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Ranking the best Christmas albums
By NIKE ROURKE | Dec. 10Below are the best Christmas albums of 2025, ranked and ready to soundtrack the entire season.
Music
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Urth Nose, in her own light
By OBA AWOLOWO | Nov. 26Urth Nose is meticulous about when she releases her music. When she dropped her first projects, 1. BE and 2. BREAK DOWN — a double album packaged as two separate releases — she had intended to release a third, tentatively titled PURPOSE. Once she realized it wasn’t ready, she soon changed her mind.
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The significance of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show
By MARINA NOACK and ALYSSA RAMOS | Oct. 8On Sept. 28, the National Football League (NFL) and Apple Music announced Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, also known as Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, as the halftime performer for Super Bowl LX.
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The fifth Beatle: AI
By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 8, 2023The fifth Beatle, AI, helped them release their latest song. UB students grapple with the implications of A.I.-aided, posthumous releases. Will students “Let It Be” or will they “Come Together” against this new music trend?
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‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ never goes out of style
By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 1, 20231989 (Taylor’s Version) represented not only a reclamation of Swift’s masters, but a new twist on the lightning in a bottle pop record that redefined her career. Most UB students found themselves to be a total “Slut!” for her triumphant return.
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Taylormania is everywhere — even in your food
By ALEX NOVAK | Oct. 18, 2023C3 Dining Hall on UB North Campus hoped that capitalizing on Taylormania would “make the whole place shimmer” with excitement.
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Fresh out the urn: Lil Tay’s resurrection
By ALEX NOVAK | Oct. 4, 2023Lil Tay stepped out of the hearse and into a sports car: UB students react to the controversial child star’s comeback after announcement of her death.
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Not listening to ‘Guts’ is a ‘bad idea right?’
By ALEX NOVAK | Sep. 13, 2023UB students felt as though Olivia Rodrigo's sophomore album spoke to their experiences as teenage girls and young women.
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Music UB students have ‘true blue’ balls for this semester
By ALEX NOVAK | Sep. 6, 2023UB students share the upcoming music they're excited about.
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Smash or pass: UB students on the best and worst songs for sex
By MERET KELSEY and ALEX NOVAK | Apr. 26, 2023Pick a song that gets you hard, not one that makes sex harder.
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Rihanna on the brain — and millions of TV screens
By ALEX NOVAK | Feb. 15, 2023Rihanna opened the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in a glossy-red, custom-made Loewe and Alaïa getup, defiantly staring into the camera on a floating platform while her 2015 hit “B—h Better Have My Money” blared through State Farm Stadium in Arizona this past Sunday.
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What music ‘UB’ listening to?
By ALEX NOVAK | Feb. 8, 2023The Spectrum asked UB students what songs they’re emulating this spring semester.
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Five holiday songs you’ve never heard of that’ll jingle your bells
By ALEX NOVAK | Dec. 9, 2022Step aside, Mariah Carey.
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Swifties’ ‘Bad Blood’ with Ticketmaster
By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 29, 2022After spending hours in the queue on Ticketmaster, only to be kicked out or find no tickets available, many Taylor Swift fans — UB students included — found themselves disillusioned with her massively popular “The Eras” Tour.
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Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ smashed records
By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 17, 2022For the first time in history, one artist occupied all Top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Taylor Swift.
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‘More Love, Less Ego’ displays how her love is better than ‘Her Loss’
By AJ FRANKLIN | Nov. 17, 2022From the smoothness of his voice to the seductiveness of his lyrics, WizKid vividly showcases his romantic abilities on “More Love, Less Ego.”
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Fall Fest draws mixed reactions from students
By MERET KELSEY and ALEX NOVAK | Sep. 28, 2022The free show, last held in 2019, was headlined by rappers Yung Gravy and Fivio Foreign. Reactions to the lineup were mixed.
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‘Everyone at UB came together’: students rejoice at first Spring Fest since 2019
By KARA ANDERSON and ALEX FALTER | May 4, 2022Students surged through the security line at the Governor’s Complex C Lot Saturday as the gates opened for the UB Student Association’s first Spring Fest since 2019.
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Yung Lean fails to live up to past projects on ‘Stardust’
By ALEX FALTER | Apr. 13, 2022Sadly, like some of his other post-2016 projects, Yung Lean’s music feels like a creative mess desperately trying to find its footing, with a confusing combination of musical ingredients that often result in less than favorable dishes.
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Nigo plays it safe on ‘I Know Nigo!’
By ALEX FALTER | Mar. 30, 2022The album’s less-than-expected quality and innovation feels all the more disappointing because it features some of the biggest talents around and Nigo’s creativity, exemplifying that it takes not just creators, but a desire to adventure into the unknown in order to create a masterpiece.
