230: Modern Classics: Yola on Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and the Longevity of Soul
In this installment of Modern Classics we speak to the amazing four-time Grammy Nominee musician, singer and songwriter Yola about her new record, Stand For Myself, and how hearing Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and all its references to 1970s funk encouraged Yola to unlock her own unprecedented mix of symphonic soul and classic pop. As Yola tells it, it’s not just a sound from the past that she’...
34m Jul 27, 2021
34m
229: L’Rain asks “what have you done to change?” (live at JBL)
L’Rain is the musical persona of the singer and multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek. Her new album Fatigue begins with a lyrical quandary: “what have you done to change?” The music that follows takes us on a journey of self discovery with songs interwoven with home recordings of practicing piano, clapping games, and everyday life. The first full length song “Find It” repeats the mantra “make a way...
27m Jul 23, 2021
27m
228: Summer Hits: City Girls - Twerkulator (with Kyra Gaunt
One of the songs we anticipate playing on repeat this summer is “Twerkulator” by Miami rap duo City Girls. It’s a track with enough sonic energy to power a small town, but that’s not all we dig. The song’s music includes a chain of samples that stretch back through pop music history—from 1990s house, to 1980s electro, to 1970s German krautrock—and poses an implicit challenge to some of hip hop’...
25m Jul 20, 2021
25m
227: Summer Hits: Lorde - Solar Power (w Hanif Abdurraqib)
Lorde's new song "Solar Power" set the internet ablaze when it dropped from out of nowhere in June. Some fans found the song to be a buoyant departure from Lorde's last release, Melancholy, while others thought the track felt half-baked. On top of that, listeners questioned the song's provenance — had Lorde cribbed too closely from 90s hitmakers like Primal Scream and George Michael? To listen ...
32m Jul 16, 2021
32m
236: Summer Hits: Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u (with Jessica Hopper)
Olivia Rodrigo’s summer breakup anthem “good 4 u” is filled with the kind of ebullient angst that makes us want to spontaneously dance around our house and belt the lyrics out with abandon. Whether it’s the creeping baseline that pulls us in, or the cathartic release of the chorus, we can’t get enough of this track. And we’re not alone, it seems. The song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100,...
35m Jul 13, 2021
35m
225: Modern Classics: Labrinth's "Sexy MF" (with Sam Sanders)
Modern Classics is the new series where Charlie and Nate invite their favorite musicians, journalists, and friends of the show to wax lyrical about a song that's important in their life. In the first installment of Modern Classics, Nate and Charlie sit down with the host of NPR’s hit news and culture program It’s Been a Minute, Sam Sanders. Sam is one of the best people to talk music with, not ...
32m Jul 06, 2021
32m
224: Growing Pains with Lucy Dacus
Growing up is never easy. But pop songs about adolescence too often gloss over the complicated moments. The “teenage dream” archetype is just a pop culture fantasy. And no one really wants to be 17 forever.  On her new album “Home Video,” Lucy Dacus talks about youthful growing pains. She remembers the uncomfortable moments. Dacus says that “a lot of childhood is crisis mode… you get pushed aro...
30m Jul 02, 2021
30m
233: Summer Hits: BTS - Butter (with Jenna Andrews)
In summer 2020, BTS released “Dynamite,” their first single recorded entirely in English. The song shot up the charts, became one of the most successful YouTube videos in history, and won over pop radio, which had stubbornly refused to play their songs in Korean. Now in summer 2021, BTS have topped themselves again with “Butter,” yet another English language bop that melts… like butter. BTS mem...
37m Jun 29, 2021
37m
222: Pop’s Worst Kept Secret ft. Emily Warren
In 1974 country music, singer songwriter, Dolly Parton got wind that Elvis Presley wanted to record her new song, “I Will Always Love You.“ According to Dolly, the deal fell through when Elvis's manager demanded 50% of the publishing revenue. Dolly refused, released the song herself, and years later arranged a more equitable deal with Whitney Houston, who of course made it a massive hit.  It's ...
28m Jun 22, 2021
28m
221: 40 Years Later, Japanese City Pop is Still Crashing the Charts (with Cat Zhang)
If you listen to a lot of music on YouTube, you may have been recommended a video. The thumbnail image is a striking black-and-white photo of a Japanese singer named Mariya Takeuchi. The song, “Plastic Love,” is a lush disco track with deep groove, impeccable string and horn arrangements, and a slow-burn vocal performance from Takeuchi. When the song was released in 1979, it sold 10,000 copies....
31m Jun 15, 2021
31m
220: J Cole’s The Off Season and the Power of the 12/8 Shuffle
J Cole is one of the most successful rappers of his generation, someone who racks up hits while sustaining critical acclaim. But that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Cole’s sixth studio album “The Off Season” finds a musician struggling to stave off complacency and keep his skills sharp. In a short documentary about the album, Cole describes the album as an attempt to “push himself,” a sentimen...
31m Jun 08, 2021
31m
ICYMI Rina Sawayama Reimagines the 00s
One of our favorites artists right now is Rina Sawayama. She works with her producer Clarence Clarity to make this mash up of sounds from the late 90s and early aughts. She in particular recasts Max Martin pop and Nu Metal — too styles that rarely converged — to make compelling songs with a strong anti-consumerist message. I spoke with Rina Sawayama last summer about her debut eponymous album S...
20m Jun 01, 2021
20m
219: Vijay Iyer on why jazz has always been political
When you think of jazz, you might think of La La Land, luxury car commercials, or fancy dinner parties. Cool, sophisticated, complex, jazz today seems to signify the epitome of class and taste. For pianist Vijay Iyer, that view gets the music completely wrong. Jazz isn’t cool. Jazz is countercultural. Jazz is alive and relevant. Jazz fights racism and injustice. And for those reasons, maybe we ...
31m May 25, 2021
31m
Introducing Galaxy Brains
Today we’re sharing something a little different - a new TV and film show from the Vox Media Podcast Network that we think you’ll like called Galaxy Brains. On Galaxy Brains, entertainment writer Dave Schilling and Mystery Science Theater 3000’s Jonah Ray explore a big, mind-expanding question raised by a TV show or movie, and take it way, way too seriously. In the preview episode we’re sharing...
35m May 18, 2021
35m
218: Turns out Willow Smith rocks
Willow Smith has a new Paramore-inspired emo-slash-pop punk track with a formidable drum groove powered by Travis Barker. Over churning guitars she sneers at fake friends: "smile in my face, then put your cig out on my back." As Nate and Charlie headbanged along to we found ourselves asking "why did we sleep on Willow Smith?" Maybe because we had not taken Willow seriously, knowing her only as ...
30m May 11, 2021
30m
217: Julia Michaels’ Songwriting Superpowers
For nearly a decade Julia Michaels has penned hit songs for the biggest acts in pop music. She is adept at turning people’s vulnerabilities into memorable hooks—think Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” or Selena Gomez’s “Lose You To Love Me.” There are countless others, but all of them share distinctive traits. Where many songwriters aspire to the simplest, almost nursery rhyme level lyrics, Michaels does...
43m May 04, 2021
43m
126: How Take A Day Trip took off (full interview)
The story of the hitmakers behind Lil Nas X’s “Montero” Sheck Wes’s “Mo Bamba” and many more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
39m Apr 30, 2021
39m
216: The Mystery of Montero AKA Lil Nas X (feat. Take A Day Trip)
Lil Nas X has a talent for creating productive controversy. First with “Old Town Road,” he challenged expectations about blackness in country music. Now with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” he takes aim at anti LGBTQ+ messages propagated by the religious dogma from his youth (he came out as gay during Pride 2019). The song describes a romantic encounter without innuendo. Sure it’s raunchy, bu...
37m Apr 27, 2021
37m
215: Pop On A Perilous Planet (with Kyle Devine)
Earth Day 2021 gives us the chance to pause our usual programming and consider the role pop music plays in our deepening climate emergency. On Side A, we listen to artists who have confronted the climate crisis head-on. Side B considers the environmental cost of streaming music with Kyle Devine, author of Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music. Songs Discussed: George Pope Morris - Woodman,...
35m Apr 20, 2021
35m
214: Inside the songwriting session with Teddy Geiger & Dan Wilson (On Air Fest 2021)
On Switched on Pop we talk to songwriters and artists about how they make great songs. Most songs are written with two or more people in the room. Something we've never done before is pair two of the best songwriters in the business to explain how they create a successful collaboration. Teddy Geiger is a Grammy nominated songwriter who's written countless number ones. You've likely heard her wo...
32m Apr 13, 2021
32m
213: Silk Sonic's Retro Soul (with Tayla Parx)
Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars have joined forces as the duo Silk Sonic, and their first release “Leave the Door Open” suggests that their collab is as natural as peanut butter and jelly. The song exudes throwback vibes through its lush harmonies and sensuous lyrics. But this isn’t any run-of-the-mill exercise in empty nostalgia. Silk Sonic have a very specific sound in mind that they’re reviving...
54m Apr 06, 2021
54m
212: AJR Conjure Broadway on OK Orchestra
Andrew, Jack and Ryan Met, better known as AJR, started playing gigs on the streets of New York City. The sidewalk hustle taught them how to grab the attention of the least forgiving audience. Now on their fourth studio album OK Orchestra, they’ve honed an ear-stopping sound that combines modern pop with broadway bombast.  Their platinum-certified single “Bang,” pairs carnival-like horns sectio...
43m Mar 30, 2021
43m
211: Return of the Funk Guitar: Cory Wong Breaks Down Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware and Nile Rodgers
Cory Wong is a Minneapolis native and Vulfpeck collaborator known for pushing rhythm guitar from a background instrument to the star of the show. Wong’s a walking encyclopedia of funk guitar, and he takes us through the riffs and styles—from Nile Rodgers to Quincy Jones—that power modern bops such as Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” and Jessie Ware’s “Step Into My Life.”  For Cory, rhythm guitar isn’t j...
34m Mar 23, 2021
34m
210: What the 63rd Grammys say about the state of pop
The 63rd Grammys was as unprecedented and unusual as last year. Backdropped by the pandemic, the show was delayed and had to be taped in multiple locations in front of a bare bones audience. Echoing the public cries against injustice, standout performances by Mickey Guyton, DaBaby, and Lil Baby decried racism to the nation and to the Grammys—the academy made multiple public statements throughou...
45m Mar 16, 2021
45m
209: Kimbra reflects on a song we used to know
Ten years ago the Australian artist Gotye asked New Zealand musician Kimbra to feature on his song “Somebody I Used To Know.” At the time Kimbra had no idea it was going to be a hit. No wonder—the song lacks the trappings of a conventional pop song. The chorus shows up late and it only repeats once in a track composed of an obscure Brazilian guitar sample and nursery rhyme xylophones.   But thi...
49m Mar 09, 2021
49m
208: Kaytranada's Journey from Basement Beat-making to the Grammys
Kaytranada has what every producer strives for: an in demand signature sound. His records glide fluidly between four-to-the-floor house beats, hip hop sample flipping and P-Funk style 808 bass lines. It’s a technique he honed as a teenager, and one that grabbed the attention of star collaborators: Pharrell Williams, Mary J Blige, Alisha Keys, Anderson .Paak, and Kendrick Lamar. This year he’s n...
38m Mar 02, 2021
38m
207: If The World Was Ending We’d Talk to JP Saxe About Songwriting
JP Saxe wrote the song “If the World was Ending” with acclaimed songwriter Julia Michaels in 2019 about a fictional cataclysm. The record was released in the before times in a way that seemed to presage lockdown. In the early months of the actual pandemic the song resonated so widely that it catapulted up the charts. It’s now been nominated for a Grammy for song of the year — an award JP Saxe c...
37m Feb 23, 2021
37m
206: Adrian Younge's new project sounds like James Baldwin meets Marvin Gaye
Adrian Younge is a producer for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar to the Wu Tang clan, a composer for television shows such as Marvel's Luke Cage (with A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Mohammad), and owner of the Linear Labs record label and analog studio. Younge has a new mixed media project that breaks down the evolution of racism in America that he calls his “most ...
35m Feb 16, 2021
35m
205: The Scandalous Sounds of Bridgerton (w Kris Bowers)
The Netflix series Bridgerton has hooked audiences with its bodice-ripping sex scenes, a colorblind approach period drama casting, and a soundtrack featuring recreations of modern bangers from pop stars like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish arranged in the style of a classical string quartet. By bringing modern melodies into the proper world of Regency England, the show reminds us that classical...
43m Feb 09, 2021
43m
204: How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” used retro sounds and modern bass to break every record
This Sunday, The Weeknd will perform his distinctly dark brand of pop at the Super Bowl halftime show. On the surface, the alter-ego of Abel Tesfaye is a strange pick for the ostensibly family-friendly main-stage — for more than a decade, The Weeknd has fused the sounds of pop, R&B, and trap into a cinematic horror-thriller about drugs, sex and the excess of fame. While his sheer volume of Hot ...
39m Feb 02, 2021
39m
203: Epik High is our gateway into Korean hip hop (with Tablo)
Epik High are elemental to Korean hip hop. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo’s underground style boom bap beats with dexterous rapping helped bring this music from its underground roots to a global scale. On their latest release, Epik High Is Here Part I, the textures are subdued but paired with heavy drums and aggressive vocals, a contrast that matches our collective anxiety arising from the pan...
54m Jan 26, 2021
54m
202: Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad
Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” is breaking streaming records as listeners yearn for the emotional catharsis from this contemporary power ballad. With the help of David Metzer, professor of ...
39m Jan 19, 2021
39m
201: D.O.C. (Death of the Chorus) with Emily Warren
Listen to Top 40 pop over the last decade and you’ll notice something weird is happening. The chorus—the emotional apotheosis of a pop song, its dizzying high, its cathartic sing-along center—is disappearing. In its place, artists from Bad Bunny to Taylor Swift are toying with new, chorus-lite song forms that introduce a new musical grammar to the sound of contemporary pop. We may not think muc...
40m Jan 12, 2021
40m
202: ICYMI: The End Of Pop Music As We Know It: Fall Out Boy & Charli XCX
Is it true that all pop music sounds the same today? For the past year the “pop-drop” has dominated the airwaves. This new form of EDM infused pop came out of DJ culture and has infused its sound with every mainstream act like Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Tiring of this sound, some artists are finding creative ways to parody this pop trope. The rock outfit Fall Out Boy’s “Young And Menace” demonstra...
49m Jan 05, 2021
49m
102: ICYMI: Do You Believe in Life After Autotune?
Auto-Tune may be the most divisive effect in music. Artists have protested it publicly at the Grammys, and critics have derided the effects for its inauthentic reproduction of the voice. And yet, nearly a decade since Jay-Z prophesied the death of Auto-Tune, the sound is alive and thriving in contemporary pop and hip-hop. Journalist Simon Reynolds has written a definitive history of Auto-Tune f...
50m Dec 29, 2020
50m
200: Wham! Op. 84, “Last Christmas” with Chilly Gonzales
Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. That’s because most of our favorite seasonal songs come from the 1960s and earlier. But in addition to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christma...
54m Dec 21, 2020
54m
199: "evermore" of a good thing
Just five months after releasing her Grammy-nominated album “folklore,” Taylor Swift surprised fans with a continuation of sorts — her ninth studio album “evermore.” Working with many of her “folklore” collaborators, Swift says that the team “couldn’t stop writing songs.” Like its sister album, “evermore” shies away from over-the-top pop production, and leans into Swift’s craft. Stripped of the...
44m Dec 15, 2020
44m
198: Women's Rap Renaissance
Producer Bridget Armstrong shares her top tracks from women who are running hip-hop in 2020: Megan Thee Stallion, Tierra Whack, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli, and CHIKA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
39m Dec 08, 2020
39m
197: Red Hot + Blue with Meshell Ndegeocello
In 1990 John Carlin and Leigh Carrol pioneered a new kind of charity album. Together they co-founded Red Hot, a non-profit music label that uses music to raise money and awareness to for the fight against AIDS. This year is the 30th anniversary of their record: Red Hot + Blue, a platinum tribute album to Cole Porter, featuring artists like U2, Jody Watley, David Byrne, k.d. lang and Annie Lenno...
44m Dec 01, 2020
44m
196: The Cyndi Lauper Conspiracy (with Sam Sanders)
Every song Cyndi Lauper writes is pop perfection according to Sam Sanders, host of NPR’s “It’s Been A Minute.” Many fall for “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” but Sanders's favorite song is the slow burner “All Through The Night,” save for one moment: the synthesizer solo. For Sanders, this solo never fit in. Charlie investigates the source of his musical malady and uncovers how the 80s got its gr...
35m Nov 24, 2020
35m
194: ANTHEMS: Missy Elliot — Work It
Cultural critic Ivie Ani breaks down how Missy Elliot broke into the pantheon of anthems, and how she changed the scope of who could belong. Songs Discussed Missy Elliott - Work It Blondie - Heart of Glass RUN-DMC - Peter Piper Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three - Request Line Snoop Dogg - Y'All Gone Miss Me Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby Justin Timberlake - Sexy Back Trace Adkins - Honky Tonk ...
38m Nov 17, 2020
38m
194: ANTHEMS: Smash Mouth - All Star
When Smash Mouth wrote "All Star,” they knew that it was going to change their lives. But they never expected it would become an anthem played in sports arenas, soundtracked by Hollywood, and embedded into seemingly every internet meme. Darryn King joins the show to break down "The Never-ending Life of Smash Mouth's 'All Star.'" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
34m Nov 10, 2020
34m
193: ANTHEMS: Jock Jams — Get Ready For This
In 1995, ESPN launched Jock Jams Volume 1, a compilation record that would define the sound of sports for the next quarter century. We listen to the album's biggest songs to define what makes a "Jock Jam," and tell the story of how this record came to define the sound of the stadium. MORE Read Emily VanDerWerff's article: “The Jock Jam” megamix inadvertently plays out ESPN’s inner tensions Lea...
37m Nov 03, 2020
37m
192: ANTHEMS: Queen — We Are The Champions
Freddie Mercury and team made one of the most unusual anthems of all time. “We Are The Champions” has a somber beginning, an uncertain ending and a sprinkling of operatic allusions. Yet more than 40 years after this slow burners debut, it continues to be a staple at sporting events. In the first episode in a four part series, ANTHEMS, Nate and Charlie break down the song’s fundamental elements ...
36m Oct 27, 2020
36m
191: Cory Henry has something to say
Cory Henry is a remarkably gifted multi-instrumentalist. Growing up in the church, he started playing the Hammond B3 organ at age 2 and played his first gig at Apollo theater in NYC at age 6. As a professional musician he’s played along side Bruce Springsteen, Boyz II Men, The Roots, Kirk Franklin and many others including the acclaimed group Snarky Puppy which earned 3 Grammys during his tenur...
33m Oct 20, 2020
33m
190: The Pop Music Forecast (with Lauren Michelle Jackson)
Shawn Mendes, BTS, Alicia Keys, 24kGoldn, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber & Chance The Rapper are all in the Hot 100 with songs that attempt to cope with the state of the world. What do they tell us about the sound of popular music and our collective psyche? Charlie is joined by writer, critic and friend of the podcast, Lauren Michelle Jackson to offer a meteorological reading of music in late 2020. S...
44m Oct 14, 2020
44m
189: Brandy Clark's Life Is A Record
There is a tradition in country that loves flawed characters lost on a winding journey… likely down a dit road. One of the best songwriters in this style is acclaimed songwriter Brandy Clark. Her credits include a whose-who of country music Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, Lean Rimes—and her albums have received overwhelming critical acclaim. Her debut record, 12 stories, earned h...
32m Oct 07, 2020
32m
188: Keith Urban on The Speed of Now Part 1
Keith Urban is a legend of country. He’s been releasing hit records for two decades now. Each album he describes as a portrait of his life in that moment. On his latest work, The Speed Of Now Part 1, has Urban disregarding country convention (as he’s known to do), and collaborating with a diverse roster of musicians who contribute an eclectic array of sounds funk guitar, breakbeat drums and eve...
42m Oct 02, 2020
42m
187: Mickey Guyton’s fight for Country Music’s acceptance
Mickey Guyton spent a decade of fits and starts trying to make a career in country music. But now in recent months she’s having a country music moment releasing vulnerable songs that use her experiences of rejection, exclusion and racism as inspiration. Charlie speaks with Guyton about her breakout songs “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” and “Black Like Me,” as well as what it took for her to make...
56m Sep 29, 2020
56m
186: Disclosure: Where Energy Flows
Howard and Guy Lawrence, the brothers behind Disclosure, found global acclaim in 2012 with their song “Latch” ft. Sam Smith which blended house and dubstep in a doo-wop time signature. Since, they have collaborated with many of pop’s most sought after vocalists (The Weeknd, Lore and Khalid to name a few) in an ever evolving vision of dance music. On their latest album release, “Energy,” Disclos...
40m Sep 22, 2020
40m