Essay
21 articles
What Spring Does to Me
How new albums from Grimm Doza and PinkPantheress helped Dylan usher in springtime
I Learned to Listen From My Dad
He taught me a crucial survival skill when he passed down his rock’n’roll fandom.
How Will Smith and LL Cool J Work Through Being Older Rappers
New albums from middle-aged rap icons attempt to reconcile aging in a youth-obsessed genre
How Playboi Carti and Clipping Are Channeling Rap Retrofuturism
The Atlanta rage-rap emissary and the experimental California trio both dropped albums that excavate the past to reimagine the present.
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?
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.