When everyone believes ya, what's that like? | | | | Billie Eilish at Coachella, April 13, 2019.
(Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “When everyone believes ya, what's that like?”
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| | rantnrave:// The artist of the year 2019 came to the attention of pop fans via TIKTOK, and to the attention of much of the rest of the world via his forcible removal from the BILLBOARD chart that TikTok had helped him land on. He's smart, ambitious and blessed with self-awareness, and what comes next is anybody's guess. Or maybe the artist of the year is four women who appropriated their name from four men and set out to right some wrongs on the very chart from which that other artist of the year was summarily tossed. Or maybe it was the fearless pop star who added the phrases "re-recording rights" and "private equity" to the everyday pop music lexicon. Or the co-ed rock band who dropped its third and fourth albums five months apart and tried its best to tell us not what is, but what is not. Or the bold, brassy woman who had major hits in 2019 with songs from 2016 and 2017, a little help of her own from TikTok and a magic flute (which may have been the instrument of the year). Below are reflections from throughout the year on the artists who left a noticeable dent in our loudspeakers and headphones, and maybe in our perceptions of the world. But this is just one list. You'll find a couple hundred more (and counting) in MusicSET: "Best Music of 2019: The Year in Lists." | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Time Magazine |
| "It's crazy how any baby born after March has not lived in a world where 'Old Town Road' wasn't number 1." | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| She's a 17-year-old superstar who did it her way and doesn't care what you think — even if she still calls out for mom after a bad dream. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| In the 2010s, she went from country superstar to pop titan and broke records with her chart-topping albums and blockbuster tours. Now Swift is using her industry clout to fight for artists’ rights and foster the musical community she wished she had coming up. | | |
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 | Stereogum |
| Big Thief released one of 2019's most acclaimed albums with 'U.F.O.F.,' but they're already back with another. We talked to bandleader Adrianne Lenker about Big Thief's big year. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| Before her videos were racking up millions of views on YouTube, the artist spent more than a decade training in one of the world’s oldest and most complex musical art forms. | | |
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| Billboard |
| He scored over 50 hits and a top 20 debut rapping and singing exclusively en español, when he wasn’t painting his nails or tweeting about body positivity. How Bad Bunny taught American pop a new language. | | |
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 | Vulture |
| A debate has been raging in Nashville for the better part of this decade over what should be done about the dearth of female hit-makers on country radio and the corresponding lack of opportunities for women to build marquee careers in the format. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| Lana Del Rey on her love for the Eagles and all things California, her new boyfriend and the righteous anger of Greta Thunberg. | | |
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 | Texas Music |
| How a formerly homeless 30-year-old classically trained flautist became this year’s pop superstar. | | |
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 | Tidal |
| The African Giant, Burna Boy, sits down with Elliott and B.Dot post Grammy nomination. Listen to how he found out about the nomination, how he made the hit song "Ye," got the call to be on The Lion King album, thoughts on identity, African history, plus more. | | |
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 | Hollywood Reporter |
| The seven-man K-pop sensation, which accounts for $4.65 billion of South Korea's GDP and rivals The Beatles on the charts, opens up about their future, performing in Saudi Arabia, looming military service and a possible Grammy nomination: "An absolute dream come true.” | | |
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 | Paper |
| The Houston Hottie on her quick rise to the top. | | |
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 | Crack Magazine |
| The Comet is Coming are facing each other, eyes closed and hyperventilating. It’s the day before they set off on a tour that will stretch on until the end of the year, and this is their final rehearsal. | | |
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 | Invisible Oranges |
| There is an air of specialness to Blood Incantation that is hard to define, either as a fan or a critic. | | |
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 | GQ |
| Being indoors makes Tyler, the Creator, irritable, which is why he loves public parks so much. In most cities he visits on tour, the 28-year-old rapper and youth-culture multi-hyphenate will seek one out and make it his second home. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| Nick Cave's fans arrived carrying gifts - flowers, handwritten letters, even a portrait of the artist himself set in stained glass, stoic and saintlike. But they had also come to receive something in return. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| Twelve years ago, Vampire Weekend arrived with crisp polos and Africa-indebted melodies, becoming heroes and villains all at once. They return with a new album this week as survivors of the blog-hype era and a music industry that doesn’t prop up hot, young indie bands like it used to. | | |
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 | Broken Record |
| After years honing her craft in the UK, Yola finally lands with her beautiful album, "Walk Through Fire." Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, the album combines classic country, soul and rock and roll. Bruce Headlam talks to Yola about her journey to this album. | | |
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| Los Angeles Times |
| In a major surprise, Tanya Tucker is nominated for four Grammy Awards, including song of the year, for her comeback album, "While I'm Livin'." | | |
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 | The Outline |
| We spent the day with the insanely popular Grammy-nominated rapper in his North Carolina hometown. | | |
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 | Afropunk |
| At an age when most middle-aged soul folks are content to become museum pieces performing at oldies shows across the world, Raphael Saadiq has delivered an innovative, damn near brilliant album that tackles the subject of addiction with gusto, God and genius. | | |
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 | NPR |
| "The trumpet is an alert, and we're sounding some alarms." | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| The Los Angeles singer-songwriter explains how climate change, absurd comedy, and the Great American Songbook inspired her strangely uplifting new album, "Titanic Rising." | | |
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 | The FADER |
| Holly Herndon's "Proto" is an engrossing testament to the power of multiple voices singing in unison. One of those voices is a computer named Spawn. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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