@Junior cruz

The once-forbidden Caribbean dance style goes global.

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

The tracks you can’t get enough of lately, all in one place. Updated as you listen.

The songs you love. The more you use Apple Music, the better the mix. Refreshed every Tuesday.

Whether it’s a weekday morning or Saturday night, get going with this personalized mix of upbeat music. Refreshed every Monday.

Songs to help you relax and unwind. Updated every Sunday.

Raised on 2Pac, Biggie, Nas, and JAY-Z, J. Cole emerged in the 2010s as a torchbearer for serious hip-hop. The first signee to Hova’s Roc Nation label, he has proven to be a deft team player, producing as well as rhyming alongside Missy Elliott on 2012’s “Nobody’s Perfect” and TLC on 2013’s “Crooked Smile.” Yet he excels on his own, too, with his deeply personal—and strictly guest-free—2014 album <i>2014 Forest Hills Drive</i> continuing his multiplatinum track record thanks to enduring smashes like “No Role Modelz.” Subsequent albums have often meditated on particular subjects at length: Part of 2016’s <i>4 Your Eyez Only</i> was written from the perspective of a slain friend, while 2018’s <i>KOD</i> unpacked the lure of addiction in money (“ATM”), sex (”Kevin’s Heart”), and drugs (“KOD”). Despite the gravity of his subjects, Cole is the rare artist who successfully reconciles the conscious with the commercial—look no further than his emotive, chart-topping 2024 mixtape, <i>Might Delete Later</i>.

Gliding between styles with a grin, Bruno Mars is a true triple threat. He's a singer with the sweetness and swagger of his '60s and '70 idols. The one-that-got-away intensity of a soulful ballad like “When I Was Your Man” will leave you in tears, and then this smooth operator will seduce you with the sly boasts of a dance floor-destroying anthem like “Uptown Funk.” As a songwriter, Mars is a human jukebox loaded with decades of hooks, racking up retro hits like the pulse-pounding New Wave rocker “Locked Out of Heaven” and adding bumping hip-hop breaks to the intensely sweet love song “Just the Way You Are.” But while Mars may have learned his behind-the-boards chops by studying the past—whether that means the time-tested Motown playbook or the electro-shocked pulse of post-disco R&B—even his delectable throwback jams like “24K Magic” have a luscious sheen that's pure 21st century pop.

Here’s a time capsule of pop classics that sound as good now as the day they dropped. Whether you’re taking a trip down memory lane or visiting for the first time, let this mix be your guide. Our editors update these selections regularly, so if you hear something you like (whether it’s a forgotten favorite or a new discovery), add it to your library.