Popcast

One is an old-style hip-hop star, one comes from a newer school. But both are facing challenges making effective albums and defining their artistic identities. Guests: David Turner and Briana Younger. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . F...

The Queen of Soul leaves a towering legacy. How will we remember her? Guests: The New York Times's Jon Pareles and Wesley Morris; and David Ritz. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The Ne...

Merch has become a crucial part of a musician’s rise. Here’s how it’s evolved. Guests: Procell's Brian Procell; The Cut's Emilia Petrarca; and Grailed's Lawrence Schlossman. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrat...

What happens when a band wipes a stain from its historical record? Or when physical albums vanish, replaced by different digital versions? Guests: Mark Richardson; Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten; and The New York Times's Caryn Ganz. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/...

Two documentaries have attempted to unpack the life of one of pop’s transformative figures, whose complex legacy is still riddled with questions. Guests: Naima Cochrane; Jezebel's Rich Juzwiak; Alan Light; and The Times's Joe Coscarelli. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activa...

A writer critiqued Nicki Minaj online; the rapper’s fans responded in force. How does celebrity fandom become a vicious tool online, and what’s behind stan culture? Guests: iOneDigital's Janeé Bolden; Who? Weekly's Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber; The New York Times's Joe Coscarelli and Caryn Ganz. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via...

With his new double album, “Scorpion,” the rapper and singer is grappling with brand maintenance. Is he innovating, and where can he go next? Guests: The New York Times's Joe Coscarelli and Reggie Ugwu; Sheldon Pearce; and Jasmine Sanders. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/acti...

Was "Ye" rushed, and does it matter? How do women fit into Kanye’s world? Are conversations about politics with him fruitless? Guests: The New York Times's Joe Coscarelli and Reggie Ugwu, and the Ringer's Justin Charity. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?s...

The 20-year-old broke out of the SoundCloud rap scene and reached No 1. But he faced accusations of violent crimes against a woman, and leaves behind a troubling legacy. Guests: Noisey's Lawrence Burney and Miami New Times's Tarpley Hitt. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activ...

Boy bands are on the rise and young male singers have some choices to make. A conversation about two performers with their sights set on pop ubiquity. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download T...

The rapper’s polarizing eighth album arrived surrounded by a celebrity circus and provided few answers. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hoste...

An excavation of the skeletons animating the back-and-forth between the two rappers — and a conversation about who’s inching ahead. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times a...

Maddie Poppe won the show, rebooted on ABC with a new cast of judges. What worked, what didn’t and who really stood out? Two longtime “Idol” enthusiasts discuss. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles,...

For two decades, accusations of sexual impropriety have been leveled at the R&B superstar. And Jim DeRogatis has been covering the story. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York T...

The Rita Ora track was positioned as a celebration of bisexuality, but struck a sour note with critics who found its lyrics problematic. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Ti...

The 28-year-old producer and D.J., who died last month in Oman, was a pop savant and an EDM innovator who left behind a complicated legacy. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York...

A Coachella set stunning in scope and execution. The first Pulitzer Prize winner who isn’t from classical or jazz. A conversation about the two artists’ triumphs. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles...

In recent weeks, the businesses that present music to the public have undergone major shifts. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simpl...

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. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York...

A conversation about the earnest rapper and the SoundCloud renegade, both successes of modern internet-driven rap fandom. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nyti...

Two new albums put a spotlight on Nashville’s ongoing, agonized relationship with female performers. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted b...

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. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The...

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. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, downl...

A conversation about carefully considered creative paths — and how pristine voices with powerful messages are amplified — as three strong new albums arrive Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articles, downl...

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. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher . For more podcasts and narrated articl...