Good Times With Bad Music
We've all got our tastes, but can anyone really define what makes music “good” or “bad”?
Albums: What a Concept!
Long-playing records ushered in the era of the soundtrack, but they also made room for something else—the concept album.
Elvis and American Karate
Presley’s embrace of martial arts resonated with working- and middle-class Americans who felt alienated from the US justice system.
Creating the Musical Canon
When you look at the canon of popular music, who's on the list looks very much like those who made the list.
Thank You, Tweens, for Your Pop Music Icons
Olivia Rodrigo is only the latest star to emerge from the wonderful world of Disney.
The Beatles Got Started in Hamburg. There’s a Reason for That.
The Beatles first played Hamburg's pleasure zone in 1960, in a former strip club near the infamous Reeperbahn.
What About the Art in “Apesh*t”?
Beyoncé and Jay-Z's new music video was filmed entirely at the Louvre museum. What messages hide in the histories of the featured artworks?
What Exactly is K-Pop, Anyway?
Since the late 90s, K-Pop has been one of South Korea's most important cultural exports. Fans have a deeply emotional attachment to the music.
The Gender Politics of the First Boy Bands
Crooning, a musical style of the late 1920s and early 1930s, was fraught with gender panic. Where the singers manly enough?
