Switched on Pop - Chartbreakers: Jersey Club, Complicated Country, and 50s Crooners

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Currently on Billboard’s hot 100 there is an unexpected UK Garage / Jersey House mashup, a disgraced country star making a questionable comeback, and an out of nowhere fifties ballad all jockeying for their moment on the charts. This week, we take a listen to the FEBRUARY 25, 2023 Hot 100, looking for triumphs, fumbles, and oddities. Songs Discussed PinkPantheress, Ice Spice - Boy's a liar Pt. 2 Ice Spice - Munch (Feelin’ U) Drake - Currents Lil Uzi Vert - Just Wanna Rock Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers - Sunship Edit Todd Edwards - Wishing I Were Home Ice Spice - In Ha Mood Morgan Wallen - You Proof Morgan Wallen - Last Night Tyler Childers - Way of the Triune God - Jubilee Version Mac DeMarco - Heart To Heart Miguel - Sure Thing Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 Savage - Creepin' (with The Weeknd & 21 Savage) Mario Winans - I Don't Wanna Know Fugees, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Pras - Ready or Not Enya - Boadicea Stephen Sanchez - Until I Found You The Everly Brothers - Let It Be Me Ritchie Valens - We Belong Together The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody Patsy Cline, The Jordanaires - Crazy Ray Charles - Georgia on My Mind - Original Master Recording The Beatles - In My Life - Remastered 2009 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. And I'm producer, Rianna Cruz. All right, it's Chart Breaker's Time. The segment where we take a listen down a chart, looking for triumphs, disasters, and oddities.

We haven't looked at Billboard's Hot 100 in a minute, and there has been some funky things going on, unexpected drum and bass in Jersey house collabs, a disgraced country star making a questionable comeback and an out of nowhere 50s ballad all jockeying for their moment in the charts. Rianna, why don't you kick it off? Yeah, speaking on that Jersey Club drum and bass collab, we have Boys a Liar Part 2 by Pink Panther is an Ice Spice, currently at number 4. Have you guys heard that one before? I have not, and it kicks ass.

I love this. I will say that the part two is new to me, but it's not really a part two. It's actually just a remix of a song that was already existing that I had been getting down to. Yeah, they just sprinkled part two on it and added ice space. And, you know, it became a brand new song. This week, the track jumped up 10 spots from number 14 to number four and highlights the artist at the center, Pink Panther's. So Pink Panther has been around for a few years. And she's become known for her sort of zoomer take on the subgenre of UK garage. Shuffling rhythms, sped up or chopped vocals. A good example of this is the song, Wishing I. were home by Todd Edwards. That's so good. Love Todd Edwards. Know him well for his collaborations with Daft Punk. Yeah, you could hear similarities in that track with the Pink Pantherous instrumental.

You know, it's like the little chirpy kind of like ringtone-esque background. That little Nokia ringtone counter melody. Right. So Boys Aligh, parts one and two, are both produced by Muramasa, who is, you know, a notable house producer in his own right. He combines the UKG style that Pink Pantheris has come to be known for with a Jersey club beat. It's super clear at the start of the song. Take a look inside your heart. Is there any room to me? Exactly. That kick by dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. I think that like when, you know, the show,

Jersey Shore was on MTV, they, you know, they did fist pumping and it fits. You know, it's fist pumping music. It's dancing music. UK GTL. UK garage Jersey. UK gym tan laundry. Charlie. Charlie, do you even know who the situation is or DJ Polly D? I have no idea what you're talking about.

Me thinks Charlie didn't watch Jersey Shore. No, I did not. All right. Well. So anyway, back to Jersey Club, though. It is kind of having a moment over the past year. You know, you could hear it on Boys a Liar. Drake did it on honestly, never mind. Catching a flight

You think we're moving to a fast I'm intoxicated I feel like this song captured so much attention because of the bedspring beat But what you're saying is that we should be paying attention To the kick drum The bub, butt, butt, butt

Yeah, I mean the bet squeak though Is also a notable sample in Jersey club It's indicative of the sound Yeah, no, totally I wonder what it signifies who's the same but it's not just Pink Panthers and Drake

that are doing this looking at the charts you could hear it in low Oozeverts Just Wanna Rock which is currently on number 12 so once again

the syncopated beat right the du the hallmark of Jersey Club is all over the charts when I hear this little

uzivert track and these other examples of Jersey Club I'm struck by the intensity of the sound. It grabs a hold of you and you notice it immediately. I can see why people on the dance floor in the Jersey clubs, Rihanna, maybe you've been one of them would gravitate towards

this sound. And I see why pop artists would in turn appropriate it because it cuts through everything else on the radio. The sheer emphasis on the deep repetitive, syncopated sound of the bass makes the sound stand out on the charts. Yes, and speaking of things that stand out on the charts right now, the difference between Boys a Li or Part 2 and the original is, of course, Bronx rapper, Ice Spice. He said that I'm good enough. Think about shit that I shouldn't know. So I'll tell him it's one of me. He making fun of me. His girl is a bum to me. Like that boy is a cap. Seeing he home, but I know where he's at.

Ice Spice is currently one of the most talked about rappers online right now. She blew up for her track Munch and she has both a very distinctive flow and ear for beats. It's evidenced by her song Bikini Bottom. How can I lose if I'm already chose like if she feeling hot then I meant that bitch rose and I got a bitch tired every time that I post. Damn. The party not lit than I rather not go. And Ice Place has another track on the Hot 100 currently on number 70 in her mood. Babe I'm not staying.

I just want to play. And the party he just went on rum. Big boobs in the bus stay plump. There's that Jersey club beat again. Exactly. Maybe it's the connection between, you know, Ice Spices from the Bronx, you know, New York right next to New Jersey.

Maybe they sprinkled a little bit of that Jersey club onto her work. But my friend Lettija called Ice Spices Flow unbothered, which I totally get, you know, it makes it easy for her lines to kind of burrow into your brain in this sort of monotonous cadence. and she starts her verse on Boys a Liar the same way. Yeah, her timing is a little loose. Her vocal style has this very natural spoken rasp to it.

She's kind of talking at a mid-level volume close to the mic. It's unbothered. It's very relaxed. Exactly. And like that specific like grouping of a phrase, right? Like he said that I'm good enough. Grab it my da-da-da-da. Think about stuff that I should enough. It's super catchy. And it makes a lot of sense to me why this is so high up. Because between, you know, TikTok, Twitter, I think I've even heard the song on radio. It has that replay value and feels like a high point for, you know, these two artists, Pink Pantheras and Ice Spice, who are making great music, propelled by virality. It's like a culmination of like their sounds hitting at exactly the right time. Boys Liar Part 2 stands at number four on the Hot 100. And if we go down to the next song at number five, we find Last Night by Morgan Wallen.

Last night we let the liquor talk. I can't remember everything we said, but we said it all. He told me that you wish I was somebody you never made. Now Morgan Wallen is someone we haven't heard about for a while, two years, to be exact, because that was when the country star was recorded by a ring cam, drunkenly hurling profanities at his friends after a night out, including a racial epithet. And after this video was made public, there was a swift backlash from the country music, establishment. His songs were removed from country radio. His record contract was suspended. And Morgan himself kind of disappeared. He went to rehab for a month. He pledged to donate $500,000 to various causes for black culture and also said that he would sit down with leaders of the black community.

Okay. And now he has a song at number five where he has the lyric, last night we let the liquor talk. I can't remember everything we said, but we said at all. It feels like he's poking a troll. When this incident occurred two years ago, it prompted what some saw as a reckoning in country music. Yeah. A chance to face head on some of the entrenched racism in the fields of country music. This was a moment. moment when black artists in country, like Mickey Guyton, former Switched on Pop guests, spoke publicly about the hostile environment that they'd experienced working in Nashville. It's a moment when scholars began to look at the prevalence of black artists in country and discovered that over the last 20 years, only 1.5% of artists on country radio were artists of color. Wow. And many hope that out of this dialogue, something productive would happen, that this state of

affairs, the status quo might change. And now two years later, with Morgan Wallin reappearing on the charts, embarking on a sold out tour, maybe we can reconsider whether that's the case. And unfortunately, I fear the answer is a resounding no. Nothing has changed in country. I mean, clearly because he has seven songs on the country. Billboard Hot 100 right now. 7% of the Hot 100 is dedicated to Morgan Wallen right now. That's crazy. What does this say? To be frank, I think it says that Morgan Wallen is a very talented artist.

And if we listen to his biggest song, You Proof, I think we hear the distillation of why he's so successful. He has a really appealing, slightly grizzled voice, great phrasing accompaniment that's powerful, but also kind of laid back. He motions towards authenticity from country's roots while also incorporating modern sounds. Let's take a listen to the chorus of Uproof. Trap country, I guess.

Right, Charlie, you hear those trap high hats borrowed from hip-hop combined with pedal steel guitar. And 808 kicks that are also very much part from hip-hop, yeah. It's a cool blend. It's very effective. I think it helps explain why Wallen has been so successful,

but it also highlights how upsetting it is that someone who has built their career on appropriating these sounds from hip-hop can use a racial slur, offer a kind of half-assed apology, and then continue with his career as though nothing happened. And if you're wondering, he must have done something in the last two years to address this monumental event in his life. I think his interview with Michael Strayhan on Good Morning America suggests that he did very little reflection during that time. So do you believe there is a race problem in country music overall?

I mean, it would seem that way. Yeah. You know, I haven't really sat and thought about that. I mean, that just, my jaw is on the floor. Like, your career was derailed. You started. a reckoning across-country music for two years you've been waiting to talk about what you've learned and you say, I haven't really thought about it. It feels even further insincere to me that he says he hasn't thought about it because that opening lyric of last night feels like he's addressing that event of getting drunk and using the N-word in public and the whole reckoning afterwards. He says,

Last night we let the liquor talk. I can't remember everything. thing we said, but we said it all. Last night, we let the liquor talk. I can't remember everything we said, but we said it all. It's like, yeah, he said even the thing he wasn't supposed to say, and now he's gotten away with it. But I also feel like maybe you were giving him too much credit. Maybe like he just like doesn't have the foresight to even consider that these would be relatable to his past experiences,

because clearly he like doesn't think about that, you know? Didn't he also go to rehab and we're writing about songs getting too drunk to remember things? It's a weird way to represent yourself. It feels as though nothing has happened. And I think that's what's sad about this moment and what this number five entry on the Billboard charts speaks to is the chance for country to actually deal with this legacy and do something concrete to make the space. space of country more welcoming to artists of color. And this Morgan Wallen song, however you interpret it, Charlie, it just, it's very present symbolizes like, no, we're not going to do that. That was just lip service. And furthermore to go on Good Morning America, like you have a team of PR folks

preparing you for that conversation. So it's hard for me to assume some kind of ignorance on his part. This feels, to me, it feels intentional. It feels like he's playing to a new political reality of such fierce conservative backlash that he can get away with anything. He doesn't even have to address his past. In as much as country music does express a certain political stance, I think you're right, Charlie. There is a security and even an advantage to sticking to your game. guns. I mean, the reality is that after this incident two years ago, Morgan Wallen's

streams on Spotify spiked way up. And the money he claimed to have donated to these black causes, he claims is the money he made during that spike in sales, half a million dollars. So as Rihanna pointed out, seven percent of the Hot 100 is Morgan Wallen. But I'm happy to report that there is more out there in the world of country that that might be challenging the status quo. There's artists like Zach Bryan, who's returning country to its acoustic roots. There's Kane Brown, a mixed race artist who sings in Spanish and brings a different look to the country Hot 100. There's young up-and-comers like Breeland, who are bringing R&B and Seoul into the sound of mainstream country. And there's one of my favorite artists right now who doesn't appear on

the Hot 100, but does appear on the country charts, that's Tyler Childers and his song, The Way of the Triune God. It's like a New Orleans honky talk. Wow. I love that. I know. I totally agree. And the fact that artists like Tyler Childers are starting to find mainstream success does

make me feel a little optimistic about what the future of country might hold. When I listen to this, I hear the rich and diverse root. of country music. A reminder that this isn't this white male music, that it's full of blues and gospel and jazz and old-time religion. An artist like Tyler Childers tapping into that history, that might be a way for country to actually face its past head on and build something new for the future. Do we know if he partnered with black musicians and creating the sort of Norlands hybrid country thing? I don't know, Charlie, and that's a good question, because it's one thing to pay homage to this sound. It's another thing to actually create the conditions of recording that would amend some of these

historic inequities. So that's a good question worth looking into. All right. I'll follow up on that. I think it's time to take a break from the existential crisis within country music. And when we come back, look at some songs that are truly out of their time on the Hot 100. Girl Jasmine Absolute of Caroline Herrera, a fragrance intense with character gourmet and addictive. Imagine a jasmine emvolvent, toffee caramelized,

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Something we see more and more on the Hot 100 are songs and artists that are out of their time. Like just the other week, Mac DeMarco's song, Heart to Heart from 2019, tribute to Mac Miller

went on the Hot 100 briefly because of its success on TikTok. TikTok is driving so many songs that are from the past into the present. Lady Gaga has her song Bloody Mary at number 55 because of a mashup of a Netflix show. Wednesday

with a high-speed sped-up version of Bloody Mary, again trending on TikTok. Miguel's 2010 Sure Thing is currently at number 31. And three Rihanna songs are also on the Hot 100, of course, because of her Super Bowl performance. But of all of the examples on the Hot 100 right now that lead us into the past,

I think one of the strangest is a song called Creepin by The Weekend, Metro Boomin, and 21 Savage. This song is a wormhole of time because at first you think maybe it's an interpolation of, I don't want to know the 2000 song by Mario Wynens. I mean, the songs are so similar, you could even go so far as to say it's a cover. They're just the same song. Okay, but if you go further down the wormhole, this sample was previously used by the Fugis in 1996 on Ready or Not.

Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide and take it slowly. And that leads us to the most, unlikely credit on the Billboard Hot 100 at this moment. Nate, who are you hearing in that sample? Lauren Hill. No, Nate, Lauren Hill of the Fuji's did not make this sound. It is also a sample that takes us back to 1987, to the weirdest credit. It's an Enya song called Bodicea.

Incredible song. So beautiful. So Enya, the goddess of New Age music is currently on the Hot 100. I think this is wonderful. A testament to how you know. never know what you're going to find on the Billboard Hot 100. We can keep going back in time on the Hot 100 right now. There is a song that sounds like it's straight out of the 50s,

an era that you only hear on the billboard during the holidays. But the holidays are over. It's late winter. No more holiday songs on the Billboard. But we do still have a sign of the 50s in Stephen Sanchez's until I found you. song oozes 50s nostalgia. It's coming from a young Nashville-based songwriter, Stephen Sanchez. He has built up quite a fan base on TikTok.

He is signed to Republic Records. He's just been putting out music for a couple of years. But this song really blew up. Over six months, he put out at least 30 TikToks to my account promoting this song. At first, a sort of tame one of him hanging around on an airport waiting to get home. But then he realized the secret to all internet success. He posted a video of him doing this song with his cat. And that video had 2.4 million plays on TikTok.

He doubled down on the cat videos with another cat video that has 56.6 million plays featuring his cat. And so this song skyrocketed up the viral 50 on Spotify. has been hanging out on Billboard for 33 weeks. It's peaked at number 23, and it's still hanging on. I just today was texting with the producer Ian Fitchick, who helped make this song. And what he said about it is that for being a pop hit, it's interesting that there are only four elements, guitar, bass, drums, piano.

It is so spare, simple 50s pop music. Okay, but beside that sparseness, like, why does this song? you sound so 50s because you hear it and you're like, wait, what decade am I in? I'd say that it starts with the tremolo guitar that you hear at the top of the song. This was an extremely popular sound

in the 50s and into the 60s. It reminds me of the opening chord on the Everly Brothers, Let It Be Me. And then you have the meter. Right? This was a quintessential rhythm of ballads of the era. It makes me think of Richie Valens.

We belong together. Even the choice of percussion is extremely of the past. Layered with the snare drum is a tambourine hit. It reminds me so much of the rennets walking in the rain. Even the way his voice is stylized is of the past. It's in this giant echoey reverb chamber, maybe like a plate reverb. The sound is huge.

The vocal is cavernous. It's akin to the righteous, brother's unchained melody. There's even a lyric that for me was just a dead ringer. I'm guessing Nate, you probably caught it. Georgia. Crazy. The song by Patsy Klein.

Crazy. Ooh. I'm crazy for me. Georgia. Nice. I didn't even catch that. Those melodies are really close in that very opening moment. Georgia.

Crazy. Same melodic leap. Descending Major 6. That's uncanny, Nate. I actually wasn't even thinking of that. I was thinking of the lyrical reference of Georgia. Georgia. That's, of course, Ray Charles performing Georgia on my mind,

a song written in the 30s that he made particularly famous in the 1960s. He's thought to be the definitive rendition. The Georgia in question on the Stephen Sanchez song is actually his ex-girlfriend. named Georgia. She had a saying on the original version of the song. But that's neither here nor there. We're talking about 50s, early 60s vibes. And the thing that is giving me that feeling more than anything else on the song is in the harmony. Minor four chord. Yeah, it's the nostalgia chord. It is the sad minor four. You love that chord, Charlie. You ever want to get under Charlie's skin. Just give them that minor four.

And he'll be like putty in your hand. I literally found a playlist called Minor 4, Try Not to Cry. Yeah, it gets under my skin. There are so many examples. I think the best that sounds very akin to the Stephen Sanchez song would be the ending of In My Life by the Beatles. And then end with a nice major resolution. I have no grand theory about what is happening on Billboard's Hot 100 charts.

But it is weird. If anything, maybe it's that, We're all listening in our own little world, and little worlds are popping up on the charts in ways that they haven't before. Nate, Rihanna, thank you for talking with me about Jersey Club, UK Garage, Country's Reckoning, and a time warp back into the 1950s. It's been a lot of fun. I'll break charts with you all anytime. And until next time, chart you later. But um, oh, brother.

Oh, brother. The Hot 100 is so often just the things that we hear on top 40s. radio, but there are also oddities. Let us know what else you are hearing. You can let us know at Switched On Pop on Twitter and Instagram. We also have a TikTok at Switched on Pop. We also have Switched on Pop. We also have merch I seem to recall. Oh, we do. We have a website with merch. Fun hats. Different kinds of hats. Beanie hats, trucker hats, snapback hats. Bucket hats. We don't know if we any bucket hats. We also have shirts and T's. We got to, we got to work on that. We got to get the buckets. Okay. I'll make some bucket hats. All kinds of fun things.

There are also some great pieces by Iris Gottlieb, our illustrator, which makes me think that we should tell you about who makes the show. We've got producer Rihanna Cruz. We've got our engineer, Brandon McFarland, editor, Art Chung. Community manager, Abby Barr. Our executive producers are Nashak, Kerwa, and Hana Rosen. We're a member of the Vox Media Podcast Network and a production of Vulture. We'll be back next Tuesday, and until them, thanks for listening.