From Yeezus to “Yoncé,” this is what made this year a very odd and exciting time for pop music.
Jay Z sells a million copies of Magna Carta...Holy Grail to Samsung.
Jay Z's Magna Carta…Holy Grail may be the work of a creatively stagnant genius, but its initial release as exclusive download on certain models of Samsung phones showed us that Hov was still invested in finding new ways to sell his music. The stunt vastly inflated the sales figures for the album – Samsung legitimately purchased a million downloads at $5 each so each free download counted as a sale and qualified the album for immediate platinum certification – and made the record seem more like an event than it might have otherwise. It's too bad that was all tarnished by the revelation that the Magna Carta app was being used for extensive and seemingly unnecessary data mining. Whoops. –Matthew Perpetua
Benoit Tessier / Reuters
The "Harlem Shake" comes...and then goes.
The "Harlem Shake" phenomenon was as faddish as viral memes get – it came out of nowhere, was omnipresent for about two months, and then disappeared so fully that less than a year later it seems like something that happened a decade ago. But hey, it's not like we didn't get anything out of it. The meme lifted the electronic producer Baauer out of obscurity, made history as the first viral meme to hit the top of Billboard's Hot 100 thanks to a new rule that factors in YouTube views, and many of us have vague yet pleasant memories of wilding out on camera for a minute in our own "Harlem Shake" videos. –M.P.
Ariana Grande emerges as pop's most promising new singer.
I’ll admit I was initially skeptical of Ariana Grande. She emerged onto the musical scene in her video for “The Way” half-ponytail tied up in a ribbon and a flouncy dress that had me guessing she had to be about 14. Then the next minute she’s making out with Mac Miller. Turns out she’s (now) 20, and actually more than just a Nickelodeon star trying to make it: She legitimately has one of the best voices pop music has seen in awhile. Her ‘90s Mariah influences go without saying, but she has the voice to back it up and pop music could certainly use more like it. Beyond being a baby Mimi, though, the girl has taste: her debut album had doo-wop, old-school ballads, and lyrics that tug at your heartstrings in genuine ways (see: “Honeymoon Avenue”). It’s fun to have a new, classical kind of pop diva, and it’ll certainly be exciting to see how Grande decides to shape and carve out her own space in 2014. --Aylin Zafar
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Chance the Rapper mixtape Acid Rap is one of the best albums of the year.
Chance The Rapper emerged in 2013 as an artist to watch, and solidified his position in hip-hop as one of the most exciting, creative rappers out. The Chicago native’s mixtape Acid Rap was a stunning display of his capabilities: great taste in picking soulful, warm melodies, vivid storytelling skills, and an exciting, deft, hilarious way with words. And he somehow manages to be a romantic without being too syrupy-sweet. We can’t wait to hear more. — A.Z.
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