Every single possible human shout to the Queen Sade who had her birthday on Friday. » 1/17/15 7:00pm 1/17/15 7:00pm

Every year, DJ Earworm releases a mega-mashup of the top 25 pop songs of the last 12 months, and every year I approach it with disdain and consternation, only to be completely pleased with the end results. Mashups are generally the worst genre of music in existence, especially in the '10s, because they tend to exhibit… » 12/03/14 4:30pm 12/03/14 4:30pm

Prince, Madonna, and Michael Jackson were born within three months of each other in the middle of 1958. (Kate Bush was also born during this time period.) During the '80s, they redefined the way we consume pop music, and the cults they spawned predicted the rabid fandom that we see around most current pop… » 9/19/14 5:41pm 9/19/14 5:41pm

Lana del Rey has been doing a flurry of press in recent weeks to promote the release of her (excellent) latest album Ultraviolence, and, in typical Lana del Rey fashion, the press tour has been characterized by Lana del Rey saying ridiculous shit. The latest round of Lana vs. The World involves an interview with a… » 6/20/14 4:40pm 6/20/14 4:40pm

It turns out that hit pop songs aren’t so random and when we say we’re "not really listening to the lyrics" we, in fact, are. » 3/21/14 3:30pm 3/21/14 3:30pm

Because you haven't heard this song enough yet (and you won't until at least fall 2014, when it will be replaced on the radio with a billion amazing remixes of "***flawless"), here's an unofficial video for Beyoncé's "Drunk In Love" made entirely of emojis. » 3/04/14 12:30pm 3/04/14 12:30pm

Last night, as you were doing whatever is you crazy kids do to celebrate Pope Gregory XIII's calendar meddling, your favorite drunk friend Ke$ha uploaded a video for her song "Dirty Love" off of her sophomore album, Warrior. Glitter, of course, makes a very important appearance, but it plays second fiddle this time… » 1/01/14 1:00pm 1/01/14 1:00pm

Somewhere between the pussy-eating sex jam "Blow" and feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's cameo on Flawless, I thought to myself, "Holy shit, this new Beyoncé album is getting me pregnant." I took to Twitter to express this, only to discover that the new Beyoncé album is apparently getting a lot of people … » 12/13/13 4:20pm 12/13/13 4:20pm

The guileless Paul Rudd sells his One Direction fanhood so hard that it almost doesn't seem creepy for him to mill around outside of a concert with the boyband's legion of young girl fans, exchanging gossip, braiding hair, and asserting his primacy as the most ardent and shameless of all the One Direction fans in the… » 12/08/13 12:00pm 12/08/13 12:00pm

A lot of people (ahem, Rashida Jones) have a lot of opinions about what lady pop singers are wearing these days, harumph! Whatever these doggone flappers are wearing, it’s not enough, at least not for the likes of Jones and the most tasteful and modest pop singer of them all, Katy Perry, who is starting more and more… » 10/27/13 11:10pm 10/27/13 11:10pm

I'm very conflicted re: Taylor Swift. I agree with Dodai that she's a feminist's nightmare, and I understand that her new single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," is essentially one very long redundant whine geared towards spurned 13-year-olds. » 8/22/12 6:20pm 8/22/12 6:20pm

Japan has broken free from the long chain of unsatisfying ideas on how to stop global and national economies from sucking so bad by enlisting the help of pop group and wireless router serial number AKB48 to sell government bonds. The country, which is heavily indebted, could use some help — Japan's Prime Minister… » 5/27/12 12:00pm 5/27/12 12:00pm

Everyone, your prayers have been answered. Gulnara Karimova, the celebutante daughter of the dictator of Uzbekistan, is going to release another album. This album is going to be Lohan-meets-Real Housewife levels of bad and I can't fucking wait. » 4/06/12 5:55pm 4/06/12 5:55pm

From Britney Spears to the Bieb, it's clear that teens' not-quite-developed brains influence who becomes a pop star. Now a new study shows that studying kids' neural reactions can predict if a song will become a hit, even if they say they hate it. » 6/13/11 12:35pm 6/13/11 12:35pm

In the video for Lady Gaga's "Judas," Jesus has cornrows. The disciples are a leather-clad motorcycle gang. Gaga wears a bikini top featuring nipple-hiding crosses, and folks are anointed with holy water and beer. But as Gaga tells E!: » 5/06/11 4:40pm 5/06/11 4:40pm

Rebecca Black's music video, "Friday," has gone viral, with more than 2.2 million views in a little over a month, and not because it's good. The song is comically absurd, with ridiculously simplistic lyrics; the video involves literally acting out those lyrics and features a bunch of kids trying really hard to seem… » 3/14/11 1:30pm 3/14/11 1:30pm

RiRi frolics with blow-up dolls and sings, "Sex in the air. I don't care. I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me." BDSM enthusiast, or attempting to be edgy? » 2/01/11 11:10am 2/01/11 11:10am

The music of Taylor Swift and Lindsay Lohan may not deserve an intelligent, 1,400-word analysis, but this essay will make you appreciate the fact that Lindsay never released a song about her breakup with Wilmer Valderrama. » 12/28/10 2:50pm 12/28/10 2:50pm