features guest appearances by JID, NewJeans, Camilo, Jon Bellion, Fireboy DML, Kenny G, Lil Wayne, Leigh-Anne and Lana Del Rey.

The record project received four nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. The album was nominated for Album of the Year, while the tracks "Worship" and "Butterfly" were nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year respectively.

Background

On March 19, 2021, Batiste released his sixth studio album, We Are, a breakthrough record that earned him the Grammy Award for Album of the Year 2022 and entered the charts in multiple countries. On March 4, 2023, Verve Records president Jamie Krents revealed that Batiste was focused on his upcoming album and that it would be out later in 2023.

World Music Radio is a concept album that revolves around an interstellar entity named Billy Bob Bo who creates "potpourri of the far-flung musical languages of Earth and transmits it to the cosmos with chuckling". In a statement, Batiste explained that he created the record with a newfound feeling of "liberation" as well as a "renewed sense of exploration of my personhood, my craft and of the world around". He announced the album on June 27, 2023, and shared the lead single "Calling Your Name" along with a visualizer. The album was made available for preorder in a multitude of formats, including signed copies and limited edition vinyls. While revealing details of the record, Batiste wanted to shed light on the intentions behind the album, saying that it is designed to "open your heart and stretch your mind, expanding your vision of popular art". He went as far as wanting to "redefine terms like world music".

Critical reception

World Music Radio received a score of 69 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Bhanuj Kappal of Pitchfork wrote that World Music Radio "collapses the wide-ranging possibilities of global music into something for everyone and no one" as "Batiste's idea of universal music is so averse to cultural specificity—except the Afro-American traditions he's rooted in—that listening to it can feel like a sterile game of spot-the-style". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian remarked that it is "worth noting that the songs are tightly written and hooky, but it is hard to see exactly what Batiste is bringing to the table: even the album's radio show concept, complete with between-song announcements by a DJ, is pretty well-worn".