Beyoncé’s Renaissance repackages traditional marketing and 1990s-inspired dance music, creating the ultimate combination of streaming sensibilities and feel-good anthems.
While Renaissance occasionally sports more style than substance, Beyoncé emerges as the re-coronated Queen of Pop and the reigning regent of eclecticism.
Craft Recordings releases a 50th-anniversary edition of the Staple Singers’ soul classic ‘Be Altitude: Respect Yourself’ and the music has never sounded better.
Aaliyah’s patented brand of Black pop, a mélange of hip-hop, electropop, and soul, set the standard by which other urban-pop singers were judged and set the stage for Beyonce and Rihanna.
With I Got a Love, gospel soul artist Elizabeth King gets to where she always could have been, a recording artist with consistency and originality.
Lizzo’s Special is as much a celebration of the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook cosmos as it is an in-person, post-Covid bacchanal.
Special is such a disappointment because you can hear the better album Lizzo is capable of making, but she insists on cranking out one-size-fits-all empowerment jams.
Aretha Franklin’s comeback with ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who?’ wasn’t an awkward attempt to be hip. Instead, she entered the cool, synth-sluiced 1980s with aplomb.
Luaka Bop’s reissue of the Staples Jr. Singers’ sole album, When Do We Get Paid, brings a crucial gospel LP back into circulation.
Maroon 5’s sophomore album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, pivoted away from their pop-punk beginnings and set them up for a decade of pop culture omnipresence.
American roots music legends Mavis Staples and Levon Helm teamed up in 2011 for a fabulous collaboration, which we can now thankfully hear on Carry Me Home.
Thirty-five years ago, Red Hot Rhythm & Blues saw Diana Ross ambitiously and affectionately placing herself within the history of Black music.
