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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters The Silence in Kelly Clarkson’s Call for ‘Action’ on Mass Shootings
At the Billboard Music Awards, the pop star asked for a “moment of action” after the massacre in Santa Fe, Texas—but kept quiet on what might prevent the next horror.
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HBO Westworld: A Cut Above
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Akane No Mai,” the fifth episode of Season 2.
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Atlantic Records Fight Songs: Can Political Debate Make Good Music?
Kanye West and Janelle Monáe are among those artists to stage rhetorical battles between red and blue America.
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Sony Classics What 'The Age of the Twink' Actually Means
Are scrawny guys suddenly “in”? Or are straight men just, finally, getting openly objectified like women and gay men long have been?
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Atlantic Records Rita Ora's 'Girls': The Same-Sex Pop of the Past
A song-of-the-summer contender about women kissing women is being received as anything but progressive.
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HBO Westworld and the Question of Immortality
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” the fourth episode of Season 2.
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Brendan McDermid / Reuters The New Prince of Pablum
In a wave of interchangeable Millennial pop stars, Charlie Puth’s dorkiness on his album Voicenotes proves an asset.
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Andrea De Silva / Reuters Spotify's Lonely Stance Against Alleged Abuse
The streaming service dropping R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from playlists is one of the very few signs of a #MeToo reckoning in the music industry.
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RCA Donald Glover Is Watching You Watch Him
Childish Gambino’s sensational “This Is America” video implicates the viewer in the misuse of black art.
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Petra Eriksson Can Protest Art Get Its Mojo Back?
Since the 2016 election, pop music and TV shows have emphasized liberal impotence more than anger. Is that about to change?
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HBO Westworld: Ride the Tiger
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Virtù e Fortuna,” the third episode of Season 2.
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HBO Westworld: What's in 'The Valley Beyond'?
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Reunion,” the second episode of Season 2.
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Andrew Kelly / Reuters Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer Is for (Almost) Everyone
The R&B singer’s album and movie are works of cheery, accessible radicalism.
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Mark Makela / Reuters Who Is to Blame for Kanye West's MAGA Hat?
The celebrity-media feedback loop? Or the rapper himself?
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Andrew Kelly / Reuters The Dangerous Confusion of Trump's Celebrity Fans
When Kanye West and Shania Twain express admiration for the president’s communication style, they forget what’s at stake.
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HBO Westworld: 'Everything Is Code'
Three Atlantic staffers discuss “Journey Into Night,” the Season 2 premiere.
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BMG A Perfect Circle's Hard Rock Against Hard Times
Maynard James Keenan’s second-most-influential band is back after 14 years to elegantly vent about iPhones and plastic surgery.
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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters Kendrick Lamar and the Shell Game of 'Respect'
The first non-classical, non-jazz winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music needs the accolade less than the accolade needs him.
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Larry Busacca / Getty Beyoncé Masters the Fierceness of Crowds
The pop star’s dazzling Coachella set further honed her career-long fascination with democratizing messages through mass movement.
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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters Music That Mourns, Whether It Wants to or Not
Jason Aldean’s new album doesn’t reference the mass shooting at his Las Vegas show last year, but that in itself is a statement.
