Pop Pantheon

For the second in our three-part series on Mariah Carey, NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour 's Aisha Harris joins the show to unpack some of the most fascinating, liberated and enduring music Mariah has made, as well as a professional nadir from which it once seemed she'd never recover. Louie and Aisha pick up with Mariah's self-described magnum opus, 1997’s Butterfly, then move on to her final album unde...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, The Wall Street Journal 's John Jurgensen, who has chronicled Mariah's ascent to the Queen of Christmas over the last 30 years, joins DJ Louie to discuss just how she's come to claim that title. Louie and John are talking Merry Christmas and "All I Want For Christmas Is You", the historical relationship between pop and Christmas music a...

In the first of three new episodes on pop icon Mariah Carey, DJ Louie is joined by The New School's Dr. Brittnay L. Proctor to discuss Mariah's origin story and early career. They begin with her upbringing on Long Island as the product of a biracial marriage, her first forays into the music industry as a demo singer and background vocalist and her chance meeting with future husband Tommy Mottola w...

Music writer Shaad D'Souza joins DJ Louie to discuss pop music in 2023. They each share and discuss their three favorite albums, three favorite songs, greatest disappointments, major trends in the genre and more. Check out a Spotify Playlist of Louie and Shaad's 2023 Favs Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More Come to Gorgeous Gorgeous LA on December 16...

Bonnie McKee is the songwriter behind many of the most enduring pop hits of the last 15 years including Taio Cruz' "Dynamite", Britney Spears' "Hold it Against Me" and no fewer than 5 (!) of Katy Perry's #1s. She's also a pop star in her own right, having run the gamut from singer-songwriter-aspirant in the early 2000s through numerous major label deals and finally, her current career as an indie...

Author of the book Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah Kathy Iandoli returns to Pop Pantheon to unpack the far too short career of one of the most exciting pop recording artists of her generation, Aaliyah. Kathy and Louie discuss Aaliyah’s upbringing in Detroit, her connection to soul legend Gladys Knight and how she came to create 1994’s Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number with R. Kelly, a convicted se...

Pop Pantheon had it's first live show ever last night at the Crawford Auditorium in Pasadena, courtesy of LAist! In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, USC's Jason King, Beyond the Blinds ' Troy McEady and Gloss Angeles ' Kirbie Johnson were all on stage with DJ Louie to discuss all things Britney: her new memoir, The Woman in Me , her legacy as a pop star and musician, why...

Back in August, Lizzo was sued by a number of her former dancers for creating a hostile work environment, with allegations including racial and sexual harassment, disability discrimination, illegal retaliatory termination and assault, and more. This flew directly in the face of her brand, which champions positivity, inclusivity and authenticity above all else (including even her music). The Sunday...

Stereogum’s Tom Breihan returns to Pop Pantheon to dissect the career of pop history’s greatest mimic, Bruno Mars. Louie and Tom dive into how Bruno spent his childhood impersonating greats like Elvis and Michael Jackson, his failed start on Motown and early work for other artists, including via his production group The Smeezingtons. Then they discuss his tightly-stitched 2010 debut, Doo-Wops and...

There are more pop artists than ever but very few of them seem to be able to grab a serious foothold at the top of the heap. Billboard's Elias Leight has been covering this topic extensively lately and for this week's B-side, he joins DJ Louie to break down why it's become nearly impossible to ascend to pop's  A-List in the Tik Tok era, how various factions— from artists, to labels, to fans— are r...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Troye Sivan released his third album, Something to Give Each Other , on Friday and Louie and Russ got together to dig into the music and world of this record. The two had very differing interpretations of the themes, mood and production choices here which led to a dynamic conversation about Troye, Something and how the continued paucity...

Beyond The Blinds’ Troy McEady joins Pop Pantheon for a double header on a pair of TRL-era pop princess sisters, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson. Louie and Troy track Jessica and Ashlee’s upbringing in Texas, Jessica’s failed attempts at teen stardom via Disney and Christian music and her breakthrough with 1999’s “I Wanna Love You Forever” and Sweet Kisses . Then they discuss 2001’s robotic Irresistibl...

There's been a record-breaking trend this year of country music dominating the top of the Billboard Hot 100. But it's not just any country music. These hits by artists like Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Oliver Anthony & Luke Combs— all cis white men— are each employing identity politics and tapping into broader socio-political conflict in the US, either implicitly or explicitly, to help power t...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, journalist and author Michael Cragg joins Louie for a discussion of Kylie Minogue's sixteenth studio album, Tension , which dropped a couple weeks ago.  Tension arrives amidst a heightened level of interest on Kylie following the viral success of its lead single "Padam Padam", which was a gay club anthem in the US and a bonafide hit aro...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Rawiya Kameir joins the show in a companion piece to this week's main feed episode on Doja Cat.  Here, Louie and Rawiya are talking all things Doja's fourth studio album, Scarlet , which dropped this past Friday. This is a very different type of Doja album: rap-heavy, combative and very very long. Louie and Rawiya are sharing all their...

Rolling Stone ’s Larisha Paul joins Pop Pantheon to dissect the career of one of the most enigmatic, eccentric talents working in pop today: Doja Cat. As Doja releases her fourth studio album, Scarlet , Larisha and Louie dig into her origin story, connection to controversial super-producer Dr. Luke, rise on Soundcloud and the laid-back stoner R&B of her 2014 debut EP Purrr! . They then tackle...

For the conclusion of our three-part series on Prince, writer and critic Miles Marshall Lewis joins Pop Pantheon to discuss the final swing of Prince's career, beginning with his tumultuous battle with Warner Bros in the early 1990s, which saw him change his name to an unpronounceable symbol and perform with “slave” written on his face. Louie and Miles then tackle the ups and downs of Prince’s wil...

For the second in our three-part series on Prince, Pot Psychology 's Rich Juzwiak joins the show to unpack Prince’s imperial years, starting with one of the best-selling albums of all time, 1984’s Purple Rain . Louie and Rich discuss all the music from this blockbuster record as well as the accompanying Oscar-winning film, which together made Prince a cultural phenomenon for the ages, before tackl...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Streogum' s Tom Breihan joins DJ Louie to break down Olivia Rodrigo's sophomore album Guts, which dropped Friday: What's working (more rock!), what's not, the major themes and sounds and what it all says about Olivia's place in the pop star firmament of 2023. To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive at least three episodes of...

For the first of our three-part series on the High Priest of Pop, Prince, the University of Minnesota's Dr. Elliott H. Powell joins the show to discuss the rise of perhaps pop history’s greatest enigma. Louie and Elliot unpack Prince’s upbringing in Minneapolis, his impressive 1978 debut, For You, on which he played every instrument, and mainstream breakthrough with his self-titled sophomore album...

Buy Tickets to Pop Pantheon Live: Britney's Memoir, Music & Legacy on 11/2 In Pasadena A little about the live show: She’s so lucky, she’s a star. But Britney Spears has charted one of the most challenging, complex paths through the music business since the dawn of pop. Following the release of Britney’s new memoir, The Woman in Me , Pop Pantheon podcast host DJ Louie XIV (he/him) has gathered...

Mitch Therieau, author of the piece Dream of Antonoffication: Pop Music's Blandest Prophet which was published last month in The Drift, joins the show to talk pop music's super producer du-jour Jack Antonoff. Jack is known for his work a wide variety of female artists from Taylor Swift to Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Clairo, St. Vincent and countless others. To many, he is a hero, the anti-Dr. Luke who is...

Billboard’s Leila Cobo joins the show to help trace the utterly unique path Jennifer Lopez blazed through popular culture. Leila and Louie chart Jennifer’s rise as a backup dancer, her star-making turn as Selena Quintanilla-Pérez in 1997’s Selena and her debut album, 1999's On The 6 . Then they tackle her cultural saturation after the turn of the millennium and her streak of red-hot rap collaborat...

Pop punk is the midst of a revival at the top of the charts so for this week's B-Side, Louie and writer for Alternative Magazine and other pubs, Ryan Piers, break down the history of the genre, how the iconoclasm of punk music and the commercialism of pop music have a strange but fruitful synergy,  pop punk's first wave in the mid-90s through the early 2000s with Blink 182, Green Day, Sum 41, Avri...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Service 95's Brennan Carley joins DJ Louie to discuss Carly Rae Jepsen's new album, The Loveliest Time , which dropped last week and serves as a companion piece to 2022's The Loneliest Time. Louie and Brennan dig into Carly's aesthetic stasis in recent years, the swings-and-misses from Loneliest' s attempts to find new avenues for her...