Music Popcast

The singer, rapper and songwriter’s peppy empowerment songs have made her an outlier in a field dominated by melancholic music. Guests: The Ringer's Justin Charity; Lindsay Zoladz; and William Robin.

How much do fantasy and imagination play into how we remember pop culture heroes? Guests: A.O. Scott and Alanna Nash.

He’s one of hip-hop’s biggest emerging stars, and he’s cutting a very different path than the white rappers who came before him. Guests: Hunter Harris, Larisha Paul and Peter Rosenberg.

The genre has long been filled with tension between mainstream outlets and the spaces in which the music is most likely to grow. Guests: Giovanni Russonello and WBGO's Nate Chinen.

How did the rapper arrive on the dance floor? And what subcultures and expectations might he experiment with next? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and The Baltimore Banner's Lawrence Burney.

Attempting to uncover unknown things about very well known people. Guest: Ben Sisario.

The team answers your questions about Chance the Rapper, how the critics consider extramusical concerns and more. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz and Jon Pareles.

How his time in One Direction and a powerful online fan base have shaped the pop star’s career. Guests: The Atlantic's Kaitlyn Tiffany, and Lindsay Zoladz.

During his five-year pause between albums, the rapper has been reckoning — with his own evolution, and the narrative that’s been constructed for him. Guests: Rolling Stone's Jeff Ihaza; New York magazine and Vulture's Craig Jenkins; and The Nation's Stephen Kearse.

Actual music can seem like an afterthought as digital coverage of the genre has tilted toward tabloidism. Are there other paths forward? Guests: HipHopDX's Jerry Barrow; Complex's Andre Gee; and Genius's Rob Markman.

A conversation about the urge to accumulate treasured items and the stories objects can hold. Guest: The New Yorker's Hua Hsu.

Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign and more have taken the sound that emerged in Chicago in different directions. What might come next? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and David Drake.

After decreasing returns in the hip-hop world, the musician and actor stepped into a revival that had roots in SoundCloud rap, and a champion in Travis Barker. Guests: Meaghan Garvey and Arielle Gordon.

Plenty has been said about Oscars night. But what about the rapper-turned-actor’s remarkable journey up to that point? Guest: Andscape's Soraya Nadia McDonald.

What are the awards at this point, and who benefits from them? Guests: Jon Pareles, Wesley Morris and Lindsay Zoladz.

The singer and songwriter’s career has inspired dance parties as well as spirited conversations about her ambitions and aesthetic innovations. Guests: Hazel Cills and Shaad D’Souza.

The Spanish phenom’s music takes in a host of global influences, making her one of the most sonically ambitious and critically dissected pop artists today. Guest: Joe Coscarelli.

A conversation about some of the country’s stars, the musical traditions they work within and how they have grappled with the war. Guest: Vogue's Liana Satenstein.

As the genre grows in worldwide popularity, it is engaging with the pop music mainstream and stratifying into subsets, introducing new opportunities and dilemmas. Guests: Isabelia Herrera and Katelina Eccleston.

A conversation about the space the breakout Brooklyn band occupies in contemporary indie-rock circles, and its latest album. Guests: Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan and Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky.