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    Best and Worst Moments From the 2022 Grammys

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    Young artists brought dramatic performances, Doja Cat had an emotional moment at the microphone and Volodymyr Zelensky recorded a serious plea from Ukraine.The 64th annual Grammy Awards promised a return to (relative) normalcy following a scaled-down 2021 ceremony that largely took place outdoors. In Las Vegas for the first time, and with the pop spectacle dialed back up, the show’s most impactful moments were often its least flashy: a sober plea for help from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine; Doja Cat’s teary moment at the microphone; performances on rooftops that put a spotlight on a different crop of artists. (High-octane live moments from Billie Eilish and H.E.R. made a big impact, too.) Here are the show’s highlights and lowlights as we saw them.Best First-Love Kiss-Offs: Olivia Rodrigo and Billie EilishOlivia Rodrigo sang her hit “Drivers License.”Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTwo spot on performances that were too raw to feel petty, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” — a couple of last year’s most potent and dramatic breakup songs — injected some much-needed feeling into the first half of the show. (Condolences to the young men these songs were allegedly written about.) Although the ceremony, as usual, couldn’t quite decide on its target demographic, it was the youth — these young women, especially — who carried the mantle of relevance, but also of performance, with strong enough live vocals for any pop skeptics among the CBS faithful.Rodrigo failed to go full Eilish 2020, winning only one of her nominations in the Big Four categories, best new artist, plus best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance. But hopefully the long shots of her during Eilish’s onstage rock explosion were more about their songs’ emotional kinship than trying to force a fake rivalry. Rodrigo, 19, and Eilish, 20, should probably get used to this stage; the Grammys are beyond lucky to have them both. JOE COSCARELLIBest Reality Check: Transmission From UkraineIn a recorded segment, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave an emotional plea for support in his country’s war against Russia.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe Oscars had a moment of silence for Ukraine; the Grammys had a videotaped speech from Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s president, who did not mince his words. “The war. What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people,” he began. It is impossible to balance the indulgence of an awards show with the horrors of war, but Zelensky was strategic, calling on pop for its ability to transmit information: “Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story,” he urged. John Legend followed him with a hymnlike new song, “Free,” joined by a poet, Lyuba Yakimchuk, a singer, Mika Newton, and a bandura (zither) player, Siuzanna Iglidan, from Ukraine. It was a heartfelt, dignified gesture. JON PARELESMost Humanizing Bathroom Break: Doja CatSZA and Doja Cat shared a moment at the microphone accepting best pop duo/group performance.Rich Fury/Getty ImagesFor an evening otherwise light on genuine chaos, Doja Cat and SZA’s win for best pop duo/group performance was a welcome jolt of messiness. First, a lone SZA slowly hobbled up to the stage on crutches (“I fell out of bed before I came here,” she explained later) before spotting Doja hustling up to the stage and saying, “Girl, you went to the bathroom for like five minutes, are you serious?” Doja seemed rattled and winded enough that the story checked out, and as she ascended the stage to accept her first Grammy, she told the world, “I have never taken such a fast piss in my whole life,” with the comic timing of a seasoned stand-up. After collecting herself and smoothing out her dress, though, pop’s favorite troll suddenly got uncharacteristically emotional. “I like to downplay a lot of [expletive],” she said through tears, “but this is a big deal.” For an artist who often revels in fantasy, irony and otherworldly artifice, it was an endearingly down-to-earth moment. LINDSAY ZOLADZWorst Handling of the Most Popular Genre: Rap’s Spotty Presence (Again)Nas looked back at some of his classics in a Grammys performance.Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated PressNas, who is 48, nodded at his classics: “I Can,” “Made You Look,” “One Mic” — sure. Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar’s cousin and protégé, won an award for a pretty weird song — cool. Jack Harlow rapped well and censored himself artfully during his “Industry Baby” verse with Lil Nas X — OK, nice. Still, rap couldn’t help but feel like an afterthought at the ceremony, despite having separated itself over and over as the lifeblood of the music industry in the streaming era. Few of the genre’s rising stars, or their heroes, were present, let alone featured, while rock was referenced repeatedly. The winner of two rap awards in the preshow, Kanye West’s absence, necessary as it may have been, was glaring. And even a gesture that could generously be seen as inclusionary — dubbing Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton men’s wear who died last year, a “Hip Hop Fashion Designer” — was widely received online as dismissive or minimizing. The distrust runs deep, and the healing has yet to begin. COSCARELLIRead More on the 2022 Grammy AwardsThe Irresistible Jon Batiste: The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun.A Controversial Award: Some people questioned the decision to bestow the Grammy for best comedy album to Louis C.K., who has admitted to sexual misconduct.Old, but New: Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.The Fashion: An exuberant anything-goes attitude was a reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place.Zelensky’s Speech: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the audience in a prerecorded video. Here’s what he said.Best Carnivalesque Spirit: Jon Batiste and Lil Nas XLil Nas X played with reactions to his music in a medley that also featured Jack Harlow.Rich Fury/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyNot every Grammy spectacle works out for the best. But two over-the-top song-and-dance numbers this year made their points both visually and musically. Instead of trying to mimic the CGI extravaganza of his video for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” Lil Nas X — a social media mastermind — flashed internet reactions to it, surrounded himself with menacing, black-clad drummers, then went bare-midriff to dance in front of a gleaming bust of his own head, big enough for a carnival float. He and the ensemble switched to glittery marching-band uniforms for his duet with Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby” — a high-kicking, cheerleading victory parade.Jon Batiste brought the candy-colored palette and long-limbed, high-stepping moves of his “Freedom” video to the Grammy stage, but in real time and even more delirious, surrounding himself with dancers of wildly assorted shapes, sizes and cultural signifiers. Batiste was by turns a piano virtuoso, a vaudevillian, a preacher and an instigator; he led his forces into the audience and danced his way onto Billie Eilish’s table, where she enthusiastically joined him in singing “Freedom!” PARELESWorst Overcorrection: Trevor Noah’s Anti-Oscar NicetiesThe host Trevor Noah worked hard to keep the tone of the banter light.Rich Fury/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyLast week’s Oscars left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths, and even before The Slap Heard Round the World, there was already some chatter that the show’s jokes at the expense of nominees had been a little too acidic. In light of all the controversy, it wasn’t surprising the Grammys wanted to present themselves as a kind of anti-Oscars, and the host Trevor Noah wasted no time, proclaiming in his opening monologue, “We’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths” — about as polite a reference to Will Smith’s Oscars outburst as a person could muster. But as the show went on, Noah’s bland, gee-whiz tone felt more and more like an unfortunate overcorrection, blunting the edges of his jokes such that they hardly had an impact at all. In introducing Jared Leto, Noah even breezed right by the lowest hanging fruit in the 2022 joke book: Making fun of the accents in “House of Gucci”! No one was asking him to take meanspirited swipes, but a well-placed zinger here or there would have given the show some needed spice. ZOLADZBest Moment for the Stans: BTS’s V Flirts With Olivia RodrigoOlivia Rodrigo with V of BTS.Emma Mcintyre/Getty Images For The Recording AcademySometimes the Grammys give us rare moments of wonder that could only be dreamed up in the universe of fan fiction. Consider the opening of BTS’s “Butter” performance: As the James Bond-themed presentation started, the camera panned to BTS’s V (Kim Taehyung) and Olivia Rodrigo, where the pair were seated next to each other in the audience, chatting. For a whole 18 seconds, V leaned over and whispered what we can only assume were sweet nothings into Rodrigo’s ear. Jaws dropped; eyelashes batted. It was perhaps the most flirty moment in BTS history. I ship it. ISABELIA HERRERAMost Refreshing Comeback: Big, Bold FashionMegan Thee Stallion on the red carpet.Maria Alejandra Cardona/ReutersMaybe it was the move to Las Vegas, maybe it was the pent-up desire to dress up after two years of distanced and/or postponed awards, but the Grammys red carpet was alight with over-the-top, exuberant fashion. Megan Thee Stallion seemed to be channeling an entire big cat enclosure in her one-shouldered, slit-to-the-waist Cavalli; Lil Nas X, a sci-fi warrior angel in pearl-encrusted Balmain; and St. Vincent, the most extravagant boudoir in organza ruffled Gucci. Even Lady Gaga, whose entrance look was awfully classic silver screen elegance, changed into a mint green satin strapless number to perform — with possibly the biggest bow in existence on her behind. Meanwhile, the best bling wasn’t just bling for bling’s sake: It was bling with meaning. Jon Batiste set the tone with a silver, gold and black harlequin sequin suit whose colors were an ode to his hometown New Orleans, and Brandi Carlile said her “40-pound” bejeweled Boss tux was a homage to Elton John. Though in the end, one of the most striking outfits of the whole night was the least fancy: Billie Eilish, performing in a shirt featuring Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters drummer who died in late March. It was a fashion statement of the most effective kind. VANESSA FRIEDMANWorst Arrangement: Justin Bieber’s ‘Peaches’Justin Bieber began his performances of “Peaches” with an extended riff at the piano.Rich Fury/Getty ImagesI’m not even mad at the pants. But a staid and silly extended piano intro, a sloppy pseudo-jam session and shoddy bleeping undermined Justin Bieber’s “Peaches” performance — and his ongoing quest to be considered a serious R&B singer. On a night where Silk Sonic and Jon Batiste cleaned up with studied professionalism, the junior varsity-ness of Bieber and company’s showing didn’t feel subversive, it just fell flat. COSCARELLIBest Sidelined Performances: The Preshow and the RoofMon Laferte shone in a performance on the preshow ceremony.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesDoubtless with an eye on the show’s weak ratings, the Grammys — which used to make time for performances of jazz, classical music and other not-so-commercial genres — have focused in recent times on hits, even as its 80-plus categories recognize niches galore. But there are still music lovers alongside the Grammy metrics team, and the internet is their safe space and consolation prize. The pre-prime-time awards, where nearly all the categories get handed out in a brisk web-only ceremony, regularly feature superb performances and this year was no exception: Alison Russell recasting her “Nightflyer” as passionate string-band chamber music, Ledisi presenting a regally tormented version — in French, then English — of “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” Jimmie Allen suffusing country with filial pride in “Down Home” and Mon Laferte working herself up to gale-force fury in “La Mujer.” The prime-time show also allowed itself glimmers of music from beyond the pop charts, sandwiching some ads with snippets of outdoor performances as exuberant as anything on the main stage: salsa from the Cuban singer Aymee Nuviola, worship music from Maverick City Music and labyrinthine progressive bluegrass from Billy Strings. Sooner or later, the show promised, they’ll be on the Grammy website. PARELESBest Theater Kid Energy: Lady GagaLady Gaga delivered big gestures and bigger notes in a performance of songs from her album with Tony Bennett.Mario Anzuoni/ReutersIt’s no secret that the Grammys have been having trouble booking A-listers these past few years, so when you can guarantee a household name like Lady Gaga, you better give her the best seat in the house and keep a camera on her all night. Gaga seemed eager as ever to hold court, posing for pics with BTS, rocking out to the Brothers Osborne, and even holding SZA’s train to help her get onstage without tripping over her crutches. But her most memorable moment had to be her gloriously theatrical and somehow-also-touching tribute to her ailing duet partner Tony Bennett. Vamping her way through jazzy renditions of “Love for Sale” and “Do I Love You,” Gaga once again proved she has the range and (with apologies to an impressive Rachel Zegler) somehow out-theater-kidded the show’s Sondheim tribute. ZOLADZBest Arm Choreography: J BalvinJ Balvin’s tightly choreographed number was a highlight.Rich Fury/Getty ImagesJ Balvin isn’t known for his vocal presence. So it was surprising that the Colombian star chose to open his Grammys performance with “Qué Más Pues?,” his lukewarm pop-reggaeton collaboration with the Argentine singer Maria Becerra. José always has something up his sleeve, though: After a minute and a half duet with Becerra, the lights came down and Balvin ascended a lighted staircase in an all-crimson ensemble, flanked by masked, seated dancers in neon bleachers. As he started up his Skrillex-produced EDM jaunt “In da Getto,” the dancers, illuminated by an electric blue glow, broke out coordinated arm choreography. The movements were tight, jagged and slick: think synchronized swimming, but edgier and with less water. Both well-conceived and executed, it was a refreshing reprieve from the cartoonish visuals and leopard-print buzz-cuts Balvin is known for. HERRERABest Young Awards Show Staple: H.E.R.H.E.R., Travis Barker and Lenny Kravitz teamed up for a performance of “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”Rich Fury/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyThe 24-year-old songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. (Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson) has found a regular place at awards shows. That’s good, because she always has something to say, with both a message in her lyrics and a musicianly presence. She flaunts her skills as a singer and player, her combination of historical knowledge and up-to-the-minute awareness. Her latest Grammys appearance was typically informed and flamboyant. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — from the Time and from Janet Jackson albums — flanked her on keytar and bass as she sang “Damage,” a song about being taken for granted. Then H.E.R. moved on to a drum kit, slamming out cross-rhythms, before shifting to what used to be called a Grammy Moment: a younger musician joining in on an oldie. This year, she stepped up alongside Lenny Kravitz for his 1993 hit, “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” both singing and strapping on a guitar, presenting herself not as a disciple but an equal. PARELESWorst Argument That Cancel Culture Is Real: Louis C.K. Winning Best Comedy AlbumGrammy voters could choose among six nominees in the best comedy album category, including Chelsea Handler, Lewis Black and Nate Bargatze, but somehow enough of them voted for the guy who admitted to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. I wish I had a joke for that, but it’s just depressing. ZOLADZ More

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      Reggaeton’s Global Expansion and Wide-Open Future

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | StitcherThe current generation of reggaeton superstars — J Balvin, Rauw Alejandro, Farruko and more — find themselves in constant dialogue with pop, EDM and hip-hop, and have become ambitious ambassadors of cultural exchange. As the genre is growing in global popularity, it is also stratifying into subsets, some leaning toward the synthetic and some returning to roots.That sign of reggaeton’s growth and maturity also portends questions about who will lead the genre into its future, and what that future might sound like.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about reggaeton’s engagements with the pop music mainstream, how its biggest stars navigate the responsibilities of being emissaries and also recent developments in Dominican dembow.Guests:Isabelia Herrera, The New York Times’s arts critic fellowKatelina Eccleston, reggaeton historian at reggaetonconlagata.comConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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      J Balvin Attempts to Reintroduce Himself on ‘Jose’

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      The Colombian star skips innovation and presents an impressionistic inventory of the sounds that established him as a global force on his sixth studio album.If there is one figure in pop music who has perfected the language of feel-good cultural affirmation, it is J Balvin. For over a decade, the 36-year-old Colombian star has claimed he is on a mission to “change the perception of Latinos in music,” using his rainbow aesthetics, smooth reggaeton textures and radio-ready trap hits as ammunition.There have been plenty of milestones, including “Mi Gente” and “I Like It”: his chart-crushing collaborations with Willy William and Beyoncé, and Bad Bunny and Cardi B. Both tracks have become flash points for jejune narratives about “booming” Latino cultural representation: a tale that flattens differences among people of distinct races, languages and countries — and suggests this music is influential only when the Anglo mainstream is paying attention.There was his performance at Coachella 2019, when Balvin became the first reggaeton artist to play the festival’s main stage. There are his cartoonish visuals, leopard-print hairstyles and flowery album covers designed by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. And there are his ad-libs — “J Balvin, man,” “Leggo” and “Latino gang!” — signature catchphrases that have become so trite, they’re essentially begging for meme-ification.“Jose,” his sixth studio album, arrives at a moment when Balvin has finally established himself as a global celebrity. The record considers what is possible when a pop idol, especially one from Latin America, no longer needs to prove himself.At the end of “Jose,” Balvin takes a true gamble. For what may be the first time in his career, he gets deeply personal.So, allow J Balvin to reintroduce himself. “Jose,” Balvin’s first name, is a 24-track behemoth that follows in the vein of other playlists-as-albums — the kind of project intended to dominate streaming platforms, like the recent supersized releases from Kanye West and Drake. But the album struggles to truly innovate: “Jose” is an itinerant, unfocused effort that offers an impressionistic inventory of the sounds that have established him as a force: pop-reggaeton, trap and EDM.The majority of the album (about 13 of its tracks) — like “Bebé Que Bien Te Ves,” “Lo Que Dios Quiera” and “Fantasías” — falls firmly within the sphere of ultrapolished, creamy popetón. It is an unimaginative formula, and one that Balvin has mastered: blend a lilting dembow beat, a candy-coated melody and lyrics about the gushy soap opera of a dance-floor courtship or a sexual fantasy for maximum streams. Elsewhere, Balvin returns to Top 40 trap, another style he’s known for: On “Billetes de 100,” featuring the Puerto Rican star Myke Towers, Balvin offers a self-mythologizing reminder that he can actually rap. “In da Getto,” a resort-ready EDM track produced by Skrillex, elaborates on yet another sound that has helped catapult Balvin to international stardom.Some songs aim for novelty. The opener, “F40,” is a self-assured blast of reggaeton bombast that shifts tempos, slowing to an irresistible, carnal crawl. And “Perra,” a collaboration with Tokischa, is an audacious, X-rated venture into dembow, a street sound born in the barrios of the Dominican Republic that has recently caught the attention of the wider Latin music industry, despite its longtime grasp on popular music in the Caribbean country.It is only in the last third of “Jose” that Balvin takes a true gamble: For what may be the first time in his career, he gets vulnerable and deeply personal. “7 de Mayo,” named for Balvin’s birthday, is a chronicle of his rise from the streets of Medellín to eminence, featuring spoken samples of his mother, Alba, and an awards-show thank you from the reggaeton forefather Daddy Yankee. “In a barrio in the middle of Medallo, this one was born/With sweat on my forehead/Calluses on my hands,” Balvin reminisces in Spanish. While the intimacy is new for Balvin, the song follows the formula of hip-hop origin stories too closely (nearly mimicking Jay-Z’s “December 4th”). It feels like Balvin is being forced to complete a tedious homework assignment, rather than reflecting earnestly on his personal hardships.“Querido Rio,” a soft guitar ballad dedicated to his newborn son with echoes of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” similarly falls flat. Its shallow lyrics and syrupy delivery land with cloying sentimentality: “I don’t just want to be your father/I also want to be your best friend,” Balvin croons in Spanish.For an artist who paints himself as pathbreaking, “Jose” feels remarkably safe. At this point, Balvin does have the power to nuke expectations — those of his own career trajectory, his imagined community and the genres he operates within. Instead, “Jose” colors inside the lines, safeguarding Balvin’s reign by reveling in the familiar.J Balvin“Jose”(Universal Music Latino) More

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      Taylor Swift Rejoins Her ‘Folklore’ Crew, and 8 More New Songs

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      Hear tracks by Brent Faiyaz featuring Drake, J. Balvin and Skrillex, Chicano Batman and others.Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new songs and videos. Just want the music? Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes). Like what you hear? Let us know at theplaylist@nytimes.com and sign up for our Louder newsletter, a once-a-week blast of our pop music coverage.Big Red Machine featuring Taylor Swift, ‘Renegade’Big Red Machine is the project of Aaron Dessner — the guitarist in the National who was a producer on Taylor Swift’s “Folklore,” “Evermore” and her remake of “Fearless” — and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), who wrote and sang “Exile,” a high-angst duet with Swift on “Folklore.” Swift sings two songs on the Big Red Machine album due Aug. 27, and regardless of the billing, she dominates “Renegade” with her melodic sense and personality: terse, symmetrical phrases carrying a coolheaded assessment of a failing partner, as she fends off attempts to “let all your damage damage me/and carry your baggage up my street.” The Big Red Machine aspect is in the production details — multilayered drones, tendrils of electric and acoustic guitar, Vernon’s distant backing vocals — but “Renegade” would fit easily on a Swift album. JON PARELESBrent Faiyaz featuring Drake, ‘Wasting Time’The way Brent Faiyaz approaches his verses over the lush, vintage-minded Neptunes production of “Wasting Time” is airy and a little fleeting, as if he’s so absorbed in his pitch to a potential lover that he can’t quite bring himself to stick close to the beat. “If you got time to waste, waste it with me,” Faiyaz pleads, almost pulling back from the request, casting his line while averting his heart. But there’s surety in the layered chorus — a Neptunes standard — and the thumping bass line, and then in the guest verse from Drake, which strikes a sour note about what it means to give of yourself and get crickets back: “Fluent in passive aggression, that’s why you actin’ dismissive/Hearing me out for once would require you actually listen.” JON CARAMANICAJ. Balvin and Skrillex, ‘In da Getto’Credit where credit is due: The lion’s share of the block-party spirit in this song, which is perfectly designed to be blasted all summer, comes from the beat, organ hook and female vocals that the producers Skrillex and Tainy got by sampling “In De Ghetto” by David Morales and the Bad Yard Club featuring Crystal Waters and Delta, from 1994. They built on their acknowledged source, grabbing and crisping up the best moments and tossing in some sirens, while Balvin’s gruff rapping stokes the festivities. But the foundation was already there. PARELESDe Schuurman, ‘Nu Ga Je Dansen’In the late ’80s, DJ Moortje, a selector from the Dutch Antillean island of Curaçao, mistakenly played a dancehall track at the wrong speed during his set at a club in The Hague. The result was a breakneck, squeaky-voiced sound called “bubbling,” a style that would veer into a thousand new directions over the next couple of decades. A new release from the Ugandan label Nyege Nyege Tapes is a reminder of the movement’s innovation. “Bubbling Inside” compiles previously unreleased tracks from De Schuurman, a staple of the scene a decade ago. Its standout, “Nu Ga Je Dansen” (“Now You’re Gonna Dance”), is a two-and-a-half minute club rampage. The first 30 seconds recall a late ’90s rave — all sirens and unhinged ferocity. But before long, a flood of kick drums arrives, beckoning everyone to the dance floor. ISABELIA HERRERAChicano Batman, ‘Dark Star’The musical DNA of Chicano Batman is rich with references to bygone eras: the trippy deliria of psych soul, the political ambitions of Brazilian tropicália and the concept-driven idiosyncrasies of prog-rock, among others. But the Los Angeles band has never been interested in mere nostalgia, as it reminds us on “Dark Star.” The song is arranged like a puzzle: a jagged, layered bass line (à la Madlib) clashes with serrated guitar lines, while laid-back vocals glide over the production. In the chorus, the lead singer Bardo Martinez’s voice blooms into what feels like sunny psychedelia. But blink for a second and you’ll miss the ominous undercurrent of the track: The “Dark Star” at hand is not a celestial being, but America — a somber place contending with the legacies of racial violence that still drive its everyday reality. HERRERATi Gonzi, ‘Kudzana Dzana’Tinashe Gonzara, the 28-year-old Zimbabwean rapper and singer who performs as Ti Gonzi, has been recording prolifically since 2009 and winning music awards in Zimbabwe. He has already put out an album this year, “Sendiri Two.” But his newer singles have concentrated on melody as much rapping. “Kudzana Dzana” (“Hundreds and Hundreds”) stacks up vocal harmonies over a teasing, flexible three-against-two groove of percussion and guitar picking that hints at Shona mbira (thumb-piano) traditions but also lets an electric guitar wail. “Life is a journey,” announces one of the few lyrics in English. PARELESTarrus Riley, ‘Heartbreak Anniversary’Giveon’s “Heartbreak Anniversary” is almost incomparably inconsolable. That it’s become the soundtrack for a TikTok dance trend borders on the lunatic. But perhaps that unlikely juxtaposition set the table for this cover, by the reggae star Tarrus Riley, which neatly leavens its angst. Over undulating, swinging production by Kareem Burrell and Dean Fraser, Riley sings not like a man mopping himself up off the floor, but rather one smoothly sauntering to safety. CARAMANICASarah Proctor, ‘Worse’“I know that it hurts/I know I’m going to make it a little bit worse,” Sarah Proctor tells the lover she betrayed. Piano chords toll and vocal harmonies swirl around her, making her sound reverent and contrite — except that she’s not apologizing. She’s breaking up. PARELESSquirrel Flower, ‘Iowa 146’Ella Williams, the songwriter behind the indie-rock of Squirrel Flower, doesn’t shy away from whisper-to-shout full-band crescendos on her band’s new album, “Planet (i).” But “Iowa 146” sticks with the whisper, accompanied by folky picking and all sorts of sustained near-phantom sounds, as she sings about the romance of sharing a guitar. PARELES More

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      ‘The Boy From Medellín’ Review: A Dizzying Week in J Balvin’s World

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      A documentary about the reggaeton star from Colombia is a relatively sophisticated form of celebrity publicity.The year is 2019 and protests in Colombia — the largest the country has seen in decades — have erupted against the government of President Iván Duque. The killing of 18-year-old Dilan Cruz by a police projectile makes its way into the reggaeton star J Balvin’s Instagram feed, which exacerbates his individual crisis.It seems Balvin wasn’t sleeping well. In the days leading up to a sold-out concert on Nov. 30, 2019, in his hometown, Medellín, he begins to consider his responsibilities as a public figure. Social media users criticize his political disengagement, while uprisings in the city threaten to cancel his big night.In “The Boy from Medellín” on Amazon Prime Video, the director Matthew Heineman captures a week in the life of Balvin, the Prince of Reggaeton, a charismatic performer who appears to be privately diffident.Known for his gritty documentaries about international conflicts (“Cartel Land,” “City of Ghosts”), Heineman delivers a relatively sophisticated form of celebrity publicity in this film, armed with stunning concert footage but unoriginal insights into the burdens of modern fame, like the difficulty of balancing the expectations of fans with personal desires.At the very least, attending a J Balvin show looks like it would be great fun.Heineman weaves together clips from Balvin’s youth — his scrappy origins in the local music scene — with snapshots into his chaotic present. As the concert approaches, Balvin seems to be either on the verge of a panic attack or meditating with the help of his spiritual adviser. Destigmatizing mental illness is an important cause for Balvin, for reasons made intimately apparent.Similar recent mythmaking projects like Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” and Taylor Swift’s “Miss Americana” have generated their own publicity by giving access to curated versions of the personal lives of musicians, which makes them seem real and relatable. In “The Boy from Medellín,” this curation is obvious.Before Balvin hits the stage, his manager urges him to speak out and cites the activist roots of the American rap group N.W.A. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the comparison, since the artists responsible for explicit protest anthems probably didn’t need any encouragement to express their opinions. In “getting political,” Balvin risks alienating some fans, but he stands to win some as well — the viewers of this documentary, for instance.The Boy from MedellínRated R for language. In Spanish and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video. More