25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos and more

25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos and more

Author: Vulture January 28, 2025 Duration: 55:45
2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (playable) bingo card of predictions for the coming year – including AI songs on the Hot 100, a return of boy bands, and... kazoos? The Album of the Year race for this upcoming Grammys is similarly unpredictable, with a stacked nomination list including Grammy darlings Beyoncé and Billie as well as Gen-Z favorites like Charli and Chappell. The team takes a crack at guessing who will take home the award by debating the nominees, bracket-style. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive your own bingo card! Songs discussed: The Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care Ghostwriter – Heart On My Sleeve (ft. AI Drake and AI The Weeknd) Songs from Silvio Berlusconi, Imelda Marcos, and Randi Zuckerberg Chino Pacas, Drake, Fuerza Regida – Modo Capone Elton John – Your Song Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee – Despacito Jack Black – Peaches Tyla – Water Rema, Selena Gomez – Calm Down Bloodhound Gang – The Bad Touch Megan thee Stallion, Yuki Chiba – Mamushi Joan Osborne – One of Us FKA Twigs – Eusexua Katy Perry – Woman's World David Bowie – Moonage Daydream Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me Billie Eilish – CHIHIRO Billie Eilish – BIRDS OF A FEATHER Charli XCX – guess Charli XCX – 360 Charli XCX – i think about it all the time Charli XCX – 365 Beyoncé – TEXAS HOLD 'EM Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus – II MOST WANTED Beyoncé – YA YA Taylor Swift – I Can Do It With A Broken Heart Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso Chappell Roan – HOTTOGO Chappell Roan – Pink Pony Club Chappell Roan – Red Wine Supernova Outkast – Hey Ya! Andre 3000 – That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control ... Sh*t Was Wild Andre 3000 – I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time Jacob Collier – 100,000 Voices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wonder why a certain pop song gets stuck in your head for days, or how a simple chord change can make you feel a specific way? Switched on Pop digs into those questions with a unique blend of expert analysis and genuine curiosity. Hosts Nate Sloan, a musicologist, and Charlie Harding, a songwriter, act as friendly guides through the intricate world of popular music. They don't just review hits; they dissect them, exploring the craft behind the catchiness. In each episode, you'll hear them break down a track's structure, its historical context, and the production techniques that give it its emotional punch. This isn't a dry academic lecture, though. It's a conversation between two people who love music, unpacking everything from timeless classics to today's viral trends to reveal why pop works the way it does. The Switched on Pop podcast, from Vulture, makes the familiar strange again, encouraging you to listen more deeply. You'll start to hear the clever harmonies hidden in a chart-topper, the rhythmic patterns borrowed from decades past, and the lyrical choices that resonate with millions. It's for anyone who has ever tapped a foot to a radio song and then wondered about the mechanics of that reaction. Tune in and you might just find that your favorite songs have layers you've never noticed before.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Switched on Pop
Podcast Episodes
How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:02
A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived. Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a con…
Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:19
A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats th…
Drake's Slop Era [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:45
Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused,…
Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:11
Kacey Musgraves' album Middle of Nowhere finds the country outlaw taking a break from exploring her inner life to look outward, back to her roots: the regional stylings of Texas. She says the album was inspired by a sign…
Rostam reimagines American music [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:09
The pedal steel and the saz both live in the spaces between equal-tempered notes, and that gap is where Rostam built American Stories. Rostam joined Vampire Weekend at Columbia in 2006, produced the band's first three al…
Eurovision is back – but not without controversy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:35
The flowers are blooming and the calendar says May. That can only mean one thing: the Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once again. This year, thirty-five countries face off to determine the best song that Europe and ad…
Samara Cyn is rap's best new writer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:34
How do you write a rap verse that's clever without saying so? Samara Cyn, one of the sharpest young writers in hip-hop, joins us to talk about Detour, her new EP about going analog. We get into wordplay versus narrative,…
Olivia Rodrigo and the second verse massacre [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:15
Olivia Rodrigo's chart-topping new single "drop dead," the lead single from her forthcoming third album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, breaks one of pop's oldest rules by abandoning the traditional second ver…
BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:29
BTS is back. The best selling K Pop group of all time has been on hiatus for four years. They haven’t released an album in six. They were once the biggest band in the world. Can they regain their throne? Or has the world…