When we remember 2021, few things will be more evocative than the music that provided the soundtrack to the world as we re-entered it after a long year filled with uncertainty and social distancing.

It’s brutal out there, and that’s why, more than ever, we needed the consoling and prodding pleasures of popular music to help everything make sense in here. [Stage direction: taps chest, knowingly.] ...

"Only here to sin." That admission from NPR Music's song of the year lies at the heart of many of the stories told across these 100 tracks. Perhaps the crowning of Cardi and Megan's "WAP" last year ...

Cardi B has made history as the first female rapper to receive diamond certification on multiple songs. On Monday, the top-charting rapper’s 2018 collaborative single with Maroon 5, “Girls Like You,” ...

"Only here to sin." That admission from NPR Music's song of the year lies at the heart of many of the stories told across these 100 tracks. Perhaps the crowning of Cardi and Megan's "WAP" last year ...