Harry Styles, Disco Pop, and New Artist Picks! (Pop Episode)

In this weeks podcast, Jeff & Richie discuss:

Harry Styles and his HARRY'S HOUSE era. Take a dive with Jeff & Richie into the world of Harry Styles as they have a casual conversion on what it means to be a modernized rockstar, an advocate for multiple communities, and see what they think Harry's longevity in the industry is. 

Jeff & Richie then move the discussion over to DISCO POP, tracks that they feel are falling into the 2022 Disco Pop music space (Follow the POP PLAYLIST here). Tracks discussed include:
Lizzo - "About Damn Time"
Darin - "Superstar"
DNCE - "Move"
The Knocks - "Slow Song"

New Artist Picks of the week include: (Follow the NEW ARTIST PICKS PLAYLIST here)
Blanks - "Home Without A Heart"
Raphaël Roberge - "10"
Joonas - "Psycho Ex-Boyfriend" 
Jordyn Sugar - "Summer High" 

Thanks for listening! Please leave us a review if you love our Theatre & Pop conversations.

Follow us on Instagram: @halfhourpodcast
Follow us on TikTok: @halfhourpodcast
Visit our website: www.twoworldsentertainmentllc.com

If you liked this episode, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.

Share your thoughts with us on this episode below:
On Instagram: @halfhourpodcast
On TikTok: @halfhourpodcast
On our website: www.twoworldsentertainmentllc.com

Transcript

Richie [00:00:03] Half hour. 

Jeff [00:00:08] Hello and welcome to Half Hour, an entertainment podcast through two worlds entertainment. I'm Jeff and. 

Richie [00:00:13] I'm Richie. 

Jeff [00:00:13] And we're here to bring you a casual conversation on the show's music entertainment pieces that we see and consume throughout our careers. This week, we're bringing you back to our pop episodes after we've had a bum rush of theater episodes. 

Richie [00:00:30] Yes.

Jeff [00:00:31] And we'll be talking about pop every other week and we'll be talking about theater every other week. So just so you know, our episodes will be coming out Fridays at 3 p.m. weekly from now on. 

Richie [00:00:42] New format. 

Jeff [00:00:42] So now, you know, get your Entertainment Fridays 3 p.m. with us. 

Richie [00:00:46] And your commute home. 

Jeff [00:00:49] So today on our pop episode, we're going to bring back our first spotlight pop star right now who's been in the news quite often. And his name is Mr. Harry Styles. Yeah, Harry Styles just released his new album, Harry's House. And I want to kind of just dove into a little bit more about his career, what we're seeing with Harry Styles about what we like. And yeah, so what I found right now with Styles, Harry's House, it clearly shows that he's been kind of educated and influenced by a lot of pop and rock history. He's been able to show his vulnerable side in his work, and he, I think, really created a cohesive project with Harry's house and some of my standout tracks from the album. I'll give you the link in the pocket, the podcast episode notes, so you can go and listen to it too. But my standout tracks are music for our sushi restaurant, Late Night Talking as it was, Keep Driving and love of my life. So I wanted to hear from you. Mr. Richard. What are some of your initial thoughts about this album and what were some of your initial thoughts about Harry before? What are you like? 

Richie [00:02:02] So I love the album. I love him. I love what he's been doing the last few years. You know what's so cool about this album is I'm someone who listens to music and I say where I'm a, where do I listen to it type of a person. Yeah. Like because I drive for work a lot. I mean, I'm home a lot of work, so and I'm out and about. I'm doing a lot of things. So I'm like, Where would I listen to this album? And it's amazing to me. I keep name like multiple places where I always think like an album is really good. Some way if you can listen to it in multiple ways and also places. So this is like chill out at the house, this is drive in the car, this is dance in your living room. This is like multiple places and moods and vibes. 

Jeff [00:02:47] Well, we're going to be dancing in our living room to this album. You want to. 

Richie [00:02:50] Know? Okay, why? 

Jeff [00:02:51] Because I bought the vinyl record. Oh, I'm going to be in trouble. But it's okay. 

Richie [00:02:57] If have records. But it's okay. 

Jeff [00:03:00] You know, it really is. I agree with you that I found at times, you know, there were some slow things happening throughout the album. Yeah, I did find that there was a lot of fun moments and I really am embracing this whole like rock pop star that he is becoming. You know, departing his one direction days how he originally started and then kind of moving into this rock space and creating a real image for himself. I think it's really working for him. 

Richie [00:03:25] He's almost creating his own subgenre of pop in a way. Yeah, it's like rock pop. It's like groovy at times. It's. It's like these different genres coming together. You can so tell that him and his team are working really hard at like really establishing themselves in a new way. I'm very impressed with the whole thing and I think all those track album standouts that you said are really same for me. I love "As it was", it's always on the radio and I just like a doo doo doo doo doo doo. It's just like that. Cool. It's so catchy. 

Jeff [00:03:57] It's so catchy. So I think it takes in a lot of influences from past, you know, eighties rock. 

Richie [00:04:03] Yeah, yeah. 

Jeff [00:04:04] I mean I think it even samples a-ha's "Take On Me" which is huge. 

Richie [00:04:09] And he I was saying he has like a charm to him too. He has this appeal to the masses that is really difficult for an artist. A lot of times artists will have like one style a lot of their career and they'll have one. 

Jeff [00:04:23] No pun intended. 

Richie [00:04:24] Styles, or they'll have one specific style of music, I should say, and people like that. And that's what they go for. And they have their fans and their following and that's that. This is like, I don't know, I could feel like I could go to this concert and I could see all people at this really vibing and enjoying themselves. The lyrics. I think some of his lyrics are great. I love the lyrics and keep driving. I think that's like a really great song, really well written. I love the late song, Late Night Talking, the disco rock kind of vibe. It's a mix of both worlds there. Yeah, I'm totally a fan of him and I'm totally fan of this album for sure. 

Jeff [00:04:59] where do you see this Harry album fitting in your pop world fantasy? 

Richie [00:05:04] Well, it kind of like I said, it kind of fits into my world of driving. Chill out. I would put it on frequently when I'm working, doing emails. It's like it's like I, I could listen to it in a lot of spaces. It definitely fits on my playlist of songs listen to and just vibe to and enjoy life. 

Jeff [00:05:24] What I find really cool about his kind of whole persona, I really think that he's modernized what it means to be a true rock star today, and I feel like that's something that we haven't really had in a while. If you think about some of the greats, like the David Bowie's and the Freddie Mercury is the Elton John's, the prince is the Michael Jackson's. These were huge, like pop rock stars in their time. Even like someone like Elvis, they were they had these fans, groupies that were just did anything that they loved and did anything for that artist when they put something out. And I feel like he's really embracing that as well. But he, like, embodies it in a different way because you don't hear like him as a heavy drug user. You don't hear him trashing hotel rooms or showing up late to concerts. You don't hear any of those things. You hear that he actually loves what he's doing and that he's spreading love and he's spreading kindness. And I feel like that's a message that he's really kind of just taken on, and I think he really practices what he preaches with that. 

Richie [00:06:26] Yeah, I definitely feel like he's taken the influence of people that have come before him, but he's totally making it his own. And I, he has this very neutral perspective on the way he performs and presents, and I think that's really cool for him. He doesn't need to push back. He pushes boundaries in some ways. It's almost like he plays it safe and then he also doesn't play it safe. I don't know. That makes sense. I've never really seen an artist who is like pushing boundaries and trying new things, but pushing boundaries with the way he dresses and the way he talks about social issues and the way he puts music out. Not like the things he's doing off camera or like things in his personal life. You know, in some media, like his. 

Jeff [00:07:06] Personal life is kind of very hidden. 

Richie [00:07:08] Yeah, it's almost like his. 

Jeff [00:07:10] Persona is what he's taken on as a pop star. Which many do you know? You have the Lady Gaga's and the Katy Perry's and all of these people that have created personas around themselves. But do they really act that way at home? It's such an interesting thing, but I think what's so nice about him is he really does practice what he preaches in terms of the some of the social issues that he is very fond of. He has a huge love and respect for the LGBTQ plus community. He's very vocal about gun control in this country, and he also supports women's rights and their right to choose about them. And he is very vocal about men staying out of a woman's life. And that's such a major thing. And he he pulls from some of those inspirations and he says from the greats, you know, he remembers being in a car with his parents and then playing Shania Twain and Shania Twain being such an influence about positive femininity for him, you know, and also being such a huge fan of someone like Lizzo and Lizzo being that positive woman force in the pop industry right now. 

Richie [00:08:15] He definitely has has these he promote, like you mentioned, these issues that he's really vocal that are very important. I think it's very important that he speaks on that. I think it's great for his image and his longevity. This is what young people and all people want. They want someone who's cutting edge, who going to come out there, who's going to speak their mind. He's going to show their expression of music and love, and they're not going to think, Oh, is this an act or is this a facade? Or I wonder what they're really like off stage? And no, this is someone who's being raw and real. Taylor Swift is raw and real in her emotion on stage, I think. I'm not saying people before them weren't. I'm just saying that I think that this is an opportunity to really say there is not many rules left anymore. And I feel like maybe in the sixties, in the seventies and even the eighties and nineties, there were still rules, in a way, how the industry worked behind the scenes, how what people could and couldn't say on stage. And I feel like he's like, You know what? There's no rules. As long as we're all respecting each other and showing kindness and support and we're working together as a team here with his team and the fans love that. 

Jeff [00:09:21] Oh, that's just such an interesting thing to bring up, because sometimes you can see an artist and you might find, are they doing stuff publicly in the public eye as a calculated thing? Like it's self-serving. I think, you know, that's a kind of touch too much on this in this conversation. But like sometimes I think a good example is like someone like Lady Gaga. She's very outward facing about supporting like the LGBTQ community. She's very vocal about supporting women and all of those things. And I remember watching her documentary and I was kind of like, some of this stuff feels a little. Self-serving to her. And it was almost a big turnoff because everything was so calculated, public facing. And then when you saw this, you were like going in her life and you're like, Why is she complaining? Why is she doing this? Why is she doing that? Why is she creating a song about an aunt or grandmother who it seems like she's doing it for her and it became all about her. And the grandma eventually was like to her stop. And then I was that always puts a bad taste in my mouth because I'm like, I hope the artists, like, even someone like him is doing this because it's a message that he wants to spread. And it's not just here to boost his career. 

Richie [00:10:35] I agree with some of that and I may disagree with some of that because I do feel like Lady Gaga is a prime example of someone who reinvents herself and changes her persona and the way she performs music and presents music. And I think that someone like him having a little bit of rock influenced, disco influenced, groovy, you know, all these different styles of influence is kind of like what Gaga does. She'll do a country music album, she'll do a jazz Tony Bennett album, and she'll go back to doing her pop stuff. So I think she is a good example of someone who remains in the public facing. But yeah, you're talking about. 

Jeff [00:11:07] I'm talking about more from like a social. Yeah. Because it's like. Do you like when artists are vocal about social issues? 

Richie [00:11:13] I do. I know that there is this movement in certain parts of this country with certain people in this country that say, shut up and sing, you're not supposed to entertain me. And I don't need to hear what you think to shut up and say, you know how many times I've actually heard that? I've heard that from people we know. I've heard that from people. And it's like this major bizarre movement of like, I don't need to hear what you think about politics to shut up and say. And I'm like, All right, this is like, no. 

Jeff [00:11:45] It's like, what discredits an artist from talking about politics? Why is it only an everyday person who complained. 

Richie [00:11:51] About the person you can share your opinion on whenever you want? But this person who has all these people. Yeah, okay. I understand the thought of like, yes, we want to hear you sing or dance or perform and that's why we're here and that's what they're doing. So it's not like they're not doing that. 

Jeff [00:12:05] I think that people hate it because artists have such a big platform. 

Richie [00:12:09] But I mean, that's to the benefit. 

Jeff [00:12:11] People think, Oh, the artist is going to taint someone's opinion now because, oh, you know, a little Mary Sue who's at the concert and is 18 and getting ready to vote, is going to vote the same way Harry Styles did it. 

Richie [00:12:23] But it shouldn't be about that. 

Jeff [00:12:25] No, I think it should be about what he's doing is he's spreading awareness to certain things. He's not saying, hey, you know what? Vote for Joe Biden. He's saying, no, we're going to talk about gun control. That has nothing to do with being conservative or liberal. That has to be deal with saying here, I'm going to tell you what I know about gun control. I'm going to support and donate to positive gun reform. And here here's the information about it. 

Richie [00:12:51] It's a it's a lot of times it depends on your audience. When you have someone like Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, you have a lot of young people following you. It's almost like if the Beatles who were, you know, actually came to America, they were from England. But if they if they came here in the sixties and were talking about political issues, well, they probably didn't. And they probably were told not to, even if they wanted to. But how many young people were following them at the time and were voters? And what I'm saying also is, you know, I'll never forget when we saw Barbra Streisand's concert, she's an older person. A lot of that audience were older people. She was political at that concert she was speaking about. It was right around maybe when Trump was president or becoming president. She was very against that. And I remember a lot of older people who are never used to people speaking, only like now here she is at 80 years old or whatever, speaking out about her. That's a big deal for someone of her generation to do that. She doesn't care. 

Jeff [00:13:42] You know. 

Richie [00:13:42] And because she'll just keep selling out and selling, selling, selling. And so people I remember people or people sitting around us like obsessed. Someone like scoffed or was upset that she was doing that. Because it's your audience, it depends on your audience. She knows that she has older audience and that she didn't care. 

Jeff [00:13:57] Because I think people's opinions then change after about that person immediately because they're like, oh, I now know. I mean, Dolly Parton is a perfect example. 

Richie [00:14:04] She's a. 

Jeff [00:14:04] Neutral.

Richie [00:14:05] She stays very neutral. She's never spoke, which I understand that. I also understand that why maybe you just want to do your thing. Dolly Parton is an icon in the most liberal of people and the most conservative people. So, hey, you know, I but I do think for someone like Harry Styles paved the way. Speak about these issues. Speak about issues that matter to all people. Like you just said, it's not about specific politics. It's about social issues that are a major problem, the LGBTQ community and the support for that and Pride Month. Gun Control Reform. Gun control is an issue for every single American citizen right now. Does it matter what we've there's a there's an issue. We have an issue. And and there's even people saying, like, I don't really even know what the answer is here, but we need someone to start doing something about it and start talking about. And I think even just him saying something like that is a big deal. Of course, we all have our opinions of what we think could do to be fixing that. But. But him supporting that, supporting women's rights, supporting gay rights is an amazing thing. Yeah, it's an amazing. 

Jeff [00:15:05] I mean, he's doing some major things right now in touring industry right now as well. He is coming back with his love on tour, Harry's House version, and he sold out 15 New York City dates, five Austin dates, five Chicago dates and 15 LA dates, which is remarkable. 

Richie [00:15:20] At Madison Square Garden, I believe to eight in New York, and I'm like, that's huge. That's really huge. Because when some people do one night or two nights and sell out, you're like, Okay, cool. I remember Adele did like six nights. That was a big deal. Now double that and add some and now you have it. 

Jeff [00:15:37] Originally it was only ten and then he added five. 

Richie [00:15:39] Yeah. That's an amazing. 

Jeff [00:15:41] Show. Dates and the L.A. dates. I think this is what I was saying about someone who's has so much of an impact right now in the the industry like we don't get these artists are rare now in the 20, 2022 and beyond. Like we don't get a superstar pop star that comes along and you know he's using things like tiktok. He teased out as it was and it became super successful. Music for our sushi restaurant is blowing up and like because it's blowing up on a platform like Tik Tok, it should immediately know that to my second single, you know, and like those are the things. And what I just find so interesting is he sells that out and he did the he was the headliner at Coachella where he brought out Shania Twain, he brought out Lizzo, and he had that great moment with both of them. They seem to be so happy performing with him. There was so much energy there and it was so great, you know? So, I mean. I'm super inspired. 

Richie [00:16:40] By. Yeah, very inspired. I think all his music is wonderful. He's got a great platform, a great message, and he's successful. 

Jeff [00:16:46] And I think he has. I think he has longevity in this industry. I don't know. What do you think? 

Richie [00:16:54] I think so, too. And not to not to make it about gender at all. But there's a lot of solo female careers out there. And a lot of times with men, it becomes groups or bands, right? This is like a solo guy. Yeah, I know solo guys existed long ago with Michael Jackson and Prince and Elton John and Billy Joel. Of course, that's always kind of existed. And then the nineties were like, Boy band, boy band, boy band. But I don't know, a ton of soul, you know, you look at Imagine Dragons, you look at Coldplay and you look at 21 pilots and you look at some of these, like male singers and some of these groups that are in bands. But then I'm talking about a soul. Of course he has a band, but I'm talking about a solo act. 

Jeff [00:17:37] He is not always seen a lot. I mean, I think right now he has the career of like a Justin Timberlake. 

Richie [00:17:42] Yeah.

Jeff [00:17:42] Who right, left in sync went on to have a very successful solo career, whereas he was in one direction. He's left and now he's doing his thing. And I think that's cause the other band members are they're doing things, but not at the level that he is right now. And that's super interesting. So let's see what happens. Yeah, I'm super excited to see what happens. 

Richie [00:18:02] Totally.

Jeff [00:18:02] And I want to actually go back to Miss Lizzo because we're going to go into the next portion of the podcast here where we're going to talk about a genre, and that's what we're going to do on each pop episode and talk about a different kind of influence in pop right now. And I want to talk about how disco I really feel like is really it's actually kind of a mix between disco and funk a little bit if you feel the same way. Yeah, I'm kind of influencing a lot of the pop music happening right now, and it's cool, it's funky, it's good. So Lizzo released About Damn Time. It's the lead single off of her upcoming album. Special. 

Richie [00:18:35] Yes.

Jeff [00:18:35] And it is fun and it is blowing up. So I am going to be here as a stand to Lizzo because I like the song. When it came out, yeah, and people were knocking the song, people were saying, It's a flop, this is going to have a flop album, all of this stuff. And then all of the sudden, one little dance on Tik Tok has making this song a top four hit. Right now, she's climbing the charts to be a number one single. That's huge. Yeah, it is. And it's because of the dance. 

Richie [00:19:03] I feel like her songs have always kind of had that cool groove funk beat to it. Like Juice and Boys kind of has it, you know? 

Jeff [00:19:11] It's heavy in the bass, but not heavy. Heavy an electronic bass. A lot of the music that we'll talk about here is like good, like real bass. 

Richie [00:19:18] If all, you know, funk and disco relies on bass and relies on, like, strings and like, it's a little synth here in there. But yeah, bass is a big deal because it's a dance beat. You want to. 

Jeff [00:19:31] I feel like, and I think a great group example here that I feel like is being back influenced into music is ABBA. Yes, I'm feeling a lot of the sounds right now is very ABBA produced sounding, you know, and some of these people on the list here, there is an artist named Darin who is kind of new to the scene and he released this song, Superstar, then D.N.C.E. Who Mr. Joe Jonas is in with his song Move and then the Knocks Slow Song, which features Miss Aquaria, the drag queen winner from season ten of RuPaul dancing. And I really love that there's just like this good dance style of music coming back into the scene. 

Richie [00:20:10] I think it makes sense for a few reasons. Things I find the industry and a lot of arts industries to be like a pendulum. When it swings one way, it swings back the other. We get influence of things all the time. It worked in the seventies and eighties and then like, you know, in the nineties and early twenties became very rock and R&B and some other things. Let this come back. We're coming out of the pandemic and everyone this summer wants to dance. Everyone wants to be outside, enjoying themselves, get some good, groovy music. We thought maybe last summer that was going to be it. And last summer was still kind of like an odd time in the pandemic. But now I feel like people are feeling a lot more comfortable. 

Jeff [00:20:48] Well, I think they were coming out of a break before the pandemic. We were coming out of this whole, like, EDM overload, like pop stars singing on EDM track. And that was big. And before that, like our college days, we had like party pop, right from the Kesha to the Pitbull's, Gaga. It was like party, party, party music, which is still good. And now we're getting into this more like refined disco era, I think, like bringing back that Motown disco. 

Richie [00:21:18] So you can dance to that. You can. And I think when you look at Studio 54 and, you know, don't forget in the seventies, there was also a major anti disco movement, right? I was a big growing sound that the rock and rollers had a hard time with that time. So it was like this clash of like seventies and eighties was this clash of two different worlds of music. Now, I think this disco feel like everyone's into it. Everyone can dance to it, everyone can sing along to it, you can drive to it. And there's something about being able to dance to it. Could it all these. If you're listening, you've played at a wedding or a party and you're dancing and every generation can dance. 

Jeff [00:21:54] And it's such an interesting thing that you bring that up, because I find when I'm DJing weddings right now, I'm like, Why am I still playing the same music from 2010, 2011, 2012? Because we had such a gap of time where music just didn't stick. Like there was good music that came out in between. But it's like I'm still playing that, that party pop music at the at at weddings, right? And Motown and disco and all of those things from there. And actually a big nineties comeback happening right now. But right now, I'm like, oh, a lot of these songs I do show, like, I'm going to start playing because people are going to be into it's groovy, it's fun, it's not dirty. 

Richie [00:22:35] Right.

Jeff [00:22:35] You know, and I think we were getting to a moment to where a lot of the music was also dirty, where you couldn't really play it fully. But. 

Richie [00:22:41] But old and young, male or female, doesn't matter. You can dance to this music. Everyone likes that groove music. You want to dance. 

Jeff [00:22:48] Are you liking hearing some of these disco influences come back? 

Richie [00:22:52] Oh, for sure. Definitely. I love the disco era. Sometimes I was like, I wish I was around during that time just dance. Because that was when people don't forget the disco era and Studio 54 was a birth of some sort of safety and security for the LGBTQ community, for people to express themselves in the clothing that they wore and the way they could dance and feeling that really great emotion. Right. So I feel like now this is the same thing. Let people dance and feel themselves and dress the way they want and express themselves. That's what the music does, that groovy, like I said, that synthy string sound you hear that in, like when you listen to Donna Summer's last dance that you just heard a few days ago. Right? Like you hear the strings and that with a bass. Bass, and then like the violins and all that. And like, it's like you're taking these two types of instruments and putting them together with the heavy bass and works. It's great. It's totally great. Disco. I love disco. 

Jeff [00:23:51] What is your favorite disco song? 

Richie [00:23:53] Well, that one I always say Last Dance is probably is that it could be that one. It could be. I mean my favorite Abba's. 

Jeff [00:24:00] I have very. 

Richie [00:24:00] Good I have a song Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight. It's on dancing queen. I love dancing. Gimme, gimme, gimme is a really good episode. 

Jeff [00:24:08] After midnight. 

Richie [00:24:08] After, after midnight. And also I love Last Dance I love that song. And it's a great what a smart idea to start a song so slow like that and then go into a big that's great. 

Jeff [00:24:20] But how do you how do you feel that these artists are like kind of making this disco pop error of their own? 

Richie [00:24:26] Well, they are, because they're not just imitating it, they're taking from it. And then they're making it their own with their lyric. They're making it their own with some other instruments and some other grooves. And there's a curse word once in a while, or there's something a little more risque than maybe the seventies pop disco was alluding to. Yeah, but maybe now we feel that, like in our society, we're a little more comfortable to say some things than yeah. But even at the time, when you look at some of the albums, you know, Give Me a Man After Midnight, that is probably a big deal to say in a hit song. You know, that was that's a little now it's like, okay, right. But, you know, and so I think people are taking this music and they're making it their own with the style, but they're taking from the style. They're making it their own with the lyric and some new instrumentation. 

Jeff [00:25:10] Yeah, I'm loving it. I really find like I some people hate samples in music and I love. 

Richie [00:25:17] I love. 

Jeff [00:25:18] That. I love hearing samples. First of all, I think it's just manufactured smartly. Yeah, if that makes sense. I think that. When you hear a sample of something that you already like, of course it's going to work in someone else's song. I mean, think of someone like Charli XCX. Her last album, Crash, had so many samples of good nineties beats, eighties influences, and it's boppy. It has that pop effect because you're immediately like, Oh, I already like this song. It has different lyrics. I'm into it. It's done a little bit different. We just watched that, that film Fire Island and the amount of reworked songs in there. We heard, Oh, great reworking of Pure Imagination. We heard a great cover of Britney Spear's sometimes. There was just a lot of that happening in that film as well. And I'm like hearing these sounds like someone like Lizzo. You can pick and choose like even in dances, you can hear some of these samples that you're just like, Oh, I know that sample. And then you're listening to the song. You're like, Oh, I like this song. Yeah, it's nice. 

Richie [00:26:28] Yeah.

Jeff [00:26:29] It's nice. So we're coming close to our end. So I like to end now with doing some new artist picks for people to go check out these new artists, show them some love, stream their music. It's great. There's a few artists here. I'll just list them here. BLANKS His song is called Home Without a Heart. He is his name is Simon. He's Blanks and is and Blanks is his artist project. He is a person who's overexcited about music, which I had to talk about him because I find that is me. I'm always over excited about music and he loves finding the perfect melody, lyric and sound that gives him the best feeling in the world. So I think that's what that song really represents for him. There's Joonas with his song Psycho Ex-boyfriend, which I think is fun. He is out of London. He is New Norwegian born, and he's best known for his musical balancing act between the commercial and the crazy. If you listen to that song, you'll see what we're talking about. And then there's Rafael Rogers. He has a song called Ten, which I also think is a bop bop. He's a queer artist as well. So I want to shed some light on him during our month of pride here. And then lastly, we have Jordan Sugar with her song Summer High. 

Richie [00:27:48] So are we doing Bop or Flop to these songs? Because I have thoughts. 

Jeff [00:27:52] First of all, I found em. We'll just go. Bop or Flop. Blanks. 

Richie [00:27:59] Blanks. I was actually on the fence with this one, but I'm leaning bop. It's like bop leaning. 

Jeff [00:28:04] Bop leaning. 

Richie [00:28:05] So I like. I like it. I just gotta listen to it more. 

Jeff [00:28:07] Ok,  Psycho Ex-boyfriend. 

Richie [00:28:09] Bop. Love it. I love it. It's awesome. 

Jeff [00:28:11] Okay. Raphaël Roberge "10". 

Richie [00:28:13] I know you just like bop, but I'm not I'm not putting in a bop, unfortunately. I'm actually putting in more towards flop leaning. I wasn't big into it. I know it was it was a very rock, early 2000 rock for me. And I was like, okay, it's cool. I just wasn't rock. Yeah, I like that. Some a lot of rock in it. 

Jeff [00:28:30] Shorty is a 10. 

Richie [00:28:31] That I don't know, maybe, maybe I'm kind of putting in flop leaning. I'm sorry. 

Jeff [00:28:35] Obviously I put them all as BOPs because I pick them. 

Richie [00:28:38] But I also just disagree. 

Jeff [00:28:40] Sometimes. You know, he can he can he can do something, but that's a choice. 

Richie [00:28:46] No, I don't think it's the greatest out of the four of these. I'm sorry. It's good. It's just not bop for me. 

Jeff [00:28:52] You say tomato, I say tomato. 

Richie [00:28:54] And then and then we have. 

Jeff [00:28:56] Jordyn Suger's "Summer High" . 

Richie [00:28:57] Bop bop, love it, summer bop. 

Jeff [00:29:00] Let's just talk about this song for a second. Yeah, this song needs to. Let's go... take off. 

Richie [00:29:04] Yeah, it needs to take off because it's crazy. 

Jeff [00:29:06] First of all, the girl she's she's new to the scene. She's Canadian. She's also all of these artists are non-American. 

Richie [00:29:15] Yeah, yeah. That's pretty cool. 

Jeff [00:29:17] They're all international, which is great, too. But I think Summer High has the potential to be so successful this summer. Like, we need to make this song happen. Yeah. So get out there and do your work and stream. Stream them all. Show them love if you like them. They have videos out there. Good, good. 

Richie [00:29:34] Oh, wow. Already. Wow. That flew by it. Talk about good, good pop stuff going on in the world. Right. 

Jeff [00:29:40] I'm so happy to bring the pop up so bad. 

Richie [00:29:42] And like Jeff said earlier, we're going to be bringing every well, every Friday at three. You're going to get a new episode. But every other week will be pop and every other week will be Broadway. 

Jeff [00:29:50] Making already telling you what you're getting next. 

Richie [00:29:52] Which next week is drum roll, please. Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. And if you could name a musical. That's from Jeff. He doesn't know. 

Jeff [00:30:01] West Side Story. 

Richie [00:30:01] No. Well, well, maybe if you think of it like Tony know when they're like Tony. Tony and they're talking about the Tony Award in the musical. 

Jeff [00:30:08] Oh, producers. 

Richie [00:30:09] Yes. Oh, God, it took him a second there. But yes, Tony Awards losing sometimes. Oh, oh. 

Jeff [00:30:19] I literally already said it in the podcast. Who said something, who sang something to the Tony Awards? 

Richie [00:30:24] Sunday, June 12. And we all. Next week's episode, we will be having an episode all about the Tony Awards and we will be talking all about specifically the awards, who won, who should have won moments in the Tony Awards, all that stuff. And that's coming next week. 

Jeff [00:30:40] And the answer is Britney Spears. 

Richie [00:30:41] Great.

Jeff [00:30:44] Anyway, we're going to wrap this up here. If you like what you heard. Listen, share it with everyone. Comment on our latest Instagram and TikTok posting and keep coming back and listening for more, subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music or Spotify or on our regular website. You can do that as well. And yeah, so I'm going to sign off here. I'm Jeff. 

Richie [00:31:08] I'm Richie. 

Jeff [00:31:09] And, yeah, ta ta for now. 

Richie [00:31:12] Chow.