POP THEORY Jeff Beach, Zach Rickel

This week we welcome back an official two-time friend of the pod, DJ John Michael from Peloton!  With the intention of talking all things Madonna -- we uncover the moments that officially turned us into Madonna stans as well as talk about her impact in music and her advocacy with the LGBTQ+ community.  But as how conversation goes amongst friends we also discuss Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER, Katy Perry's "Walking On Air," Britney Spears' "Stronger" and even throw in some Janet Jackson and Gloria Estefan for good measure.  

This week the boys discuss their initial thoughts on Taylor Swift's highly anticipated project: The Tortured Poets Department. Stay tuned as POP THEORY recaps the good, the bad, the ugly- and all in between!

This week the boys recap their top 5 COWBOY CARTER tracks, discuss Dua Lipa's new single + music video for "Illusion" as well as the Radical Optimism era (or shall we say radical floptimism?), Kelis, The fever dream that is Alanis Morissette covering "My Humps", Tori Kelly, "The Tortured Poets Department" predictions, Azealia Banks and the gatekeeping of genres within the music industry.

This week on Pop Theory, Zach and Jeff celebrate TWENTY YEARS of Janet Jackson's criminally underrated DAMITA JO.  We revisit the album to discuss some of our favorite songs - where are the "All Nite (Don't Stop)" fans at? - from the project plus some songs that were scrapped from the album's final tracklist like the Neptunes produced "Ruff" and the Rich Harrison assisted "Pops Up!"  We also celebrate 7 days of COWBOY CARTER, reflecting on our initial reactions of the album, discussing our current favorite moments from the album, and try to figure out what the HECK she is up to with the visuals!  We even through in some anticipation for Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" for good measure.  

The wait is OVA ... COWBOY CARTER is here!  Jeff has made his valiant return on the perfect weekend as Beyoncé releases her highly anticipated follow-up to RENAISSANCE.  Recorded about 36 hours after the album was officially released in the states, Zach and Jeff give their reactions to each track off the album from AMERIICAN REQUIEM all the way to AMEN.  The boys also take a few stabs at what they think Beyoncé might have up her sleeve for Act III and the alleged visuals that have been filmed to support the albums.  Now, for this next episode, we want ya'll to sit back, inhale and go to the good place your mind likes to wander to.  And if you don't wanna go, go find yourself a jukebox! 

You are NOT going to want to miss this one!  This week, Zach is joined by the one and only DJ John Michael from Peloton.  We instantly kiki the boots house DOWN starting with how John Michael burst onto the scene by working with the legendary Junior Vasquez.  From there we absolutely geek out over remixes of the 90's and early 00's -- shoutout to Junior's Hard Mix of Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely."   And even state we want to create a docu-series that covers the remix greats from that time period.  We also discuss John Michael's OFFICIAL remixes for Demi Lovato and Donna Summer and make our official begging plea to Celine Dion's record labels to release her remixography to streaming.  We also talk about his meeting with Lenny Kravitz, Debbie Gibson, Shep Pettibone (producer of Madonna's "Vogue") and more!  John Michael even reveals which one of his remixes is getting the official release treament next!  What are you waiting for?  Hit play!