St. Vincent's Annie Clark, who played Bob Boilen's favorite concert of 2014, on stage at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 2014.
Bob Boilen/NPR
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Wadada Leo Smith finished second in the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll, separated by only 12 points from surprise winner Steve Lehman.
Scott Groller/Courtesy of the artist
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Stromae's Racine Carrée (Square Root) is one of NPR Music's picks for our favorite international releases of 2014.
Dati Bendo/Courtesy of the artist
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Beyonce's performance during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards in August included clips of a speech about feminism by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Kevin Winter/MTV1415/Getty Images for MTV
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