Patricia Salkin and Irene Crisci (Touro): Billy Joel: The Chronicler of the Suburbanization in New York. SpearIt (Texas Southern): Sonic Jihad: Muslim Hip Hop in the Age of Mass Incarceration. Now that the former outsiders have survived misogynist critics, a fickle industry, and each other, the stars are aligned for Tegan and Sara to become two of the biggest names in pop. Rob Tannenbaum on an oral history of “We Built This City”, the worst song of all time. Taylor Mugavin on Beyonce and the sexual objectification of Lemonade. Why rock criticism was essential to the Replacements. Does Nicki Minaj portray the image of a phallic mother? Elena Petrova investigates. The South stole Americana: Josh Garrett-Davis on America’s untended musical roots. Hua Hsu on how nostalgia drives the music industry: The returns of Dinosaur Jr. and De La Soul are reminders of how yearning for the past shapes pop history.
Andrew Jensen Kerr (Georgetown): Rap Exegesis: Interpreting the Rapper in an Internet Society. The end of the angry guitar: A couple of decades ago, the guitar still ruled in rock and pop, but now it’s in eclipse. Lisa Aslanian on rap’s civility game. Craig Jenkins on how Britney Spears and Carly Rae Jepsen stay relevant. Clio Chang on the case for Carly Rae Jepsen. Hip-hop hymnals: Why are rappers like Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar finding religion? Matthew Kassel reviews Rock Critic Law: 101 Unbreakable Rules for Writing Badly About Pop Music by Michael Azerrad.
