Switched on Pop New York Magazine

Demi Lovato has found herself in many avenues over the past few years – from releasing a tell-all documentary to uncovering extraterrestrials – but 2022 finds them traveling back in time to the sound of the late 90’s and early 2000’s: pop-punk. On this episode of Switched On Pop, we check out her two latest singles, “Skin of My Teeth” and “Substance,” and through focusing on the latter, pull out what, exactly, pop-punk is, and how Demi embodies the genre’s ever-evolving sound in their new track.

Songs Discussed:

Demi Lovato - Substance

Demi Lovato - Skin of My Teeth

Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry

Demi Lovato - La La Land

Demi Lovato - Heart Attack

Turnstile - MYSTERY

Bring Me The Horizon - Chelsea Smile

Blink-182 - Dysentery Gary

Misfits - Astro Zombies

My Chemical Romance - Astro Zombies

Blink-182 - What’s My Age Again

WILLOW, Travis Barker - t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue

Machine Gun Kelly - bloody valentine

Citizen - Stain

La Dispute - Such Small Hands

Mom Jeans - Edward 40hands

Rise Against - Savior

NOFX - Whoa on the Whoas

Jarrod Alonge, Sunrise Skater Kids - Pop Punk Pizza Party

Paramore - For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic

Fall Out Boy - Of All The Gin Joints In The World

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

The Police - Message in a Bottle

Modern Baseball - Tears Over Beers

Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness

Good Charlotte - The Anthem

The Offspring - The Kids Aren’t Alright


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Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is one of her most ambitious albums yet. On this week’s episode of Switched On Pop, we discuss Renaissance with beloved guest Sam Sanders, host of the new Vulture podcast Into It. In Sanders’ words: “it’s trying to do a lot” – but in the best way. The album incorporates seemingly every decade of contemporary popular dance music from Chic’s “Good Times” to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.”

Much of the early discourse surrounding the album was marred by a confusing controversy over a small sample (we try to resolve the issue musicologically) – but the references on Renaissance are worth listening closely to, acting as a guide through essential dance music. The album is an homage to the black and queer innovators of dance; with samples and interpolations of songs both niche and mainstream flying by, like a DJ set curated by house music pioneers. 

On Renaissance, Beyoncé goes out of her way to cite, credit and compensate her influences, resulting in a triumph of musical curation. Just look at “Alien Superstar”: the song credits twenty-four people, largely due to Beyoncé’s musical nods, rather than an exercise in boardroom style songwriting. Sanders says “the liner notes themselves are showing you that this woman and her team have a PhD in music history.”

Listen to Switched On Pop to hear how Renaissance honors dance music innovators and finds new modes of expression in the genre. 

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Subscribe to Into It with Sam Sanders
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vE4jqf
Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3bB7Vmf
Listen elsewhere: https://bit.ly/3BI0Nz0
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In the middle of a long, hot summer 2022, the people have spoken, and the people want to dance. Lizzo's "About Damn Time" just replaced Harry Styles's "As It Was" to become the top song on the Billboard Hot 100. Powered by retro instrumentation, a propulsive groove, meme-worthy lyrics, and a generous dose of slash chords (not the Guns 'n Roses guitarist, the harmonic voicing), Lizzo's hit song marks a deepening of the sound she established in past tracks like "Juice." But on other tracks from her latest album Special, Lizzo aims for new aesthetics. "Coldplay"—featuring a rare Chris Martin vocal sample—opts for emotional honestly over pithy affirmations. With the upbeat "Grrrls," Lizzo found herself in an online controversy: she had used a ableist slur in the song's lyrics. Taking the criticism as an opportunity to learn, Lizzo chose to replace the offensive line—but have other artists of pop's past always followed suit when met with fan feedback?

Songs Discussed

Lizzo - About Damn Time, Juice, Coldplay, Grrrls
Daft Punk, Pharrel Williams - Lose Yourself to Dance
Michael Jackson - Rock With You, They Don’t Care About Us
Quelle Chris, Chris Keys - Sudden Death
Coldplay - Yellow
Beastie Boys - Girls, Sure Shot
Taylor Swift - Picture to Burn
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Orville Peck - Born This Way
Ella Fitzgerald - How Long Has This Been Going On
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Baz Luhrmann’s hit box office hit biopic Elvis has spurred new interest in the music of The King. Elvis Presley’s streaming subscribers has grown by two million listeners on Spotify since the film’s release according to ChartMetric, and if you’re hearing a lot more “Hound Dog” these days, it might be partially due to the success of Doja Cat’s hit song “Vegas,” which updates – and interpolates – the song for contemporary listeners. 

Doja Cat’s version samples from the original 1953 “Hound Dog,” sung by Big Mama Thornton and written by acclaimed songwriter team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (whose credits also include Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”). The original is a sauntering blues song with a raunchy tale about a two timing man; Presley, who is frequently said to have stolen the song from Thorton, instead sings a tepid lyric about an actual dog, and radically changes the groove. 

But in an interview with Rolling Stone, Stoller says Presley didn’t steal the song at all. Rather, he adapted one of many covers of the song, specifically the version performed by the Las Vegas lounge act Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. Their “Hound Dog” borrows its upbeat rhythm from a song responding to the original “Hound Dog,” titled “Bear Cat.” It’s a similar rhythm to the one we hear on the contemporary Doja Cat version, “Vegas,” which heavily features samples of Thornton’s original vocals: listening closely reveals a song that synthesizes a complicated music history by uniting the best parts of the many versions of “Hound Dog.” 

Listen to the latest episode of Switched On Pop and uncover the long legacy of “Hound Dog.”

Songs Discussed

Big Mama Thorton - Hound Dog

Elvis - Hound Dog

Doja Cat - Vegas

Esther Phillips - Hound Dog

Jack Turner - Hound Dog

Rufus Thomas - Bear Cat

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys

T.L.C. - No Scrubs

Sporty Thievz - No Pigeons 

W.C. Handy - St. Louis Blues

Duke Ellington - Conga brava

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Didn’t It Rain

Fats Domino - Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Dave Bartholomew - Country Boy

Little Richard - Slipping’ And Sliding’

Jack Harlow - Dua Lipa

Future - Puffin on Zootiez

Hitkidd, Gorilla - F.N.F. (Let’s Go)

Bad Bunny - Después de la Playa


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On June 24th 2022 the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v Wade and asserting that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion.

The decision marked a seismic moment in politics and culture that has affected everyone’s lives, and the world of pop music is no exception. Musicians started responding immediately, from Cher to Olivia Rodrigo: on social media, at their shows, and in their music. Critic Ann Powers has been chronicling the reactions in a running list at NPR, and she joins in the second half of the episode to talk about the long history of artists speaking out—and singing—about reproductive rights. 

One artist who wasted no time responding to the Dobbs decision is the singer and songwriter Connie Lim, aka MILCK. Her song “We Won’t Go Back,” composed with Biianco, Autumn Rowe, and Ani DeFranco, came about after Politico published an article in May with the leaked draft of the Dobbs decision, telling the world in no uncertain terms that the Supreme Court was considering striking down Roe. MILCK found herself protesting in D.C., this time with her camera ready. The chants she heard there became the first sonic element of “We Won’t Go Back.”

Songs Discussed

MILCK, Biianco, Autumn Rowe, Ani DeFranco - We Won’t Go Back
MILCK - Quiet
Ani DeFranco - Play God 
Poison Girls - Mandy Is Having a Baby
Cyndi Lauper - Sally’s Pigeons
Leslie Gore - You Don’t Own Me
Robyn - Giving You Back
Joni Mitchell - Little Green
L7 - Pretend We’re Dead
Everlast - What It’s Like
Madonna - Papa Don’t Preach
Lauryn Hill - To Zion
Megan Thee Stallion - Plan B

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