MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
And now it's time for the occasional feature we call In Your Ear. That's where some of our guests tell us about the songs they are listening to. You might have seen comedian D.L. Hughley on the current season of "Dancing With The Stars." After a few rough patches, he's made it to the final 10. And you can catch his performance tonight.
A few months ago, we caught up with him to talk about his new book, and we also asked him to share some of the music that he has in rotation.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE ARE YOUNG")
FUN: (Singing) Tonight, we are young.
D.L. HUGHLEY: Hey, I'm D.L. Hughley, and one of my favorite songs right now is but a group called fun and it's called "We Are Young."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE ARE YOUNG")
FUN: (Singing) ...brighter than the sun. Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)
HUGHLEY: And it just seems so frenetic and celebratory. And, plus I'm not young anymore, so I think it's just kind of reminiscent to me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE ARE YOUNG")
FUN: (Singing) (Nananananana). I have no reason to run (Nananananana). So will someone come and carry me home tonight (Nananananana).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "5 O'CLOCK")
LILY ALLEN: (Singing) It's 5 o'clock in the morning. Conversation got boring. You said you're going to bed soon. So I snuck off to your bedroom.
HUGHLEY: One of my favorites that I listen to right now often is just is T-Pain's "It's 5 O' Clock in the Morning," and him and Lily Allen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "5 O'CLOCK")
ALLEN: (Singing) And I was hoping...
T-PAIN: (Singing) It's 5 o'clock in the morning, and I want ya. And you want me, don't ya? I can see it
HUGHLEY: And I dig some of the stuff that he does. It reminds me, you know, of Roger Troutman and Zap.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WILL WAIT")
MUMFORD & SONS: (Singing) Well I came home like a stone and I fell heavy into your arms.
HUGHLEY: I like Mumford & Sons' new album, you know, and it seems like a dude with hair like mine...
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: ...a dude with earrings wouldn't like Mumford & Sons. But I really just big how folksy they are. Like it reminds me of the kind of stuff that I used to hear my parents talk about. So it just seems just nostalgic.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WILL WAIT")
SONS: (Singing) ...wait for now. I'll kneel down, know my ground. I will wait, I wait wait for you. And I will wait, I wait wait for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD RELIGION")
HUGHLEY: And another song I'm listening to is by Frank Ocean. He has a song, one of my favorite songs that he has, is a song called "Bad Religion," and it's really kind of prophetic.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD RELIGION")
FRANK OCEAN: Its rush hour. So take the streets if you wanna. Just outrun the demons could you? He said Allah Hu Akbar...
HUGHLEY: And actually, it's hard to pick a song. I like his whole album, and it's just kind of old-school R&B that you don't associate with young cats that are going to be able to pull something like that off. But this whole album is what I'm listening to right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD RELIGION")
OCEAN: (Singing) No. No, oh. It's a bad religion to be in love with someone who can never love you. Oh, oh, oh. Only bad, only bad religion could have me feeling the way I do.
MARTIN: That was D.L. Hughley, telling us what's playing in his ear. To hear my previous conversation with him, you can go to NPR.org, click on the Programs tab and then TELL ME MORE.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.