Music Popcast

The 25-year-old’s LP “Invasion of Privacy” is part of her broad-scale pop culture takeover. A conversation about her rise and debut album.

A conversation about the earnest rapper and the SoundCloud renegade, both successes of modern internet-driven rap fandom.

Two new albums put a spotlight on Nashville’s ongoing, agonized relationship with female performers.

Part two of our conversation about the mid-2000s pop star features debates about her MTV reality show and “S.N.L.” debacle, and a listener mailbag.

In the mid-2000s, the pop singer had platinum albums and an MTV reality show. Hear the first of two conversations about Ms. Simpson’s misunderstood career.

A conversation about carefully considered creative paths — and how pristine voices with powerful messages are amplified — as three strong new albums arrive

What’s responsible for the recent soundtrack renaissance that brought albums from “Black Panther” and “The Greatest Showman” to the top of the charts?

A conversation with a criminal lawyer about the racial politics of legal representation, the Meek Mill saga and the future prospects of incarcerated would-be stars.

The internet’s response to the two musicians after the Super Bowl shows how criticism works these days. Rapid-fire groupthink online can be strong enough to have real-world impact.

Big stars didn’t show up. Ratings were down. Hip-hop was once again shut out of the major categories. Can “music’s biggest night” represent what’s really happening in music?

Flamboyant hip-hop, promising punk rock, intricate bluegrass and more: a conversation about the artists we’re looking forward to following this year.

The lead singer of the Irish rock band, who died at 46, wrote songs in the 1990s that deeply touched young women and Irish listeners while appealing to a worldwide audience

Streaming has established itself as the dominant mode of music distribution. What could go wrong? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Jazz could have spent 2017 looking backward, focusing on the centennials of foundational figures. But instead, several strains of contemporary jazz thrived. 

After a brief break from the spotlight, the rapper returned with “Revival,” an album that revisited familiar tropes and sounds. Where can he go from here?

Our readers picked the topics of conversation, which included Fergie, the state of streaming and evolutions in Latin pop

From Lorde to Kendrick Lamar, many of the albums and songs on our critics’ best-of lists showcased the work of musicians meeting difficult circumstances with artistic fortitude.

A conversation about the band’s 14th album, “Songs of Experience,” and its ongoing quest for bigness.

The 21-year-old rapper, who died last week, found a unique way to unite the languages of hip-hop and emo.

Ms. Swift plays a different game on her sixth album — making pop music that directly competes with the rest of the field’s dominant players.

She hasn’t done interviews, but the pop star has been leaving hints about what to expect on her sixth album. Our writers listen to the signs.

A new biography of the magazine’s founder has been praised by our critic and slammed by its subject.

Changes to the formulas used to build albums and singles charts will weigh paid streams more than free ones. What will the impact be?

Two of the music world’s biggest voices and brassiest personalities are back. Deep into successful careers, where have their paths diverged?

In the 15 years since she last released an album, the music industry has undergone big changes, but Ms. Twain’s new LP still debuted at No. 1.