by NICK BUCHANAN
Editor

​When Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" topped the charts just shy of eight years ago, it was a pioneer of the popular music standards to come, irreversibly implementing electronic dance music into the pop landscape. Hand-in-hand with Britney Spears circa Circus revival and the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga ushered in an era of domination for synth-driven club music on the Billboard Hot 100 that opened the door for acts like Kesha and Teenage Dream-era Katy Perry. She was an unstoppable force in popular music then, but little did we know that less than a decade later, Lady Gaga would be done with both the Billboard charts and the high-energy pop music that she popularized.

by NICK BUCHANAN
Editor

​Upon the release of Banks' debut record, its title evoked the image of a strong, unshakable female. But the 18 tracks housed on Goddess revealed the vulnerabilities of a young woman haunted by the ghosts of turbulent relationships past; it's no doubt we saw a goddess, but a goddess at her most emotionally taxed. Her sophomore release, though, bears cover art that breaks the barriers of what is traditionally expected from a self-proclaimed goddess: her hair is undone, her freckles are uncovered. But it's raw. It's real. And through embracing herself in purest form on this record, she resolves her former insecurities with the reigning confidence she promised to have all along. ​

by NICK BUCHANAN
Editor

M.I.A.'s coming back with power, power one last time.

Well, kind of.

As an artist whose biggest waves in the United States have come from the flash of a middle finger at a broadcast football game and a radio hit that is one giant side-eye at American government and stereotypes, M.I.A. certainly has been known to be bold at best and abrasive at worst in the largest music market in the world. The controversy and ironic radio success aside, though, her creative output traditionally has been a respectable challenge the eyes, ears, and brain. While she carries herself with a cool, collected swagger vocally, she's always been one for aggressive mission statements through every other facet of her work: her album cover arts, avant-garde; her production choices, nonconformist; her lyrics, forward-thinking and politically charged. 

​All of this in mind, her fifth (and reportedly final) record could be assumed to be her strongest, most resounding statement yet, even in comparison to her first two records, both of which spit a few rounds of controversial bullets through the fabric of American ideology. In hindsight, a certain age-old adage about assumptions comes to mind here.

​Why? Because M.I.A. is ready to make peace.