The 25 Best New Musical Artists of 2020
The best new artists are pushing boundaries as popular music becomes less genre-focused. New artists are forging new identities, rather than occupying the convenient marketing categories of the past.
PopMatters Staff
The 15 Best Electropop Albums of 2020
The electropop universe was vast in 2020 with brilliant newish acts emerging, and experimentalists pushing the music forward. Meanwhile, a few legends returned to show us all how it's really done.
The 20 Best Album Re-Issues of 2020
In 2020, the music world saw spectacular reissues spanning rock legends to foundational electronic artists, jazz to pop of all stripes.
The 20 Best R&B/Soul Albums of 2020
In this time of political unrest, racial strife, and pandemic, soul and R&B walked tall and carried a big stick, while also being a much needed balm and source of warmth in 2020.
The 20 Best Electronic Albums of 2020
Electronic music is a huge tent with many diverse approaches, and it's more international than ever with producers around the globe pushing music forward. The year's best albums featured returns from established talents, as well as ground-breaking newcomers.
The Best Books of 2020: Fiction
We didn't turn to fiction for those much needed periods of escapism in 2020. Nor did we turn to fiction for answers, because of course, the best fiction doesn't provide "answers". We turned to these works of fiction for the questions they raise.
The Best Books of 2020: Non-Fiction
In the stormy year of 2020 PopMatters' staff have clung to anything seemingly solid with one hand while holding a good book in the other. Through it all, we are curious, engaged, and eager to share what we've read with you.
The 60 Best Albums of 2020
Despite a global pandemic, an economic crash, and the shut-down of international touring, 2020 bestowed an embarrassment of musical riches upon us.
The Best Music of 2020
PopMatters surveys the year in music in this month-long Best Music of 2020 series.
When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras (excerpt)
In this excerpt of Claudrena N. Harold's new book, When Sunday Comes, gospel legend James Cleveland joins the amazing Aretha Franklin to raise the rafters in spirited song.
Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll (excerpt)
Ikette Claudia Lennear, rumored to be the inspiration for Mick Jagger's "Brown Sugar", often felt disconnect between her identity as an African American woman and her engagement with rock. Enjoy this excerpt of cultural anthropologist Maureen Mahon's Black Diamond Queens, courtesy of Duke University Press.
John Lennon 101: The Solo Discography
John Lennon would have been 80 years old today. After the Beatles, Lennon created a treasured solo catalogue, and we take you through the history and the music album by album.