TOP 20: POETS AND PAINTERS

Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (Republic) will see a ninth week at #1 as six new entries are projected to debut in the Top 20; two of these, $SUICIDEBOY$ and Luke Combs, are set to bow in the Top 5.

Meanwhile, the buzz continues to grow on Island's Chappell Roan, whose 2023 set, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is sailing toward a Top 10 berth. Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" is a bona fide monster, and several other cuts are bubbling up on the DSP charts. With a new album on the way (featuring the aforementioned "Babe" and once again produced and co-written by Olivia Rodrigo amanuensis Dan Nigro), Roan is definitely one of the most consequential new-artist stories of 2024.

Speaking of poets, tortured and otherwise, this piece by National Youth Poet Laureate Salome Agbaroji, composed expressly for last year's Black Music Month issue, is a fine bit of verse for Juneteenth.

Preview image: Lil Artsy