Cannonball with Wesley Morris In Defense of the NYT's 'Greatest Songwriters' List
May 7, 2026
Joe Coscarelli, NYT music reporter and Popcast co-host, offers inside context on ballots and deliberations. John Caramanica, NYT music critic and Popcast co-host, brings deep critical perspective on popular music traditions. They debate the list-making process, contested inclusions and omissions, how to broaden songwriting definitions, and the tensions between catalog depth, lineage, and innovation.
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Greatness Comes In Multiple Measures
- Different measures of greatness were used: high peaks of hit songs, deep catalogs, lineage building, and formal innovation.
- Joe Coscarelli argued Outkast belongs at the center for bridging experimentalism, southern storytelling, and Black musical lineages.
Value Emotional Risk And Evolution Over Hit Counts
- When judging songwriters, consider both emotional risk and long-term evolution of craft rather than just hit count.
- Wesley Morris praised Fiona Apple's risky emotional expression and evolving production across decades as criteria.
Performers Are Easier To Credit Than Behind-The-Scenes Writers
- The panel biased toward performers because it's easier to trace authorship when the songwriter performs their work.
- Jon Caramanica said that non-performing songwriters (Nashville writers, top-liners) are underrepresented and harder to adjudicate in the room.