Here at Rhapsody we've eagerly tracked what below we dub "The Latin-R&B Connection," wherein young, mega-talented, absurdly amorous Spanish-speaking lotharios freely mix bachata, hip-hop, funk, soul, schmaltz and whatever else they're digging into a stew of sweet sentimentality and boudoir salaciousness. Bachata kings
Aventura (and more recently, their solo-stardom-seeking lead singer,
Romeo Santos) struck first blood here, but this week we welcome another key player: New York City's own
Prince Royce, whose sophomore full-length,
Phase II, flits effortlessly between countries, genres, and phases of seduction. Below, we take a deep dive into the record, dig into that beloved Latin-R&B continuum, shake Aventura's family tree, and so much more. Enjoy.
Summer came a little early this year, in terms of both overall temperature (yikes!) and musical intensity. The radio is crackling with monster jams, the festival circuit is lighting up with any and all superstars you'd care to name, the alcohol is flowing, and clothing is being discarded at an alarming rate. Here at Rhapsody we'll be monitoring the season for the next several months, adding playlists, musings, video dispatches (we'll see you at Sasquatch!) and so forth, but here's our initial salvo, offering everything from metal-cover-art analysis to festival breakdowns to an in-depth look at all the inescapable jams you'll be cranking up all season. Let's do this.
We love our metal here at Rhapsody, from the writers (including beloved metal scribes 
With apologies to Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and the rest, Nicki Minaj is undoubtedly the most fascinating pop star going in 2012, thanks to a split-personality range that runs from "precocious dancefloor queen" to "vicious, unconquerable emcee." She flaunts that dichotomy throughout her engrossing sophomore full-length, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which we're celebrating here with an extended review, an epic chat between Rhapsody Pop Editor Rachel Devitt and Hip-Hop Editor Mosi Reeves, a Cheat Sheet rundown of other classic "femcees," and much more. Have at it.
Pop music is an infinitely more lurid, maddening, fascinating and essential place with 
A struggling economy ... a contentious election year ... a fragile country more ideologically divided than ever ... man, we really needed a new 
Valentine's Day is almost upon us. It's true. If you are just now learning this news, your first stop should be Yelp (for restaurant recommendations) or 1-800-FLOWERS or some such; your next stop should be right here, whereupon we've provided a series of splendid romantic-like playlists to ease you through the most romantical of holidays. Whether you're a country bumpkin or a city hipster, a tango expert or a reggae fiend, we will help you either stage your own romantic comedy or kick off your own Anti-V-Day protest. All you need is love, it's true, but music sure helps, too. Enjoy.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of our Jazz Critics' Poll, in which we survey 120+ national critics on their favorite albums of the year, a tradition we're taking on from the 
By now you've had time to absorb the hundreds of albums Rhapsody's editorial braintrust recommended as part of our 
It's the most wonderful time of the year: list season! Music obsessives of all stripes spend December painstakingly compiling their favorite albums and singles of the past 12 (or so) months, and we here at Rhapsody are no different. So please enjoy this absurdly huge Best of 2011 blowout. We've got staff-compiled lists of our 50 favorite albums and singles (in which everyone from James Blake to Nicki Minaj vies to fight off Adele), individual genre lists for everything from hip-hop to metal to Christian to Latin, and playlists galore. It was a fascinating, bizarre, wildly divergent year. We've made our best attempt to summarize it below.
The holiday season is upon us. And if you're like us, and you can't help but thrill to the yuletide aural exploits of Charlie Brown, Phil Spector, Bing Crosby, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Celia Cruz, The Muppets, King Diamond and all the rest, then here's our gift to you: an absolute enormous guide to the holiday music available on Rhapsody, from soul jams to Latin favorites to deep-cut crooner epics, from new 2011 favorites (Justin Bieber!) to our 10 favorite classic rockers who look like Santa (Rick Rubin!), from the tasteful lilt of John Fahey to the seedier exploits of St. Nick himself. We've got an in-depth guide to A Charlie Brown Christmas, an ultimate holiday-party playlist, and capping it all off, our 30 favorite Xmas albums of all time. Enjoy, and have a jovial holiday season.
