black bubblegum

it's amerie szn! in this episode, i cover her career trajectory from the early 2000s up through april 2025 (ie, i recorded this before her recently released tiny desk went viral for the wrong reasons, sigh).

i dive into everything from "why don't we fall in love" and "1 thing" to some of her best deep cuts, the 2007 album "because i love it" that never saw a proper release in the united states, the underperformance of "in love and war" in 2009, the unreleased "cymatika" project, her ep "drive" in 2016, the "4am mulholland" and "after 4am" eps in 2018, and her newest single "mine" in 2025.

along with the music or lack thereof, i dive into the label issues, her literary career, and of course, the beyoncé and jennifer lopez of it all.

amerie playlist

show notes

spotify playlist

happy new year! i recorded this episode january 2nd and it'll probably be dated upon posting, but c'est la vie. i wanted to start the year with a casual grab bag of thoughts about a range of topics including:

• mariah carey's rainbow 25 (0:48)

• destiny's child - destiny fulfilled (6:05)

• flo (9:03)

• jade (11:10)

• ashlee simpson's autiobiography (12:43)

• kelly clarkson's breakaway (16:36)

• gwen stefani discourse (18:38)

• nelly furtado's latest album (20:36)

• lady gaga's recent output (21:37)

• ariana grande (23:44)

• blake lively (25:51)

• sabrina carpenter (29:42)

• adam brody renaissance (30:59)

• kendrick lamar, main pop girl (32:50)

• drake's legal actions (34:34)

• doechii (36:49)

spotify playlist

happy sagittarius season! in this episode, i'm diving into joanna "jojo" levesque's nyt bestselling memoir, "over the influence."

the book describes: her childhood in new england and on the talent show circuit, her ascension to teen pop stardom and the racial politics animating her career, the extenuating forces that stalled her trajectory, the personal challenges she faced with substance abuse and mental health, conflicts with colleagues, family, and boyfriends, the effort to resurrect her career from the ashes of mismanagement and incompetence, and the journey to trusting herself and her own vision.

plus i speculate about the dancehall artist who creeped on her when she was 14, which producer she was reenacting the weeknd music videos with, and which boyfriend she cheated on with a professional athlete.

spotify playlist

email me: [email protected]

this one's for hot girls only!! diving into megan thee stallion's storied life and career including:

• early mixtape era

• ascent to mainstream success

• hot girl summer

• ongoing label disputes

• collaborations with beyoncé and cardi b

• t*ry l*nez saga

• the deluge of music she released between 2020 and 2023

• dr*ke & n*cki m*naj

• interpersonal conflicts

• megan's independent era and documentary

—-

megan's label disputes:

2020

2021

2022

2023 settlement

—-

implicating t*ry:

text to meg

jail call

ambushing stage

—-

girly fun:

meg and caresha

meg and victoria monét

let's strike a match and light up this juke joint. before the block gets too hot again during grammy season, i am going deep into beyoncé's eighth studio album, cowboy carter.

episode playlist

• intro
• cmas backlash (0:37)
• yeehaw agenda, priscilla renea, lil nas x, mickey guyton (17:19)
• first rumblings of a beyonce country project (19:53)
• launching cowboy carter, jay-z's grammy's speech, verizon commercial, 16 carriages, texas hold em, rhiannon giddens, linda martell (21:30)
• track by track album thoughts, overall takeaways, critical response (34:21)
• brittney spencer, tiera kennedy, reyna roberts, tanner adell (01:04:38)
• willie jones, shaboozey (01:10:00)
• vinyls scam (01:15:24)
• post album promotion (01:17:20)
• whisky, hair care. perfume (01:22:04)
• awards (01:24:28)
• conclusion (01:31:12)

a few links:

billboard 2016 article post cmas

yeehaw agenda overview

linda martell interview with rolling stone in 2020

b's 2024 interviews and statements:

• march 19th instagram post

• the hollywood reporter

• gq

• essence

j que interview (time stamp: 34:52 for clip)

this episode finds me gabbing about some of the trending stories of summer 2024:

kendrick v. drake, shaboozey (0:30)

diddy - (12:32)

camila cabello's c, xoxo album (13:35)

charli xcx and brat summer (17:10)

backlashes:

katy perry (21:20)

chappell roan (24:28)

blake lively (31:36)

movie thoughts:

trap (lady raven supremacy) (37:04)

the substance (38:16)

janet jackson (39:55)

concert experiences:

olivia rodrigo, concert logistics (43:10)

megan thee stallion, glorilla (48:30)

justin timberlake (50:17)

my departure from social media, outro (51:30)

ciara playlist

in 2004, ciara burst onto the scene with one of the greatest debut runs of all time -- "goodies", "one two step" and "oh." her career has taken an interesting trajectory after her initial golden era. this episode delves into all of her albums, the socio-cultural shifts that occurred in the aughts, her string of romantic relationships, the label politics she's faced, vitriol from social media, and more.

in this episode, i describe the long and winding road towards normani's debut album, "dopamine." from fifth harmony to "i have my album title, y'all" to "where's the damn album?" and beyond.

i'm reliving the golden era of pop music nostalgia by way of the june 7, 1999 trl countdown. this episode covers boy bands, britney, the latin explosion, nu metal, the triumphant return of tlc, and more!

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