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Spotify wants to give you the story behind a song's lyrics

Starting with hip-hop, the streaming service offers explanations of lyrics with help from Genius.

In it's ongoing quest to bring artists and fans closer together, Spotify has a new feature that aims to do just that. Starting today, the streaming service will give you a look at the meaning of your favorite song's lyrics. The company teamed up with Genius, a site that compiles song lyrics and other music info, on a series of playlists called Behind the Lyrics. Starting with hip-hop, you'll be able to read about the inspiration and other stories from the artist themselves. This first playlist features Pusha T, Tinashe and Diplo.

As a song plays, you're presented with a text window on screen that serves up more info on the song's lyrics as the music plays. We're talking things like tweets, info from producers and explanations of specific references, for example. You know, the stuff you've seen if you've spent any time on Rap Genius. Spotify says that a second playlist offering details behind the words of "hits" will be available soon. I assume this will include a smattering of top 40 tunes because a video that demos the new feature includes the Selena Gomez track "Hands to Myself." The Behind the Lyrics playlists are only available on the service's iPhone app, though, and there's no word on when they might stream elsewhere.

[Image credit: Matthew Eisman/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]