Consider last weekend a microcosm of the year to date in music. Last Friday, at the Forum in L.A., Kanye West released his video for “Famous,” the *Life of Pablo *song responsible for reigniting his bad blood with Taylor Swift and bringing out the worst in both. Did Kanye blatantly ignore claims that his work is misogynistic, or is Taylor denying her alleged approval to paint herself as a saint? Whatever the “truth” may be, Kanye is never one to shrink back when accused. What was once a cringe-inducing—and yes, wildly misogynistic—line to be ignored was blown up as the clip’s concept, complete with naked wax figures of the very famous in bed together (including Swift). Kanye called it a “comment on fame.” Really, the “Famous” video is the time capsule that our clickbait era deserves, one of those things going around that you feel the need to engage with because *how can you not, *only to ask yourself afterwards, that was it?

If this all sounds exhausting and a bit beside the point of fandom, another big music headline from last week might be more interesting to you, though I must warn you it is a little sad. (That also has been a trend this year.) Sheila E’s tribute to Prince at the BET Awards last Sunday was everywhere you looked, but it had the rare benefit of being even better than you probably expected when you clicked. Moments like this can feel like remedies, acts of artistic expression seemingly removed from the ego and fame-mongering permeating so much of music culture on the internet. This is even more of a feat given its venue, an awards show—essentially a monetized bastion of thirst.

With all due respect to her abilities, Sheila E has not been A Name in a couple decades. And yet I could not imagine any Prince fan favoring whatever it was that Madonna did in her Prince tribute at the Billboard Music Awards over Sheila E paying tribute to her friend and former collaborator with everything she had. BET had the good sense to get out of her way. Big marquee tributes to icons at televised events don’t have to be all pomp and circumstance; it’s just that stunts are easier to sell.

As we head into the second half of 2016, it’s worth remembering that the music world’s had no shortage of stunts so far this year. In fact, no big album can be released without one. We spent 2015 wondering when Adele, Kanye, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Drake, and Radiohead would surprise-drop their massive albums. But with the exception of Adele, none of them turned up until the first half of 2016. Was there something in the air that made our biggest stars really go for it this year? ANTI*, The Life of Pablo, Lemonade, VIEWS, A Moon Shaped Pool—*are they simply the products of colliding album cycles and coincidence?

Amid this flurry of high-profile releases, two of music’s most innovative and prolific figures—David Bowie and Prince—left this earth. Each death felt like one last provocation in careers punctuated by them. Music fans mourned Bowie’s January 10th passing, following a secret cancer battle, by clinging to his stunning and meta final album, released just two days earlier, and by spending weeks delving into every facet of his career and iconography. By April 21, we were doing the same for Prince, whose drug-related death still feels like a bad dream. He was supposed to outlive us all, with his perfect 90-year-old ass suspended in chaps. In the time between these two deaths, *ANTI, TLOP, *and *Lemonade *arrived, all with little-to-no advanced warning. In the weeks following Prince’s passing, *VIEWS *finally made its debut after years of (unwarranted) hype, while *A Moon Shaped Pool *pulled back Radiohead’s curtain of slow-simmering secrecy.