Breaking down the heavyweight rap battle after a weekend of dramatic diss tracks.

Popcast (Deluxe): How Kendrick Lamar Out-Drake’d Drake

The Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times. It covers the latest in popular music criticism, trends and news. 

Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

Music

Music Interviews

Music Commentary

New songs from Eminem, Drake and J. Cole — plus Will Smith’s post-Slap “Bad Boys” comeback — demonstrate different paths for maturing (or not).

What’s an Aging Rapper to Do? Eminem, Drake, J. Cole (& Will Smith!) Adapt (Deluxe)

The actress, writer and downtown New York icon discusses her post-Kanye career, what it’s like to see her past go viral and the history of “It Girl” pop songs.

Julia Fox Interview! on Charli XCX, ‘It Girl’ Songs & Kanye Lessons

Artificial intelligence has become the dominant disrupter to music creation and distribution. And it’s only getting started. Guests: Bloomberg's Rachel Metz and Billboard's Kristin Robinson.

How A.I. Has Changed Music, and What’s Coming Next

Discussing the imperfect rollout of “Radical Optimism," plus: the recent music movies “Back to Black,” about Amy Winehouse, and “The Idea of You” with Anne Hathaway.

Did Dua Lipa Flop? + Miserable Music Movies (Deluxe)

A conversation about the pop singer’s new album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” Plus: How Tinashe’s “Nasty” went viral.

Popcast (Deluxe): How Kendrick Lamar Out-Drake’d Drake

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