Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As a little Xmas treat, we're posting this episode which was originally published on our Patreon, Pop Pantheon: All Access, a deep-dive with Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos into Taylor Swift's misunderstood 2017 album Reputation . Largely derided upon its release in 2017, Reputation is an album that's worthy of a re-appraisal, especially given its connections to Taylor's current blockbuster success with Midnights. As a special bonus for our Patrons, Louie's ta...
Dec 29, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Chief Television Critic at Variety Daniel D’Addario is back with DJ Louie for part two of our series on Purposeful Popstress Katy Perry! Louie and Dan kick off this installment by talking about the long tail of Teenage Dream and how Katy's highly-publicized divorce from comedian Russell Brand informed both the deluxe edition's hit singles as well as the setting into which she delivered her much-anticipated fourth album, 2013's Prism . They then parse about Prism 's disjointed mix of Dream -style...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Chief Television Critic at Variety Daniel D’Addario joins DJ Louie for a long-awaited and sprawling two-parter about Rick Caruso’s favorite pop star, Katy Perry! In Part 1, Louie and Dan begin with Katy’s cloistered early life as the daughter of two Pentacostal ministers who was denied access to most popular culture, her teenaged forays into Christian rock, eventual pivot to secular music and myriad false starts as a pop star, including dalliances with Alanis Morrisette producer Glen Ballard, a ...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 38 min
The concept of an "Imperial Phase"- a short-lived period of a pop star's career where artistic revelation meets commercial saturation and everything they touch turns to gold- comes up quite a bit on Pop Pantheon. Originally coined by Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant, the term gained purchase in our pop music discourse thanks to Tom Ewing's taxonomy of the phrase in his classic 2010 Pitchfork piece, "Imperial" . For this week's B-side, Tom joins DJ Louie to discuss Imperial Phases past, present and fu...
Dec 08, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Editor at NPR Music Hazel Cills joins DJ Louie for a thorough rundown of pop music in the year 2022. They talk Beyoncé, Rosalia, Taylor, Muna, Drake, Charli, Kendrick, Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Lizzo, shifting musical trends (welcome back, dance music!), wonky rollouts, more Beyoncé (of course), list their favorite and least favorite pop albums and songs of the year, and more. Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our New Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More!! Buy Tickets to See Louie DJ at G...
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Musician and Writer Sasha Frere-Jones joins DJ Louie to discuss the tragically short career and life of the great British soul singer, Amy Winehouse. Louie and Sasha begin by discussing how an early death, perhaps before a pop star has even reached their peak, affects their legacy before diving into Amy’s story, how she grew up on the music of jazz greats like Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughn and ‘90s American hip hop superstars like Nas and Lauryn Hill and the ways that marriage formed the aes...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 44 min
New York Magazine's Rachel Handler joins DJ Louie to discuss both Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me , the recently-released doc about the pop star on Apple TV+, and the broader state of the pop star documentary. Rachel had the opportunity to sit down with Selena and director Alek Keshishian to talk about the film, so Louie and Rachel first get into what Selena was like as interview before diving into My Mind & Me, what it tells us about Selena, and how it fits into the broader of narrative of p...
Nov 17, 2022•1 hr 17 min
We’re shaking things up a bit this week! The ‘80s were formative for our ideas of modern pop stardom but it’s not just Madonna, Prince, Michael, Janet, George and the gang that deserve credit for shaping that legacy. So in this episode, Senior Editor at Stereogum Tom Breihan joins me to break down the careers and legacies of four more erstwhile women who hit high highs during this decade, with smash singles and multi platinum albums, then fell off the charts just as the decade turned over to the...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 49 min
Pop Music Reporter for The New York Times, Joe Coscarelli, returns to the podcast to dig into the origins, agony and ecstasy of internet stan culture. DJ Louie and Joe discuss how classic fandoms morphed into internet stan armies, the difference between being a "fan" in the old sense of the word and a modern "stan", who often wraps their entire identity around a pop star, how these armies are weaponized by the star they worship and serve as powerful promotional arms and also, more worryingly, at...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Host of the Podcast 60 Songs That Explain the '90s , The Ringer's Rob Harvilla, is back with DJ Louie to break down Taylor Swift's 10th studio album, Midnights , which dropped this past Friday. Louie and Rob set up Taylor's career and discography heading into this record before breaking down the lyrical motifs, recurrent themes and production choices on the album, what's working and not working for each of them, whether this record marks the end of one phase, the beginning of a new one, or some ...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Music journalist Owen Myers is back with DJ Louie to discuss the career and legend of British super girl group, Spice Girls. First, Louie and Owen talk through the history of girl groups and how various waves helped form the foundation for the Spice Girls’ ethos, before getting into the band’s journey from prefab answer to the UK boy band wave of the era to self-possessed girl-gang in control of their own destiny. Louie and Owen then discuss what made the Spice Girls and their explosion so singu...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 51 min
Senior Writer for Jezebel Rich Juzwiak joins DJ Louie once again to discuss the formidable work and legacy of the iconic George Michael. Louie and Rich discuss George’s early life, his chance middle-school meeting with Andrew Ridgely which lead to the formation of his breakthrough musical endeavor- the duo Wham!- the group’s two albums, 1983’s Fantastic and 1984’s blockbuster Make It Big , and how both Wham!’s well-executed appropriation of canonically Black musical aesthetics and its pervasive ...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 57 min
It's listener mailbag time! DJ Louie and Russ are here to tackle questions from across the Pop Pantheon extended universe. Who is the greatest British pop star of all time? Is Nicki BACK?! Are "Flop Eras" actually good?! Can DJs be Pop Stars??!! How does dying young affect your Pop Pantheon ranking?!!! How can Janet reach Tier 1??!! And so much more. See Louie DJ at Gorgeous Gorgeous in DTLA on 10/22! Buy Pop Pantheon's New "Niche Legend" Dad Hat! Take the Pop Pantheon Listener Survey Join the P...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Senior Culture Reporter for the South China Morning Post and author of the book BTS: Blood Sweat and Tears , Tamar Herman, joins DJ Louie for a deep-dive on K-Pop phenom boyband BTS. First, Louie and Tamar lay out some of the contours and history of the K-Pop scene and music industry before diving into BTS’ story, how they were initially put together in 2010 by producer Bang Si-Hyuk as a socially-conscious rap outfit on their “Skool Trilogy” in 2013 and 2014, and Bang’s vision for a boy band tha...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 38 min
For this week's B-Side, DJ Louie is joined by his bffs Steven, Omri and Lala to debrief their night at the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium stop of Lady Gaga's epic, years-in-the-making Chromatica Ball World Tour. They talk all aspects of the show- from the stage to the setlist to the fashion to Gaga's presence, dancing and voice- how it stacks up against past LG tours, where they'd rank Chomatica against her previous records, what it felt like to finally hear "Rain on Me" amongst 52,000 other Little ...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Author of Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop and host of The Ringer podcast Black Girl Songbook, Danyel Smith, joins DJ Louie to explore the work, impact and legacy of the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. Louie and Danyel begin with Donna’s early life as the eccentric Black girl in her Boston community during the 1950s and ‘60s, her move to Germany in 1968 to star in the musical Hair which eventually led to a star-crossed meeting with producers Giorgio Morodor and Pete Bell...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 47 min
For this week’s B-Side, DJ Louie is joined by Chair of the The Clive Institute of Recorded Music, Jason King, to talk the history, culture, ethos and aesthetics of disco music. Louie and Jason lay out the elements of a disco song, what the word meant as a cultural movement, its roots as a queer black artform and unique platform for black women’s voices, what made the “disco diva”, the genre’s trajectory through the 1970s as a fast burning phenomenon that crashed just as quickly by the turn of th...
Sep 08, 2022•58 min
We did it! We finally made merch ! Please welcome to the stage: The Pop Pantheon "Niche Legend" Dad Hat! Be the Carly Rae Jepsen you want to see in the world by purchasing this gorgeous black and hot pink baseball cap ! It reads "Niche Legend" on the front and "Pop Pantheon" on the back. This hat is a celebration of both our favorite Niche Legend pop girlies AND , most importantly, the Niche Legend in all of us!! Enjoy <3 Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Conte...
Sep 07, 2022•57 sec
Music writer and Assistant Professor at Syracuse University, Rawiya Kameir, is back on the show to discuss the career and confessions of the great Usher. DJ Louie and Rawiya break down Usher’s musical origins singing in the church, the failed boy band he fronted in the early ‘90s, Nu Beginnings, and how his deal with the storied LaFace Records and subsequent “flavor camp” with Sean “Puff Daddy’ Combs set the stage for his self-titled debut record in 1994. They then dive into his breakthrough sop...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 47 min
The MTV Video Music Awards will air this Sunday, August 28 2022, from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ but does anybody care? For this week’s Pop Pantheon B-Side, Dunzo’s Troy McEady is back to discuss the history of the once-must-watch award show with DJ Louie, what made them the most raucous and exciting live event around at their peak, how grabbing a VMA headline could change a pop star’s career forever and what’s gone wrong with the show in recent years. Then, Louie and Troy count down th...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Music critic Shaad D’Souza joins DJ Louie to talk about one of modern pop’s most captivating, divisive and perplexing figures, Miley Cyrus. Louie and Shaad open with a break down of Miley’s emergence on the smash Disney show, Hannah Montana , how the character’s own double life as a pop star and a “normal girl” mirrored Miley’s own, and the chaste image and anodyne pop-rock empowerment anthems on which Miley-as-Hannah made her name and, later in career, had to torch. They next dive into Miley’s ...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 46 min
Every episode of Pop Pantheon contains at least some mention of the Billboard's iconic singles chart, the Hot 100. So for this week's B-Side, DJ Louie is joined by chart analyst, cultural critic and host of Slate's podcast Hit Parade to talk the 60 year history of the chart, the way its metrics have evolved over time, what role having hits on the Hot 100 plays in a pop star's mythology and legacy, whether or not we can compare current hits like this week's #1 "Break My Soul" to past ones given h...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 14 min
Beyoncé’s seventh studio album and her first in over six years, Renaissance , is finally upon us! For the fourth and final episode of our series on Queen B, DJ Louie is joined by The New Yorker ’s Doreen St. Félix to discuss the new record. Louie and Doreen share gut-check reactions, break down Renaissance's themes of bacchanalia and sexual freak-dom and how they register through Beyoncé’s signature meticulousness, its lush, dynamic sonic palette which runs the gamut from house to disco to afrob...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Part 3/4! Beyoncé’s latest solo album, Renaissance , drops on July 29th so to get everyone prepared, Pop Pantheon will be releasing a series of four episodes on the work and legacy of Queen Bey, each with a different guest! In our third installment, DJ Louie is joined by author of Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound , Yale University’s Dr. Daphne A. Brooks, to discuss the latest decade of Beyoncé’s solo career. Louie and Dr. Brooks begin with the quagmir...
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 50 min
Part 2/4! Beyoncé’s latest solo album, Renaissance , drops on July 29th so to get everyone prepared, Pop Pantheon will be releasing a series of four episodes on the work and legacy of Queen Bey, each with a different guest! In our second installment, DJ Louie is joined by author and journalist Julianne Escobedo Shepherd to discuss the first decade of Beyoncé’s solo career. Louie and Julianne begin with Beyoncé’s first steps outside of Destiny’s Child, including her film appearances in 2001’s MTV...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 59 min
Part 1/4! In the first of four episodes in our new series covering the work and career of pop titan Beyoncé, DJ Louie is joined by Senior Writer at Rolling Stone, Brittany Spanos, to discuss the group that started it all: Destiny’s Child. Louie and Brittany begin with a broad history of black R&B girl groups, specifically the ‘90s wave of which DC was a part, and the ever-evolving way black women have presented themselves in the pop space. They then discuss Beyoncé’s early life, how she and ...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 51 min
In this week's B-Side episode, Executive Director of Music at Billboard Jason Lipshutz joins DJ Louie to discuss the Song of the Summer! Louie and Jason dig into the history of the concept and Billboard's SOTS Chart, discuss the most recent winners and what makes for the ideal Song of the Summer, whether having a SOTS can meaningfully change the trajectory of pop star's career, and then each name their favorite Songs of the Summer of all time. Tickets to see Louie DJ Pop Music at Gorgeous Gorgeo...
Jul 07, 2022•50 min
Journalist and author of the 33 ⅓ book Duran Duran’s Rio , Annie Zaleski, joins DJ Louie for a deep-dive into ‘80s British pop-rock band and seminal music video-pioneers, Duran Duran. First, Louie and Annie parse the various music scenes-- glam rock, new wave, “The New Romantics”-- from which Duran Duran emerged before discussing the band’s formation in Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, their deal with storied label EMI, and what factors lead their 1981 self-titled debut, a prescient b...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 39 min
In an emergency B-Side (Bey-Side??), DJ Louie, along with Pop Pantheon producer Russ, break down everything about Beyoncé's latest single, the '90s house-nodding club anthem "Break My Soul", which dropped last night. Louie and Russ lay out where Beyoncé's commercial and artistic trajectory stands leading into this new era, from which genres, songs and artists "Break My Soul" draws, whether or not it's any good, pontificate on whether Bey can score a radio hit in the third decade of her in her ...
Jun 22, 2022•53 min
My dad, Tim, is not only the biggest Pop Pantheon fan who loves to share his many opinions on all the episodes, but is also a music fanatic and entertainment attorney who specializes in music. As such, I had the privilege of growing up in a household where the two of us bonded over our mutual love of pop and often got to experience it together. His passion for it all was (obviously) formative to my own identity, career and life. For this bonus episode of Pop Pantheon, in honor of Father's Day th...
Jun 17, 2022•56 min
