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Spilling The Tea On Spotify's Best New Artists With Lisa Ritchey · The imuRgency Room

• 0:00
  Well, hello and welcome everyone back to the Emergency Room
• 0:03
  podcast where we talk about all things music, pop culture, and
• 0:08
  just generally culture. Today we're in the Spotify
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  studio and we're here ahead of Grammys week.
• 0:13
  So of course we had to bring in the lovely Lisa Richie talk, all
• 0:18
  things best new artist Grammys and just generally music.
• 0:22
  So hello and welcome to the podcast.
• 0:24
  So excited to be here, so excited to chit chat.
• 0:27
  Yes, I love a chat. Always love a chat I.
• 0:30
  Feel like we walked in and immediately started chit
• 0:32
  chatting we wanted. Good vibes.
• 0:33
  We bonded over New York, New Jersey.
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  Even though I've never lived there.
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  No, we're famously never lived there.
• 0:39
  You know, I think the best New Yorkers are not from New York.
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  Fair. Or even lived in New York?
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  Exactly. Yeah, it is so funny.
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  I think it's just the like, all black all the time.
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  Everybody just naturally assumes I'm from New York.
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  And maybe, I don't know, maybe it's a general, like, I don't
• 0:54
  give a fuck attitude. But also, I feel like the thing
• 0:58
  with New Yorkers, or at least with me, is it's like I actually
• 1:01
  give a lot of folks, like a lot. I think New Yorkers give a lot
• 1:04
  of folks too, I think. It's so too.
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  There's a lot of heart in the city.
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  Yes, they say. Like, what is it that New
• 1:10
  Yorkers are are kind, but not nice?
• 1:13
  Yes. I think to be.
• 1:14
  Kind LA might be like nice, but not kind.
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  I feel that much to think about, you know?
• 1:19
  Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
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  As a transplant who could speak for all of Lai, definitely see
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  that, yeah. I love LA though.
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  I, I really enjoy it. I've been here for 12 years.
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  I think like LA might be in a bit of a transitional period
• 1:32
  right now, but that just means that there's there's
• 1:34
  opportunity. And how long have you lived
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  here? Only three years, OK.
• 1:39
  I feel very new to the city still.
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  It takes a while, Yeah. It's also just so big.
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  Like, not that New York isn't, but I just think like New York,
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  you can hop on the subway and get wherever you need to go,
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  whereas in LA it's like a bit of a slog.
• 1:50
  There is a sprawl, Yeah. It's huge, Yes.
• 1:53
  Before even get into the valley of it all.
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  Like La La yeah. Huge.
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  Exactly. But glad to be here.
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  So happy to be here. Could you give us well I have a
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  bio for you, would you like me to read your buyer?
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  Would you like? To.
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  But. I'll get OK ask a question, I'll
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  give it I I don't think I could take having my bio read to me.
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  Is that like, jarring? I don't.
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  It's never happened. Oh my God, it might be, I don't
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  know. Should we try?
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  It try it, OK? I want to see how you feel.
• 2:19
  Lisa Ritchie is the lead of Pop and Dance Artist Partnerships,
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  where she manages artists and manager relations, spearheads
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  genre strategy including playlist marketing, cultivates
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  partnership opportunities, and finds avenues for Spotify to
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  show up across her genres in meaningful ways since joining
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  Spotify, right? Since joining Spotify in 2019,
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  Lisa has LED numerous initiatives and programs, such
• 2:42
  as the company's annual Best New Artist event during Grammys
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  Week, Track IDs Presents Pop Rising on Tour, Lorem and
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  Friends artist specific tour partnerships, and launching
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  GLOW, the company's LGBTQIA Plus program.
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  Prior to Spotify, she worked in the live music space, starting
• 3:00
  out in VIP ticketing and then moving over to the Windish
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  agency Slash Paradigm. How's that?
• 3:05
  Yeah, that actually. Wasn't as drawing as I thought
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  it would be. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Lots of good buzzwords. Strategy.
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  Right. Meaningful.
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  Relationships. Exactly.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love a good bio because it
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  may. I think the bio speaks for
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  itself. Wow.
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  Yeah. And then we can just get into
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  the meat of it, you know? OK.
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  So we got we got through the bio.
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  Could you tell us a little bit about your career journey and
• 3:27
  specifically how that led you into artist partnerships?
• 3:29
  Yeah, for sure. I mean, as I mentioned, I've
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  been in LA for 12 years. I went to College in Nashville,
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  which was great for those four years.
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  But I think the goal was always to get out of South in the Bible
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  Belt and kind of go to LA and like be in a coastal city.
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  And you know, when I moved here it was definitely that kind of
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  classic 6 month struggle of like no money, so broke, no
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  prospects. What am I going to do?
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  Like. Yeah, it's just like, it's
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  quintessential. It's very, you know, it makes
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  you who you are. So I'm, I'm appreciative of it.
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  Never want to do it again. But yeah, it did kind of like
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  anything I could to stay in. Lai was a nanny, I was a Grammy
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  camp counselor. That was my first thing when I
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  moved out here. It was like a few week program.
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  There's like a camp for the Grammys.
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  Yeah, I don't know if they do it anymore, but the Grammys used to
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  have for like high school students who were seemed
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  promising and different avenues and music.
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  They could basically apply to be like on a guitar track or a
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  music business track or a photography track or a
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  production track. And then they would hire people
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  just out of college to be camp counselors.
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  And you basically lived on the USC campus for, like, few weeks
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  and, like, help these kids kind of like, get to and fro.
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  And I love that. It was really fun.
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  Yeah, I really enjoyed. That philanthropy, first of all
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  for the Grammys, Exactly. But also, like, soulful circle
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  youth. Yeah, Exactly.
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  Yeah. Very important.
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  And I really enjoyed that experience.
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  But yeah, then I was a nanny. I worked on the Warner Brothers
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  studio a lot as basically like a glorified crossing guard.
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  Humbling, very humbling. How?
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  How was that? You know, it was, I remember
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  there was one time I was basically I would help get
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  audiences into the Ellen show when it was filming.
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  And so you would have to wear like the like bright orange like
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  cross crossing vest. I'm like picturing right now
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  all. The day.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I had these, like,
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  terrible khakis that you had to wear in this, like, pinstripe
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  Warner Brothers shirt. Like it was just like.
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  There's a lot going. On yeah, a lot going on, lots of
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  colors, lots of patterns. And I was at the light helping
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  people get across the street and I heard Lisa and it was someone
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  I went to college with. And I was like, all right, I got
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  to figure my shit out because like, it was just like that
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  moment for me was so it was just like, again, it makes you who
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  you are. But Oh my God, I never want to
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  experience that feeling again. Was that like a very humbling
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  moment? Oh 100% so humbling.
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  I can like, even as I talk about it, I can like feel it in my
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  body and I'm just like, OK, I got to like trauma.
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  Sort in the body actually. Exactly.
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  But it was like a few weeks later that I actually ended up
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  getting this like really random job with AVIP ticketing company
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  that unbeknownst to me was owned by Jared Leto.
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  And so I basically walked into this like house in the hills of
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  Studio City and I was like, where am I?
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  And then I found out and that was my first job and
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  entertainment. So I'd basically create these
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  VIP programs for artists when they would go on tour, which
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  would basically be like meet and greets or side stage viewing or
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  just like things that would get the Super fan closer to the
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  artists that they love. And then I moved to an agency, a
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  booking agency where I worked for Tom Windish, who was at the
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  time agent for like Billie Eilish, Lorde, The xx, Alt J,
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  like a bunch of bands that I loved.
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  And I was his executive assistant for about four years
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  before moving into a booking role and realizing I didn't love
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  it. And I wasn't exactly amazing at
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  it. But I started to think about
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  like, what are these things that I love about the jobs that I've
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  had? I love getting fans closer to
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  the artists that they love. And I love, you know,
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  development, I love of marketing.
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  And I think ANR is so important at agencies now.
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  It used to all be on the label and I think the agencies really
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  get in pretty early now. It's like be a part of that ANR
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  process. And I realized kind of the
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  combination of those two things might be at Spotify.
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  And it just happened that I reached out to the one person I
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  knew who worked at Spotify. And when I reached out, a job
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  posting had gone up that day for the job that initially got me
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  here. We don't talk about
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  enlightenment. Yeah, it was just like it was
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  one of those things where it's right place, right time.
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  And I did feel like it was the perfect intersection of all
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  these things I loved about my prior jobs.
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  And I've been here for six years now.
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  And yeah, started out as a coordinator and just kind of
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  have worked my way up. Initially I was on, I was in a
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  label facing role and then we had our artist partnerships team
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  be created about 3 years ago. And then I moved over to look
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  after pop and dance and at the time Indy as well.
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  So yeah, that's kind of how I got there in a nutshell.
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  I love that. Yeah.
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  I think it's so cool saying you've been at Spotify for six
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  years because I feel like you've been able to see the evolution
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  of the platform. Totally.
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  Being from like more of like a indie sort of startup trying to
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  compete with the prior established like streaming
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  services to now being like one of the leading, if not the
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  leading music app on the Internet it.
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  Is crazy how much it's changed like and honestly, I loved
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  Spotify from the second it like I heard about it.
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  I remember I was in college and one of my professors was talking
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  about this crazy thing that was happening in Sweden and I was
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  working at a summer camp. I was also a a different camp
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  counselor period. So, yeah, yeah.
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  The Summers loved you, yes. Big camp counselor energy is
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  what I've heard. Those are the.
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  Best people so well, thank. You.
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  Yes. Wow, you're buttering me up.
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  And it's working. But, yeah, so I remember I was
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  working at a summer camp and I had signed up, like, at the time
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  you had to, like, get on a wait list.
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  And then one day they would, like, send you a code so you
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  could finally be on Spotify. And I remember I walked into
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  our, like, break room and I was like, oh, my God, I finally got
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  on Spotify. Like, I like, I have access to
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  this thing. And everyone left me and went,
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  what's that? You know, what's Spotify?
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  And that was probably only 1314 years ago.
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  And then even six years ago when I started.
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  Yeah, it was definitely like, we're probably like knock and
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  knock with other streaming platforms.
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  And now, you know, we've just grown in such an insane way and
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  it's been really exciting to, you know, be able to witness
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  that from from the inside out. I think that's so cool and I
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  think it's also so cool that you have music as such like a
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  through line throughout your career, just music and
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  entertainment and like you said, like bringing fans closer to
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  artists and just having that sort of ANR ish relationship all
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  the way through. Because even when you were doing
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  the crossing guard at the Ellen Show, you were still in the
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  entertainment industry and, and, and getting.
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  People closer to the things they love.
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  Wow, I've never thought about this.
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  This kind of feels like a therapy session as well.
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  Welcome to the emergency room therapy.
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  That's gonna be right, yeah. Could be a therapy session.
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  You know, since music has been such a through line in your
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  career, I'm sure you're a fan of music yourself.
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  Do you have like a favorite genre, a favorite vibe of music
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  that you like? It's interesting.
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  I mean, yes, of course I hate when people are like, no.
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  And it's like no, we all like the things that we like.
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  I do think something I really am enjoying about music now, and
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  it's been going this way for a bit and it continues to kind of
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  go in this direction. But I think genre lines are
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  getting blurred more, more and more.
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  And I think like people can just be fans of the things that they
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  like and that they're drawn to. And so I think that that's
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  inherently good for artists. I think that's good for fans.
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  I think it's amazing for platforms like us who just,
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  like, offer the world's music catalog, you know, that you can
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  find anything. That being said, I do have
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  things I'm drawn to. I obviously love pop.
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  I know we're gonna talk about a lot of pop today, but you know,
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  it goes back to I love my classic pop Divas like I love
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  Cher, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, like.
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  The Legends, the. Legends like God I love a diva.
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  The diva Diva. Is not a bad.
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  Word. It's not.
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  It's not people trying. To they try to demonize it for a
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  while. Yeah, they really did.
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  And it's just like a diva to me is somebody who I saw this in a
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  documentary once and they were talking about like, why are gay
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  audiences like drawn to Divas? And it's not about any sort of
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  like behavior or ascent. It's about if there was a decent
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  and how they build themselves back up.
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  Like you can never keep a diva down you.
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  Can't they try and say diva down all the time but the diva could
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  never actually be down? Never.
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  And just when you think she's down, she's gonna surprise you.
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  That's the element. It's like you look at like a
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  Tina Turner even, right. Who like had this like first
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  part of her career where it's, you know, her and Ike, she's a
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  superstar, but she's caught in this like, awful marriage and
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  she is being stifled creatively. And when she divorces Ike, all
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  she takes is her name. That's all she takes is her
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  name. And then she, you know, starts
• 12:51
  to rebuild herself. And she just loves music so much
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  that she's playing these, like, little gigs in Vegas, doing,
• 12:56
  like, little shows in, like, at the true door for, like, no
• 13:00
  money. And then, you know, she meets
• 13:03
  this manager, Rodger Davies, who's young and obsessed with
• 13:06
  her and, like, makes a bold claim.
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  And it's like, like, work with me.
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  I can, like, let's, like, do this together.
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  And then in her mid 40s she comes back bigger and better
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  than ever and start selling out arenas.
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  Like it's so like you can never keep a diva down.
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  You can't, even when you think you can.
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  No, they're always like a phoenix.
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  Exactly, and that's why we're drawn to them.
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  I love a good diva and I love Tina Turner.
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  I was, I made a TikTok the other day talking about how I felt
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  like it was really sad that Beyoncé doesn't have like her
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  own version of Beyoncé because I feel like we all look to Beyoncé
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  being like, OK, she's like one of the greatest greats out right
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  now. She we can always count on like
• 13:44
  a good show from her. We know like it's always going
• 13:46
  to be super innovative. Like she is the artist's
• 13:48
  favorite artist. Like she is the celebrity
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  celebrity. But I was like, who is Beyoncé's
• 13:53
  Beyoncé? And totally people were always
• 13:57
  saying like Tina Turner, she constantly is referencing Tina
• 14:00
  the. Grammys.
• 14:01
  One of the greatest Grammy performances of all time.
• 14:04
  Beyoncé and Tina alright. You heard it here.
• 14:07
  It's really good. I don't know if it's online.
• 14:11
  Lost. Media.
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  Find it right, Yeah. I know I'm so scared of lost
• 14:14
  media. That's a completely other topic,
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  but. We'll come back for that.
• 14:17
  We'll come back for. That yeah.
• 14:19
  But I just. I love the concept of talent,
• 14:24
  first and foremost. I love talent and just seeing
• 14:27
  how like genres have blended, and now it's more of a focus
• 14:31
  generally on, like, the artists and the type of art they create
• 14:35
  and how they resonate with different audiences.
• 14:37
  Totally. I think that's a great direction
• 14:38
  for, like, music, yeah. The modern era, 100%.
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  It's like, you know, the other thing that I really love is I
• 14:45
  really love dance. I'm a huge, huge dance fan,
• 14:51
  indie, and I think we can look at some of the interesting
• 14:56
  things that are happening in those two genres and how they're
• 14:58
  permeating into pop music as well.
• 15:01
  So of course, in terms of dance, you have like the brat moment,
• 15:04
  you have Eusexual FK Twigs last year, which is nominated for
• 15:07
  best dance album. Very excited to see how that
• 15:09
  pans out. But then you have, like, on
• 15:14
  SWAG, you hear the influence from indie artists like Dijon
• 15:19
  and McGee, who I'm such a huge fan of.
• 15:22
  And you know, McGee has this whole like, sophista pop thing
• 15:26
  that really you hear throughout all of SWAG and what an
• 15:30
  interesting direction for Justin to take.
• 15:34
  So yeah, I think like you have people just kind of loving what
• 15:38
  they love and weaving it in and out of their sounds, and it just
• 15:42
  like kind of allows the sandbox in the playground to be a bit
• 15:46
  bigger and inclusive of everyone.
• 15:49
  And that's how it should be. That's how it should have always
• 15:51
  been. Yeah, music is fun.
• 15:53
  People should be dabbling, I think.
• 15:54
  I think one of the worst things is when you listen to something
• 15:57
  and you're bored 'cause you're like, like, just like try
• 16:01
  something. Like, you know, I like when
• 16:03
  people try, even if it maybe doesn't work for me or it
• 16:06
  doesn't like, land 100% in the way they wanted.
• 16:08
  Like when someone takes a swing. Yes, I think people are afraid
• 16:13
  to be seen trying, and that's a whole other conversation, yeah.
• 16:16
  Totally. But I think that lands for like
• 16:18
  artists as well. And I know there's a lot of
• 16:19
  different aspects of that as to why that is for like financial
• 16:23
  return and like career trajectory and all of that.
• 16:27
  But I think we definitely, this is my opinion.
• 16:29
  I feel like we should see a lot more artists taking those risks
• 16:33
  and, and, and trying to do something new and like reinvent
• 16:36
  the wheel, the wheel. Because personally, personally,
• 16:39
  I'm tired of recycling stuff from the past.
• 16:42
  I want to see something new. Yeah, something inventive.
• 16:45
  Really, the references are interesting, which I look I love
• 16:48
  like I would like to think I have a high cultural literacy,
• 16:51
  if you will, and I love a. Reference scholar, if you will.
• 16:54
  Yeah. Cultural scholar, right.
• 16:56
  You said it, not me, but yeah, I think like it is interesting how
• 17:01
  everything is a reference now. Yeah.
• 17:02
  And I think it's it's hard because we do have this rich
• 17:06
  history now, whereas back in the day, like kind of like inventing
• 17:11
  it as they went. But yeah, I mean, I'm excited
• 17:14
  for like new voices and new takes and new perspectives.
• 17:18
  And I think we're in like a pretty big transitional period
• 17:22
  in the music industry right now and like the entertainment
• 17:24
  industry as a whole for sure. And I think like on an, on
• 17:29
  someone's worst day, you can sit there and be like, it's over on,
• 17:36
  on a good day. And where I, I try and land more
• 17:39
  so is like, it just kind of opens it up to where like some
• 17:44
  people are going to go that direction, but you can also go
• 17:47
  this direction. And I just, I feel hopeful and,
• 17:51
  and I think that I think the last few years have kind of
• 17:54
  showed us that there is hope. There have been so many
• 17:56
  interesting products that have come out and artists that have
• 17:58
  broken that 10 years ago maybe wouldn't have.
• 18:02
  Yeah. So I feel hopeful inherently.
• 18:06
  I feel hopeful too, and I really think that we have a good
• 18:10
  feature ahead of us with the artists that are debuting right
• 18:12
  now and that are out here killing it.
• 18:16
  Which kind of brings me to us talking about Grammys and best
• 18:19
  New. Artists.
• 18:20
  Oh yes, we should talk about the events at hand.
• 18:23
  You're right, the the event at B the pending award show best the
• 18:28
  artists. Yeah, this is a very coveted
• 18:31
  category and the Grammys and also dressed in pop culture
• 18:34
  because this is where we see all of our new or at least newly
• 18:39
  mainstream faves kind of Duke it out for who was the best of the
• 18:44
  year. And this year it's a it's a
• 18:46
  contentious category. There are it's.
• 18:48
  A strong year, Really strong. Year, there was a lot of amazing
• 18:52
  new talent this year and I'm excited to see how it goes, but
• 18:55
  I wanted to hear from you, like what do you think of this pool
• 18:58
  of best new artists? Yeah.
• 19:00
  I mean, truly, I think across the board it is that it's gonna
• 19:03
  sound like I'm saying this just to say it, but I do think that
• 19:06
  it's one of those years that everyone has like their really
• 19:08
  strong reasoning for why they should win.
• 19:11
  And some years it's not the case.
• 19:12
  Some years you really do have that one person that you're
• 19:15
  like, well, obviously. But this one, yeah, it just
• 19:18
  feels like the playing field is pretty open.
• 19:22
  You know, someone the other day asked me they were like, what
• 19:25
  makes this year's our group of artists so different or strong?
• 19:31
  And I, I thought about it for a bit and I think like one of the
• 19:33
  biggest things is I really just realized it's like the songs
• 19:38
  because like, not only did all these artists have songs that
• 19:40
  did really well on the charts, but like, they permeated culture
• 19:44
  and people's lives in ways that, you know, you couldn't escape
• 19:49
  them. And I think that that's so cool.
• 19:51
  Like you look at, you know, Olivia Dean is a great example.
• 19:55
  Like this holiday season, it was fascinating to me that when you
• 19:59
  looked at the charts, particularly in the UK, it was
• 20:02
  all of your Christmas standards. And Olivia Dean and I was like,
• 20:05
  wow, people are loving this so much that it's like
• 20:07
  soundtracking their holidays. Which is insane.
• 20:09
  Which is great. That's a really hard thing to
• 20:11
  do. It's like her and Mariah, you
• 20:13
  know? And the fact that you can have
• 20:14
  that in the same sentence is crazy.
• 20:16
  Like, shout out to Olivia Dean. Yeah, it's, I think it's so hard
• 20:19
  to have, like, a moment during the holiday season because it is
• 20:21
  so, like, culturally dominated by the legacy Christmas songs
• 20:25
  and the Mariah Vidal. And she was able to breakthrough
• 20:28
  and and cut through in that time period.
• 20:30
  And like the song had been building for a really long time,
• 20:32
  but the fact that it continued to build during that time period
• 20:35
  was so telling to me. And then you have, like Alex
• 20:37
  Warren, an ordinary I'm like, how many weddings was that used
• 20:40
  at? Ordinary, yeah, so.
• 20:43
  Many like I, I was like, I'd love to see a statistic on it.
• 20:46
  And then you have the Maria's with like kind of their sleeper
• 20:49
  hit of No unnoticed, which, you know, really soundtracks
• 20:53
  probably a lot of people's heartbreak and loneliness.
• 20:57
  And I just think that these songs lived with us in our cars
• 21:00
  and when we were out with our friends.
• 21:02
  And every single person in this category has that, you know,
• 21:08
  Leon Thomas Mutt was everywhere. Lola young Messi could not
• 21:14
  escape that song, I think. It's so interesting how all of
• 21:16
  these artists are so vastly different from each other this
• 21:18
  year. But different shades of pop,
• 21:21
  which is cool because usually you have like, and here's the
• 21:24
  thing, like I I think diversity of genre is good in the category
• 21:29
  Like the year Fred again was nominated like that was kind of
• 21:32
  a first for dance. Like that felt really important.
• 21:36
  It is a little crazy. There's no like country or Latin
• 21:39
  or rock per SE, but at face value like as a pop girl.
• 21:49
  It's really. Cool to have different shades of
• 21:51
  pop and they all occupy their own lanes within that genre.
• 21:55
  You know, like Leon Thomas's R&B but like structurally and
• 21:58
  melodically it's very reminiscent of pop and I would
• 22:01
  consider him to be a pop artist as well as an R&B artist.
• 22:05
  The Maria's same like indie. That's pop.
• 22:09
  Music, you know, so it's, it's a really interesting year.
• 22:12
  It really, it really is interesting.
• 22:13
  I think it does open up a broader conversation around how
• 22:17
  pop has expanded so much over the past.
• 22:19
  Couple of. Years, yeah, before it's just
• 22:21
  like popular music, but now it's like there's a structure to it
• 22:24
  and there are limits. You can stretch it so that it
• 22:28
  intersects other genres as well. But that's.
• 22:30
  Who do you think has the best shot at at winning Best New
• 22:33
  Artist this Sunday? Well, I love all of my children
• 22:36
  equally. Say that first, yeah.
• 22:38
  Yeah, yeah, just gonna make that clear.
• 22:41
  I do think all of them have very strong reasonings.
• 22:43
  But if I had to place my money on it, look, all I'm gonna say
• 22:49
  is I think that one of my my favorite time honored
• 22:54
  traditions, my favorite trade agreements between the US and
• 22:57
  England is the the female soul pop vocalist, right?
• 23:02
  You know, we have Amy Winehouse, Adele Sade, Sade Duffy.
• 23:09
  Shout out to Duffy. Sometimes she's not a part of
• 23:12
  the conversation. She should be a part of the
• 23:14
  conversation. And I think Olivia Dean comes
• 23:17
  along in that lineage. And again, to see the ascent of
• 23:22
  man I need. And that album is just so
• 23:25
  listenable. I'm really I'm really liking her
• 23:30
  her odds at winning. I it it's like also that song.
• 23:34
  I was listening to it for the millionth time the other day.
• 23:36
  It just like has that bounce to. It it's a classic, like an
• 23:40
  instant classic. 100% and that's what it's reminiscent of is like
• 23:43
  when you listen to it, it's just, you can't help but smile.
• 23:46
  It's infectious. And yeah, man, I I think she has
• 23:51
  a really good shot at it. But then you look at someone
• 23:53
  like Leon and he's up for album of the year as well, which is
• 23:57
  huge. I personally hope he sweeps
• 24:00
  sadly on top of this. Yeah, I mean he, and that's The
• 24:02
  thing is like there could be. He could.
• 24:05
  He could, he could. But I, I agree with you.
• 24:09
  I feel like personally, I see it going to Olivia Dean.
• 24:13
  I would like it for, I like, I'd like for it to go to Olivia
• 24:16
  Dean. But I think the category is
• 24:17
  truly stacked 100% with so much talent, and I think a big one
• 24:23
  that a lot of people, at least in my corners of the Internet,
• 24:25
  are rooting for is Cat's Eye. True.
• 24:28
  Another one that permeated culture, that gap ad.
• 24:30
  Yeah, insane, insane. I feel like they rule like dance
• 24:36
  pop, like all of their songs are gonna have a hit dance.
• 24:38
  And I love that. And I love how K Pop is
• 24:42
  intersecting with just like the girl group of it all and having
• 24:45
  like a nice blend with Cat's Eye.
• 24:47
  Yeah, because all of their songs, I'm saying this are
• 24:52
  interesting. I think the dances to the songs
• 24:55
  take them to that level where they become like such moments.
• 24:58
  Yeah, like the gnarly dance. Totally.
• 25:01
  Changed everything. I love choreography.
• 25:03
  I love a little light choreography.
• 25:04
  I love like very high key choreography.
• 25:08
  But also it's like I was listening to Gnarly the other
• 25:10
  day and I had the thought about I was doing the dance.
• 25:16
  I had the thought. I was like, wow, like it made me
• 25:19
  beg the question to myself, does a song like that get made
• 25:23
  without Sophie And I? I love when we get to talk about
• 25:27
  her and her impact because she was so ahead of her time.
• 25:31
  And I think it's kind of like when you look at these great
• 25:34
  artists, like, you know, who is it Picasso, that or, or like Van
• 25:37
  Gogh, like his his paintings weren't worth anything until he
• 25:41
  he, you know, passed away. And I think Sophie, like, so
• 25:45
  tragically died so young and but her impact is so lasting.
• 25:50
  And I think those who knew, knew back in the day, but we keep
• 25:54
  seeing it come back and like be built upon.
• 25:57
  And I don't know that like that makes me really happy.
• 26:02
  I am sad that it had to be because she was ahead of her
• 26:06
  time, but she truly is and was ahead of her time.
• 26:10
  Like we're seeing. I think we saw it heavily
• 26:14
  mainstream with Charlie incorporating a lot of the
• 26:17
  dancey pop sounds and incorporating a lot of the
• 26:20
  Sophie influence in Brat and how that's permeated so much
• 26:24
  throughout the music industry and how so many of Sophie's
• 26:28
  songs are like trending on on TikTok.
• 26:30
  Yeah. It's that it, it makes me like
• 26:33
  really, really happy and obviously so sad at the same
• 26:38
  time. But I don't know.
• 26:40
  She's such an important voice. And so to to hear that too, in
• 26:43
  like this best new artist category, because they have such
• 26:47
  a big career ahead of themselves too, like, and it's gnarly.
• 26:50
  Such a big hit. Yeah, it's really, it's cool.
• 26:52
  I really, really like. It's heartening.
• 26:55
  Yeah, I love that. And I kind of want to take a
• 26:58
  moment to step in that a little bit longer.
• 26:59
  Yeah. You were heavily involved in the
• 27:02
  Globe project, which for those of you who weren't paying
• 27:05
  attention when I gave the. The bio that was not jarring for
• 27:09
  me. Right is Spotify's initiative
• 27:12
  for highlighting queer artists. What does that mean for you?
• 27:16
  What does that mean to be a part of that?
• 27:18
  What does that mean to highlight queer artists, especially now?
• 27:21
  Yeah. I mean, I think God, somehow it
• 27:26
  just keeps being more and more important.
• 27:28
  I wish it, I wish it didn't feel as important as it did because
• 27:31
  that would mean we're closer to, you know, just everybody getting
• 27:34
  to be themselves. Unfortunately that is not
• 27:38
  happening, but I think for me, I know it's like there are so many
• 27:44
  terms that get thrown around like representation matter, but
• 27:47
  it does like it really does. And I, I think a lot of the
• 27:50
  things that I do in my work are certainly for myself when I was
• 27:54
  younger, like, you know, what were the, what can I do that,
• 28:00
  like my CDs couldn't offer me, what can I do that the radio
• 28:03
  couldn't offer me, that maybe they're like things in our
• 28:06
  arsenal at Spotify that we can do and use to highlight these
• 28:13
  voices that are so important. And I think it's really I, I
• 28:18
  went to Chapel's Chapel run's show in Pasadena in the fall.
• 28:24
  And you know, I've been a huge fan of Chapels for, you know,
• 28:28
  for about 5 years. And to see her ascent is talk
• 28:33
  about heartening like that is it was weird.
• 28:35
  I was watching that show and I did get very emotional and I was
• 28:39
  with a bunch of friends. Some of them were straight and I
• 28:42
  was just like, do you understand what this means?
• 28:45
  Sitting in a crowd of people? I think like God, how many
• 28:48
  people was it at night? It was like 50,000 people at
• 28:50
  night. And she could have sold more.
• 28:52
  And so it's just like to see someone up there singing songs
• 28:57
  that are so unabashedly about another woman and her being in
• 29:00
  love with another woman. I guess I just didn't think I'd
• 29:04
  ever see that. It's not to say that there
• 29:06
  aren't artists who who came before us and paved the way
• 29:08
  100%, but at this level, I think that's what makes it so
• 29:13
  different is at this level. And I think it's kind of like
• 29:17
  whether it's film or it's music or whatever it is, there's this,
• 29:21
  there's always been this idea that, like, we can't tell queer
• 29:23
  love stories and we can't tell queer stories because, like
• 29:26
  straight people can't relate to them.
• 29:28
  However, for our entire lives, we've had to like, you know, go
• 29:33
  and just be like, oh, I am gonna watch this straight love story.
• 29:38
  And guess what? Like, again, phrases that get
• 29:42
  tossed around a lot. But love is love and we can find
• 29:45
  commonality. Like heartbreak is heartbreak
• 29:48
  and love is love. And conflict is conflict.
• 29:52
  And so a lot of these things that people sing about at the
• 29:55
  end of the day, who gives a fuck about the pronouns?
• 29:58
  Like it's about the content. And I just think to be in a
• 30:03
  field with 50,000 people and I'm seeing parents with their, their
• 30:08
  young children, you know, like it's, it's just something I
• 30:12
  never thought I would see, unfortunately.
• 30:14
  And we are seeing it and we're experiencing it.
• 30:16
  We get to live in it and I think like that's why like that's why
• 30:21
  we want to create programs like this.
• 30:23
  Like that's why we want to support artists within the
• 30:25
  community because getting to have that impact for me as a,
• 30:30
  you know, 30 something, I can't imagine what that feels like for
• 30:33
  12 year old. Yeah, my mind goes to like the
• 30:36
  six year old girl in like middle America that has like no other
• 30:41
  reference of like being queer or liking like the same sex.
• 30:45
  And you're having these feelings and you're, you're seeing these
• 30:48
  things. But now that you're hearing it
• 30:50
  in music, you're able to feel that representation, like you're
• 30:52
  feeling seen. And I know as a little gay boy,
• 30:55
  like I, I didn't see shit. Like there wasn't any
• 30:58
  representation. And I didn't see any
• 31:00
  representation until, or outward representation until honestly,
• 31:07
  for me it was like little Nos X, which was 2020, 2019-2020.
• 31:12
  I was 20 at the time. Like seeing that and having like
• 31:16
  our representation like that when I was younger would have
• 31:18
  changed the world for me because I agree with what you're saying.
• 31:20
  Like I feel like if we can grow up changing or like listening to
• 31:25
  the pronouns that don't really assign to like what we're into
• 31:28
  and still being able to find commonality in it and still be
• 31:30
  able to find like the heartbreak, find the joy, find
• 31:32
  the love in it. Straight people can do the same
• 31:34
  thing. Exactly, I have two friends that
• 31:36
  are getting married, hetero and I.
• 31:39
  Said this. Yeah, I was like the way I just
• 31:42
  said that was like kind of insane hetero.
• 31:46
  But yeah, they were I was talking to them about their
• 31:48
  wedding and they were telling me that their first song is gonna
• 31:51
  be this Lucy Dakis song. And in my head I was like, wow,
• 31:58
  great job. And then I was like, I'm
• 32:00
  applauding you for like nothing like that's that makes sense.
• 32:04
  But like, it's, but it's just a testament to where we are right
• 32:06
  now that like, that does feel huge.
• 32:10
  But yeah, like, again, like a song can be about two women
• 32:13
  loving each other and like, there's commonality there.
• 32:17
  It's not that different. It's all still love.
• 32:20
  The emotions are still very much.
• 32:22
  The same, yeah and the the conflict is still the same and
• 32:26
  the heartbreak is still the same and yeah, I just I think yeah.
• 32:31
  And then to answer your question like representation matters and
• 32:35
  I think that doing whatever we can is important.
• 32:40
  I love that. Last year's Grammys really shook
• 32:43
  things up. Personally for me.
• 32:44
  It was one of my favorite Grammys, and I think a lot of
• 32:46
  people online really resonate with that as well because I feel
• 32:50
  like previously the Grammys was nice.
• 32:52
  You go for the performance of like your fave and that would be
• 32:55
  pretty much it. You want to see like who won the
• 32:57
  big awards, but that's pretty much it.
• 32:59
  This past Grammys in 2025, I believe, was so different
• 33:03
  because they really highlighted new artists.
• 33:06
  They were, I think every single best new artist performed during
• 33:10
  that and you really kind of felt like a talent.
• 33:12
  Show yeah, the medley was insane.
• 33:14
  Insane. And you could tell it really
• 33:17
  brought in viewers and really piqued interest because I think
• 33:20
  it was one of the most viewed Grammys over the past couple of
• 33:23
  years because I know award shows generally viewership, but the
• 33:28
  Grammys last year really did pull it in.
• 33:30
  I attribute that heavily to their focus on the younger
• 33:33
  talent and on highlighting who's next in the industry.
• 33:36
  What do you think about this highlight on new talent in the
• 33:39
  industry? Yeah, I mean, I agree there was
• 33:42
  something last year with the telecast that felt really fun
• 33:47
  and fresh and welcomed. And I think I think the
• 33:51
  highlight of new talent is 100% a part of that.
• 33:54
  But I also think like part of it too is like they, they had some
• 33:59
  performances that were like new to broader audiences as well.
• 34:04
  So, and that's where listening is going.
• 34:06
  Like that's, that's where kind of streaming has come in and
• 34:09
  like kind of opened it up to where there's a wider array of
• 34:12
  artists that are being listened to in mass.
• 34:16
  And so there's this highlighting of new talent and then
• 34:20
  highlighting of talent that felt niche maybe five years ago, but
• 34:25
  is now 100% mainstream. And I think that's why the
• 34:28
  category has evolved so much is because of that same reason.
• 34:31
  So I think like, that was a part of why last year's telecast felt
• 34:34
  really amazing. The other thing that I felt last
• 34:36
  year really helped it was, look, I think a sweep can be fun.
• 34:42
  Like I imagine back in the 90s, like Lauryn Hill sweeping for
• 34:45
  MIS Education of Lauryn Hill was probably like amazing.
• 34:48
  Like that probably felt so good because that album has stood the
• 34:51
  test of time and is one of the best albums ever made.
• 34:54
  Or Adele sweeping, Billy sweeping.
• 34:57
  You know those those feel fun. But last year what was different
• 35:00
  is it felt a little like felt almost a little like Mean Girls
• 35:04
  at the end where she like breaks the crown and is like a piece
• 35:08
  for Gretchen Wieners heart spring spring fling queen or
• 35:12
  whatever. And she's like tossing it out to
• 35:13
  everybody. It felt like everyone got their
• 35:15
  piece. So you had Sabrina Wynn Chapel
• 35:19
  won best new artist. You had Kendrick take song and
• 35:23
  record. You had Beyoncé when album it
• 35:26
  just like Charlie got her first Grammy, you know, it just felt
• 35:29
  like everyone got their piece. And I think to see so many
• 35:36
  people finally get their piece. And then also just like the wide
• 35:41
  array of it was indicative of where we are again, in this,
• 35:44
  like in terms of how music tastes and listening is just
• 35:50
  such, there's such a wide array of what people are listening to.
• 35:53
  And you don't have to stick with just like the genre that, you
• 35:56
  know, you would have like maybe 20 years been like, oh, she's
• 35:59
  like really into to hip hop or she's really into pop music or
• 36:04
  whatever it is. Yeah.
• 36:06
  I just think it finally felt indicative of the current time
• 36:09
  that we're living in. So I'm curious to see how it
• 36:12
  goes this year. Like, is everyone going to get
• 36:14
  their piece? Is there going to be a sweep?
• 36:15
  Like, I don't know. We'll see, we will see, but I'm
• 36:18
  super excited for it. I think that kind of speaks to
• 36:21
  like representation matter, but in a different way.
• 36:24
  Yeah, just in terms of like the the diversity of artists, like I
• 36:28
  think everyone deserves to get their flowers.
• 36:32
  And I think the industry or the awards have been getting a lot
• 36:36
  or have gotten a lot of critique over the years because it feels
• 36:40
  like it's not representative of like the actual times and like
• 36:43
  what people are listening to and what people are are, are being
• 36:46
  fans of. And last year felt like very
• 36:50
  vindicating in the sense like, yes, people are finally getting
• 36:53
  their flowers. Like the artists that we're
• 36:55
  listening to and and loving are actually getting recognized for
• 36:58
  the amazing work that they're putting out.
• 36:59
  So I'm excited to see what this year brings.
• 37:04
  I'm also excited for the Best New Artist party happening very,
• 37:09
  very soon. Very, very soon.
• 37:11
  I have no idea when this is airing but.
• 37:13
  Me neither, but it will be before Oh.
• 37:14
  It is going to be before I think.
• 37:15
  Before the Grammys, it's not. Before the party, OK, I was like
• 37:18
  good luck on the next 24. Hours but I am super excited for
• 37:23
  this. I have been seeing the Grammy or
• 37:26
  the Best New Artist party on social media over the past
• 37:28
  couple of years. Excited to, to go this year.
• 37:32
  But I, I wanted to ask you, do you have, can you give us a
• 37:37
  little sneak peek as to who's potentially performing?
• 37:40
  Yeah, all nominees are performing all.
• 37:43
  Eight. Oh my God.
• 37:45
  Yeah. Getting our own Grammys.
• 37:46
  Yeah, yeah, literally. It's really crazy.
• 37:50
  I mean, our team starts working on this.
• 37:53
  I think I sent my first e-mail about best new artists in June.
• 37:56
  And then every month it kind of steadily, it's like a snowball
• 37:59
  going down the mountain. It just gets bigger and bigger
• 38:01
  and bigger. And then this week is my screens
• 38:04
  are not fun. This week your screens are not
• 38:06
  fun. But it is it.
• 38:09
  It's really amazing to see how much the event has grown.
• 38:12
  I think it's really become the really biggest event of the week
• 38:16
  aside from the Grammys. Not to like to toot our own horn
• 38:20
  or anything. Yeah, it's, it's really
• 38:23
  exciting. And I, I think it's a testament
• 38:25
  to getting all these nominees to perform to our team and, and the
• 38:30
  work that we do everyday just to build relationships with these
• 38:34
  artists and their teams. And, you know, we put on Addison
• 38:38
  Ray's first show back in May at the Box in New York.
• 38:41
  And we worked with Olivia on the roll out of her album.
• 38:46
  Our UK team did this like beautiful event where fans got
• 38:49
  to sit for dinner and get a private performance from her.
• 38:54
  You know, Cat's Eye or sorry, who was our radar artist?
• 38:59
  It was the Marias and Leon. The Marias and Leon were two of
• 39:03
  our radar artists, which is our developing artist program.
• 39:06
  So like, you know, the list goes on and on.
• 39:08
  But we've worked with all of these artists for since the
• 39:11
  beginning of their careers. And it's really nice that when
• 39:15
  the category is announced, pretty much everyone knows like
• 39:19
  immediately you will get an offer from us to come play this
• 39:21
  event. And we really, I mean, I, it's,
• 39:25
  we appreciate it so much. These artists come and, and we,
• 39:28
  we want to make it such a, a celebratory night for them
• 39:31
  'cause it's, it's about them, it's about their music and it's
• 39:33
  about their growth. And we have a campaign that
• 39:36
  started running today around our best new artist nominees, where
• 39:39
  in their hometowns we have their baby photos.
• 39:43
  Addison Rae's is so funny. I love it so much.
• 39:45
  It's so cute. It's her with like a little
• 39:47
  pageant sash when she's maybe nine months old.
• 39:51
  And it's like, yeah. And it's like we have it in
• 39:54
  Louisiana. It's just like when you really
• 39:57
  sit and you think about it, like.
• 40:00
  But the best new artist category is like the first sort of like
• 40:04
  major acknowledgement of like you've made it and and this is
• 40:08
  just the beginning of your career.
• 40:09
  But like it's a it's taking off and to watch people's dreams
• 40:14
  come true and get to be a part of that with them.
• 40:18
  It's just there's no better feeling and it is just so
• 40:23
  exciting to see how they've grown and how it's just the
• 40:26
  beginning and all these artists are going to go on to be the the
• 40:29
  biggest stars of tomorrow and that they're willing to come and
• 40:34
  and spend their their time with us and their week with us, which
• 40:37
  is a really insane week. Their schedules.
• 40:40
  I do not. I'm sure they're.
• 40:41
  Booked. I do not envy it.
• 40:44
  It's really, it's really kind of them to to do this with us and
• 40:50
  it's become a a tradition and I think it's the best tradition
• 40:55
  that we have as a company. I personally love it.
• 40:58
  I think it's such a great way to highlight them and and
• 41:00
  congratulate them on essentially being inducted into the
• 41:03
  industry. Yeah.
• 41:05
  Kind of, yeah. Being like catapulted to that
• 41:07
  next level A. 100%. And I'm, I'm so excited for it.
• 41:13
  I'm excited you're coming. It's going to be an incredible
• 41:16
  night. And then I'm excited, yeah, to
• 41:18
  see who's going to go home on Sunday with the award.
• 41:22
  And I'm excited too. Like there's all the categories
• 41:25
  are so interesting this year. Like I was reviewing the the
• 41:28
  list last night and I saw I kind of forgot this was the case.
• 41:31
  But like Tyler, The Creator is nominated for best vault album
• 41:34
  and Best Hip Hop album, which again, it's like indicative of
• 41:38
  where we are with like what we were talking about with genre
• 41:40
  and listening habits. Like that's so cool.
• 41:44
  I love that an artist can be that dynamic and be rewarded for
• 41:47
  it. And then I think album of the
• 41:50
  year, curious to see where that goes.
• 41:52
  I think it's a hug. It's I don't know.
• 41:54
  Who do you think is going to take Album of the Year?
• 41:56
  I personally want Leon Thomas to take it, but I do think it's a
• 42:01
  very hot and contentious category.
• 42:04
  I could see Justin Bieber taking with swag.
• 42:06
  Interesting. So I'll, I'll throw you 22
• 42:10
  scenarios that I think I, I would be very excited by, I
• 42:14
  think Bad Bunny winning particularly right now, just
• 42:18
  where we're at in the world. And then he goes and performs at
• 42:20
  the Super Bowl. Literally the biggest, like the
• 42:24
  biggest statement. And he's such a man of saying
• 42:27
  something without ever saying something.
• 42:30
  And that would just be such a strong statement.
• 42:32
  I, I, I would, I would be really stoked about that, that.
• 42:35
  'D be amazing. I also think it'd be really
• 42:37
  really cool if after winning song and record last year,
• 42:39
  Kendrick comes and takes album. That'd be so funny.
• 42:42
  That'd be so funny. I think that's like a that's a
• 42:44
  really good story too. Yeah, Good.
• 42:47
  I and that album's amazing, I think.
• 42:51
  I think that would be another one that I'd be super, super
• 42:53
  happy with. I think it's also so wild that
• 42:56
  it's still in the running 'cause I feel like that era has been so
• 42:58
  long. Yeah, yeah, totally.
• 43:00
  But you know what? I love someone who puts out an
• 43:02
  album like it's, you know, the 2000 is like, I'm gonna work the
• 43:06
  shit out of it, OK 'cause people move on.
• 43:08
  So. Move on too quickly.
• 43:09
  And I think he's. Let it breathe, Let it breathe.
• 43:12
  Let it grow, yes. And that's what he did, and I
• 43:14
  love that. I appreciate that.
• 43:16
  I'm so excited for this year, the Grammys, and I'm so, so, so
• 43:19
  grateful to have you here. Thank.
• 43:22
  You so much for having me. This is so fun, I could talk for
• 43:24
  another hour fully. Well, it's funny you say that
• 43:26
  because we do have to add on a game.
• 43:28
  Great. There is Yay game.
• 43:30
  This is a new part new section of the Emergency Room podcast.
• 43:33
  It's called the Ink Emergency Test.
• 43:36
  Ink emergency test, OK. So have you heard of like the
• 43:40
  Rorschach test? Yes.
• 43:41
  Wow, you really? Are bringing in therapy, you
• 43:44
  know. When you said I'm like.
• 43:45
  That's interesting, she says that.
• 43:46
  Yeah, you're going to check my mental stability now.
• 43:49
  We are. And basically how this little
• 43:52
  game goes is I'm going to show you a series of images.
• 43:54
  Yeah, let's do it. And just I want you to tell me
• 43:58
  how they make you feel. OK, this could go interesting
• 44:02
  direction. It could go very interesting.
• 44:04
  Of course, since this is about Grammys, they will all be music
• 44:07
  related. Got it.
• 44:09
  And yeah, it's just a little rapid fire little game to see
• 44:12
  where your mind's at, so I hope you're.
• 44:15
  Ready. God help.
• 44:16
  Us So what do you feel when you see this image?
• 44:19
  This I love this, she literally, God bless her.
• 44:26
  God bless her. There is not one interview I
• 44:30
  have ever seen with Renee Rapp where she is not speaking the
• 44:34
  truth. Particularly fond of when she
• 44:37
  speaks about Buddy the tour bus company guy and tells us,
• 44:42
  because I was like, if I were famous, that is also how I would
• 44:45
  use my platform. But she also uses her platform
• 44:48
  for good and she speaks the truth on a lot of important
• 44:50
  issues. And so I would ride for this I.
• 44:52
  I love her there. Shout out to her.
• 44:54
  How does this make you? Feel iconic but also stressed so
• 44:59
  stressed next one pride like a lot of pride also dual meaning
• 45:05
  pride yeah yeah a lot of pride I'm very like that was my first
• 45:11
  massive project when I started at Spotify and yeah I was I'm
• 45:15
  I'm very grateful that the company was so so supportive and
• 45:18
  it's grown into what it is and yeah pride I.
• 45:22
  Love that. Yes, hashtag Pride.
• 45:30
  Queen, Queen, just that album, like every single song,
• 45:38
  inherently so listenable and it just makes you feel, that album
• 45:43
  makes me feel like wrapped up in someone's arms.
• 45:46
  It's such a warm. Hug.
• 45:47
  It's such a warm hug. I love this lady.
• 45:50
  This isn't about. Me, my God, literally this
• 45:55
  album. Top album of 2025 for me.
• 45:57
  I listen to it nonstop. I also love she.
• 46:02
  There's so many interviews she's done where that I think are so
• 46:05
  interesting, but she to me is the pinnacle of what it means to
• 46:09
  try and become a pop star and be taken seriously in the mid
• 46:13
  twenty 20s. Like and I think like her quote
• 46:16
  about how taste is a luxury could not be more true.
• 46:19
  And like honestly that album front to back is a pop
• 46:25
  masterpiece in my opinion. Also produced by three women
• 46:29
  herself, Luca and Elvira all under the age of 25.
• 46:32
  Name one other album that is produced and made solely by
• 46:36
  three women, particularly at that age period.
• 46:39
  Doesn't exist. Does not exist.
• 46:42
  I I love Addison I feel like she is the the example of of not
• 46:47
  being what I say nothing afraid to be seen trying yes cuz I feel
• 46:51
  like she had to fight for her pop girl spot and she's earned
• 46:53
  it. And she's still fighting.
• 46:54
  And it is, she is I, I will ride for Addison Rae.
• 46:59
  Oh my God. Like the choreo, The choreo.
• 47:03
  It is just that I don't think there's anyone else doing
• 47:06
  choreography like them. Just big, big, bombastic pop
• 47:09
  music. So good.
• 47:11
  Iconic. Honestly, all morning I've been
• 47:15
  singing Mutt in my head. Like last night I was working
• 47:17
  until like 2:00 AM and I was on, I was on Zoom with one of my Co
• 47:22
  workers. I just kept saying over and over
• 47:27
  and over and over just like it's so catchy.
• 47:30
  I'm very excited to see him perform at our party because as
• 47:32
  a live performer, just like that band, it's going to be so good.
• 47:37
  I'm. Ready to hear those runs?
• 47:39
  OK. 100% like honey. Yes.
• 47:44
  Back to Friends, one of my most streamed songs of 2025.
• 47:48
  All of those songs pop perfection.
• 47:50
  Incredible album. Also, I think that Back to
• 47:55
  Friends could be a really good karaoke song.
• 47:57
  I could see that. I think it.
• 47:59
  Could be a really good karaoke song and I hope it grows into a
• 48:01
  karaoke standard. It's a hard song, but also.
• 48:05
  I'd give it a go. After this.
• 48:07
  Yeah, I love karaoke. Literally.
• 48:12
  He just seems like the nicest person on the planet.
• 48:15
  I haven't met him. I'll meet him in two days.
• 48:18
  Just seems like the nicest person on the planet.
• 48:20
  Just like good, good, earnest pop music.
• 48:23
  I don't think we have enough earnest lyrics in our music
• 48:27
  anymore. But this guy, he's.
• 48:30
  Earnest. He seems like a sweetheart.
• 48:31
  Sweetheart, I've been writing for the Maria since 2017.
• 48:37
  Incredible band. I'm so happy that they are
• 48:40
  finally getting their day and the sun.
• 48:43
  The music is incredible. Maria's such a good front woman,
• 48:46
  just like her. Even her solo project, not for
• 48:48
  radio amazing like the clips coming out of those solo shows,
• 48:53
  just unbelievable. She's operating at a different
• 48:56
  level. Genuinely one of my favorite
• 48:59
  bands. I love listening to their music.
• 49:01
  Like. No one noticed when triple
• 49:04
  platinum when you said it was a sleeper hit and like a sleeper
• 49:06
  for oh it was a day one over here.
• 49:09
  Like since day one. OK.
• 49:16
  I see all of these also. This is what I'm talking about,
• 49:18
  the songs, the second I see each of these people, their songs
• 49:22
  immediately in my head and I can sing them.
• 49:24
  And I think that is like the biggest proponent of like a
• 49:27
  great pop song and just like fearless, fucking fearless.
• 49:32
  And that's what I love about her and just her on stage present.
• 49:36
  That girl can belt. She can sing.
• 49:38
  She. Can sing.
• 49:40
  And I just love artists with talent.
• 49:43
  Yeah and yeah is. That a crazy sentence.
• 49:46
  But yeah, I just love how there are so many amazing artists in
• 49:50
  this little section here. Yeah, I have one more for you,
• 49:54
  OK. Are you ready?
• 49:55
  Yeah. All right.
• 49:55
  This last one. OK my God, I've not seen that
• 50:01
  since like 20, like 12. That's wild.
• 50:07
  The. Internet.
• 50:08
  Is terrifying. Could you talk us through this a
• 50:11
  little bit for the? I sure can.
• 50:14
  I Yes. When I was younger I played
• 50:17
  music. I was a singer-songwriter.
• 50:22
  Like guitar, drums, bass. OK, did it all, did it all.
• 50:27
  And then I realized pretty quickly that I was way better at
• 50:31
  like the, the business side of it, like finding people with
• 50:34
  immensely more talent and helping them.
• 50:37
  But you know what? But you know what?
• 50:40
  That's like I should maybe be more embarrassed.
• 50:44
  And I thought, I feel like I thought I would be, but I'm not
• 50:48
  like actually, I think that at the end of it, like we're all
• 50:52
  music fans or like we all used to play music.
• 50:54
  And I think that that has helped me in my job because I love the
• 50:58
  creative process and I love people who are, who are that
• 51:04
  fearless that they can put themselves in that place to
• 51:06
  like, just let it all out. Yeah.
• 51:09
  And like, wear their heart on their sleeve because most people
• 51:12
  don't do that. That's true.
• 51:13
  And I. Think.
• 51:15
  That I think like if that knowing that I had a time period
• 51:18
  where I was willing to do that, not so much anymore, but I think
• 51:22
  like that makes me feel really understanding of the artistic
• 51:27
  experience. Yeah, to a degree.
• 51:30
  Well, that's definitely like I was 2020.
• 51:34
  Wow, this is 2020. No, no, no, no, no.
• 51:36
  I wish I was 20 and 2020. That would be nice that I was 20
• 51:41
  years old in that and I was I was 20.
• 51:45
  Oh my God, I can't do math 2011. 2011 So you came out with like a
• 51:50
  full is it EP or album? What was that?
• 51:52
  It's the EP, an album. It was an EP.
• 51:54
  OK, it was an EP. There was, there's A1 cover.
• 51:59
  I did a cover of Drake's Find Your Love.
• 52:01
  Are you serious? I did.
• 52:03
  It's not very good. You know, I was doing research
• 52:05
  for this interview and I was trying to dig the and.
• 52:09
  The music doesn't exist anywhere.
• 52:10
  Right. Yeah.
• 52:11
  No, it doesn't. You did a good job.
• 52:12
  You did a great job. Actually with, yeah, no.
• 52:15
  It is on the Billboard charts. I don't know if you knew this.
• 52:18
  Are you right? That was a sleeper.
• 52:19
  Yeah, No, but this was so fun to find because I would trust me.
• 52:25
  I was searching for a play button.
• 52:27
  There was there were no play. Buttons.
• 52:28
  No, I I really did Scrub. Yeah, I scrubbed.
• 52:31
  Scrubbed hard. But this, This is art.
• 52:33
  This is forever. Well, lore, lore, lore.
• 52:38
  You know, it's funny, it's one time I had a Co worker, I let it
• 52:41
  slip that I had an EP and so I don't know how this happened.
• 52:45
  There was one physical CD that someone had on eBay and I
• 52:49
  panicked so hard that I went and I bought it so they couldn't.
• 52:53
  So you were popping enough to have fans selling your stuff on
• 52:55
  eBay? No, that was, yeah, that's what
• 52:57
  that's what we're saying. That was definitely like one of
• 52:59
  my mom's friends who's cleaning out her garage and was like,
• 53:01
  let's just like give this to Goodwill.
• 53:04
  And then someone thought maybe it was like an old like, like
• 53:07
  they didn't, they don't know. Yeah, no one in Florida knows.
• 53:10
  So did you get the copy? Oh hell yeah.
• 53:14
  So you have the last remaining copy.
• 53:15
  My mom has the last remaining copies I was in.
• 53:18
  I was visiting home recently and I was like looking up in her
• 53:23
  closet there's a box of old C DS and I was like we should maybe
• 53:26
  get rid of these. I think my mom is my #1 fan.
• 53:29
  We're having a 2016 revival. I think it's time to re release.
• 53:33
  Re Can you? Remastered version, yeah.
• 53:36
  Yeah, yeah, I'll be back. I'll like, I'll.
• 53:37
  I'll change the art. I'll change the name.
• 53:39
  Yeah. And like, let's just see how it
• 53:40
  does, right? I'm sure the Drake cover will do
• 53:42
  numbers. I think so.
• 53:44
  I think in the modern era of streaming where we have a lot of
• 53:47
  other stuff going by, we're like you, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 53:50
  Yeah, let's get talking. On TikTok.
• 53:52
  OK, yes, like let's get a more. Strategy.
• 53:56
  I'm really looking forward to working on this together.
• 53:58
  I see you like the weekend, the marketing role out, Yeah.
• 54:01
  How do I become the star? Exactly.
• 54:03
  Yeah. Would you ever release music at
• 54:05
  all? No, that's all.
• 54:07
  No, no, no. But I will help others.
• 54:09
  OK, real love, love, love. Well, thank you for playing this
• 54:12
  game. That's so.
• 54:13
  Fun. Wow, what a blast.
• 54:15
  What a blast. Thank you so so much for being
• 54:19
  here and having a conversation about.
• 54:21
  This is so fun to talk to you for hours.
• 54:22
  Truly, I love the energy we had the studio today.
• 54:27
  And do you have anything you'd like to promote?
• 54:31
  Well, my new artist project. Yes, CBD name.
• 54:34
  It's the release is coming out. Yeah, get ready for a Drake
• 54:37
  cover that's gonna blow your socks off.
• 54:40
  I've never used that place before.
• 54:42
  This is the first time for. Everything.
• 54:43
  Yeah. First time.
• 54:44
  First time for. Everything I do need to hear
• 54:45
  that cover though. You know, catch me after a few
• 54:49
  martinis and maybe real, actually.
• 54:51
  Karaoke. Yeah, actually, OK, that I can
• 54:54
  that I can do OK karaoke next time.
• 54:56
  Stay tuned. Let's do Oh my God, we should do
• 54:59
  karaoke podcast. You know those girls who like go
• 55:01
  into the karaoke and they're like when you're when you're
• 55:03
  just like not in the mood and they just do?
• 55:05
  A face do a podcast? Yes.
• 55:06
  But it's a real podcast. And tons of reverb.
• 55:09
  Like an absurd amount. Of reward, I know a really good
• 55:11
  karaoke place in K town that has a shit ton of reverb.
• 55:14
  Perfect. But thank you all so so much for
• 55:15
  watching the Emergency Room podcast.
• 55:18
  Make sure to follow the podcasts for future episodes and be sure
• 55:21
  to give a five star rating. Other than that, I will see you
• 55:25
  next week for next week's episode.
• 55:27
  Bye y'all.