Incoming Dean of the Thornton School of Music at USC Jason King returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the life and career of the architect of rock ‘n roll, Little Richard. Louie and Jason unpack Little Richard’s breakthrough “Tutti Frutti,” which is widely credited as the genesis of rock n’ roll music, and his string of hits through the 1950s; perhaps one of the first imperial phases in modern music history. They break down what it meant for Little Richard to drop an explosive glitter bomb of queer...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 40 min
In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, entertainment writer Matt Jacobs, who penned a piece for Vulture called "The Never-ending Story of Glitter, 20 Years On" , joins DJ Louie to chronicle the twisting tale of Mariah Carey's infamous 2001 flop film and soundtrack album. Louie and Matt detail Glitter 's '80s pastiche conceit, what works on the record, what doesn't, all of the Glitter 's adjacent cultural accoutrement (the TRL appearance!, "I don't know her"!, 9/11!), the r...
Jun 12, 2023•14 min
Winner of Season One of Canada's Drag Race Priyanka joins Pop Pantheon to chop it up about what makes the ideal pride anthem. First, Louie and Priyanka discuss Pri's new music, whether there's a difference between a drag pop song and mainstream pop song, and some of barriers between drag queens and the pop charts. Then, they break down the ingredients for the perfect pride anthem and each share a list of their five favs. Stay tuned this June for more Pride episodes. Listen to Louie and Pri's Pri...
Jun 08, 2023•51 min
In preparation for her major label debut, Feed The Beast , dropping later this month, Vulture ’s Jason P. Frank joins Pop Pantheon to discuss a star who is perhaps the first out trans woman to be in the running as a mainstream pop aspirant, Kim Petras. Jason and Louie’s conversation, which kicks off Pop Pantheon’s Pride series, covers Kim’s career, her early attempts to break into the music business, her controversial partnership with the producer Dr. Luke, her cavalcade of sugar bomb singles kn...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 42 min
Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul author Mark Bego joins Pop Pantheon to unpack the life and career of the greatest singer in American history, Aretha Franklin. Louie and Mark follow Aretha’s story from her upbringing as a reverend's daughter to her early gospel recordings and how her cover of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ rocketed her to superstardom. From there, they tackle Aretha’s fabled run through the late ‘60s, during which she soundtracked American life through the civil rights movement, wom...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 37 min
Editor at The Wall Street Journal Myles Tanzer joins DJ Louie to break down 2023 in pop music so far. The two debate the broader state of pop this year, both aesthetically and commercially, and discuss which stars have experienced significant up-levels before each sharing their lists of their three favorite albums and five favorite songs of 2023 (so far). Listen to a Spotify Playlist of Louie & Myles' 2023 Favs Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our New Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 30 min
In a preview of this week's episode of Pop Pantheon: All Access , 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. To hear the rest of...
May 15, 2023•13 min
Senior Music Editor at Rolling Stone Julyssa Lopez joins Pop Pantheon to discuss chameleonic hit-maker and international pop force, Shakira. Louie and Julyssa unpack Shakira’s early success throughout Latin America with 1995's Pies Descalzos and 1998's Dónde Están los Ladrones? , her international break-through, Laundry Service (2001), her market-conquering Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005), the Pharrell-driven She Wolf (2009), through to her current status as a hitmaker, 30...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 51 min
In a preview of this week's episode of Pop Pantheon: All Access , Louie and Russ gather to discuss British pop star Jessie Ware's fifth studio album, the disco-homaging That! Feels Good! , which dropped a couple weeks ago and where it fits into the broader disco revival which began in 2020 with Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia . To hear the rest of this episode plus all of our bonus content, access to our Discord and so much more, subscribe to the Icon Tier at Pop Pantheon: All Access . Join Pop Pant...
May 08, 2023•10 min
Beyoncé's massive Renaissance World Tour kicks off next week in Stockholm, Sweden so DJ Louie got a veritable Beyhive of all stars— writer of the substack Hung Up Hunter Harris, Keep It! Host Ira Madison III and Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Puja Patel— in formation to reflect on (almost) one year of the stadium trek's namesake Renaissance , Queen B's seventh album which dropped last July. First, the panel discusses each of their personal journeys with the record, from elation to frustration and eve...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 18 min
The New Yorker 's John Seabrook joins Pop Pantheon to discuss his recent exhaustive piece, " So You Want To Be a Tik Tok Star" . John and Louie discuss how the social media vlogging app rose to dominance in the music space, why it's so well-suited to the pop music ecosystem, how artists both existing and new are utilizing it and rebelling against it, how the music industry is weaponizing it and how it's changing the very nature of both pop stardom and music as we know it... for better or worse. ...
Apr 27, 2023•57 min
In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Pop Pantheon's first guest ever (!!) Steven J. Horowitz is back to revisit the first artist ever featured on the show, Ariana Grande. Since Louie and Steven last spoke in early 2021, Ariana has done... not much. But since they didn't really get to dig into it back then, the two go long on her latest album, 2020's sex-fest Positions, a dreamy, minor work that somehow both produced two smash singles and felt weirdly slight for an artis...
Apr 24, 2023•11 min
In the third episode of our girl group trilogy, US Editor and Culture Director of Service 95 Brennan Carley joins the show to discuss the (very) brief rise and fall of the last major American girl group of note , Fifth Harmony. Louie and Brennan discuss 5H's assembly by Simon Cowell on the reality singing competition show X-Factor , how they discovered their signature brand of 2010s female empowerment and borderline goofy ethos on their very good debut, 2015's Reflection , the trop-house vibes o...
Apr 20, 2023•1 hr 41 min
The New Yorker’s Doreen St. Félix returns to Pop Pantheon for the second episode in our new girl group trilogy, digging into the crazy, sexy and cool career of one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, TLC. Doreen and DJ Louie discuss the album that made TLC instant stars, 1992’s raucous Oooh, on the TLC Tip! , their pivot to slinky R&B on their classic blockbuster sophomore album CrazySexyCool (1994), their comeback with 1999’s futuristic FanMail and 2002’s 3D , released after Lisa L...
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr 57 min
Author of the book Girl Groups, Girl Culture: Popular Music and Identity in the 1960s, Dr. Jacqueline Warwick, joins Pop Pantheon to kick off the first of a trilogy of episodes on girl groups, starting with four acts who burned fast and bright during the 1950s and 1960s: The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Marvelettes and The Shangri-Las. Jacqueline and Louie dive into the hits, careers and legacies of these foundational outfits who not only helped invent the idea of the girl group as we know it to...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 34 min
As a follow-up to last week's Lana Del Rey deep dive , music critic Shaad D'Souza returns to the show to break down her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which dropped last Friday. Shaad, who reviewed the record for The Guardian , and Louie discuss Did You Know... 's major themes and aesthetics, the evolution of Lana's lyrical approach, how the record fits into the grander scheme of her artistic and commercial arc and more. Read Shaad's Review of Did You Kn...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In preparation for her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, dropping tonight, Kathy Iandoli joins Pop Pantheon to explore the enigmatic and paradigm-shifting career of pop iconoclast Lana Del Rey. Kathy, who taught a course on Lana at NYU, joins DJ Louie to discuss Lana’s myth and all of her records, from her breakthrough, 2012’s Born To Die, to her psychedelic rock homage, Ultraviolence (2014), her magnum opus, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), and her most re...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 56 min
Author and Who? Weekly co-host Bobby Finger joins Pop Pantheon to unpack the career of sly country agitator turned alt pop girlie Kacey Musgraves. Bobby and DJ Louie discuss the blend of traditionalism and iconoclasm on both Kacey’s 2013 debut, Same Trailer Different Park and her sophomore effort, Pageant Material (2015). They dig into Kacey’s 2018 critical smash, Golden Hour, which profoundly expanded the scope of her work and won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and revisit her latest effort,...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 46 min
Miley Cyrus just dropped her 8th studio album, Endless Summer Vacation , last Friday, so critic Shaad D'Souza- our guest for our Miley episode and who reviewed the new record for Pitchfork - is here to help break this music down: what works, what doesn't, the major themes and aesthetics, the incredible success of lead single "Flowers", what we should and shouldn't expect from Miley at this point and whether any of it impacts her ranking in the Pop Pantheon. If you enjoyed this snippet and want t...
Mar 14, 2023•9 min
Vulture 's Jason P. Frank joins DJ Louie to discuss the idea of "Poptimism", or the movement in musical critical discourse during the mid 2000s and 2010s that allowed for pop music to be taken seriously as art. Jason and Louie discuss the circumstances that created Poptimism, how it disseminated through discourse over the last twenty years, the major albums, songs and artists that calcified the term, and how it's perhaps become irrelevant in the modern pop landscape. Read Kelefeh Sanneh's "The R...
Mar 09, 2023•54 min
Writer and A&R person Jordan Sargent returns to Pop Pantheon to explore a definitive moment in establishing hip hop’s centrism in mainstream pop music – the early 2000s. Jordan and DJ Louie explore the careers and legacies of a quartet of performers, Ja Rule, Nelly, Ludacris and 50 Cent, who hit their cultural peak during a moment when pop first fully allowed rappers to be mainstream pop stars. They discuss the sound of crossover rap in the 2000s and the biggest hits of the era from ‘In Da C...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 54 min
Trapital Host Dan Runcie joins DJ Louie to discuss the state of the streaming ecosystem. Dan and Louie dig into how streaming has impacted the nature of pop stardom by helping to foster a dissolving monoculture and the rise of the niche superstar, financial incentives, stanning, pop music itself and us, the consumers, and how we relate to the value of music. Listen to Trapital Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our New Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More!! Shop Merch in Pop Pantheon's St...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Critic, author and host of the podcast You Must Remember This Karina Longworth joins Pop Pantheon to help tell the story of patient zero for the concept of a “Pop Music Icon,” the legendary crooner and American Icon Frank Sinatra. Karina and DJ Louie trace Frank's career from its origins in clubs in Hoboken to the onset of what was perhaps the first true pop star fandemonium craze of the modern era, Sinatramania. Next, they discuss Frank's cornucopia of definitive American Standards, his success...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 44 min
For this week's B-Side, DJ Louie is joined by a literal Navy of Pop Pantheon All-Stars- Who? Weekly's Lindsey Weber, Billboard's Jason Lipshutz and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd- to preview Rihanna's epic return to music at Super Bowl LVII, this Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona! They talk all the big questions: Why now? What does it portend for new Rihanna music? What made her change her hard "no" to the NFL over their treatment of Colin Kaepernick? Then, the main event: Louie, Lindsey, Jason and Juliann...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Writer and producer Anupa Mistry joins Pop Pantheon to dissect the career of the most enigmatic pop superstar of his generation, The Weeknd. Anupa and DJ Louie discuss The Weeknd’s genre-obliterating early mixtapes, which helped to redefine the contours of R&B in the 2010s, and his studio debut, 2013’s Kiss Land . They also walk through his string of massive successes, from his breakthrough sophomore album, 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness, 2016 follow-up Starboy, 2020’s revelatory After Hou...
Feb 02, 2023•1 hr 56 min
For this week's B-Side, we're reassessing all the Pop Pantheon rankings of the last year, including debates on Kesha, Miley, ABBA, Belinda Carlisle, Spice Girls and More. We're also taking listener Pantheon disputes via your phone calls. Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our New Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More!! Shop Merch in Pop Pantheon's Store! Listen to our Original Pantheon Ranking Reassessment from April 2021 Follow DJ Louie XIV on Instagram Follow DJ Louie XIV on Twitter Foll...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 13 min
As a special bonus to wrap up our new Madonna series, we're re-publishing an episode, the fourth ever of Pop Pantheon (!!), from April 21, 2021 wherein DJ Louie and Jezebel's Rich Juzwiak attempt to parse about Madonna's commercial and artistic decline beginning with 2008's Pharrell and Timbaland-produced Hard Candy , 2012's limp return to dance music, MDNA, 2016's sprawling, trend-hopping Rebel Heart and 2019's generally baffling Madame X . Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our New Patreon Channel...
Jan 23, 2023•57 min
Author and journalist Annie Zaleski returns to Pop Pantheon for part three of our Madonna series, covering the period in which Madonna fully solidified her status as one of the most important cultural figures of the modern era. DJ Louie and Annie discuss Madonna’s critically-adored, career-reimagining smash Ray of Light (1998), which saw her celebrate the epiphany of motherhood, her return to capital-f "Fun" on 2000's Music , and 2003's stilted American Life . Finally, they tackle her euphoric r...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 58 min
For part two of our Madonna series, Clive Davis Institute chair Jason King returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the imperial period of the Queen of Pop's career with DJ Louie. They discuss the capstone on Madonna's decade-defining run of records in the 1980s, 1989's Like a Prayer , her explosion into the 1990s with “Vogue,” 1992’s lightning rod Erotica and a singular record in Madonna’s discography, 1994's Bedtime Stories. Plus highlights from her cultural peak, like the genre-creating tour docume...
Jan 12, 2023•2 hr
For the first of our new three-part series on the Queen of Pop, Madonna, host of the podcast Inside the Groove Edward Russell joins DJ Louie to discuss Madge’s early years as an upstart pop-provocateur-turned-auteur. Louie and Edward begin with her early life and how her mother’s death from breast cancer, her strained relationship with her father and the family’s devout catholicism informed her path and future work before moving to the mythology of how she ended up in New York City, first to pur...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 52 min
