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How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” used retro sounds and modern bass to break every record
This Sunday, The Weeknd will perform his distinctly dark brand of pop at the Super Bowl halftime show. On the surface, the alter-ego of Abel Tesfaye …
5 years, 4 months ago
Epik High is our gateway into Korean hip hop (with Tablo)
Epik High are elemental to Korean hip hop. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo’s underground style boom bap beats with dexterous rapping helped bring thi…
5 years, 4 months ago
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad
Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell of…
5 years, 4 months ago
D.O.C. (Death of the Chorus) with Emily Warren
Listen to Top 40 pop over the last decade and you’ll notice something weird is happening. The chorus—the emotional apotheosis of a pop song, its dizz…
5 years, 4 months ago
ICYMI: The End Of Pop Music As We Know It: Fall Out Boy & Charli XCX
Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop ca…
5 years, 5 months ago
ICYMI: Do You Believe in Life After Autotune?
Auto-Tune may be the most divisive effect in music. Artists have protested it publicly at the Grammys, and critics have derided the effects for its i…
5 years, 5 months ago
Wham! Op. 84, “Last Christmas” with Chilly Gonzales
Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out t…
5 years, 5 months ago
Taylor Swift has "evermore" of a good thing
Just five months after releasing her Grammy-nominated album “folklore,” Taylor Swift surprised fans with a continuation of sorts — her ninth studio a…
5 years, 5 months ago
Women's Rap Renaissance
Producer Bridget Armstrong shares her top tracks from women who are running hip-hop in 2020: Megan Thee Stallion, Tierra Whack, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli…
5 years, 5 months ago
Red Hot + Blue with Meshell Ndegeocello
In 1990 John Carlin and Leigh Blake pioneered a new kind of charity album. Together they co-founded Red Hot, a non-profit music label that uses music…
5 years, 6 months ago