Lady Gaga’s Millennial Nostalgia Campaign
Her new album, “Mayhem,” is positioned as a return to form. What exactly does that mean for a grab-bag pop chameleon like Gaga?
Essay
16 articles
How Wilco’s Massive ‘A Ghost Is Born’ Box Set Complicates the Album’s Harrowing Myth
Jeff Tweedy thought he was going to die while making the 2004 art-rock masterpiece. But there’s more to this album’s story than tortured-artist tropes.
Becoming Led Zeppelin, Surviving Sly and the Family Stone
Two recent documentaries capture the rise of era-defining bands in the late 1960s and early ’70s—but only one gets to revel in a legacy.
The Grammys Have One Job—and This Year They Actually Did It
Much like Beyoncé, we were surprised (in a good way) by the 2025 awards.
Pussy-Eating Rap Has Come a Long Way
Rappers love cunnilingus. Here’s a breakdown of some of the best—and worst—examples in this storied tradition.
The Conceptual House Album That Tells the Bittersweet Story of Newark’s Post-Civil Rights Era
The New Jersey trio Blaze’s singular 1990 record ‘25 Years Later’ wrestles with the unfulfilled promises of Black liberation.
How Four Elder Millennial Indie Artists Embraced Middle Age in 2024
Vampire Weekend, How to Dress Well, Bat for Lashes, and Los Campesinos! all returned with their most rewarding albums in more than a decade.
The Aggressive Beauty of DMV Crank, 2024’s Most Exciting Rap Subgenre
Marked by a mix of wild samples and delirious tempos, the scene is giving rise to striving young stars including Skino, Nino Paid, and Jaeychino.
The Country Music Establishment Could No Longer Dismiss Black and Latine Voices in 2024
From Shaboozey and Beyoncé to Carín León and Grupo Frontera, country has never sounded—or looked—more like America itself.
Dub Techno, Club’s Weediest Genre, Rises Again
Chronicling dance music’s current pendulum shift to lower, slower sounds that go on forever
MF Doom’s ‘MM..Food Drive Tour’ Documentary Is the Weird (and Wonderful) Tribute He Deserves
Unpacking the hip-hop supervillain’s complicated revival 20 years after his classic album ‘MM..Food.’
Modes of Transportation
I thought that finding the right music—black metal, ‘Loveless,’ Hole, R.E.M.—could help me to finally feel like a woman. The truth was more complicated.
