Why was Chappell Roan's band dressed like an 80s hair metal act during her Grammy performance? The answer unlocks the surprising secret behind her #1 country hit "The Giver." This musical detective story connects glam rock aesthetics to modern country through an unexpected lineage involving AC/DC's producer, Shania Twain's revolution, and men who inadvertently dressed in drag. Between fiddle licks and gated reverb drums lies a brilliant subversion of country traditions that proves the genre has always been about musical drag while revealing what "rhinestone cowgirl" really means.

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Songs Discussed:

• Chappell Roan – "The Giver"
• Chappell Roan – "Pink Pony Club"
• Big & Rich – "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)"
• Bon Jovi – "Living on a Prayer"
• Guns N' Roses – "Sweet Child of Mine"
• AC/DC – "Back in Black"
• Def Leppard – "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
• Nirvana – "About a Girl"
• Bryan Adams – "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)"
• Shania Twain – "Any Man of Mine"
• Shania Twain – "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"
• Toby Keith feat. Willie Nelson – "Beer for My Horses"
• Carrie Underwood – "Before He Cheats"
• Trace Adkins – "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"
• Glen Campbell – "Rhinestone Cowboy"

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The Who's "My Generation" wasn't born from inspiration—it was commissioned. In a rare interview, Pete Townshend reveals how six fans at London's Goldhawk Club in 1965 directly asked him to write an anthem for their post-war generation. This conversation uncovers how a simple request transformed into rock's definitive youth statement, complete with its rebellious stutter and blues foundations. As Townshend releases his solo anthology during our own era of generational flux, the story behind rock's most famous declaration of youth proves more relevant than ever.

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Songs Referenced

• "My Generation" by The Who
• "Can't Explain" by The Who
• "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" by The Who
• "Smokestack Lightning" by Howlin' Wolf
• "For Your Love" by The Yardbirds
• "Pinball Wizard" by The Who
• "I'm a Boy" by The Who
• "Pictures of Lily" by The Who
• "I Can See for Miles" by The Who
• "Stuttering Blues" by John Lee Hooker

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In 2022, Lady Gaga embarked on The Chromatica Ball – a stadium tour featuring a stage that Gaga herself referred to as her "museum of brutality." Three years later, this idea of a brutalist enshrining of all things Monster can come to represent her new studio album MAYHEM. 

Over the course of fourteen tracks, Gaga is "unafraid to reference or not reference," invoking not just the pop weirdos of a past era like Prince and Bowie, but also her contemporaries, in this gothic and chaotic web of a record. This episode of Switched On Pop, Little Monster-in-residence Reanna takes Charlie and Nate on a tour through the Gaga-seum, showcasing Gaga's ability to pay tribute to her inspirations, her imitators, and her biggest icon: herself. 

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SONGS DISCUSSED

• Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande – Rain On Me
• Lady Gaga – Disease
• Lady Gaga, Gesaffelstein – Killah
• David Bowie – Watch That Man
• David Bowie – Fame
• Queen – Killer Queen
• Prince – Kiss
• Prince – Sign O' The Times
• Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
• Nile Rodgers, CHIC, Lady Gaga – I Want Your Love
• Lady Gaga – Perfect Celebrity
• Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
• Lady Gaga – The Fame
• Lady Gaga – Applause
• Nine Inch Nails – Closer
• Depeche Mode – Mercy in You
• Lady Gaga – Vanish Into You
• Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
• The Weeknd – In Your Eyes
• Lady Gaga – How Bad Do U Want Me
• Taylor Swift – Style
• Taylor Swift – Gorgeous
• Yaz – Only You
• Lady Gaga – Zombieboy
• Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
• Lady Gaga – Summerboy
• Lady Gaga – Beautiful, Dirty Rich
• Lady Gaga – Shadow Of A Man
• Lady Gaga – Nothing On But the Radio
• Lady Gaga – Garden of Eden
• Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
• Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
• Lady Gaga – Government Hooker
• Lady Gaga – Bloody Mary
• Lady Gaga – Swine

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When the song “Get Ur Freak On” hit radio in 2001, it set the world of popular music on fire. Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s first crossover hit sounded nothing like the chart-topping bluesy rock of Aerosmith or Lenny Kravitz, or the smooth R&B of Joe or Jagged Edge. It was a song that compelled you to dance - literally, with Missy issuing repeat commands to “get ur freak on” and encouraging crowds to gather ‘round in what we’ve only ever experienced as a hot slick mess of bodies, cheering and vibing as one pretzeling mass. But this song was years in the making. Timbaland and Missy had been hard at work on the sound for nearly a decade before “Get Ur Freak On” was heard by anyone.

This week, in yet another segment of our Modern Classics miniseries, our guest host and former producer Megan Lubin shares the story of the sound that made “Get Ur Freak On” a pop music phenomenon, and transformed Timbaland into one of the most ubiquitous producers of the aughts.  

Songs Discussed

Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On

Tweet - Oops (Oh My)

Jay-Z - Dirt off Your Shoulder

Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around... Comes Around

2Pac - Me Against The World

TLC - Creep

Ginuwine - Pony 

Aaliyah - One in a Million

Jay-Z ft. UGK - Big Pimpin’

Jay-Z - Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)

Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River

Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous

Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. - My Love

Timbaland ft. One Republic - Apologize

Sports Car - Tate McRae

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It may be hard to believe it in this technology-driven day and age, but one of the most pervasive sounds in popular music came about when a computer STOPPED working. In 2005, artist and innovator Imogen Heap released "Hide and Seek," a mysterious and emotional song featuring just her voice and a digital harmonizer. In this episode, Nate and Reanna dissect a song that launched a thousand memes and gave the world one of the defining sonic textures of our time.

Songs Discussed

Imogen Heap - Headlock

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek

Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight 

Daft Punk - Around the World

Imogen Heap - Getting Scared

Frou Frou - Let Go

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say

Bon Iver - Woods

Coldplay - Hurts Like Heaven

Kacey Musgraves

gracias a la vida

Frank Ocean - Close To You 

Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey - The Middle

Caroline Polachek - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings

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In 2007, a 19-year-old Barbadian pop singer released the lead single off her third album. By doing so, she didn't just give us a timeless, undeniable banger -- she changed the way pop music is made, and became the global superstar that we know Rihanna to be today. In this episode we go back in time to unearth the origins of "Umbrella," and how the song blossomed as a result of many shifting currents in the music industry, the democratization recording technology, and the persistence of Rihanna and her team to record the song instead of the artist for whom it was intended.

SONGS DISCUSSED

• James Brown "Funky Drummer"
• Funkadelic "Get Off Your Ass and Jam"
• Soft Cell "Tainted Love"
• N.W.A. "100 Miles and Runnin"
• Mya "Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do?)"
• Britney Spears featuring Madonna "Me Against the Music"
• Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
• Rihanna "Pon de Replay"
• Rihanna "S.O.S."
• Shakira "Hips Don't Lie"
• Rihanna "Umbrella"
• Justice "Stress"
• Usher "Love in This Club"
• Childish Gambino "Bonfire"
• A$AP Rocky featuring Skepta "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)"
• Asher Monroe "Synergy"
• Justin Bieber & Lil Dicky "Running Over"
• Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso"

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Tate McRae's billions of streams and perfectly crafted hits can feel almost algorithmic, like an AI trained on 20 years of pop music. In anticipation of McRae’s third album So Close to What, out this Friday, we dissect McRae’s "SimplePop" formula, from her strategic, indescript vocal delivery to expert "vibe snatching" of Y2K sounds. 

Through singles like "exes” and “sports car,” Charlie and Reanna trace her sonic lineage and discover why pop music needs artists who refine sounds as much as those who revolutionize them, seeing if there’s room to love her music in the process. This dancer-turned-singer might not be the next Britney Spears, but she could be this generation's Paula Abdul.

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Watch Adam Neely's "Scotch Snaps in Hip Hop"

Songs Discussed

• Tate McRae - "sports car"
• Tate McRae - "greedy"
• Tate McRae - "you broke me first"
• Tate McRae - "One Day"
• Tate McRae - "exes"
• Lisa - "Money"
• Halsey - "100 Letters"
• Cardi B - "I Like It"
• Beyoncé - "Drunk in Love"
• Ariana Grande - "7 Rings"
• Ariana Grande - "thank u, next"
• Tate McRae - "it's okay im okay" 
• Ying Yang Twins - "Wait (The Whisper Song)"
• The Lonely Island - "Bing Bong Brothers"
• The Pussycat Dolls - "Buttons"
• Missy Elliott - "Get Your Freak On"
• Missy Elliott feat. Ludacris - "Gossip Folks"
• Britney Spears - "Toxic"
• Britney Spears - "Gimme More"
• Cassie - "Me & U"
• Paula Abdul - "Straight Up"

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In last month's episode predicting the coming year in pop, one of the team's predictions was that trance music – the ethereal, dreamy subgenre of electronic music popular around the turn of the century – would make a comeback on the charts in 2025. And even though we're less than two months into the year, we're already seeing the tides of nostalgia bring this club-oriented music come back into fashion. This episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna take a look at trance music: where it came from, what it sounds like, and if we can hear it in two of the year's most anticipated records: The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow and FKA Twigs's EUSEXUA. Does it trance?

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Songs Discussed

• KLF "What Time is Love? (Pure Trance Mix)"
• Sven Väth "L'Esperanza"
• Robert Miles "Children"
• Paul van Dyk "For an Angel"
• Ian Van Dahl "Castles in the Sky"
• Tiësto "Adagio for Strings"
• Darude "Sandstorm"
• Charlotte De Witte "Universal Consciousness"
• FKA twigs "Two Weeks"
• FKA twigs "Cellophane"
• FKA twigs "Tears in the Club" feat. The Weeknd
• FKA twigs "EUSEXUA"
• FKA twigs "Drums of Death"
• FKA twigs "Perfect Stranger"
• FKA twigs "Room of Fools"
• FKA twigs "Childlike Things"
• The Weeknd "Wake Me Up" feat. Justice
• The Weeknd "Open Hearts"
• The Weeknd "The Abyss" feat. Lana Del Rey
• The Weeknd "Timeless" feat. Playboi Carti
• The Weeknd "Give Me Mercy"
• The Weeknd "Red Terror"
• The Weeknd "Sao Paulo" feat. Anitta
• The Weeknd "Reflections" feat. Travis Scott & Florence + The Machine
• The Weeknd "Enjoy the Show"
• The Weeknd "I Can't Wait to Get There"
• The Weeknd "Hurry Up Tomorrow"
• The Weeknd "Blinding Lights"
• The Weeknd "Save Your Tears"
• The Weeknd "Until I Bleed Out"
• The Weeknd "Take My Breath"
• The Weeknd "Out of Time"

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Behind Spotify's promise of infinite music lies a carefully engineered system that shapes not just what we hear, but how music itself gets made. Journalist Liz Pelly's explosive new book "Mood Machine" rips away the curtain on streaming's biggest player, revealing how its algorithms and backroom deals dictate the soundtrack to our lives. With major labels controlling 70% of streams and Spotify commanding over 600 million users, the stakes couldn't be higher. As artists like Björk decry streaming as "the worst thing that's happened to musicians," Pelly uncovers the true cost of our perfect playlists - and what we're really sacrificing for the illusion of endless choice.

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2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (playable) bingo card of predictions for the coming year – including AI songs on the Hot 100, a return of boy bands, and... kazoos? The Album of the Year race for this upcoming Grammys is similarly unpredictable, with a stacked nomination list including Grammy darlings Beyoncé and Billie as well as Gen-Z favorites like Charli and Chappell. The team takes a crack at guessing who will take home the award by debating the nominees, bracket-style.

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Songs discussed:

• The Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care
• Ghostwriter – Heart On My Sleeve (ft. AI Drake and AI The Weeknd)
• Songs from Silvio Berlusconi, Imelda Marcos, and Randi Zuckerberg
• Chino Pacas, Drake, Fuerza Regida – Modo Capone
• Elton John – Your Song
• Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee – Despacito
• Jack Black – Peaches
• Tyla – Water
• Rema, Selena Gomez – Calm Down
• Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch
• Megan thee Stallion, Yuki Chiba – Mamushi
• Joan Osborne – One of Us
• FKA Twigs – Eusexua
• Katy Perry – Woman's World
• David Bowie – Moonage Daydream
• Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic
• Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me
• Billie Eilish – CHIHIRO
• Billie Eilish – BIRDS OF A FEATHER
• Charli XCX – guess
• Charli XCX – 360
• Charli XCX – i think about it all the time
• Charli XCX – 365
• Beyoncé – TEXAS HOLD 'EM
• Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus – II MOST WANTED
• Beyoncé – YA YA
• Taylor Swift – I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
• Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
• Chappell Roan – HOTTOGO
• Chappell Roan – Pink Pony Club
• Chappell Roan – Red Wine Supernova
• Outkast – Hey Ya!
• Andre 3000 – That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control ... Sh*t Was Wild
• Andre 3000 – I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time
• Jacob Collier – 100,000 Voices

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The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial tome of a record, incorporating sounds from across his island and the boricua diaspora. From his use of salsa classics on "NUEVAYoL," to his pointed interpolations on "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR," and his detour into folk melodies and songwriting on tracks like the somber "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii," the record features some of Bad Bunny's most creative, intense, and direct work yet. On this episode of Switched On Pop, producer Reanna Cruz takes Charlie and Nate on a journey through Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico, with additional insight from journalist and translator Carina del Valle Schorske.

Read Carina's NPR Music review of the record: Bad Bunny's politics of presence.

Songs Discussed:

• Bad Bunny, "DtMF"
• Bad Bunny, "NUEVAYoL"
• Bad Bunny, "BOKeTE"
• Bad Bunny, "EL CLúB"
• El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, "Un verano en Nueva York"
• Bad Bunny, "PIToRRO DE COCO"
• Bad Bunny, "BAILE INoLVIDABLE"
• Rauw Alejandro, "Tú Con Él"
• Bad Bunny, "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR"
• Wisin & Yandel, Héctor "El Father," "La Barría"
• Alexis y Fido, "Me Quiere Besar"
• Angel y Khriz, "Cazando Voy"
• Bad Bunny, "El Apagón"
• Bad Bunny, Kendo Kaponi, Arcángel, "P FKN R"
• Bad Bunny, "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii"
• Bad Bunny, "CAFé CON RON"

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