A challenge The New York Times faced in compiling their list of the ’30 Greatest Living American Songwriters’ was representing as many genres as possible. Rather than adhere to the traditional white male guitar-and-a-pen concept of songwriting, they wanted to open the conversation to other forms of songcraft.

I think that’s the right approach for a list like this. Popular music in 2026 is different than the folk and rock derivative music of the 20th century. Rap, for example, has been a dominant musical form for three decades. It needs to have a significant presence in this project, and it does.

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