We're here for the underscores pop takeover in 2026

Brooklyn indie rocker Hudson Freeman went viral with a mesmerizingly despondent song about how online life is nothing but an illusion that tricks us into thinking we know each other, and ourselves. The irony is not lost on him.

For me, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘦𝘪𝘯 meant that there was another world out there, one where pain and frustration with your surroundings could be mythologized and thus conquered, where supervillains might be felled by the stroke of a spraypaint can

Hip-hop is constantly mired in discussions about importance, significance, and, yes, substance. But if you come up for air, you’ll feel it all around you. Read Dylan's thoughts on the latest version of this age-old convo

There are protest songs for now and protest songs for forever. With its themes of anguish and intractability, this one feels like it could resonate at almost any point in human history

The guitarist looks ready to lead a shadowy cult ceremony, the bassist like an elaborately vandalized Easter Island head. "Oh god," you might think to yourself, "this looks like some real Burning Man shit."

The best you could say for 'Wuthering Heights' is that it serves as a successful pivot point for Charli—into film scoring, but perhaps more importantly, a post-Brat reality

Chatting with her, you’d never guess that she’s in possession of a rich, husky alto that deepens every emotion she sings about. Or that she is a 23-year-old musician who, if she wants to, could probably become a big star

A good update on a bad situation: Casey Wasserman is selling his agency.

This week on our podcast Waste or Taste, we're asking: Do you remember Lady Sov? Are straight people allowed to listen to Slayyyter? Is Xaviersobased the future of rap?

Despite the familiar harmonies, this isn’t New Jack Swing redux; Jaymin sounds totally contemporary with his church-honed, copper-penny tenor, which sounds piped in from a hyperbaric chamber (or a breezy seaside bedroom)

On the biggest U.S. stage, Bad Bunny showed why he is so massive, and why his Grammy-winning love letter to his homeland, 𝘋𝘦𝘣𝘪́ 𝘛𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴, resonates across the world—from Latin America to Palestine to China to Switzerland

Brain-breaking club artist Zora Jones is your favorite producer’s favorite producer for a reason.

Barely a few seconds ever pass in 𝘚𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝟤.𝟢 without a blast of low-end that seems to tear through not just the mix but the fabric of existence as you know it

I couldn’t help but also notice how 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 Bad Bunny looked in the Grammys audience, seemingly the only person sitting at his table right up front. It’s a lot of cultural weight for one person to bear. He carried it with grace.

Street rap continues to pop off in cities like Philadelphia and Detroit. Local sounds like plugg, juke, and minimalist swag rap still exist. Lyricists are bending traditions into weird shapes. You don’t have to dig that deep to find the good shit.

Try as I might, I can’t stop watching this silly pageant

Tyler, The Creator addressed recent pushback for years of shock jock antics at the Grammys last night. As Dylan writes, when you build a brand around that kind of trolling, you run the risk of reckoning with it every time new fans revisit the classics.

"By turning his attention back to his home—the beating heart of Puerto Rico—Bad Bunny has rediscovered what truly matters to him. That love, and the fight to protect it, will set a person free." Read Julianne's review of the Grammys' Album of the Year

What does it mean to be a rap star in 2026? A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar aren't the only rappers doing things worth your attention. Dylan says fuck a Big Three--go find your own generational rap hero.

"It would be way healthier to have a digital independent music landscape where there’s lots of different communities using the tools that work best for them."

The latest episode of our podcast Waste or Taste is here, and we're going deep on Harry Styles's new song. Also discussed: What it means to go “full Boone,” bucking broncos, and whether AI-generated music is a depressing fad or something far more sinister

This week, we've got two Must Hear albums: husky, road-weary R&B from the Paris of the Prairies, and a mind-melting dispatch from a young duo proving that rap music is still the future.

The soundtrack from Industry, HBO's horniest show about finance, is clever and impeccably selected, reveling in icy synths that encapsulate the way money, sex, and drugs can intertwine into one nihilistic rush

"So much of the power of major labels is rooted in their ability to protect this idea that musical genius is this rare and scarce thing that only they have ownership over."

The legendary experimental trio on the making of their opus, 'Dysnomia,' and coming back to its obsessive rhythms 13 years later

This week, we've got bars for your haters, easy melodies for tough days, folk-rock with a whole new take on the meaning of “Lynchian”, and a psychedelic instrumental from the guitarist behind one of 2025's best albums www.hearingthings.co/youre-a-goof...

"We often get compared to lots of bands I’ve never listened to in my life. But a band I have listened to a lot is Life Without Buildings."

"I think Björk is my favorite lyricist, full stop. The way she writes—I feel like she’s holding you on a leash or something, leading you somewhere, but you don’t know where."

"In a lot of ways, the fight for a world where music and culture are more accessible and democratized is connected to the fight for free time, because there’s so many people whose everyday lives are mostly spent on work and trying to survive."

Rest in peace to the folk legend Tucker Zimmerman, Big Thief cohort and would-be member of the Grateful Dead. “I believe, when you’ve got something going, go all the way through," he told Andy in a 2024 interview. "Go to the end, see what happens.” 🌈 🙏

"For all the #taste and eclecticism being projected outward," Dylan writes, A$AP Rocky's new one "comes off as too manicured—musical aura farming that doesn’t connect at a visceral level."

We've got a handful of Must Hear song picks this week: a sax-punk rager, a TikTok rap hit that plays like a scene from Tom and Jerry, and the kind of music that makes the apocalypse feel just fine. www.hearingthings.co/youre-not-re...

"There have been times where people are like, 'I read your book and then I canceled Spotify and I got Apple Music!' That kind of misses a lot of the point that this book lands on." – 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 author Liz Pelly

"There’s a lot of layers to the way I explore being horny in my music: It’s for my inner child, my inner teen, and Black women as a whole. Nine Inch Nails helped awaken that."

Pitfalls, deceptions, and doubt lurk around every corner of life, but to this rapper and producer, stepping out the crib is just the first step toward charting a better path

I’m confident Hayley Williams can make a classic solo album. This ain't it.

Doechii’s new single is so lethal it’s peaceful. Blast some essential oils, turn down the overheads, fuck a limitation, breathe in, and have a blesséd day.

It’s cringe, it’s camp, it’s cunty—it’s sexistentialism, baby

Diana Ross' "Upside Down" is a dancefloor staple, a good-time classic—and the most haunting and effective exploration of the subconscious ever to hit No. 1 on the pop charts. Allow me to explain.

I’ll admit that I like 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 (even with its saggy middle), but in my mind, the wildly positive critical embrace of Geese and Cameron Winter says more about the listener than the musicians

"Kanye is somebody who taught me how to express emotions. I miss Kanye, it’s really sad."

Do you throw your integrity out the window in order to eat? Have you fixed your face to ask Bbymutha to make a club appearance for free? If so, there are a few two-piece fist combos waiting for you inside her latest EP

Was Julianne being held hostage by a Sabrina Carpenter stan during the taping of our latest podcast episode? You're going to have to listen to find out!

Is there anything redeeming about AI music? A personal investigation...

We held a Hearing Things summit to talk about songs from the past year that we're sort of embarrassed to like, and then recorded the ensuing madness

New year, new episode of our Waste or Taste podcast!

Let's leave the hype for these records in 2025.

"I’m really just getting an outlet to talk about things that I’m going through every single day. And luckily, I have a lot of fucked up material to work with." A conversation with the rapper who's posted a verse every day this year

For our latest edition of The Producers, we spoke to alt-R&B innovator KeiyaA, who broke down songs by artists like Brandy, Britney Spears, and Nine Inch Nails, and explains how they Influenced her brillaint sophomore album 'Hooke's Law'.