Fridays can be overwhelming for pop fans. Every week you're bombarded with a glut of new music, which can lead to ear candy falling through the cracks. I'm hoping to avoid that tragic scenario with The Drop — a cheat sheet of sorts to get you through New Music Friday. By now, you have surely succumbed to the masterpiece that is Mariah Carey's Caution album and hopefully checked out Jennifer Lopez's...

28 years have passed since the arrival of Mariah Carey's seminal, self-titled debut LP and she's still taking creative risks. While most of her contemporaries are going through the motions (or semi-retired), Mimi just released one of the best albums of her career. Caution is a lean, mean masterpiece that delivers a cohesive listening experience that ignores trends and focuses on quality. This is a...

Jennifer Lopez debuted "Limitless" at the American Music Awards on October 9, stealing the show with flawless vocals and sheer emotion. The power ballad, which was penned by Sia, finally arrives today (November 16) and the studio version is equally powerful and uplifting. "I couldn't fight anymore and I wouldn't lie anymore," J.Lo begins the song, which features prominently in her upcoming comedy Second...

If the enduring popularity and annual chart run of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" proves anything, it's that writing a modern-day Christmas carol isn't easy. And while there are a couple of notable gems (Mimi's "Oh Santa," Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath The Tree" and Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton's "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" all spring to mind), most fall flat. Happily, that fate...

Rita Ora's Phoenix (out November 23) is shaping up to be one of the best pop albums of the year. There, I said it. While nothing has captured my attention to the same extent as 2017's revelatory "Anywhere," every song has been good. And "Velvet Rope" is no exception. Not a Janet Jackson cover, the Brit's latest bop shows off her (underrated) vocals over rich, soulful production courtesy of RØMANS...

Bohemian Rhapsody, 21st Century Fox's long-percolating Queen biopic, finally hit theaters on Friday (November 2) and proved to be a runaway success — bringing in $51 million at the North American box office in its first three days. To put things into perspective, that's $6 million more than A Star Is Born earned in the same time period. That result stunned some commentators give the film's infamous...

A lot has changed since MØ (real name Karen Ørsted) dropped her debut LP, No Mythologies To Follow, in 2014. For starters, she landed arguably the biggest hit of 2015 as the voice of Major Lazer & DJ Snake's "Lean On" and then repeated the feat a year later with "Cold Water." The Danish pop star has also managed to drop a long, staggeringly-good list of singles including "Final Song," "Kamikaze,"...

Every so often, a song comes along that completely transcends genre and introduces an artist to a whole new audience. Lauren Daigle's "You Say" falls into that category. The powerful ballad, which conveys a timely message of hope, has been a mainstay in the iTunes top 10 for months and ranks as one of the few inspirational anthems to crack the Billboard Hot 100. Amazingly, "You Say" is only at the...

Rise up, Fighters! Christina Aguilera's highly-anticipated Liberation arrives today (June 15). With a discography jam-packed with hits, the 37-year-old's early releases rank as some of the most iconic of the last 20 years. However, her two most albums haven't resonated to the same extent. 2010's electro-kissed Bionic was ahead of its time but wildly uneven, while Lotus offered some fun pop anthems...

Iggy Azalea's comeback is in full swing. The rapper, who many wrote off after the atomic fallout that followed the success of The New Classic, recently returned to the Billboard Hot 100 with "Kream" and just dropped one of the better EPs of 2018. Not only that, but the Aussie hitmaker's new sound — a return to the aggressive, defiantly sexual anti-pop of her mixtapes, has struck a chord well outside...

Tori Kelly's Unbreakable Smile is that rare kind of debut album that stands out as an impressive achievement in its own right, but also hints at something greater. It had radio hits, quieter moments and soulful grooves, but there was always the sneaking suspicion that the 25-year-old's voice could soar even higher, that she could open her heart even wider. That promise finally comes to fruition on...

Five years have passed since the arrival of Cher's underrated Closer To The Truth, but her hold on pop culture is stronger than ever thanks to the most iconic Twitter account of all time and a scene-stealing role in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. The latter inspired the seemingly immortal diva to get back in the studio and record an album of ABBA covers. At first, I feared Dancing Queen might be more...