Retroverse Year

2009

A pop artist treats fame like performance art — costumes, hooks, and provocation arrive in the same package and the world can't look away. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé keep country-pop and R&B at the center while Michael Jackson's death sends the catalog streaming in grief. The year proves that spectacle and substance still share a stage. The year proves spectacle and substance still share a stage when the hook is undeniable enough.