Pop Pantheon

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How Has Lady Gaga's Chromatica Held Up? (with Matthew Perpetua & Molly Mary O'Brien) (Patreon Rerun) Dec 28, 2023

Show notes

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

In a rerun of an episode from Pop Pantheon: All Access published back in May, Fluxblog's Matthew Perpetua & host of the And Introducing podcast Molly Mary O'Brien join DJ Louie to look back on three years of Chromatica: How they absorbed it when it dropped in the context of May 2020, how it sounds to them now, what's happening aesthetically and thematically on the songs, where it stacks up against in Gaga's catalog and what it says about her status in the pop firmament of the 2020s.

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Pop Stars We Lost This Year: Sinéad O'Connor, Tony Bennett & Tina Turner (with Annie Zaleski, Brian Newman & Melissa Vincent) Dec 21, 2023

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Louie and a series guest look back on the career, work and legacies of some pop greats we lost in 2023: Sinéad O'Connor, Tony Bennett & Tina Turner.

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Who TF is Tate McRae? Making Sense of Pop's New Main Girl (Patreon Preview) Dec 18, 2023

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Tate McRae has, to some, been on the rise for the past few years. To many, she became the pop starlet of the moment overnight with her viral hit "Greedy". On the occasion of her sophomore album, Think Later, released a couple weeks ago, Louie and Russ came together to talk everything Tate: How she's metamorphosed over her ascent, what's clicked with "Greedy" and how that's reflected (or not) in the rest the album, and what Tate's sudden catapulting to the top says about the current state of pop stardom.

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Listen to Pop Pantheon's Mariah Carey Essentials

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MARIAH CAREY: PART 3 (with Pot Psychology's Rich Juzwiak) Dec 14, 2023

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For the conclusion of our three-part series on Mariah Carey, Pot Psychology’s Rich Juzwiak returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss Mariah’s later period work, starting with one of the greatest comebacks in the history of pop: 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. Louie and Rich unpack Emancipation’s smash hits and how it helped rewrite Mariah's legacy, then move on to its 2008’s sequel, E=MC², and 2009's idiosyncratic Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. Rich and Louie tackle the calcification of her camp diva persona and status as meme queen, her brittle relationship to being "The Queen of Christmas", awkward tenure as a judge on American Idol, 2014’s Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse, and Mariah’s most recent work, 2018’s notably relaxed Caution. Finally, Louie and Rich discuss Mariah Carey’s formidible legacy, her significant contributions to pop and rank her in the official Pop Pantheon.

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Is Pink Friday 2 a Worthy Sequel? (with Hunter Harris) (Patreon Preview) Dec 12, 2023

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Nicki Minaj dropped her long-awaited fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, last Friday. But is it a worthy follow-up to her legendary debut, 2010's Pink Friday? Hung Up's Hunter Harris joins DJ Louie to break it all down: what's good on this record, what's not and whether albums—this one or any other in her discography— are useful formats for Nicki's unique genius.

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MARIAH CAREY: PART 2 (with NPR's Aisha Harris) Dec 07, 2023

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For the second in our three-part series on Mariah Carey, NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour's Aisha Harris joins the show to unpack some of the most fascinating, liberated and enduring music Mariah has made, as well as a professional nadir from which it once seemed she'd never recover. Louie and Aisha pick up with Mariah's self-described magnum opus, 1997’s Butterfly, then move on to her final album under her deal with Sony and Tommy Mottola, 1999’s Rainbow, before digging into the embarrassing blunder of 2001’s Glitter film and soundtrack, the first and only release on Mariah's historic $100 million with Virgin Records. Finally, they tackle Mariah’s initial attempt at a comeback in 2002, Charmbracelet.

Join us next week for Part 3 which will cover Mariah’s triumphant comeback with 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi, her later period work, her legacy and her impact on pop. Plus, we'll rank Mariah Carey in the official Pop Pantheon.

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How Mariah Carey Became the Queen of Christmas (with The Wall Street Journal's John Jurgensen) (Patreon Preview) Dec 04, 2023

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, The Wall Street Journal's John Jurgensen, who has chronicled Mariah's ascent to the Queen of Christmas over the last 30 years, joins DJ Louie to discuss just how she's come to claim that title. Louie and John are talking Merry Christmas and "All I Want For Christmas Is You", the historical relationship between pop and Christmas music and how social media, stan culture, Love Actually, and a good-old fashioned banger came together to eventually make Mariah the biggest pop star in the world once again for two festive months, every single year.

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MARIAH CAREY: PART 1 (with Dr. Brittnay L. Proctor) Nov 30, 2023

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In the first of three new episodes on pop icon Mariah Carey, DJ Louie is joined by The New School's Dr. Brittnay L. Proctor to discuss Mariah's origin story and early career. They begin with her upbringing on Long Island as the product of a biracial marriage, her first forays into the music industry as a demo singer and background vocalist and her chance meeting with future husband Tommy Mottola which resulted in her smash self-titled debut album, home to four consecutive number one hits. They then discuss her pivot towards Black dance styles on her sophomore album, Emotions, her juggernaut, adult-contemporary-leaning third album, 1993's Music Box, her Christmas classic "All I Want for Christmas is You" and finally, her pivotal 1995 album Daydream, a blockbuster which saw Mariah defying Mottola's influence on her life and music, embracing hip hop and R&B into her sound and paving the way for her future as an artist and woman.
Join us next week for Part 2 where we will be talking Mariah's middle period, beginning with 1997's Butterfly through 2002's Charmbracelet.

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Check out a Spotify Playlist of Louie and Shaad's 2023 Favs

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The Best Pop Music of 2023 (with Shaad D'Souza) Nov 22, 2023

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Music writer Shaad D'Souza joins DJ Louie to discuss pop music in 2023. They each share and discuss their three favorite albums, three favorite songs, greatest disappointments, major trends in the genre and more.

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