Rolling Stone’s Michael Jackson issue is out, and the magazine has posted online several reminiscences of the star by other artists. Weird Al Yankovic’s is clear-eyed (he credits Jackson’s refusal to let him parody “Black or White” for reviving his own career); John Singleton’s is touching (the last line: “I will love him forever”); Stevie Nicks’s is short and spacy. One of the more interesting memories comes from Daryl Hall, who says that when he was recording “We Are the World” Jackson approached him and admitted to stealing from a Hall and Oates song for “Billie Jean.” Hall says that he told Jackson that he had stolen the bass line, too, and that creative borrowing was fair play. The song in question, of course, is “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” from the 1981 album “Private Eyes.” It became Hall and Oates’s fourth No. 1 single and was heavily sampled by rappers, most famously, De La Soul, on “Say No Go.” But was it really the basis for “Billie Jean”? You be the judge.
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Cultural Comment
Why Normal Music Reviews No Longer Make Sense for Taylor Swift
Critics argue that “The Tortured Poets Department” sounds too much like Swift’s previous albums. Fans argue that that’s the whole point.
By Sinéad O’Sullivan
The New Yorker Interview
Aasif Mandvi Contains Multitudes
The actor and comedian on his “Daily Show” breakthrough, writing the roles he wanted to see, and playing a new kind of character in “Evil.”
By Inkoo Kang
Pop Music
The Anxious Love Songs of Billie Eilish
Much of the artist’s new album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” is about wanting a relationship but failing, in some fundamental way, to sustain closeness with another person.
By Amanda Petrusich
Pop Music
Dua Lipa Devotes Herself to Pleasure with “Radical Optimism”
In an era of postmodern, self-referential music, there’s something refreshing about the artist’s new album—short songs, big hooks, and a celebration of delight.
By Amanda Petrusich