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Billboard's Greatest Popstars Part 2 (with ZEE Machine & DJ John Michael) image

Billboard's Greatest Popstars Part 2 (with ZEE Machine & DJ John Michael)

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ZEE MACHINE, DJ John Michael and myself continue our conversation about Billboard's 25 Greatest Popstars of the 21st Century with the final six acts:  Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

Transcript

Introduction and Kanye West's Influence

00:00:00
Speaker
And I just realized I have been recording with my microphone backwards for the last five episodes. So my apologies for the weird audio. I really appreciate it. This is part two of our billboard conversation of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. That starts right now with Z machine and DJ John Michael. We are are continuing our conversation with Kanye West and then moving on to the rest of the list. Thank you so much for listening. Enjoy.
00:00:27
Speaker
Welcome back to pop theory, everyone. I just realized I have been recording with my microphone backwards for the last five episodes. So my apologies for the weird audio. I really appreciate it. This is part two of our billboard conversation of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. That starts right now with Z machine and DJ John Michael. We are are continuing our conversation with Kanye West and then moving on to the rest of the list. Thank you so much for listening. Enjoy.
00:00:55
Speaker
and i will say 808s and heartbreaks is a fucking phenomenal album paranoid ah is one of my favorite pop songs i think heartless is still incredible yeah and probably one of his best what was what was the song love lockdown Those drums. That VMA performance was like, we were all like, what the fuck is he doing? And then we understood. but Like, I almost felt like that recording was like a mistake because it's like so lo-fi in a lot of ways. That whole album like start to finish. It almost kind of sounds like it was made on like really cheap equipment. Right. Right. In a way. But that's kind of what gives it that texture. but And. love
00:01:37
Speaker
fade from the life of Pablo, I think is phenomenal. you know that Oh my God. Deep, deep inside. That. the video with Tiana Taylor, like one of the very few times where I'm like, am I Tiana Taylor? She, I'm very excited about. She's about to do a Dionne Warwick biopic. Oh, you know what? People have been saying just like, oh no, it's like done that they feel. Oh my God. Yeah. No, it's done. Because also even before that, people have been saying on Twitter, like they got to be related.
00:02:09
Speaker
but She she inducted her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. No, incredible. I'm excited for that. I think she can do really well. But I love I love. and I heard Atlanta last year and she was so sweet. Oh, really? Because I was just about to say my ex used to work on the set of The Masked Singer and said and I believe she won.
00:02:31
Speaker
but and But she was like, she was like promised to win because this shit's fake. Right. um And apparently she was an absolute nightmare. Oh, no. oh Yeah. Yeah.

Britney Spears: Legacy and Current Presence

00:02:42
Speaker
I mean, keep in mind, this is like third hand, but she was like, right, refusing to like do stuff. Apparently, like her mask or her mic like started malfunctioning and she like.
00:02:51
Speaker
ran off stage or I don't know. I think I think but like her win was also like predetermined or something. It was weird. It was weird. OK. Anyway, she did. So she didn't have to work that pussy that hard. I love that song. Anyway, Tiana Taylor, not on this list, too.
00:03:07
Speaker
Yes. But you but you know who is on this list. Number six, the legendary Miss Britney Spears. Feels a little feels like she should be higher. Feels like she should be higher. You know, especially considering the 21st century. Right. Because if you're looking like 2000 starts, oops, I did it again. The album run after that. Come on.
00:03:29
Speaker
You know what, I'm gonna be controversial here and say Six feels correct. Controversial yet great. First of all, Six is great. It is. Let's just say, which's one out of out of the millions of artists, yeah I think what hurt her is her lack of output.
00:03:48
Speaker
beyond a certain point, you know? Sure. Sure. That's fair. Yeah. Because we haven't gotten anything from Glory and and like rightfully so. Yeah. And like and i anything after femme fatale. So it's it's kind of been 13 years since she's done anything musically. I agree with you. I think that I think that the the lack of output plus I mean, I don't want to sit there and and and I'm not blaming her at all for the things that she's got. Of course. Yeah.
00:04:12
Speaker
You know, it's it was out of her control, but it also is the reality that we live in. Yeah, unfortunately. And so and we're just glad that she's, you know, on her own journey now and doing what she's doing. She says she's moving to Mexico. I support it.
00:04:26
Speaker
go to Happy, also happy belated birthday. Yes. That's right. I know. I think it was yesterday. It was like, yeah, it's like two days ago or something like that. Yeah. Nuts. Ms. Britney Spears. Eternally 21 in my mind. Right. I mean, actually she posted a video, a reel yesterday.
00:04:44
Speaker
And she looked like Britney fucking Spears. Oh, Britney fucking Spears. Right. like and As in the sense, like, you know, she's been looking a little like there's a whole theory where it's like, that's not Britney. It's deep fake. Well, she posted there was maybe it was the lighting, but she looked like.
00:05:01
Speaker
Brittany and I was like like healing a part of me. I didn't know I needed to be here. Yeah. i mean She does. look She looks great. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Considering everything that she's gone through. I mean, like I would, I would be a mess personally. I would be a mess. So.
00:05:17
Speaker
I remember when the If You Seek Amy video came out, I remember literally being like the biggest epsilon and texting everybody and being like, did you see the video? She's back. We're fine. The hair is good. We're back. We're back. yeah but That was me when Hold It Against Me dropped. ah Because they did that rollout of like little clips like every day. Oh my God. Yeah. yeah I'm sorry, like for me. We love you, Bonnie.
00:05:42
Speaker
For me, as much as blackout is always the one and I love blackout femme fatale is my favorite. My I think this is my my number one bad take about music even worse than Kelly Clarkson sucks. But she doesn't. Blackout is bottom three Britney albums for me. Okay. Interesting. yeah Look, and I am also of the man. I will pick up the mantle and say that I do not believe that Britney Jean was as bad as it everybody says. I don't, I don't know. even though She's barely on it. Right. Right. Right. yeah Like we love you, Maya Marie.
00:06:17
Speaker
Shout out to Maya Marie. Shout out to Maya Marie. There are like the four or five songs on on Blackout that I like, but overall, like and you know what, I give it credit where it's due. She was she was very in it innovative and creative on that album. just There's just something about like the production style that was just not resonating with me. On things like Get Naked or like Toy Soldiers, I just don't like it.
00:06:43
Speaker
Oh, see, those are the two that I love the most. I do too. That's okay. this is why This is why we are all different. We are all God's children. I like to like break the ice. um Oh, my God. Hot as ice. I guess the ice songs. Love it. Heaven on Earth. let me Okay. Why should I be sad?
00:07:02
Speaker
Heaven on Earth is so underappreciated. Oh, Cara Diagardi? Right. And I'm like, and this is your little I feel love moment. You want to hear something weird? You want to hear something weird? You think that with my musical taste, that would be my favorite song on the album.

Lady Gaga's Cultural Impact and Collaborations

00:07:17
Speaker
It's my least favorite song on the album. And you know what? From the time I felt the same way, but years later, it started to get to me. And I was just like, this is actually, this slaps. Yeah. I need to revisit it because on that album,
00:07:31
Speaker
toy all okay interesting thanks greatly ah penny There was just a it was just a sound that was very it was very big in that era where it just everything kind of sounded thin is that like i it was written by Sean Garrett and I love Sean Garrett and that in that time frame like he did I think when I grow up he did Bottle pop by the pussycat doll. I love that song. I love that But I think she also won me back when they did that. I don't know if it was like an extended because I know it leaked online first, but that's everybody that samples. um Oh, yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. It was a bonus. I remember downloading ah like a torrenting or something like ay torrenting album that had like early versions of all these songs like those. Yes. She sang called like Baby Boy. Yes. She was like singing it was not very good, but she was really singing and an earlier version of Heaven on Earth that was a lot more sparse.
00:08:24
Speaker
Yeah. oh But it yeah kind of, it which I would say the comparison is like the EP version of dancing on my own versus the body talk full version of dancing. Yes. It's kind of the difference that it sounded like. Right. yeah Right. That is such a gay reference.
00:08:41
Speaker
but I know, and I have not heard that version since 2007. And the both of us are like, yes, yes. Didn't you just tweet about that? You're like, the synths in this are like completely unnecessary. Oh, this I hate the full like length body talk album version. I agree, I agree. Dance on my own. So yeah there's something about just like the Stark, You know what, I feel like it i feel like there needs to be a gay person list. right there There needs to be, literally, this needs to be done by gays and that and it would be done correctly. Okay, so let's do it. i literally you know I'm gonna show my homophobia here a little bit. I feel like if gay people did the list, it would be, if just gay people did this list, it would be awful. It would be so insufferable. nomo be leber one would be kim petriss right it would be like yeah our Number It would be like, Charlie would be top 10.
00:09:40
Speaker
Number five, Rebecca Black. Yeah, it would be like some like niche, like PC music kind of. Right. Anyway, sorry, I'm not going to get it. But number five, we've got a girl. Anyway, I don't get it. We've got we've got we've got Lady Gaga. She should be number one, but I'll i digress digresses. he digress No, no, no, no. I feel like if she if she had not been top five,
00:10:08
Speaker
I would have thrown a fit. um yeah The outfit is a little strange. i mean i cant you know I understand in a way only because sales in it within the last 10 years. you know i feel like she I feel like she has cemented herself into culture in a way that in 20 years, she will be like Cher. Yes. i saying Yes. Yes. A hundred percent. And it's like I don't give a fuck if disease did not burn up the charts. Right. Because she doesn't need to. She she has already like like isn't the fame like one of the best selling like the top five best selling albums of like the past like 15 years or something. I don't know. And that's with and that's with her debut. um I just think she has
00:10:59
Speaker
yeah Sorry, this is my stand moment. She has like been blazing the trail and like doing things that nobody else was doing. And so the fact that like any time that she does like anything that might be like a little more conventional, someone's like, I don't know, this just sounds, it's like, okay, well, when the fuck is your fave? Like no offense, when is Ariana? Like I love her, but like, come on. Right. um Because it'll always be some like arianator who doesn't have a profile photo of themselves on Twitter.
00:11:27
Speaker
um I don't know. I just think she has constantly like done like weird shit that no one else is doing. She completely like ushered in the the era of EDM. She made everybody go from prom dresses to fucking cut up Hello Kitty's on their head on the red carpet.
00:11:45
Speaker
With not shit that wasn't saying anything. They were just trying to keep up and by that point she was already ten steps ahead um I feel like Gaga's imperial phase is something that people who weren't like cognizant of pop type They're just you're never gonna get it. but Oh my god. It was such a time to be alive no he Was witnessing Gaga's explosion onto the scene was true. I mean we really haven't said I mean I would say I I I car There's been a lot of comparisons with chapel run lately and I think that the main comparison. Not the same. it not the same yeah The main comparison in the sense of the like the skyrocket from like from being quote unquote unknown to like mainstream. Everyone knows who she is. There are similarities.
00:12:27
Speaker
that's where i so That's where the similarities where I see. yeah But we have not seen an artist explode like Lady Gaga with the impact that she had on the complete zeitgeist from yeah the sound of music to fashion. To every demographic. To every demographic. We have not seen that since her. Like she probably could have done the Super Bowl in 2010. Yeah. Yeah. And just done all of the famous. Right, right, right.
00:12:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, it's it's it's hard to den like, I feel like that is the hardest hitting day, like Imperial phase debut. um I mean, but I'm sorry, I don't I don't feel like in this century without even if you look at like, you know, ah with the jazz albums aside, which are also great in their own right.
00:13:13
Speaker
um I don't think that there's ever been a let up like if you want to talk about sales like that's one thing but artistically musically like there is nothing about her discography that I'm like oh well this is a point where I was like not into Gaga because I'm sorry like even when you want to sit there and talk about Joanne I like the album and I thought that it was some incredible songwriting I feel like many people would point that out I you know while it wasn't the album I wanted I think it was good for what it was and I'm glad she got it out of her system. Absolutely. but Like there's not a Gaga album that I hate. No. um And I feel like she has been so smart in how she has played her career. um Even if she's not you know even if she's not you know like who's like like a Billie Eilish who is you know
00:13:58
Speaker
very billboardally relevant. right um Although not for nothing, die with a smile. hu I feel like she has inserted herself into so many different genres of culture right that she is just going to be forever relevant no matter what she does. And I feel like she's while she's going to be a Cher, I think she's also going to be sort of like an Elton. Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
00:14:22
Speaker
I feel like I see that that a lot of that in her future as well that we just haven't even touched on yet. Well, when you see I mean, when you see again, when she kind of blew up onto the scene and the fame monster was coming out, I mean, you saw it when you see the legends, revering a younger artist and being like, this is the next big thing.
00:14:42
Speaker
Right. Pay attention to that because like that's I mean she was collaborating again it was what 2011 she had already collaborated whether it was live performances or studio performances she's done everything from stuff with Yoko Ono suit oh bennet to to Sting to Stevie Wonder to Beyonce to she did her SNL skit with Madonna. I mean like I can't believe that happened so early in her career. Right. Yeah. Right. oh early Oh my God, that they got Madonna onto SNL for that. Right. Literally one of my favorite things ever. And can I tell you, I had a friend who was interning ah for SNL that time and and met Gaga and Anna Madonna. She said so and she knows obviously knows how much of a Madonna fan I was.
00:15:28
Speaker
She was like, she texted me that night and she goes, I can't tell you but you're going to want to tune into ah SNL and who Gaga was going to be on. I like had this moment where I was like, Oh my God, Gaga is going to shout me out on SNL. delusion delusion delusion it was a perfect illusion um But she she i was telling me that this, she texted me that because the surprise was Madonna.
00:15:55
Speaker
right? um But she said that she didn't talk to Madonna, but she did walk by her dressing room. And she said that she walked by the room and she saw Madonna, like looking at herself in the mirror, hair and rollers with like the lights all around the mirror.
00:16:07
Speaker
And she said that she was blaring techno music. And I was like, Fallon, that is how exactly how I want to meet Madonna. one thousand percent That is how I want to meet her. And I was like, that thank you for giving me that visual because that is now permanently um burned in my brain. like i i have I have a lot of Madonna stories that are secondhand because one of my best friends went to was ah a makeup artist on through three of her tours. Oh, wow. um Yeah, I can tell you stuff like off camera that's not on the podcast. but like yeah i gotta be She might be somebody somebody that I don't know that I would want to meet. I love her so much that I feel like it has to stay that way. It has to be arm's length. I just don't think it would be. It's probably in her best interest that I don't.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yeah, in a way, I do feel some type of way like that about Gaga, except for the fact that no one has ever said anything bad about her. Right. Right. It seems like she always does. She always seems very sweet and very genuine. Yeah. Wait, tell me what your lowest rated Gaga album is. Well, I mean, Joanne, but you know, I but that's just because it's not it's not the type of music I usually gravitate to for her. But I would say other than that,
00:17:19
Speaker
Probably the fame. Honestly. Interesting. Because I feel like the fame is half like innovative masterpieces and half like, well, we had these songs. A. A. Okay. I do love A. I do like that song. I do. I'm thinking more like Paper Gangster.
00:17:41
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. but No, which which that which that's this those are the songs that like gay people love. Like, what do you mean that there's some of the best in her just like you are lying. Right. And have that taste. Boys, boys, boys. you know Which is crazy. with that but That was supposed to be the next single off the album and they canceled it for bad romance. Good removal. Right. Oh, and my God. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
um Oh, and I will do one hot take that the version of Do What You Want With R. Kelly is the superior version. Oh, I have i have long said that. Sorry, like Christina, I love you, but no. And i'm ah I'm glad that exists so that it can still be in the context of the album without having to pay royalty. Well, actually, no, R. Kelly's still credited as a writer. No. um But you know I will say, i because I downloaded the physical, or not the physical, I downloaded the digital version on iTunes when it came out.
00:18:36
Speaker
So I still have that on my library so I can listen to it without having to benefit him. Right. Financial in any sort of way. There we go. Yeah. Here's the question. Do you consider the Fame Monster its own separate yeah album? Yes. Absolutely. Do you? Okay. Okay. But I also think that it was very cool that she kind of was like blurred the lines of the concept of what was an album. What was a a bonus?
00:19:02
Speaker
album and then what was also and then what was also its own. But the grammons Grammys nominated. the Fame Monster as its own thing. So I think the Recording Academy has spoken as well. But also it just, it is a completely different sound. It's its own statement. It just, it feels like not at all similar to the fame in any kind of way. Plus it came out like i ah like over a year after its release. I just think it's that it's it was her leveling up. So to me, it feels like a different album. At Justice for Monster.
00:19:34
Speaker
Justice for Teeth. Justice for every fucking song on that album that could have been a single. Right. Monsta should have been. That was the one that I'm like, i I hate that we never get a video. I did see her do that at um Roseland Ballroom. Oh my god, I was there. Oh, do you know? I was just there. Were we at the same room? I don't think it was the last night. I think it was the first one. Was this like a private show or something? No. So do you know with Roseland about that deal with the Roseland Ballroom?
00:20:04
Speaker
It was like the last, it was the last show that they filmed before they tore it down. And it, yeah, it's the last, it was the last eight shows at the venue. And it was like, what, like a thousand people or something like that? Beyonce did a show there, one like an exclusive show there for the four era, I believe. yes yeah um Which is crazy thinking about Beyonce in a venue like that. But that was my first time seeing her live, ah was that, throat it was from like that distance. oh my yeah It was like a 10 song set. And she did the best version of Bad Romance on that one. The best like went to that whole I don't want to be friends bit like the way she sang it in that concert in that specific one. Yeah, it's so incredible. of All her opt ups.
00:20:48
Speaker
Yes, it's incredible. She did she did black Jesus Amen fashion. Yes. Yes. which We need to celebrate that. Like, but you were about to say something else. Well, I was going to ask, ah was that the concert that she like climbed a ladder to say? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. And she had that like, was it the guitar that she was playing? Yeah. She was in that red rose shirt. Yeah. Yep.
00:21:11
Speaker
her And she had, it was like, yeah I was gonna say, it was like art pop era, right? Yeah, yeah. This is it sort of like the end of, this is like, this was G.U.Y era. yeah Yeah. Because I remember that she performed, I believe on Letterman, but it was coming to you live from the Roseland Ballroom. So basically her performance of G.U.Y was at, was like live during the show. Right. Okay. Which is very cool. God, God. So good.
00:21:38
Speaker
And there are some moments on Art Pop that I'm like, not up to. Art Pop is not her best album. I don't think it is. Oh, OK. I think when I'm listening to it, it is her best album. Let me tell you, I will ride for Sex Dreams. I can't even tell you how much I fucking love that song. The iTunes Festival version. Yes. Should have been a single. It's so ridiculous how much I love that song. But like Jules and Drugs, throw it away. Manicure, throw it away.
00:22:05
Speaker
You know, it was she was throwing everything at the wall and making it stick. And I will say demo version of Aura better than the album version. Oh, my God. Why did I don't. Oh, you know, I would say demo version of that. And did you watch the ah the iTunes Festival performance? She did that era when she was debuting all new music. Yes. Yes. The version of art pop there.
00:22:26
Speaker
was so fucking good. yeah when she When she turned those hey, hey's down. yeah yeah And gpsing Gypsy, Gypsy is one of the best. One of the best dance songs she's written. It's so good. Because I was like, this took everything I love about Edge of Glory and like just sprinkled unicorn dust on it. Yeah. yeah And the squeal the squeal that she let out during swine should have been in the album version.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Like, it was just so it's so good.

Drake and Rihanna: Chart Dominance and Influence

00:22:57
Speaker
Yeah. But I actually did. I was DJing. I made a like a mix for my friends workout class. I actually added the squeal into it. Oh, yeah. We got underrated. Yeah, we need to probably move on. I mean, I could do this all day. Right, right, right. Just just for text you pictures. OK, I will just say I do want another I want to know a Gaga episode with the three of us.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yes. I'm not even kidding. Justice. Oh, my God. Sorry. One last thing since you were doing Justice for when she was on the Born This Way ball, the tickets to my show, of which were canceled two weeks before the show. um She did this thing where she wrote a song over a Z instrumental. Oh, called the of he has a song called Stash on it Princess Die High. And I was like, is this an original Gaga? And I didn't know that it was a Z song, but that is like one of my favorite Where's my stash? Can you feel my love? Sorry. i didn't know i will never I will never see Addison Rae because nothing on but the radio. it will never be It will never be your song Addison. I'm sorry. No. It will always be Gaga. Also, did Gaga write that because she's not credited as a writer? No. She didn't write it. Which I don't understand. You know who did write it? Who? Billy Steinberg, who wrote Like a Virgin.
00:24:16
Speaker
Didn't he also write? I don't hear it, but I love it. Yeah. wait am i He also wrote, i I want to say he did a song for Cyndi Lauper. Yeah, he did did the True Colors. It might have been True Colors or Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I know, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was Johnny Hazard. That makes sense for Addison Rae. He also wrote, this is a song called love eye peps I Could Get Used to This by the Veronica's. Yes, but I think he didn't. He also write for Amber. Didn't he write like yes?
00:24:43
Speaker
oh he might have he's a prolific clearly a prolific operator so anyway anyway number four we've got drake look let me tell you something drake complicated figure yes now if I am not a huge Drake fan for most of his catalog, but when we got to Honestly Nevermind in like 2021, 22, 23, I don't even know, 22. I, Overdrive is one of the best things I've ever heard him do. Sticky, massive, fantastic. I love it. The beat on Massive ah gets me going. It's so good. And I'm like, if you just wanted to record Fuckboy Pop, I would absolutely be more of a Drake fan. But it's like,
00:25:28
Speaker
when you were doing the thing with Kendrick, I'm like, you're losing this battle and you're making yourself look really terrible. Like I'm just not, I don't know. But if he has a beard, I'm into it. There you go. That's it. I think he's someone who, he is just like,
00:25:43
Speaker
Someone he's another one where it's very much like straight culture dominance in a way that like I'm not really a part of but I observe and I'm like like someone else who's like this is like Travis Scott like he's in your name and I i admit and I'm just like I but I don't see it because that's just not the circle I hang in right like like it's very straight um but also just for sheer output like Drake will drop like a 25 song album every year or or he was for a while and then like most of those will chart. Right. Yeah. But i share your numbers and he's he's he just like eclipses people because he puts out so much. Yeah. And it's crazy because it's like but like when I think about the things like but what is actually sticking around?
00:26:29
Speaker
I feel like that's always the thing. That was incredible. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That was an incredible era, but I feel like there was so much because of the output that I'm like, it's so much of it just became over the years for me, just throw away and just sort of forgettable. Like there was a moment here and there. Disagree. I wouldn't disagree. I feel like, and this is a weird comparison to make, but like just the vibe for me is similar to like an Ariana where like I can't re like there There are certain areas where I'm like, you weren't really burning up the charts, but I just always heard you. right right yeah That's the thing, like I never don't hear Drake, or he's never not on a song, or he's never not charting, and he's never not like wildly popular for whatever reason. yeah and the And I've said this for a while, but...
00:27:19
Speaker
the uh uh was it uh oh my god not find your love although i love find your love um hold on we're going home is my favorite production i think on any song ever just wow what we're measuring jordan sorry then i see i famously am not a huge drake fan yeah i'm not a huge drake fan i'm thankful for heated i'm very thankful for heated oh Oh, and I will say mine with Beyonce. Oh, yeah. Oh, I love that so much. It's one of my favorite songs on that Beyonce album. Yeah.
00:27:55
Speaker
and take care with Rihanna, iconic. Oh my God, when he when he kind of does his like, kind of brooding, like sad, like pop. Right, that's what I said, I'm into that. like Even like Hotline Bling I really liked. Sure. That was fucking fun, like that was a hook. It was a meme moment. He really was like, I don't know, he's he's managed to like stay relevant for better or for worse. And I think and i think like the, um I'm sure he holds some type of like streaming or charting record. i think Has to be. he would yeah and so and i think that
00:28:29
Speaker
has has I could have seen him go down to maybe like number six or seven? Yes. yeah but ah But I think that solidifies him in the top ten alone. Well, and then there was that that video leak recently. which you know Which I haven't seen. I like his penis. We'll send it to you. Someone send it to me? Yeah, I'll send it to you. I'm always a little slow on the uptake with that. I know. I know. I mean, it's blurry as fuck. I'm like, did he take this with an Etch-a-Sketch? Like, what are you using? Yeah. I felt I was like, am I problematic? But I'm like, whatever. It is what it is. I'm a man. It is what it is. I'm a man. I'm a man. Sorry. It is what it is. Number three. We have Bad Gal Riri.
00:29:11
Speaker
Remember her? i Deserved. I'm gonna say deserved still. Yeah, no, no, no. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I would not fight it. Like, I don't... Oh, go on, go on. Dude, I don't feel like we really knew what we had until it was gone.
00:29:26
Speaker
When I agree on the same token, I also feel like yes, but I also feel like and maybe it's because I'm a DJ and I deal with this constantly. Every time I hear her songs or if they're played or when I play them or whatever, they still I don't want to say they feel new, but they still have the same level of excitement. Right. They're evergreen. Right. Right. Yeah. She and she she has like 20 songs that you could be like, oh, yeah, absolute smash banger hit.
00:29:55
Speaker
easily one of my friends this was like maybe five or years ago or so I have a friend of mine who she was like she was like Rihanna's not that big she was like she's ah like what how many like she's like what's her hit song and I was like she oh um mike how much time do you have right was like I started listening them I started listening them off and she was just like I didn't realize that was all her It's the type of thing where if you're like, what is Rihanna's signature song? I feel like everybody every, most artists, I feel like there is that one song where you're like, oh yeah, that's their thing. Or they have like three they could pick from. Rihanna has like 10. Easily. yeah I love a signature song conversation. I think it's fascinating. I think that you an on that i love I would love that because I think that there are some artists that do not have signature songs and some absolutely do. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
And Rihanna, you could make arguments for, and I think this shows what you know or don't know about Rihanna if you say certain songs of her sort of signature. I had co-workers who were like, oh, Umbrella's her signature song. And I was like, ooh. For straight people. No, for straight people. For straight people like it is. I would make an argument for that because I think when you do a Rihanna impression, the first thing you do is A-A-A. Sure. I feel like it's We Found Love.
00:31:10
Speaker
I mean, We Found Love is, I think, my favorite. I mean, it's yeah like those, like that, and like ah Only Girl in the World, like those are the two that I probably- I mean, Only Girl in the World is gonna be my favorite. I think it's quite California king bed. That is probably one of my least favorite. That is one of my husband's favorites, and I'm like- She, I think, had the most impactful hair era of any girl, pop girl, in the past, like, 15 years.
00:31:35
Speaker
with with the loud red hair. Okay, I'm gonna tell you how right and how gay you are right now because I was in beauty school right after Disturbia came out and I cut my mannequin's hair to look like hers in Disturbia. Oh my god, I love that. was just What is your inspiration? And I was like, it's this. I mean, there's she has that like angular kind of karen cut, which became like the Rihanna for a while. And then she did the red hair, which also became the Rihanna.
00:32:03
Speaker
right um she's She's, yeah, yeah, she's she's got like, i've I'll often joke that like, music pop music areas are really just hair. Girl, you know girl, yes. as you You're talking to a former hairdresser too, so I'm like, yes, I will 1000% agree. Something Gaga gets. Oh yeah, that's right, I always forget that. Someone who dyes their hair a lot. Exactly. She and and talk about, I mean, like, you know, something that I think that with a lot of these artists, too, is that, the you know, reinvention, it seems to be a thing, you know, I know that some people don't like that term Madonna. But no, you know, she needs to not stop fighting it. That's right. Right. like It's but like, I mean, truly, like, I think what makes a really exceptional pop star is when you do
00:32:52
Speaker
take your sound and elevate it and try something new and and explore and experiment. That's what makes it fun. Right, right. yeah What's your deep cut? What's your deep cut? My favorite Rihanna deep cut? Yeah, like if you had to pick one that nobody would think of really. ah Oh, okay okay, okay. While you're thinking, my favorite Rihanna feature, Wale.
00:33:12
Speaker
and Rihanna, Bad, do you know that? I actually don't know that one, no. Oh, my, her bit in that whole song is so fucking good, I live, I live. Okay, I'm gonna have to lick this up. Or if you really wanna go like super strange. I have like several deep cuts that I'm like, I wanna, I can't choose.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, this is hard. Firebomb, Cold Case Love. Ooh. Excellent choices. Yeah. um You know what? I didn't actually like a lot of the the album tracks on Loud, but I loved the singles. What's on Talk That Talk. I feel like that's the one that I that i was not a fan of. i Drunk on Love drunk was good. Drunk on Love. Not Drunk in Love. um That's the one that samples the XX song, right?
00:34:00
Speaker
Yes. OK. Controversial. Nobody's business. ah So good, though. It's so good. It interpolates ah my favorite Michael Jackson song. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, made me feel right. Yes. And it has the the the most awkwardly comped vocal take from Chris Brown I've ever heard.
00:34:19
Speaker
It's like, it's like he recorded on like four different days. It sounds so disjointed and then kiss it better. I don't know. I don't know by Natalia kills. Yes. And one of my favorite Rihanna songs of all time. I didn't know Natalia kills wrote that Grammy nominated song.
00:34:45
Speaker
Incredible. Where is she on this list? That perfectionist album? Not on this list. Oh my god! I know it makes me so mad and only you gay boys would get it. The version of Free Without Will.i.am is not available on Spotify. Yes, yes. I have so many gripes like this. Men ruin everything. There's one on the internet, but I need it on streaming. Mariah Carey, if you're listening, I really need a version of What is it from, you don't know what to do? You don't know what to do without Wale. I just said Wale because of this song. Wale is quite the heavy hitter on this episode. Also not on the list.
00:35:25
Speaker
Speaking about looking that, looking that, looking that.
00:35:31
Speaker
My favorite, I'm trying to think of my favorite Rihanna ah deep cut, but the two that came to mind was one is do your thing off of Talk That Talk. um But i there's a song, I don't even know if it was ever like officially released. I think that they recorded it for a hair commercial, but she did a song called Winning Women with Nicole. With Nicole Scherzinger.
00:35:49
Speaker
I don't know that one. Because I think it was for Revlon. Yes. I think it was for Revlon. It was like... Oh, girl, it's ridiculous. With the winning women. We are. Winning women, winning women. Okay, I've never heard this one. Oh, yeah, I got it. Well, when we're talking like product placement songs, ah I guess I guess it was kind of a single that who's that chick was for Doritos. Oh, yeah I think my least my least favorite Rihanna is Cheers.
00:36:17
Speaker
Interesting. you know like i remember ah I remember a period of time when that album rollout was coming was like about to be released. yeah And there were all these industry insiders being like, Cheers is going to be a fucking smash. I mean, everyone. And I was like, I'm so excited to hear the song. And I like it. But I'm like, huh, didn't it was top 10. I think that number seven. Right. But it gives really sort of like it's like graduation song to me.
00:36:41
Speaker
I just like the sample. Right. I mean, i like that the Avril Lavigne of it all. But yeah, because that's my favorite Avril Lavigne song. That's like during a period of time too with Rihanna where she was just constantly churning out stuff. And I remember they released Cheers as a single. And I want to say like a month later is when they released We Found Love.
00:37:00
Speaker
So like Cheers never got a full, right never got a full like. Yeah. weezer There was a good four or five years where we were never without Rihanna. Right. Right. Birthday cake. Birthday cake. ah I live on. Oh God. I live that. Pour it up. Oh my God.
00:37:20
Speaker
Cockiness like what was the other yeah The other one that I like you get talk that talk and unapologetic mixed up a little bit just saying they were overlapped, you know Yeah, yeah, right now the other David get it didn't have to stink. They didn't have distinct hair. That's the thing right right yeah Loud had hair right well was Another thing with they released cockiness as a single and I think two weeks later they released the they released diamonds and So it was like, it was like, what's the point? Diamonds, if I have to hear Sia sing that one more fucking time. Right. Madly. No. nothing think I'm sorry. I'm a little over Sia circa this decade. i Yeah. I love right now. The other day we get a one. Oh, you

Taylor Swift's Evolution and Collaborations

00:38:02
Speaker
know what? I love it anytime she teams up with like, oh, and I love, I honestly underrated, like not underrated, um maybe overrated, but I love. This is what you came for.
00:38:11
Speaker
Love. Oh, it's so good. Love. Which is her most streamed song, by the way. I believe it. It's so good. Which is very strange, but good for her. Written by a very famous songwriter named Niall Jouberg. Right. Yeah, I've heard it. I've heard it. I've heard of him. Yeah, who famously is number two on our list. Ooh. Taylor Swift. Scoochin' on up.
00:38:33
Speaker
All right, this this is the moment everyone says listening to to records for Yeah, here exactly thank you for tuning in for the last yeah two ah right i wants to go first i mean okay i don't if you I don't think I don't think that she shouldn't be up there I, you know what, i if I'm being honest, I think this could have gone either way. If I'm if i'm being totally honest, I feel like they occupy such, number and I'm also talking about number one as well, which you'll see. yeah oh I feel like number one and number two, they just occupy such different spaces in culture. right Like I feel like Taylor Swift is just this like,
00:39:20
Speaker
sales touring behemoth like like like there is I mean we we can't deny it like literally ah Taylor's only peers in in terms of like sales numbers right now are dead right right ah or maybe Adele um yeah but there is also just like and I'm skipping for a little bit like just a cultural music impact that so an artist like Beyonce has, like with what she has to say, with just her straight up technical talent that like Taylor could never, even in her wildest dreams, reach. And I feel like there, it's it really, I think it came down to Billboard deciding how they wanted to rank these in terms of like their preference and importance. Right. I mean, look, yeah.
00:40:09
Speaker
yeah like Yeah, like she's undeniable. She is a force. she is She makes people feel seen. She does all the things. She checks off every box for an absolutely enormous artist of her caliber. And I cannot shade her in any way. And I am very, very late to the Taylor Swift thing because I avoided her for so long. Because I was like, to me,
00:40:27
Speaker
It sounds like, and I don't, sorry, but to me, a lot of her stuff always gives me that white girl karaoke feel. And I i said, if her songs and her catalog was sung by Betty Who, I would probably love There is something very specific about her voice and there are people that I i will recognize as super talented that I just do not gel with. There is something about her voice that doesn't do it for me. There are moments where I think it absolutely works to her benefit. Like I will say that I think, look, what you made me do is probably my favorite Taylor Swift song.
00:41:01
Speaker
Oh my god. and Oh, I know how to I mean, you know, what you're you're welcome to your your day. I'm just I'm surprised even Taylor fans don't know. I know. I know. And that's a controversial yet brave. But and I love that album. But that's one of my like, favorite version right. Yeah, but I loved it because I felt like there was something like when she went through the whole shake it off of it all. And the Max Martin era.
00:41:24
Speaker
i It never felt genuine to me. I was like, these songs are going to be great live. These are surefire hits. But to me, they were Max Martin songs. They didn't strike me as Taylor Swift songs. They sounded like Max Martin songs. Interesting. So you know when i would see her but when I would see her performing, like in Times Square, she did a performance of her in like a red, like patent leather catsuit. I was like, no, no.
00:41:47
Speaker
No, I don't think that this is, I don't actually, I don't believe that you're that girl. I don't believe that this feels. I do have a hard time seeing her like dressed as like a sexy pop star. Right, because I feel like what she does from a songwriting I guess aspect and from like just like playing instruments and doing the whole thing, that feels so true to who she is, which is why I felt like when she got to look what she made me do, I was like, OK, so for the first time, I feel like you are really drawing a line in the stand and saying, I'm going to do this super pop shit, but I'm going to be really angry about it because of all the shit that you've been dragging me through. And I'm kind of here for that because it felt true in the moment. And she was just like, fuck y'all, this is what I'm doing. Reputation error, burn it all down.
00:42:30
Speaker
When we got to midnight, now, again, I say I'm late to this because i i I had to start listening to her stuff because of work, because we were going to start doing stuff with her. And I was like, oh, God, I have to be very familiar with the stuff now. So let me kind of dive in. And I went through the entire catalog and I listened to all the albums, which was a very, very long week. And yeah, when I got to midnight, I was like, you know what, this too feels like the most genuine thing I've heard her do in a minute.
00:42:58
Speaker
And whether or not, whether or not you like it, whether or not it's good, like whatever, like Lavender Hayes, I loved. I thought it was a great song. I didn't like Antihero. I loved Lavender Hayes. I thought Maroon was actually a good song too. But again, I feel like a lot of times with her albums, she clearly makes them for her stands because they're too long. There's too much. It's too much. Because even like when Christina did Back to Basics, I'm like, I love you. This is too much.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's just it's just too much album. I would rather you break it up. I would rather you tease it out. I would rather you do something. But it's like it was just so much music that I'm like, I have a hard time listening to so much of the same genre. Sure. Yeah. no i feel You know, and it's like and the way she writes is so like you're reading a diary entry that I'm like, I don't that was torture poets right there. like Right. And that's what I get. And I like Fortnite. I think Fortnite is a great song. And I think that the video is fantastic. I actually think it's the best post Malone has ever looked in his life, too.
00:43:51
Speaker
o But I yeah, I just don't I don't know like it's it's it's specifically her voice. I totally recognize her talent I totally recognize how she makes her fans feel but I just it's just not for me doesn't connect, you know, I mean, you know if if whether she's for you or not success at this level is not an accident, you know at all really tapped into something that like I mean, look, she's getting compared to Michael Jackson, whether or not she's at that level. No, you know, no. I mean, I wouldn't say so, but like no one else is getting those comparisons this century. But it's only because of numbers. Yeah. And yeah, from it from an oh I mean, yeah, I'm not i'm not talking about like
00:44:33
Speaker
artistic narrative. From a numbers perspective, absolutely. Her, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, the whole thing. right yeah is just um I think where things kind of like, where I i run into some trouble with with Taylor from just like a the whole vibe is that
00:44:52
Speaker
Sonically, she doesn't really push any boundaries. And I think the more successful she's gotten, the less adventurous she has become. And it has reached a point where she has had her biggest sales success with what I feel is like her least interesting body of work. right and i Because I feel like she's just sort of too big to fail at this point. And that is just frustrating to me.
00:45:22
Speaker
But it's like, you know, I can't I also can't disregard that like variants or not. Of tortured poets like who is pulling those number like like the next best selling album sold like 10 times less than her. Right. It's actually insane. Yeah. Yeah. No, it truly is undeniable. And that's why I said I can never take any of that away from her yeah without a doubt.
00:45:44
Speaker
Yeah, but it's just like I said culturally just but but it just doesn't it just doesn't connect and I don't I don't see it in the world like I do when I again and I'm not this is not to compare her and Beyonce but since we're talking about one and two There are, it's just the way that things enter the zeitgeist that I don't see with her, especially with torture poets, even with midnights, even with like the other, like I just, yeah like, okay, when I think of midnights and I think of how everybody online was walking around still going, hi, I'm the problem, it's me. Like that to me is like how things happen. That's like being in the pop culture zeitgeist. And if that sticks around forever, she will have done it because she will have added something like that.
00:46:22
Speaker
No, yeah, that's the thing. Like I did not love Midnights, but even, but Midnights at least had like hits and moments that we could remember. And I was like, but again, going around singing. but four before Right. You know, right. But I'm sorry. Like and Jack Antonoff, to your credit, a great producer, a great musician. It's time. yeah It's time. I feel like, I feel like we're getting with Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift. What was happening to, um,
00:46:52
Speaker
Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupree. Okay. Okay, I see. Sure. You know what I mean? like you were You're just giving me a lot of the same, and and as a Janet Jackson fan, I like a lot of it, but I do would like to see you push the boundaries a little bit more. they I think they've they've gone about as far as they can go with each other. Right. And like i and like in a recent weeks, I will even say, I've kind of like <unk>ve i've been very anti-Jack for a long time. I've kind of gotten the to you know cut him a little bit of slack lately, just being like, you know
00:47:23
Speaker
A lot of people who work with him say like he is there to bring out the artist's vision. right And you know obviously he has like some sounds that are pretty recognizable for him, but it's sort of like...
00:47:34
Speaker
I really liked the Sabrina album. I know, you know, Zaki weren't like crazy about it, but like, I really liked what he's he did with Lana. um i I enjoyed what he did with the chicks. And I think Taylor might be the problem, or maybe that's the problem. But like, I think their partnership has run its course in terms of, you know, trying to get water from a stone in a way. I think that there is a part of Taylor that wants to be the artist that Lana is. Oh, yeah.
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah, and that's my hot take is that I think that that's and I feel like that's where Toronto is already a lot. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Well, do do you think that, again, you know, Taylor being this like enigmatic force that she is now, first of all, one of the biggest surprises that I've ever seen in pop music in the last probably like 10, 20 years, because when she burst onto the scene, if you had told me that the our song is going to be who she is today, I would have laughed in your face. I was like, absolutely not. You were lying. We've only seen her get bigger and bigger. What I find fascinating about her career is that
00:48:44
Speaker
you know lover you know broke the cycle of like million first week sales and then we saw and ah right and we saw like folklore and evermore have even lower sales obviously that was during the pandemic so that and it was like surprise drops too surprise drops but then when midnights rolled around there was some sort of hype that like I when when it when she broke that sales record and then did it again with the 1989 re-release and then she doubled that for tortured poets. Right. And then the errors drove it all. I was like, what happened in the zeitgeist to suddenly generate this huge interest in her again? Not that the interest was like a pandemic. I love that low interest for her is like 900,000 first week. Exactly. I think that's where it is. It's undeniable that she is so huge. I mean, I love Pop Taylor. So 1989 is where she captivated me. Sure. I think that to me that's still the best moment. Hey, Steven was where she captivated me. Hey, Steven.
00:50:02
Speaker
um she I just to your point to both of your points I am curious to know because I do feel like she is playing it very safe right now and I feel like I'm wondering if Jack even though I know they're friends and stuff is he just saying yes to her because like he knows that whatever she does is just gonna be gold anyway so like is anyone is anyone questioning her and saying like I doubt it. You know? I doubt it. It feels like no. Yeah, I doubt it. I mean, Jack did like the vast majority of the 31 songs, didn't he? Yeah. I think Aaron Dessner did the majority of the anthology, like second portion. Yeah. That was like midnight still. You know, honestly, I can't say I've listened to the whole thing more than twice. I have not been able to get through the whole thing. I have one thing. It's too much. It's just too much music. And it's very samey.
00:50:55
Speaker
I like three weeks ago tried giving the album a listen. I saw two of my co-workers who are famously huge Swifties. Shout out to you both. um I I started with the set, which I think is the title track. dany And I got up to guilty as sin. And I was like, I can't do this. You know, I will say I love the production on I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.
00:51:22
Speaker
the right side. I don't want it to be more. but but i But know what? I think the right thing the and the top lining on that is boring. I think someone should take that track and write like a banger over it. Like give us real hooks. Right. Because I really like that track. And I feel like if she had you know leaned into that a little bit more. Well, I was just surprised at like the beat drop and then it was just the whole melody line was That's the thing! It's built up to this beat drop with this really half-baked melody, and that and that right there is my biggest complaint over her. She has forgotten melodies like completely. She has given herself a five-note range to work with. She has like five like ah like signature hooks that she leans on as a crutch, and I'm just i'm sick of it. like if
00:52:10
Speaker
Like, I love a pop song. Like, I can get on board with the pop song if the lyrics are bad, but the music and the melody and the production, the writing is good. I cannot get on board with a song with great lyrics, but just boring sonically. Right. Right. And that's just me. No, I agree. a hundred That's why I don't like Bob Dylan. And that song is the. ah That's she's also I just feel like that song is the only uptempo song on a 31 track project. Right. Yeah.
00:52:40
Speaker
And to your point, like she's been using the same type of melodies, same type of structure. That's what we're like. The 1989 vault tracks to me were not actually vault tracks. I think no, they sounded they sounded but sort of like midnight midnight. Yeah. And I was just kind of that's I was just so disappointed with the 1989. I was so excited because I could hear I'm like, oh, this is her writing in 2023.
00:53:06
Speaker
Yeah. This is her songwriting in 2023. Yeah. And I was just- Girl, come on. But again, I- It's time to move on. It just can't, it's the Lana Del Rey of it all for me because she also uses like, the thing I, I'm not a big Lana Del Rey fan either, but I, I always find that like, I, the way she uses curse words is awkward to me, Lana. And I feel like now Taylor does that as well.
00:53:32
Speaker
it's Yeah, yeah, and it's just like yeah if if it's gonna Right like if it's gonna add something to the context of the song then yes Do it get the emotion let it out do whatever but like sometimes it's just like Weirdly placed and I'm like, I don't even know if we needed that like it's not even doing anything Like yeah, but yeah, I don't know. It's it's Look, I wish you're nothing but the best, beautiful gowns, great gowns. Great gowns, beautiful gowns. I think someone who sparks this much debate. You know you that bitch when you close all this conversation. Speaking of which.

Beyoncé's Unmatched Pop Legacy

00:54:09
Speaker
Speaking of which, Ms. Beyonce Giselle Knowles Carter, number one pop star of the 21st century. You know what's crazy is that when I think of Carter now, I think of her.
00:54:23
Speaker
Right. Yeah. She's co-opted the name. Right. She, you know, Beyonce, it's kind of crazy how long she's been around and has just been Beyonce has not had a flop era. She's the closest I feel like she came was four.
00:54:44
Speaker
because i write Yeah, which which I think is like, you know, looking back on it by, uh, is looked at as like one of her best by the, like the the beehive. Um, I, I think I heard something on some podcasts at one point saying that like, Had she not you know gone the route she did with the self-titled album, um there's definitely a timeline in which Beyonce would have maybe like faded out a little bit. because like I do think at the time four was looked at as a little bit of a step down for her. And she was still playing by the rules of like the conventional music industry with like single roll outs and like, you know, just video, video, video, interview, interview. Right. That album was also plagued with, I think that it leaked in full a few weeks before it it was supposed to come out or at least the majority of the album. What did it let me tell you though.
00:55:40
Speaker
and And she got everybody in a room, and she was like, let me tell you this, never again. Never again. Never again. Yeah. We don't know what the fuck she's doing. Almost to her detriment. Right. Yeah. But that's your brand and mystique.
00:55:55
Speaker
Right, but that album, Four, that It Kills Me, that you Lay Up Under Me is not on streaming. It is such, ugh, because you know. It's so good, yeah so good. But like that, there's so many, ugh, that whole album. But no, self-titled was like, you better work. Self-titled was unbelievable. Oh, yeah. You know, i I have to admit though, like that actually, that album kind of had to grow on me a little bit. Like when it dropped, I was like, where are the bangers?
00:56:23
Speaker
Other than blow. Oh yeah. and And you know what? My Sonic palette was developing. Right. A little bit. Haunted. Haunted full stop. Oh my god haunted haunted But that album came out at the peak of the EDM craze, right? So like quite literally like a neon say which is I read it was like speed it up I just go slow right it was kind of like right as that was ending because like that was when like Lorde was like talking the charts and I and she's not not to like bring her too much into it I feel like Lorde was a turning point in music and Oh, absolutely. Because we got we got EDM, EDM, EDM, then suddenly it was Royals. Right. And suddenly everyone was going minimal. Yeah. And then I think that was a perfect time to drop. Self titled. Right. Yeah. But to your to your back to haunted. Oh, yeah. What a track.
00:57:13
Speaker
I just the the the atmosphere, like the the universe in which that song lives, especially the version from the visual album with all the extra like echo, like spooky noises around. Yeah, unbelievable. That video to that whole oh God, I can't like that album is that's it's hard to pick favorite Beyonce album, but that's it's I feel like I think that's my favorite Beyonce album. Right. It's like that and Renaissance, I think are neck and neck for me.
00:57:41
Speaker
Yeah, because I also talked to Caroline Polacek who wrote no angel. litter Oh, yeah. Yeah. That whole a I mean, I remember a week. I mean, who doesn't remember waking up and being like a new Beyonce album? draw Oh, that's because you go to bed early. I was like, that not i I was but I was breaking my ankle trying to get out of bed to get to my laptop when that happened. I was like, what do you mean? What do you mean?
00:58:04
Speaker
I just remember like, and not only being an album drop, but a music video for every song, right, including the bonus track grown woman that we had to wait 10 years for that we finally. Right. Literally, which is one of my favorite Beyonce songs grown woman. I love i live and but also it's like it's the it's the Cadillac records of it all it's the dream girls of it all it's the the Lion King the gift like yeah like from from day one like from crazy in love which talk about a debut i mean until even like it's been i don't know she's she's never not flopped she's never flopped you were kind of right earlier right
00:58:43
Speaker
Yeah, like her really, really her only flop, technically, if you want to, I mean, I don't know. Yeah. Like, but work it out, which was technically her debut, her solo debut before Crazy in Love. I don't want to catch it. Oh, is it Goldmember? Goldmember. Okay, okay. What was the, no, Pink Panther was Check It Out.
00:59:03
Speaker
Check it out. Check it out. I love that song. Check on it. Check on it. and Check on it. yeah It's so good. I love that song. I you know i just remember when Destiny's Child came out with No, No, No.
00:59:18
Speaker
I was 12 years old. It was 1997. I was immediately hooked like that. That music video was like the like the orangey gold bronze walls and the dancers. And I was just like I was like I was hooked. I remember drawing the album cover. I was really big into drawing back then and I turned them all into mermaids. Stop.
00:59:37
Speaker
I'm not even kidding. I was obsessed. She's gay yeah i like i She's been a part of my like soundtrack to my life basically when I full stop like what got into music. right So she's better kind of she's been right there. yeah wellll send in No, I was going to say, so like this was when, like what what wait year is that? That's 96?
01:00:01
Speaker
97 is when ninety seven no, no, no came out. Yeah. So like that is right. As I'm entering like my club era, like, and I'm getting into nightlife and then all of the, I know I'm older than both of y'all and.
01:00:15
Speaker
the DJ that I was following at the time, Junior Vasquez, was doing all of her solo mixes at the time. So everything, like it was just like there was a connection for me for all of it. And I was just like, she's hitting all the marks. She's with the gays. like Everything's working. Yeah. Well, and and and her early stuff with Destiny's Child, basically with all the Destiny's Child track or singles were got remixes with Maurice Joshua, where she did like a Mariah Carey where they re-sang vocals yeah for them all. Yep.
01:00:43
Speaker
Um, especially like the same, my name, uh, last days of disco remix. This is the part of the podcast where I have to check out. Cause I don't know remixes. Okay. we've got a likeer We got all you. right right we got Yeah. But like, like, and then I get the jumping, jumping remix where they, she adds the whole like, bounce it, baby, bounce it, baby. How's it jumping? Jumping was the first time I ever heard Beyonce. I had now that's what I call me. He's like five. Yes. And it had jumping, jumping on it.
01:01:13
Speaker
Shout out to Farah. Shout out to Farah, the lost member of Destiny's Child. Right. Right. Still lost. We don't know where she is. Still lost. Yep. and But I think that I really, when I got the the Tor DVD, the first one where it was the Beyonce experience, that's so good that was when I was like, oh, oh, I'm here for life. Oh, OK. Got it. Got it. Got it. You're that girl. Got it. cloud' got it yeah She is a live performer. She is a performer on the level of any of the greats from any era, yeah and even I think. yeah yeah which it can be like weird It can be weird to like think of people who are like still alive as like that, but you have to then when you put it into context, it's like, no, yeah, she' is like on when it comes to performance, she's on that Michael Jackson level. Oh, yeah. And it's also like the amount of knowledge, the amount of music knowledge, the amount of... like It's just the attention to detail is on a level that I really don't think I've ever seen before.
01:02:11
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She I love her commitment to quality. Right. Right. From from music to visuals to which I we will be getting visuals. I believe it will. I do believe it. I believe in the Lord. I believe in the Lord. but I we will be getting visuals for this trilogy. I just know I have a feeling it's going to be a movie and um but her commitment to, it I mean, like going to the Renaissance tour and the just the backdrop visuals yeah oh my alone.
01:02:45
Speaker
watching watching all the work that went into that tour while in the in the film. And then also watching the the homecoming movie. just like Like I got stressed out thinking about how does one, like when I do a show, it's me and my two band members moving my equipment. Like, okay, I gotta think of how to how to cue the tracks when this happens and you you gotta to look for my signal and I'll give you a thumbs up. And I'm just like, imagine i'm just like imagine like, you know, being this one woman out there like,
01:03:14
Speaker
sounding as good as she does, looking as good as she does. all this go I'm just like, it hurts my brain to think of the this level of excellence that she has. like Find the drone that's flying 20 feet above your head. oh and yeah yeah but and I think that was the craziest thing about the Renaissance World Tour movie was that I'm watching it and I'm like, are these men really playing in her face right now?
01:03:35
Speaker
Are they really telling her that something can't be done that can be? And when she comes back and she's like, I've already looked it up. It does. It does. It's a fisheye lens. And this is what you know you know. And I'm like, I would shit. Right. Right. right Yeah. Yeah.
01:03:49
Speaker
it's It's nuts, but that's why just to get to that level and still be still have people being like that is just nuts. Since she was announced as number one on this list, I've seen a lot of like shady infographs trying to discredit her, which is like number of like you know diamond singles by each of the top 20 people. I know it's like, blah, blah, blah, and then Beyoncé is like zero or something like that. And it's just like, you know what? If you think that that's what this is about,
01:04:15
Speaker
you are missing the point because it's like you know what how many like Post Malone has like I think three diamond singles no wonder really Gives a fuck when he drops a album. Well, I feel like. Correct. But also, John Michael and I have talked about this before, where when you have songs that are astronomical successes, I'll use Despacito again as an example. Yeah. These or or like a song like a bar song right now. Yeah. Thanks. b Morgan Wallins. Right. Morgan Wallins single that was huge last year. These huge, massive singles. Yes. They are huge.
01:04:54
Speaker
but oftentimes are forgotten about. When was the last time you have heard Despacito? Or it's all you know about that artist or something, not necessarily, I'm not, not to, you know, discredit like Luis Fonsi, but like, there are some met like, Closer by the Chainsmokers, number one for what, 14 weeks? Right. What's the last song they dropped out that made any any noise? Right. Right. Like, and yeah noise yeah. And also, like, ah when do I hear Closer anymore?
01:05:21
Speaker
Like I, like I do like that song. I'm not saying it's a bad song, but I'm saying like, as far as like, yeah, like I don't, i don't like I don't even hear it in a CVS. Like I don't hear it. And it went away. Right. Yeah. Right. But and I feel like that is going to be one of the hardest things to combat in the digital age.
01:05:35
Speaker
Yeah. Beyoncé refuses to give in, and which yeah or or not even give, but like people, and she still manages to make like albums feel relevant. Nobody makes albums anymore. They don't make albums. Yeah, exactly. There you go. They don't make albums. I say that all the time. They don't make albums anymore.
01:05:54
Speaker
Yeah. her i love I love that doc. It's one of my favorites. I haven't seen that. It's called Life is But a Dream. life is both Okay, I have heard of that. I just haven't seen it. That and the Year of Four was great. Yes, I have it on DVD. I don't have a DVD player.
01:06:14
Speaker
oh It used to be on HBO. It was an HBO special. I'm sure you could find it on Max or something. Yeah. Okay. by Again, like it's just like it's art's her attention to detail. It's her willingness to... Again, make albums an event. She makes things exciting. And this is where like commercial success like she is. Let's be real. She is still commercially successful. Is she selling a million albums in one week? No, but she is still commercially successful. She's also critically acclaimed. Right. But she's also making things interesting. And and sometimes you have to make things for the ages.
01:06:56
Speaker
You have to sometimes quote unquote, and I'm not saying she's, at again, we've said that she does not have a flop era, but sometimes you need to underperform because things that underperform are oftentimes revered later. How many times have we seen that from our pop stars? Oh, I, oh, I've already said our pop stars. I thought you said art pop. And I'm like, yes, and like art pop the amount of people that I've seen, the amount of people that have been like, you know, Madonna's American life was actually really good. And I'm like, I,
01:07:23
Speaker
for decades. Y'all need a guilty to tell these two. Right? Yeah. Erotica. I mean, Erotica, when it came out, was was critically panned. It performed fine. The number of people who I have tell me like, oh, bedtime stories is low key her best. I'm like, that is not what I that's not what people were saying. I don't think at all at all. Are you kidding me? She got so much flack for the secret video for having that gold tooth. That's all they were. Oh, please. Now that's all she does. Right. done with The gold tooth. What else is new? but She said more. More gold teeth. And the thing I love about Madonna is that she you tell her that you don't like something. She'll just do it even more. Oh, yeah. yeah oh yeah Oh, yeah. But yeah, I don't know. There's just it's.
01:08:05
Speaker
It's that indescribable quality that she she drops. Now, but they always like have something to say. They're always trying something that no one else is doing is really doing. Yeah, it's just it's just no one is really. And even if like, you know, cowboy Carter was a bit much for me, like I I've I've listened to it several times. Like I you just can't deny that. Like that no one else is doing anything like this. The quality is there. The attention to detail is there. The writing is there. The vocals are always there.
01:08:34
Speaker
I will, okay, I've, I've gone on a journey with this because I did a few of those TikTok filters that were like blind rank, these, you know, female singers or whatever. Right. Yeah. And I think I put Whitney as number one. I'm going to be bold here and say, I think Beyonce might be like the best popular music singer of all time. Wow. Because we are 30 years into her career, zero vocal decline. Oh, that's a good point. At all.
01:09:04
Speaker
Whitney at her prime, arguably my favorite singer, yeah but we got about five years before we started to hear some changes. yeah and And not to say she didn't sound good, but there was like, you know, by the time we got to your love is my love, or my love is your love, whichever order that goes into, it was like, you could hear, she couldn't, she could not sing Love will save the day anymore. I think Beyonce sounds better than she's ever sounded at 43. Yes, and with Whitney, I feel like I noticed it the most at first during Same Script Different cast. Yeah, yeah. Because I was just like, all right, I said older Whitney would have absolutely blown Deborah Cox out of the water here.
01:09:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yes. yeah And it felt like Deborah was really like taking the. Yeah. And I think what it kind of like made me realize this about like Beyonce and her voice and how remarkable it is that like at this age and now her voice is truly the strongest it has ever been is I listened to and I and I feel like this sounds like I am dragging Whitney and I swear to God I'm not she is I like truth truthfully in a bracket. I would choose Whitney. Right. But like I listened to that live in South Africa album.
01:10:12
Speaker
Girl miss miss Whitney could not sing the melodies Well, I don't I couldn't fit so I went to go see the concert the the movie like they had it like it was showing it and like a and whatever and I went to go see it and it I Couldn't tell if it was that or if it was just the churchiness of it all i I don't mind the churchiness of it. It's more just the fact that like she every every melody was a different melody from the record. It was a lower riff. Go back to my favorite song, How Will I Know? it's like It starts out, they're the boy. they're the boy. I know. the one I really love? Things like that. and And she was never out of tune, but it was like, oh, she her voice is tired.
01:10:59
Speaker
right yeah But like, but then when she does home later on in that show, yeah it's unbelievable. Yeah. And I'm like, there are moments where she is like, okay, yes, you are the voice. Right. Yeah. But it's just like Beyonce. That doesn't happen. You are hearing. Yeah. She's always the voice. And she showed that with the last tour. I mean, like with the fact it's brilliant, the brilliant way that she opened for herself with the with the five ballads before going into the Renaissance. Like that is insane. Also, where's the film?
01:11:33
Speaker
Where's the film? And I'm sorry, gay people, like specifically Renaissance. Oh, on streaming, you mean? Right, but yeah I'm sorry. Oh, I was like, it came out, you guys. Yeah. It was a big deal. I'm glad glad I saw it three times in the theater because, yeah. so was Right, but like, specifically gay people who work in movie theaters across the world, you mean to tell me, not one of y'all put in a flash drive, recorded with your phone, did any type of any type, any type of bootlegging? How?
01:12:02
Speaker
She probably had Julius go to every theater and and be like, uh-uh, not on my watch. Right, right. Because I'm like, I cannot believe that that has not leaked. Yeah. That is beyond me. And I have searched for hours. Yeah. But yeah. I need it. I need it. But I- Yeah. Beyoncé at number one feels correct. Yeah. It feels right. It feels real. This is, I mean, to quote Beyoncé, God is real.
01:12:28
Speaker
God is real. God is real. God is real. And God's not real and when you die, you're dead. Wait, is that, were you quoting me from like Twitter earlier? Oh yeah. I mean, I'm sure I'm not the first one to say that, but yeah, I was, yeah. Yeah, that was so funny. Sometimes she gets in a mood.
01:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm just like, I don't care what people think that the slightest pushback. I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah. OK. Can I tell you who I think was missing from the list? Who? Yes. I have I have two guesses, but I want you to go for it. Mariah Carey. Yes. I thought. Why was Mariah not on here? I was surprised that she wasn't even an honorable man. I think maybe maybe her 90s track record was so prolific that people may have just forgotten.
01:13:22
Speaker
ah Maybe, but like, because that's the thing that I was because I was like, okay, so we're clearly going for artists that are like, ah that were like, quote unquote, newer onto the scene. So I was like, as I was looking through a lot of these, I was like, okay, a lot of these artists kind of had their careers start after the year 2000, not all of them, but a lot of them. But and so I was like, well, maybe that's why. But I was like,
01:13:47
Speaker
The Emancipation of Mimi era was massive. It was. i And also the the All I Want for Christmas is You resurgence and that kind of true that that's a hard metric to measure because I'm actually very annoyed that it becomes number one every year. It kind of feels like it's not it's not right. and look i know i am I am thrilled that she found a money glitch.

Pop Culture Critiques and Industry Reflections

01:14:09
Speaker
I am thrilled. And like, you know, what for for all of the catalog, I'm happy that you have this every year and it's wonderful. It will never Sit right with me that it is only a Christmas thing. It's like an asterix record, you know It makes me so aggravated because I'm like her catalog is too prolific To only be relegated to the Queen of Christmas and all the thawing out memes pisses me off I yeah, it's very annoying to me. Yeah, um Really real quick. I'm about to fucking explode. Oh my god I've been holding it since Rihanna like
01:14:44
Speaker
oh my god we go go go good Um, I love it. We have been recording for three hours. I know. I know. I actually can't believe it. I just, I literally just texted my husband and I was like, are you okay? I'm sorry. I know. Oh my gosh. I know. Once it, when he comes back, we'll, we'll wrap up. We'll each do a, let let's do a, like a homophobic bit and then we can. Homophobic. Let's see. What what is homophobic? Let me, mine's, mine's related to break free. Okay. Okay. Um, Oh my God. 12 text messages. Oh, phew.
01:15:18
Speaker
I was like, Hmm. I don't even know. Like, what could I say? What's homophobic?
01:15:34
Speaker
What is homophobic? What isn't? home I mean, it's homophobic that Beyonce hasn't released Renaissance. Right. Right. That's true. Oh, Kevin Albiance. He shared my I shared his Dindada. Yes. My stories and I tagged him and he shared it. I live. I live. She's so lovely.
01:15:54
Speaker
The first time I ever went to go see Junior at Twylo, I was walking in and the way that the club was set up, there she is. Oh my God, I feel like a new person. You are a new person, reborn. Okay. I was just going to say, I, so I'm walking into this club for the first time in like 2001. I'm completely new to like the Junior Vasquez of it all. And like really like this, like.
01:16:17
Speaker
high level, really big nightclub, gay nightlife in New York City. And I'm walking in and HX Magazine is in the hallway doing a photo shoot as you're entering in the club with Kevin Aviance. This is the first time I've seen him in person. And he's just like, this is like prime, prime, like in all of her bits, just like up against the wall doing, and I was just dead stopped in my tracks. And I was like,
01:16:42
Speaker
Gagged, gagged. He's amazing. He's so nice, like really just an incredible person. Icon, yeah iconic. speaking of Speaking of Renaissance. Right, right, really. yeah I was so excited for him throughout that whole era. and Like you deserve it, you really do. Deserve those flowers. Yeah.
01:16:58
Speaker
Well, this brings us to a new segment of the show that I kind of want to like alternate with the ah songs we don't talk about enough. and ah I just think that's just to keep it fun and exciting. This is a part a bit called that's homophobic.
01:17:15
Speaker
f a u i something in pop culture, specifically pop music that we just feel like it deserves justice. We feel like something was homophobic.
01:17:29
Speaker
because of society. I have one. I have i thought of and i have two, but you go oh go ahead. Excellent. I have one of mine's gonna be really simple, I think. And it's just, um it's homophobic that we got the album version of Wash All Over Me on Rebel Heart for Madonna instead of the demo.
01:17:47
Speaker
yeah That's real. that is That's very real. I'm sorry. Like, it was too different. I was like, I got real hooked on the demo and I was like, wait, what do you mean it's not a dance song anymore? We could see that about several tracks on that album. Right. hold tight Right. Yes. MNEK Diplo version. Yes. Wow. Ooh, MNEK. Fuck yeah. I love him so much. I don't actually know. I actually, will admittedly, do not know these songs, but I love MNEK. MNEK is incredible. I love everything about him.
01:18:14
Speaker
Yeah, excellent choice. Yeah, yeah, very homophobic. Fix it Madonna.
01:18:22
Speaker
See, what about you? Okay, so I have a couple and I was like, I hope these. No, okay.
01:18:31
Speaker
they They both involve people who who are on some degrees of cancellation. um But we're going to take that out of the equation, because at at the time of these things happening, it was things were different. yeahp um First one ah is the fact that I Just Can't Stop Loving You was pitched to Whitney Houston oh instead of Saida Garrett. Actually, it was pitched to Barbra Streisand.
01:19:00
Speaker
and to Whitney Houston. Barbara was like, no. Of course. And apparently Whitney's label was like, it's going to interfere with the promotion of her new album. So they didn't have her on it. and I don't think that my little heart could handle that. Oh, my God. Wow, I don't think I knew that. That's incredible. sort I mean, I think Saida Garrett is incredible. Amazing. you know her she The song is still... Honestly, i people write that song off. I love that song. It's great. but and she And she sounds amazing on it. But like also, the AI versions that I have indeed sought out with her on it.
01:19:35
Speaker
ah They don't sound like Whitney because like the thing with AI is that the the mapped vocal that you're they're copying, it has to kind of sound a little bit like, it has to be phrased in a way that sounds like it. So like if you know used my voice on a Michael Jackson song, it wouldn't sound like it because like I don't sing like that. right That's why The Weeknd sounds so good on that.
01:19:56
Speaker
um And it just didn't sound right, because it's like Whitney didn't sing like Sayida, so that was disappointing. um And my other one is... is Okay, so in does anyone remember in 2009, I believe this was before the VMAs,
01:20:18
Speaker
Lady Gaga and Kanye West announced the Fame Kills Tour. rest Yes. while i think so And then after the VMAs, that was abruptly canceled. yeah and she And then she ended up reworking it into something called the Monster Ball Tour. So all all in all, I think you know the right thing happened, but I don't know. I think late 2000s, early 2010s Kanye was really, in a way, the male Gaga and a lot of what in so in some ways. like like Was taking risks in a lot of ways musically and like aesthetically that no one else in like his field was doing. The visuals that they had that they did shoot for that tour looked very cool. And I just think like Gaga was like up on the rise and exciting and new. And I just think it could have been a really
01:21:08
Speaker
cool experience to have seen the two of them like sharing a bill like that. like there There are things on eBay I've seen like fame kills ticket stubs that like never end up getting used. Because like you you could still buy tickets and it just never happened. right um I think that would have been a very ah very cool tour to have had. That would have been a really cool tour. As long as the most of all still happened.
01:21:30
Speaker
This is in addition to. right right before before and And this is also a timeline where kami or Kanye doesn't essentially become a Nazi. Right, right, right. little right Absolutely. Small photo. I love that you brought that up. I actually just told one of my co-workers about this because he's really into like Kanye, he's really into rap and hip-hop. And I was like, oh yeah, we were talking about Kanye. And I was like, did you know that he actually was going to go on tour with Lady Gaga?
01:21:56
Speaker
It was called the Fame Kill. I was like, David LaChapelle did this like promo shoot for it. And what does she know about cameras? Sorry.
01:22:06
Speaker
It's just, yeah, oh that's yeah. Both of those moments are very homophobic that we never got those. Well, yeah you inspired mine. Oh, because you brought up break free and how incredible that song is. Oh, wow. Call back to three hours ago. I know. Yeah. And so there is actually the song was actually had a a different ah drop after the first chorus. There was like this whole like dance break.
01:22:36
Speaker
um that was taken out of the song. Unbreak free? Unbreak free. So there is an extended version that I think might have been a promo only bit, or it might have been intended to be promo only, but never got officially released. I'm not really sure what happened there. I think that you can find it on YouTube, yeah but it was really, really cool and really fun. And I just felt like it should have just stayed in the song. I'm pretty sure that this is the version I play when I'm DJing. Do you need it?
01:23:04
Speaker
I did not even know this. I have it. Oh, you have it. I was going to say I have it, but it's homophobic that they never released it and homophobic that it was never um put on streaming and it should be on streaming now. Yes. So.
01:23:19
Speaker
Great enough for that. Send me the link to that. I've never I did not know that that existed I didn't know that Ari was Ari's not really a demo leak kind of girl. Yeah, you know well I think I feel like this was like an extended version that they were that would have been planned to be like released for like either like a vinyl or like for the DJs and stuff Yeah, and it's and this is like also during a time where like extended mixes in the last 20 years are not like what extended mixes used to be. right this But this was basically like they added a 16 count intro and a 16 count outro, but there was this fun dance break that they had included in the extended mix. Honestly, if you had removed the extended intro and outro, like its the song would have still been like three and a half minutes. right like It didn't add a ton of time to it. so yeah
01:24:08
Speaker
I just felt like, and it's that, it's that kind of stuff that I think that is missing from music today that makes songs feel just from our, the main pop people that it's just makes it feel less exciting because that's when you, that's my biggest complaint about like short songs is that like, when you eliminate these really great parts of songs that people love, it just becomes, it's like, okay. It's like next, you know? Right. Thank you. So next.
01:24:37
Speaker
thank Thank you, next. Thankfully, we have pop stars like Z machine in our midst who are fighting this battle. Every single song is now going to have an extra dance break. You know, I was looking at the the EP and I was like, oh, you know, I was like, three of these are under three minutes. But one of them was almost was like four, almost five, I feel like. But you know what, though it's it's it's really difficult because I have to say I went through this recently with a remix that I had done for a label and it was i had I had handed in a mix that was four and a half minutes. And I was like, all right, I left everything the way that it was supposed to be. I put in the the breakdown. I did all the stuff from that you wanted from the original, like whatever. I did the thing. And they were like, well, is it possible to get it under four minutes? And I'm like, be like, no, I'm like, it's not right. I'm like, I guess. And I ended up, ah you know, ended up putting in like a three and a half minute remix. And I'm like, but this is yeah this is part of the problem. and And I could go into this all day. But it's like,
01:25:35
Speaker
the major label system and like this this streaming like the the streaming dragon that they're constantly chasing. I get it from a business perspective, but I'm like, y'all, we're really going to have no classics from these years. right no Yeah, we don't. Right. like And that's been my biggest concern is that like I don't know beyond commercial success, like, I don't know, like, what would you even, like, where do you even begin to look, even in the last 10 years, and be like, that is a classic, we will be listening to this for the next 50, 60 years. What have been big hits in the last 30 years? I feel like that could, that itself could be, right, like, but there's an asset. I can't think of any song that came out.
01:26:09
Speaker
Okay, but like you could literally look at, okay, what took the record? Old Town Road. Do I consider that a classic? Will that be a classic in 20 years from now? No. We found love, but that was longer. Sure. Right. Right. Yeah. And it was like 13 years ago. Right. I would say like, I don't know. I will say that like, just from, what's it? Oh, Kafeh.
01:26:33
Speaker
Right, but I don't know. I mean, I love it. I don't think of cuff. It is like a time. I mean, it sounds timeless because it sounds like an older song. Right. But I don't really think of that as a song that like took the world by storm and is going to stick around. Right. Well, I mean, it might. I don't know. Not not to shade cuff. It. No one girl. you um I will say from like a writing perspective that like.
01:26:56
Speaker
the short song mentality has really started to permeate my brain in a way that like I wasn't even noticing like I will include an intro I will give you know like a post chorus little vamp I will do a bridge I will do a solo I will do an outro and then I get it and it's like 305. And I'm like, sure Oh, yay. So it's kind of like little aspects of that are like seeping into my, into me that I wasn't even doing consciously. Yeah. But come on, heartbreaker but she's a guitar player. You can give us a solo. Yeah. When I do, I know. heartbreakering Right. That's what I'm saying. Like, like, so you just have to learn how to play the sex.
01:27:37
Speaker
they Or just hire the same guy but again. G. Oh, there we go. Although I feel like the guy I got to do my sax solo on that one one song of mine, um he did it for free then. I don't think you do it for free now.
01:27:51
Speaker
hello Just do it for free one more time. We're begging you. We're bullying you on this podcast. Come on. Just one more time. Seven more times. He did it for free and he didn't get writing credit. I feel sorry. Oh no. I love you. Thank you. You know, can I tell that I told my friends, I jokingly said that I had a co-production credit on Good Boy. You have a consulting credit. A consulting credit because of the like my two little notes that I gave. I was I can I tell you though that I was so excited that you actually like did those. You know I will be honest I don't remember what you said. I suggested that you added like a vocal effect like an echo effect that seeped between the end of the first chorus. Oh, yeah. And then I also suggested that you double up the final chorus. Like, so instead of one, one person, oh, girl, the original ending we were trying for that was insane. And I loved the, like the production that your producer added in between the two choruses, like the, like the vocal edit that he did to your voice.
01:29:04
Speaker
I was like, i when i I was like, this is what it is. So I was like, I was like, I'm basically Max Martin. And grandro that was the point where I so with that, I was kind of like i had I was in Mexico when we were producing and recording that with him. And I was going to go. I had a friend there who I was going to go get lunch with. And then he was like, I'm just going to work on some stuff while you're gone.
01:29:25
Speaker
And that below the low the low like distorted voice was fully just something he was like thought of a way to bridge the two choruses because they otherwise they would overlap. And I was just like, I could kiss you right now. So that was all. So that was all him. It was amazing. Yeah, it was so good. That's right. You know, write his credit.
01:29:44
Speaker
You guys, this has been a blast. I cannot believe we've been doing this for three hours. This is like three hours. Oh, my God. It's going to have to be a three-parter. Right. It might have to be a three-parter. That's OK. I am fine with that. I haven't talked to my members of my family for three hours. Right. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to do this. Thank you so much. I'm excited. I am going to try to edit. Like I said, there's three episodes that we recorded prior to this one.
01:30:11
Speaker
So I'm going to try my hardest to try to get everything ready to go and have hopefully have everything launched, if not by the end of the year, early next year. But and yeah, I'm excited. I've got a lot of time off for my day job. So I've got I'll be focusing on that. I love that for you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. yes Yeah. Yeah. So well, everyone, thank you for listening to this enormous episode three part. Maybe it's two part. Maybe it's one part. Who knows? um And until next time, peace out. Bye. Stay homophonic.
01:30:41
Speaker
Stay homophonic.