“An unintended offshoot of this approach—trying to see the year through the Kanye West Lens—is that you realize that the year can be seen through a variety of lenses. Maybe the mixing of pop culture and politics as shown by Lady Gaga is more your thing. Or Katy Perry’s ambiguous effect on feminism is what sums up the year for you. Or the recycling of 90s pop/rock culture exemplified by the Pavement/Weezer reunions really gets you going. Or maybe the mainstreaming of outsider cultures—Far East Movement’s having the first top-ten hit by an Asian-American group and Die Antwoord’s briefly popular Afrakaans rap—is the main storyline of the year for you. The more you try to cram the year into a pre-formed box, the more it overflows.”