A day after closing the VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, POST MALONE and members of his crew spent several hours in a small plane circling over New Jersey, New York and Connecticut preparing for an emergency landing after blowing out two tires on takeoff. They landed safely, but not before flying directly into the kind of turbulent, bonkers news cycle that BILLY JOEL songs are instantly made of. And not before giving internet trolls ample time to show their true troll colors. I have no interest in repeating or linking to the tweets the "ROCKSTAR" pop star was responding to with a well-deserved "f*** you" after he was safe, but I did my due diligence to make sure they were there, which they were, of course. Color me shocked. Which I was. Because it's still shocking to see fellow humans actually writing these things and actually posting them in public, no matter how many times you've seen them before. The onslaught of ugliness is deeply dispiriting. And worth fighting everywhere it shows its face. One of the guiding philosophies of MusicREDEF is that we celebrate the existence of all music, all art, all meaningful expression. And we take it all seriously—the artists who make it, the businesspeople and crews who support it, the fans who listen to it. We are human and there are things we like more than others—and things we like less than others—but we try to never lose sight of the fact that every artist and every piece of art they make is important to someone. Post Malone is every bit as life-affirming to his fans as BEYONCÉ is to hers. The connection is every bit as crucial. We will go to the grave fighting for that. And we will go to the grave fighting for the magic of pop music, from "Rockstar" to "BETTER NOW" and beyond. Safe travels always, Post Malone... Speaking of that connection: Artists have just as strong spiritual connections with the artists they love as fans do. And they can get just as nervous when meeting them. I heart this essay by SOCCER MOMMY's SOPHIE ALLISON on how to make that moment work, whether you're running into HAYLEY WILLIAMS in a mall when you're a teenager or bumping into her backstage when you find your own band opening for hers a few years later... Yet another way to commune with a favorite artist: YOUNG THUG gives ELTON JOHN's "ROCKET MAN" a go. Hugs... JJ ABRAMS has a record label... MADONNA has an explanation, sort of... RIP DON CHERRY and PAUL BROADNAX.