Switched on Pop

A$AP Rocky’s latest album, Don’t Be Dumb, is a wild ride through a cacophony of sounds — punk, industrial, drum ‘n’ bass, indie rock, and of course, hip hop. But on one track, “Robbery,” he and the rising superstar Doechii sample the world of jazz, specifically Thelonious Monk’s 1955 cover of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” In the process, Rocky and Doechii don’t just loop and flow, they create a whole narrative of jazz age victors and villains inspired by the rhythms and harmonies of jazz greats. The result is a song, and album, that makes the case for why hip hop matters more than ever in 2026.

A$AP Rocky – ROBBERY (feat. Doechii)

A$AP Rocky – STOLE YA FLOW

A$AP Rocky – ORDER OF PROTECTION

A$AP Rocky – PLAYA

A$AP Rocky – STFU (feat. Slay Squad)

A$AP Rocky – AIR FORCE (BLACK DEMARCO)

A$AP Rocky – THE END (feat. will.i.am & Jessica Pratt)

Kendrick Lamar - For Free? - Interlude 

Clairo - Sinking 

Thelonious Monk - Caravan

A$AP Rocky - L$D

Lou Donaldson - Ode To Billie Joe 

Thelonious Monk - Black And Tan Fantasy

Wu-Tang Clan - Shame On a N**** 

Duke Ellington, John Coltrane - My Little Brown Book 

Ghostface Killah - Malcolm 

Thundercat - Them Changes

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What makes Weird Al songs so indelible? Why is Bo Burnham more than just a comic? How do the biggest pop hits make us crack up in the middle of a somber ballad? Humor is always present in music, but we rarely confront it head on. Until now. With the help of Comedian Chris Duffy, author of the book Humor Me: How Laughing Can Make You More Connected, Present, and Happy, and a series of lyrical submission from our listeners, we try to answer the question once posed by Frank Zappa, once and for all: Does humor belong in music?

Songs discussed:

Sabrina Carpenter – ManchildMarcia Belsky – 100 TamponsBo Burnham – From God’s PerspectiveSnoop Dogg – Gin and JuiceThe Gourds – Gin and JuiceTaylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version)“Weird Al” Yankovic – Amish Paradise“Weird Al” Yankovic – My BolognaStevie Wonder – Pastime ParadiseCoolio – Gangsta’s ParadiseBo Burnham – That Funny FeelingBo Burnham – FaceTime With My MomElaine Stritch – Are You Having Any Fun?Barenaked Ladies – If I Had $1,000,000Kendrick Lamar – Not Like UsEminem – The Real Slim Shady2 Chainz – Birthday SongLil Jon – Snap Yo FingersOlivia Rodrigo – Get Him BackChappell Roan – CasualAudrey Hobert – I like to touch peopleAudrey Hobert – Bowling alleyJensen McRae – Immune
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ultimate gauntlet of popular music is upon us once again: it's Grammy season, and this year, the competition is pretty tight across the board. Big ticket A-listers like Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, and Lady Gaga occupy three of the four big categories (Song, Record, and Album of the Year), while folks like Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Leon Thomas, and Addison Rae duke it out in Best New Artist.

On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie, Nate, and Reanna take a look at the "big four" categories, and stump for their respective frontrunners in order to predict who will be taking home a golden phonograph (or two).

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

Bad Bunny – DtMF

Lady Gaga – Abracadabra

Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild

Kendrick Lamar – squabble up

Olivia Dean – Nice To Each Other

Olivia Dean – Man I Need

Lola Young – Messy

Addison Rae – Headphones On

Addison Rae – New York

Addison Rae – Fame is a Gun

Kendrick Lamar, SZA – luther

Billie Eilish – WILDFLOWER

HUNTR/X – Golden

Chappell Roan – The Subway

Kendrick Lamar – tv off (feat. lefty gunplay)

Justin Bieber – ALL I CAN TAKE

Bad Bunny – NUEVAYoL

Bad Bunny – VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR

Bad Bunny – LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii

Bad Bunny – LA MuDANZA

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Swedish pop star Robyn emerged as a phenomenon in the mid 1990s, an ingenue whose work with Max Martin presaged the R&B crossover hits of acts like Britney and the Backstreet Boys. Since her debut, she’s released a string of albums that have shaped the sound of dance music as we know it.

Now, Robyn is releasing her first new album in eight years, Sexistential, and she’s given us three singles made up of her signature combination of thumping bass and ethereal vocals, while innovating into new personal –and vulnerable — territory. With raps about IVF, references to Blondie, a return to her collaboration with Max Martin, and our introduction of “drum n grace” to the lexicon, this episode is manna for Robyn fans and tyros alike.

Stick around as we unveil a new feature, “Quick Hits,” a down-and-dirty carousel ride through the most interesting new releases, from ASAP Rocky to Zach Bryan.

Songs discussed:

Robyn – Dopamine

Robyn – Show Me Love

Charli XCX, Robyn, Yung Lean – 360 remix

Jamie XX, Robyn – Life

Robyn – Konichiwa Bitches

Blondie – Rapture

Robyn – Honey

Robyn – Missing U

Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend

Taio Cruz – Dynamite

Robyn – Play

Robyn – Talk to Me

Robyn – Do You Know (What It Takes)

Robyn – Sexistential

Andre 3000 – I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time

Robyn – Cobrastyle

Robyn – Dancing On My Own

A$AP Rocky – PUNK ROCKY

Zach Bryan – Plastic Cigarette

David Byrne – Driver's License

Moonchild – Up From Here

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two years ago, Audrey Hobert had never written a song. She was a staff writer on a Nickelodeon series and had recently moved in with her childhood friend Gracie Abrams in Los Angeles. About six months later, a phrase spoken by a heartbroken acquaintance caught their attention; Hobert and Abrams sang it back to each other and wrote a complete song that night. Within the following year, Hobert co-wrote songs including “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Risk” for Abrams’s number-two album The Secret of Us. When the television show she was working on was later canceled, Hobert made a hard pivot into her own music.

What happened was Who's the Clown, a debut album where every track came from Hobert's own pen. In this live conversation recorded at NYU Steinhardt's Music and Performing Arts Professions program at Chelsea Studios, Hobert traces her path from dance classes choreographed to One Direction to eight-hour writing sessions that yield two good lines on a lucky day. She explains why she can't write in front of anyone, why she refuses to repeat a chorus three times, and why the Steve Martin documentary made her open her album with the disarmingly strange declaration: "I like to touch people."

The conversation moves from craft to confession as Hobert reflects on what it means to finally be looked at, and whether the view from inside the spotlight is everything she'd imagined.

Subscribe to the ⁠Newsletter⁠ to play along with our annual bingo predictions (last episode)

SONGS DISCUSSED

Gracie Abrams "I Love You, I'm Sorry"

Gracie Abrams "That's So True"

Smash Mouth "All Star"

One Direction "Kiss You"

Audrey Hobert "Wet Hair"

Audrey Hobert "Chateau"

Audrey Hobert "I Like to Touch People"

Audrey Hobert "Sex in the City"

Audrey Hobert "Sue Me"

Audrey Hobert "Bowling Alley"

Semisonic "Closing Time"

Audrey Hobert "Silver Jubilee"

Audrey Hobert "Don't Go Back to His Ass"

Audrey Hobert "Shooting Star"

Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices