The Brooklyn rapper was on the verge of an international breakthrough when he was killed in February. Here is the story of his whirlwind final months, told by those who knew him best.

On “Folklore,” a quarantine album made largely with Aaron Dessner from the National, she swerves away from her last few releases, embracing atmospheric rock — and other characters’ points of view.

Our pop music critic remembers going to concerts with his mom, who died last year.

The rapper, who died Friday, had no imitators because there was no way to falsify the life that forged him. He was a colossus, a fire-starter and a healer.

The singer-songwriter’s 10th studio album returns to the pop sound she left in 2019, and explores a familiar subject: how she is perceived, and how she perceives herself.

The casting director behind “Euphoria” and “Uncut Gems” puts real life onto big and small screens. A new book details her process.

Tearing up a photo was the moment nobody forgot. The performance that preceded it was just as powerful.

The rapper, chef and TV host has shed 130 pounds during the pandemic, dieting and exercising with the same intensity he once brought to the table.

For four decades, he set the critical standard for elegantly intricate assessments of music, art, literature and more, writing dynamically about the resilience and paradoxes of Black creativity and...

His images of the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and many more helped shape rap music’s visual identity.

Over five decades, hip-hop has grown from a new art form to a culture-defining superpower. In their own words, 50 influential voices chronicle its evolution.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent asserted the power of hip-hop’s oldies generation on pop music’s most-watched stage.

Known for collaborating widely and his deadpan bravado, his last solo album, “Rich Slave,” debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart last year.

The 24-year-old Canadian musician memorializes friends lost to violence on his debut EP, “When Smoke Rises.”

Look around at the way young men now think about clothes, design and music, and you’ll see him everywhere.

Conversations about the legacy of the beloved rap figure’s early career, which set the table for the artist he would become.

The rapper’s new single, video and sneaker were merely the prelude to a brilliantly orchestrated main event: a virtuosic performance on Twitter.

The American star steps into shoes once filled by Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton. His first collection debuts in Paris this week.

The three-part Netflix documentary “Jeen-yuhs” shows the superstar in his earliest days, then time warps to the present, with disorienting results.

On his seventh album, “Honestly, Nevermind,” the pop disrupter who rethought rap’s relationship with melody opts for a new direction: nightclub abandon.

The brand, which bridges the streetwear-luxury gap and has taken on investment from LVMH, is a template for the future of men’s wear.

A conversation about the group’s impact and legacy as its music finally arrives on streaming services, just weeks after the death of one of its rappers, Dave Jolicoeur.

A look at the recent burst of bands and how the scene operates as music, ethic and feeling.

Last year, the Bronx rapper emerged from the drill scene with a pop-friendly sound, and attracted the attention of Drake. Now she’s releasing her first EP.

Less isolation didn’t mean a return to normalcy. Albums with big feelings and room for catharsis made the most powerful connections.

Keeping a promise from when her master recordings were sold, Swift has faithfully rerecorded her 2008 album. Our critics and reporters explore its sound, and purpose.

West has always been dreaming big, speaking loudly, courting controversy and channeling all of that into music. But one thing has changed.

With his 1999 debut album, “Operation: Doomsday,” the masked rapper blurred the line between present and past.

West is still one of the most influential pop stars of the century, but multidisciplinary spectacle is more his goal than music now, and he isn’t the star of his own 10th album.

For decades this social critic has addressed the powerful influence of media, consumerism and politics. Her work anticipated how images and ideas are now disseminated.

His new album, “Call Me if You Get Lost,” is both an embrace of hip-hop tradition and a swerve into new emotional terrain.

Desus Nice and the Kid Mero are bringing their hip-hop-inspired slapstick comedy to late-night television on Viceland.

His new album “Certified Lover Boy” is full of familiar anxieties and sounds, and barbed words for Kanye West, a mentor turned nemesis.

Isolation was unavoidable this year: Some albums embraced it, some raged against it, some tried to imagine a world without it.

The app once offered seemingly endless chances to be charmed by music, dances, personalities and products. But in only a few short years, its promise of kismet is evaporating.

A conversation about the genre’s new wave of big-tent ambition, and the whimsical British artist at the heart of it.

A conversation about the urge to accumulate treasured items and the stories objects can hold.

How West has used fashion to signify musical evolution, how he’s been regarded by the fashion industry and how other musicians are following in his footsteps.

Look around at the way young men now think about clothes, design and music, and you’ll see him everywhere.

A pandemic awards show that seemed poised to disappoint ended up pivoting instead, shifting its focus to women, hip-hop and most crucially, the next generation.

A conversation about the influx of films made about (and by) current stars and its implications for the format.

A partnership between the rapper and the fast-food chain is a melding of the merchandising minds.

Why Louis Vuitton chose Mr. Williams as its new designer of men’s wear. It’s bigger than hip-hop.

Tracks responding to real-time events and a spectrum of moods captured the hodgepodge feelings of life in lockdown.

Few artists making pop music have risen to the top in the past several years. What made this Disney star click with listeners?

This week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe) — a new weekly video show, hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, that breaks down the pop culture storylines o...

His choice to become a post-9/11 culture-war champion overshadowed the work of a musician who was funnier, subtler and more politically slippery than his most famous work let on.

After the country star’s “Try That in a Small Town” video was criticized as offensive, right-wing support sent the song to No. 2 on the singles chart.

The most effective artists of the year weren’t afraid to root around deep inside and boldly share the messiness, the complexities and the beauty of their discoveries.

The New York Times pop music team had its say; now a new panel answers questions about the blockbuster album.

After seven years largely away from the stage, the singer and mogul used the halftime show to perform a dozen hits, nod to her nonmusical business and announce that she’s pregnant.

The act of grabbing public attention has been a centerpiece of Kanye West’s art for two decades. Will audiences still tune in if his only outlets are on the fringes?

What’s at stake for a 22-year-old trilingual rapper who became a TikTok sensation by talking dirty and who aspires to be the president of Palestine? A lot.

Conversations with two of his contemporaries about the fertile scenes he covered, and the indelible impression he left.

Over five decades, hip-hop has grown from a new art form to a culture-defining superpower. In their own words, 50 influential voices chronicle its evolution.

What does the rerecorded song from “Red” say about how power and the past have shaped her career?

How the Chicago rap veteran reinvented himself, and became a star largely in the shadows.

In a book, web series and music, Will, Jada, Jaden and Willow Smith have remade a star household for the new era of reality-driven celebrity.

How successful is a sunny new phase of her career, and what does it mean to choose to move away from the expectations of superstardom?

The former syndication star and top-flight interviewer is rebuilding his daily show on Amazon’s new app, Amp.

How has the teenage phenomenon’s songwriting, and her relationship to the larger music machine, evolved between albums?

On her excellent debut album, “Sour,” the 18-year-old singer and actress expresses just how challenging it is to arrive at who you are.

The 21-year-old Scottish folk singer-songwriter found a sudden hit by tapping into the platform’s appetite for melancholy with a striking, sorrowful chorus.

A 17-year-old from a small Georgia town built an audience as a rapper on TikTok and SoundCloud before pivoting to country music and inching his way into a notoriously cloistered industry.

A conversation about New York hip-hop in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a night that brought the spirit of battle back to the pandemic-era staple.

A conversation about the band’s return, its evolving message and the nature of comeback tours.

As a member of the group UTFO, he was heard on one of the most influential and widely imitated songs of commercial hip-hop’s early years.

Questions about borrowing, authorship and inspiration — from the underground to the mainstream and vice versa — connect new releases from Beyoncé, Madonna and Saucy Santana.

A deep dive on “Renaissance,” her relationship to queer music communities and her framing of authorship.

New albums from Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator place their makers — children of the internet with a taste for friction — in a new light.

Prolific with his point-and-shoot camera, he captured essential images of the Beastie Boys, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Run-DMC, Andy Warhol and more.

As the country star’s new album earns the biggest debut of the year, a conversation about the nature of his fame and the scope of his reprimand for using a racial slur.

CHECK OUT PART 2 OF THIS WEEK'S EPISODE — REVIEWING DRAKE’S A.I.-assisted KENDRICK DISS — HERE: https://youtu.be/3CmNFRCMeGAThis week’s episode of Popcast (D...

As the concert business amped up again, our critic booked six weeks seeing shows in honky-tonks, clubs and arenas. But concerns about Covid-19 became the unannounced guest on nearly every lineup.

The indie-rock musician’s albums inspire deep feelings and attract ever-bigger audiences, but in many ways she remains a mystery.

The tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld turned attention to how rap festival performances are increasingly oriented toward the rowdy.

The blockbuster singer-songwriter’s 10th studio album finds her at a crossroads: Will she continue to reckon with her past, or forge another new path forward?

The singer put himself on the line to become the genre’s first Black superstar. He died on Saturday not long after performing at a largely mask-free awards ceremony.

A conversation about hip-hop’s evolution in the country, and how a high-profile shooting thrust the music into the spotlight.

How his time in One Direction and a powerful online fan base have shaped the pop star’s career.