Switched on Pop

Nicki Minaj is one of the most unique rappers of all time. She’s given us numerous iconic guest verses from “Monster” to “Flawless (Remix),” everlasting hits like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” and legions of loyal fans in the Barbz. She’s also given us over twenty alter-egos in the course of her career. However, no alter-ego of hers has been more impactful than Roman. The voice at the center of Nicki’s most unhinged music, the “Roman” persona serves a conduit for Nicki to put forward a high level of theatricality and character work in her music, from beats to bars. And to understand Nicki, you need to understand Roman.

This episode of Switched on Pop, producer Reanna Cruz takes us on a journey through the history of Roman, on the heels of Nicki Minaj’s latest record, Pink Friday 2.

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Songs Discussed:

• Nicki Minaj – Chun-Li
• Nicki Minaj – Red Ruby Da Sleeze
• Nicki Minaj – Itty Bitty Piggy
• Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver – Monster
• Nicki Minaj – Roman In Moscow
• Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm
• Nicki Minaj – Starships
• Ludacris, Nicki Minaj – My Chick Bad
• Nicki Minaj, PTAF – Boss A** B**** (with PTAF) – Remix
• Nicki Minaj, Eminem – Roman's Revenge
• Nicki Minaj – Come On A Cone
• Nicki Minaj – Beez In The Trap
• Nicki Minaj – Roman Holiday
• Eminem – The Way I Am
• Eminem – My Name Is
• Lil' Kim – Queen B****
• Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lil Wayne – Truffle Butter
• Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj – Bottoms Up (feat. Nicki Minaj)
• Nicki Minaj – Barbie Dreams
• Nicki Minaj – Super Freaky Girl – Roman Remix
• Nicki Minaj – My Life

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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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A lot has happened in the world of Kpop this summer, from Girls’ Generation sugar coated banger “Forever 1” marking a triumphant return from a five year hiatus, to the ascendance of newcomers NewJeans, whose R&B infused sounds have quickly taken over the charts. But it's the return of BLACKPINK that has lit up the world literally in pink. Get a full deep dive on the songs at the top of the Kpop charts on the latest episode of Switched On Pop, where hosts Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan speak with journalist Kristine Kwak.

Songs Discussed

• Psy, SUGA - That That
• J-hope - MORE
• BLACKPINK - Pink Venom
• Girls’ Generation
• IVE - LOVE DIVE
• NewJeans - Attention
• SWV - I’m So Into You
• Rihanna - Pon De Replay
• Missy Elliot - Work It
• 50 Cent - Just A Lil Bit
• Taylor Swift “Look What You Made Me Do”
• Panjabi MC, JAY-Z - Mundian to Bach Ke
• Britney Spears, Madonna - Me Against the Music
• Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around Comes Around
• Snoop Dogg - Drop It Like It’s Hot
• Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Rock
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Kick in the Door

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“Kiss From a Rose” is one of the most unusual number one hits of all time. Seal’s song can’t decide if it’s in minor or major, it uses an old-fashioned waltz rhythm, and its lush orchestration and elaborate vocal harmonies support mysterious lyrics about a “greying tower alone on the sea.” Seal himself wasn’t sure about the song, and needed some convincing to include the composition on his 1994 album SEAL II. But once director Joel Schumacher decided to use the track for the end credits of the film Batman Forever, the song went global and has remained a cultural phenomenon ever since. Ahead of his upcoming 30th anniversary tour for the albums SEAL I and SEAL II, we speak with the singer and songwriter about the enduring appeal of “Kiss From A Rose.”

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There is no contemporary pop music without Nile Rodgers. Born in 1952, Rodgers grew up playing classical music on flute and clarinet before picking up jazz guitar. And at age 20, alongside bass player Bernard Edwards, Rodgers formed the band Chic. They wrote the biggest disco hits of the 70s, like: “Dance Dance Dance,” “Everybody Dance,” “Le Freak," and "Good TImes," which formed the core of Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper's Delight”.

In his music career spanning six decades, Rodgers has produced and played on some of the biggest pop songs in history, for artists like Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk, and Beyoncé. He is also the chair of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, so with the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony taking place this June, we invited him onto Switched on Pop to talk about the making of a great song.

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