In my opinion, a lot of these artists are hitting a wall built by a combination of the breadth of the genre and their inability to expand upon its well-worn subject matter in a way that makes what they have to say compelling across an entire project, as opposed to just a song or two. Larger question, of course, is whether or not that matters in an era dominated by singles and loosies.

Pop music in the now is about creating characters as much as anything … Lana et al get that.