This week in Pop

Rosalía picked this week to fully step into her maximalist era, dropping her new album Lux and reminding everyone why genre labels don’t really stick to her. The record is being described as a challenging, transcendent pop symphony that pulls in global club textures, flamenco DNA, and experimental electronic edges, the kind of project you have to sit with instead of just skimming the singles. Early write-ups are already highlighting it as one of the most ambitious pop releases of the year, with reviewers noting how it blurs the line between underground art piece and stadium-scale banger. For anyone making genre-fluid music, Lux is basically a green light to keep experimenting. You can dive into the release and early critical reaction via Billboard’s 2025 album calendar and a rave review from The Daily Music Report (via Billboard / The Daily Music Report).

Hip-hop history was made in Los Angeles as Outkast and Salt-N-Pepa were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, turning the ceremony into a celebration of how rap reshaped popular music. Salt-N-Pepa hit the stage in their classic tri‑color jackets for a run through “Shoop,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Whatta Man” with En Vogue, and of course “Push It,” while also using their speech to call out the industry over their masters being pulled from streaming. Outkast didn’t fully reunite on the mic, but Big Boi led a wild tour through the duo’s catalog with help from Tyler, The Creator, JID, Killer Mike, Janelle Monáe, and Doja Cat, while André 3000 delivered an emotional, off‑the‑cuff speech about their beginnings in an Atlanta “dungeon” and how “great things start in little rooms.” Between Missy Elliott’s induction speech for Salt-N-Pepa and Donald Glover’s words for Outkast, the night framed these groups as the foundation for a lot of what modern hip‑hop and pop even sound like. Full coverage of the ceremony and performances is up at CBS News, NBC News, and Rolling Stone (via CBS News / NBC News / Rolling Stone).

That same Rock Hall night also hit hard for rock fans, turning into a mini–alt‑rock festival inside the Peacock Theater. Soundgarden’s induction came with a deeply emotional tribute: Jim Carrey gave a heartfelt speech about Chris Cornell, Cornell’s daughters spoke and sang, and Taylor Momsen plus Brandi Carlile stepped up to take on “Rusty Cage” and “Black Hole Sun” with the surviving bandmates. The White Stripes didn’t fully reunite—Meg White stayed out of the spotlight—but Jack White accepted in their trademark red‑and‑white and watched Twenty One Pilots rip through “Seven Nation Army,” while Olivia Rodrigo and Feist turned “We’re Gonna Be Friends” into an intimate moment in the crowd. Add in Warren Zevon’s induction (with David Letterman telling stories and The Killers blasting “Lawyers, Guns and Money”) and a Sly Stone tribute led by Stevie Wonder, and you basically had a crash course in the last few decades of rock history. It’s the kind of night that quietly re-centers guitar music in the conversation again—details are all in the Rock Hall recap from CBS News and NBC News (via CBS News / NBC News).

Country radio is about to get a whole lot more festive: Trisha Yearwood has released Christmastime, a new holiday project that arrives right on schedule as the weather starts to flip and playlists go full sleigh‑bell mode. Slotted on the November 7 slate of major releases, the album pairs Yearwood’s classic, warm vocal tone with a mix of standards and new material, leaning into the cozy, fireplace-side side of country rather than the tailgate bangers. It’s also a reminder of how veteran country artists often own the holiday lane—these are the records that quietly rack up spins every year while the big pop albums fight for headlines. For working country and Americana artists, it’s another signal that seasonal projects can be a smart long game move, not just a side quest. You can spot Christmastime listed among this week’s marquee releases on Billboard’s 2025 album calendar (via Billboard).

On the global/EDM side, DJ Snake returned with Nomad, a project that pretty much doubles as a world tour packed into a tracklist. The record pulls from reggaeton, baile funk, Middle Eastern melodies, hip‑hop, and big‑room festival energy, stitching it all together with the kind of sleek production DJs aim for when they want both streaming numbers and festival pyro. It’s the latest example of how “EDM” now really just means high‑energy, globally influenced club music, not just the old 2010s festival formulas. For producers, there’s a lot to study here in how he keeps familiar drops but rotates the rhythm and texture so nothing feels stuck in one region or scene. A detailed breakdown of Nomad and the rest of November’s key dance releases is up at EDMNOMAD (via EDMNOMAD).

If you zoom out, this week is all about longevity and reinvention—Rosalía pushing pop into art‑house territory, legacy rappers finally getting their flowers on a rock stage, grunge and alt‑rock icons being reintroduced to a new generation, and country plus EDM veterans dropping records built to last beyond the hype cycle. As a listener, it feels like the lines between “genre lanes” are softer than ever; as a producer, it’s a reminder that there’s room to play in the cracks between them. I’m curious where you land on it all—does the Rock Hall honoring Outkast and Salt-N-Pepa actually change how you see hip‑hop’s place in the “canon,” and are albums like Lux and Nomad pushing you to experiment more in your own stuff? Drop your thoughts, hot takes, or favorite deep cuts from this week’s releases in the comments so we can dig in together.

Keywords: Rosalia Lux, Outkast Rock Hall 2025, Salt-N-Pepa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Soundgarden Rock Hall induction, The White Stripes 2025 induction, Trisha Yearwood Christmastime, DJ Snake Nomad, November 2025 music releases, weekly music news, pop hip hop rock country EDM