review Jul 31
Tyla's A*POP Makes the Case for African Pop Without Borders
The South African star uses her second album to make global scale feel like an extension of home rather than an exit from it.
Editorial
Stories with the music left in.
News, conversations, local scenes, new voices, and releases worth spending time with.
feature Jul 30
Asake's M$NEY Film Turns a Release Cycle Into a Live Archive
A London stage, a 40-piece orchestra, and five unheard songs show how a concert film can deepen an album instead of merely advertising it.
spotlight Jul 28
Nairobi's Greasy Tunes Turns Listening Data Into a Meeting Place
Spotify built a two-week program around how young Nairobi listens. The revealing part is what happened when the playlist left the screen.
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feature Feb 10
Ellie Goulding’s “You & Me” and the Limits of Leak History
A tender, early-period recording surfaced in 2016, but no official release, complete credits, or confirmed album assignment followed.
feature Feb 3
Zendaya’s “Something New”: The Hit With a Missing Video
Built on TLC’s “Creep,” Zendaya’s 2016 single was officially released and charted—but its completed narrative video stayed on the shelf.
feature Feb 3
Zendaya’s ‘Something New’: The Official Single With a Video That Never Arrived
The TLC-sampling single was meant to open Zendaya’s next musical chapter. Its audio was officially released; its completed Chris Brown video was not.
feature Feb 2
Tinashe’s “Ride of Your Life” Was a Joyride Detour With Its Own Destination
The Metro Boomin collaboration arrived as a preview of one album, became part of another and captured Tinashe at a pivotal point in her RCA years.
feature Jan 30
“Summer Sixteen” Was Drake’s Victory Lap—and a Road Not Taken
Drake’s 2016 single announced the season of Views with battle-ready bravado, then vanished from the album it was supposed to introduce.
spotlight Jan 29
R3HAB and Ciara’s Other “Get Up” Deserves a Second Look
A 2015 festival preview became a compact 2016 house single, distinct from Ciara’s earlier hit and sharpened by a fast-arriving KSHMR remix.
feature Jan 29
How “We Don’t Talk Anymore” Made Silence Sound Like a Pop Hook
Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez turned two sides of a breakup into a sleek, tropical-pop duet whose release history is clearer than old “CDQ” posts suggest.
feature Jan 27
“Work” Was Rihanna’s Homecoming—and the Hit That Finally Unlocked *Anti*
Behind the apparent simplicity of Rihanna and Drake’s nine-week No. 1 lies a precise history of Caribbean language, Toronto production and two videos.
feature Jan 27
Rihanna and Drake’s “Work”: The Hit That Made Pop Meet Rihanna on Her Terms
Behind its spare dancehall pulse lies a precise release history, a large creative team and a cultural argument about whose language pop audiences respect.
feature Jan 25
“Empire” Is a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Vault Record, Not a Drake Single
The 2016 release joined old Drake and Rick Ross vocals under a new title. Its tangled chronology explains why “Empire” is so often mislabeled.
feature Jan 22
How Jessie J Turned “Grease Is the Word” Into Live Television’s Opening Sprint
Her 2016 cover was more than a soundtrack remake: nine days after release, it became the engine of an audacious, rain-threatened television sequence.
feature Jan 21
The Unfinished History of Kanye West and Miley Cyrus’s “Black Skinhead” Remix
Recorded after the 2013 VMAs and leaked in 2016 with Travis Scott vocals, the radical reworking never became an authorized Kanye West release.
feature Jan 18
Justin Bieber’s “I’ll Be There” Was a Vanishing Post-*Purpose* Outtake
Briefly presented online in January 2016 and then removed, “I’ll Be There” sounded like a sequel to Bieber’s comeback without becoming an official single.
feature Jan 8
How Shakira’s “Try Everything” Became Zootopia’s Perfect Pop Manifesto
The verified story behind Shakira’s Gazelle anthem—from its disputed pre-release trail and Stargate production to its enduring role in Disney’s animated city.
feature Jan 6
The Truth About Sia’s “Making the Most of the Night”
Sia’s leaked demo was never an official solo release. The finished song belongs to Carly Rae Jepsen’s acclaimed 2015 album E•MO•TION.
feature Jan 6
The Uncertain Life of Sia’s Unreleased “Joy I Call Life”
Circulated beside the This Is Acting campaign, “Joy I Call Life” remains an unauthorized Sia recording with an uncertain origin and no official release.
feature Jan 3
Tinashe’s “Secret” Was a Leak, Not a Lost Joyride Single
The DJ Mustard production surfaced without permission in January 2016, prompting Tinashe to condemn the leak and clarify that the recording was already old.
feature Dec 31
Usher’s Lost ‘Flawed’ Era: The Two Songs That Previewed an Album He Never Released
“Hard to Love” and “Cards” briefly opened a door onto Usher’s eighth album. Then the title, track list and entire campaign changed around them.
feature Dec 30
Birdy’s “Keeping Your Head Up” Was a Deliberate Pop Turn
The first single from Beautiful Lies paired Birdy’s piano-rooted writing with Steve Mac’s scale, announcing a young artist taking control of her sound.
feature Dec 17
How Sia Turned a Rejected Pitch Into the Defining Hit of Her Pop Reinvention
Written with Rihanna in mind, “Cheap Thrills” became Sia’s own global breakthrough—and a revealing test of where authorship ends and performance begins.