Though he’s far from the first troubled victim of gun violence to go to No. 1. Serial killer Charles Manson’s only studio album was released while Manson was being held on charges for the two-night series of 1969 killings he instigated via his “family” cult, known as the Tate–LaBianca murders. Morbid curiosity couldn’t, however, make [...] Read more

With “Psycho,” the “rapper” behind “Rockstar” confirms he’s this generation’s Everlast. With sincere apologies to Maya Angelou, I’m starting to think when white “rapper” Post Malone showed us who he was, we should have believed him the first time. I place “rapper” in scare quotes, because Malone has been running away from hip-hop for the [...] Read more

With his latest No. 1, the rapper takes a page from Justin Bieber and breaks another record. Now, where was I? Eleven weeks ago, in the closing paragraph of my “Why Is This Song No. 1?” article about “God’s Plan”—Drake’s previous chart topper and the song he himself ejects from Billboard’s penthouse this week—I offered [...] Read more

The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” is now considered one of the greatest recordings in rock history, but when it was released in 1966, it never climbed higher than No. 39 on Billboard’s Hot 100. As I explained in the latest episode of my Slate podcast Hit Parade, this was partially because Brian Wilson’s exquisite [...] Read more

With “Havana,” Camila Cabello emerges as a solo artist on her own terms. Slat Patience is a virtue, and for emerging pop megastars, January is the most virtuous month. At this time two years ago, Justin Bieber tied an all-time record on Billboard’s Hot 100, just for waiting: His tropical-house smash “Sorry” sat at No. [...] Read more

If living well is the best revenge, perhaps charting well is the best Grammy clap-back? For Ed Sheeran, our premier polymath pop troubadour, this holiday season really has been the ultimate in bad news–good news whiplash. Within the space of two weeks, Sheeran was shut out of every top Grammy category—by a Recording Academy that [...] Read more

Can you feel that chill in the air? And inhale the crisp aroma of depleted whip-its? For the third straight October, the song commanding Billboard’s Hot 100 as the autumn blows in is a damp, druggy bummer of a club track—a grim reflection of the season. Two years ago, the Weeknd’s spooky, coked-out, and improbably [...] Read more

Growing up in the Bronx, a young Jennifer Lopez would dabble in anything that might one day make her famous: acting, dancing, choreography, even gymnastics and track. Oh, and singing—but it was Lopez’s least-pursued talent prior to her mid-twenties. As she rose to prominence during the 1990s, Lopez was, variously, a regional theater actress and [...] Read more

Two weeks ago, when America’s inevitable next No. 1 song dropped like a meteor in the Great Lakes, a college friend posted on my Facebook wall begging for help. “How do we feel about the new Swifty single?” she implored. “Tell me how to feel!” I don’t blame my pal for being confused. So is [...] Read more