Happy November from KCSU’s Music Directors! For this podcast, Mia and Ria reflect about DJ-Athon, KCSU’s biannual fundraiser, and which songs DJs were playing the most; some artists include Charli xcx, Magdalena Bay, Chappell Roan, Billy Joel, and A Tribe Called Quest. The two flex their music knowledge regarding the connection between Blondie and Fab 5 Freddy, and Talking Heads records. Then they look over the 67th Grammy Awards and made predictions for multiple categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, and much more.

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Transcription of episode (provided by Ava Barbieri)

Ritika (Ria) Janapati (intro)
Hi, I’m Ria Janapati, KCSU’s assistant music director, and you’re listening to the KCSU music podcast. Here at the station, the music department, which consists of Mia Templien and myself, are in charge of the music that hits the airwaves, and it’s our job to bring you our pristine taste. Join us as we navigate the music of Fort Collins and beyond.

Mia Templien
Hello. My name is Mia.

Ria Janapati
And I’m Ria.

Mia
We are your music directors here at KCSU, and this is another music podcast.

Ria
November edition.

Mia
Yeah, it is November 14th [2024] currently, and we are here to talk about DJ- Athon, which was last week. We’re gonna do a little recap of that, see what people were playing, and then we’ll do a bit of our Grammys…

Ria
Grammy predictions.

Mia
Yeah, Grammy predictions, just because the nominations came out this week, and we want to discuss what we think is gonna happen, because we we are, um, actually psychics.

Ria
We’re oracles.

Mia
We’re oracles, and we’re psychic, and we know what’s going to happen, maybe.

Ria
Perhaps.

Mia
No, that’s not like, legally binding.

Ria
Can’t prove anything.

Mia
You can’t prove anything. But we want to say that. So, yeah, so DJ-Athon was last week, went awesome. Raised many, many dollars.

Ria
Over 6000.

Mia
Yes, over $6,000 for the station, because we are a non-commercial station, and we don’t get, we get funding from the school, kind of, but most of it comes from…

Ria
Our lovely donors.

Mia
…the surrounding community and those listening online. And it’s so awesome and so epic. And people were on air almost all the time last week, from like, shows started at like, seven in the morning.

Ria
7am to 9pm.

Mia
Yeah, 7am to 9pm and then on Friday night [11/8/24], there was a like, all night marathon until 7am that a lot of people stayed behind for. And it was really awesome to see so many people at the station. And just like, hanging around because we had, we had snacks and stuff, but, and like, decorations and theme days and everything, but it was just nice to see people actually, like, show up.

Ria
Yeah. It’s always fun for the new DJs, especially once they’ve just been certified, get their on-air test done, and then they just get to see what the fun stuff at the stations all like.

Mia
Yeah, it’s super cool. It’s a really nice environment because people will just, we like to have is, like, you can have four people on a show at once, and so we like to have four people come in and just talk on the mics. And so the shows end up being, people don’t really stick to their show, like theme, technically. They kind of just, like, take recommendations from whatever the people in the studio want. And it’s super fun, because you get a lot of really interesting picks. One of the, I want to go through the top, like, some of the top tracks that people played, and there were, there was a lot of repeats on, like, artists, but there were only a few songs that had, like, five or six plays that were like, over the week.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Which is pretty noticeable, because it means people really liked them.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
One of the top ones that I noticed was “Talk talk” from Charli xcx.

Ria
It was literally “Brat” autumn.

Mia
It was “Brat” autumn. And we made it happen.

Ria
She’s going on SNL this week.

Mia
Are you serious?

Ria
She’s hosting and the musical act.

Mia
Wow. How do you feel about the current state of SNL?

Ria
I think people get so hung up on, oh, it’s not as good as it used to be. But since the beginning of SNL, there have been good seasons and not so good seasons.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
I think the season’s good. I liked the last season as well.

Mia
Yeah, I don’t watch I don’t watch the fall episodes anymore. When I was younger, I used to watch the fall episodes because it was just, I don’t know TV was a lot more like present when I was younger. But my current state is I watch clips on Tik Tok.

Ria
Of course you do.

Mia
Yeah, like…

Ria
Screenager.

Mia
…like my, like my other Gen Z brethren, and I saw the John Mulaney, the Beppo, the Beppo skit where this little, the little animatronic monkey that I was giggling. I was giggling so hard. I don’t know why, it got me so, it got me so bad.

Ria
I like his run of, ever since “Diner Lobster”, just some inane situation that turns into a musical…

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
…parody. And they did, they kind of poked fun at the Timothée Chalamet look alike competition to the tune of Cabaret. That was Chalamet, and it was really good.

Mia
That’s so good. See, there could be another Golden Age.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
It could happen again.

Ria
I also like the new cast edition, Jane Wickline. She’s so funny. She does Weekend Update stuff, and I love Weekend Update.

Mia
Weekend Updates, one of my favorite section, like, like sections of the show.

Ria
Me and you both.

Mia
Yeah, I always forget it’s topical.

Ria
I always forget that Colin Jost is married to Scarlett Johansson.

Mia
Are you serious?

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Really?

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I like how much they make fun of Colin Jost.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I like how he’s always the butt of the joke.

Ria
I love the episode they do once a season, usually towards the end, where they have to write each other’s jokes, and no matter what, they have to say it, and they just try to, like, get each other.

Mia
Yeah, yeah. It’s the fair, um, I love how we are talking about SNL on a music podcast.

Ria
Yeah…

Mia
But “Talk, talk” by Charlie xcx. People were loving that one as well as other Charlie xcx tracks. She was, like, at the top of the charts for the week for a while here at the station.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
And now she’s kind of abated. But, um, another track that got quite a bit of airplay was “Image” from Magdalena Bay.

Ria
Big fan of that guy.

Mia
Record came out this year. Pretty flames.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Pretty fire.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I just, I love how ethereal their sound is.

Ria
Yes, I think we talked about this last time.

Mia
Did we?

Ria
I think we did.

Mia
Wow. Okay, well, let’s, let’s move on, then.

Ria
Let’s move on. We had a one Chappell Roan with “Pink Pony Club”.

Mia
Mm-hmm. “Pink Pony Club” was replayed so much. People…

Ria
I think that was the most played one.

Mia
Yeah, that’s, that’s the, that’s the embodiment of DJ-Athon for us, I think.

Ria
Yes.

Mia
For the station, that’s what people wanted.

Ria
Just pop perfection.

Mia
Pop perfection.

Ria
And also…

Mia
It’s very well engineered.

Ria
And also gay.

Mia
Uh huh. And that too, and that too, very representative.

Ria
Exactly.

Mia
Yeah. Going back a bit, I noticed that a few people played “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” from Billy Joel, came out in 1977 and yet people were still, still loving it. It’s, it’s, I think Billy Joel is so fire. I know that he gets a lot of hate for just being like a theatre kid and like, only making show tunes and like masquerading as rock. That might be a controversial opinion, I don’t know, but…

Ria
I’m not huge on Billy Joel.

Mia
Yeah. I just, my parents played him a lot when I was growing up.

Ria
Checks out.

Mia
And, thank you. Thank you?

Ria
Very, very white parent thing to do.

Mia
It is a very white parent thing to do. I don’t know you just, he’s just a good sound. I saw him live.

Ria
Wow.

Mia
I saw him live, yeah, back in like 2017.

Ria
Where?

Mia
Omaha, Nebraska.

Ria
That’ll do it.

Mia
The CHI Heath Center, I believe. He was awesome. He was great. He was still he’s still kicking, he’s still tickling those ivories.

Ria
Gotta have a good share of parent music that you still enjoy.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
You know, I saw Jane’s Addiction with my dad. My freshman year.

Mia
That’s crazy.

Ria
And I was absolutely the youngest person there.

Mia
Oh, my God.

Ria
So that was cool.

Mia
I feel like, Jane’s Addiction, you’re gonna have, like, a younger like group. I went and saw Stevie Nicks in March, and, like, there were quite a few, like, people around my age that were all, like, dressed, all like boho chic with the like…

Ria
That makes sense.

Mia
Like, big, flowey skirts. But then there were also, like, many, many 70 year old women.

Ria
Yeah, that’s because that’s because that’s when they were, like, in their prime, and that was the Fleetwood Mac revivalists.

Mia
And I might be part of that crew, part of that crew.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I might be a part of that crew. And I’m not ashamed of that. Billy Joel was a lot of old people.

Ria
Checks out.

Mia
Yeah, I wouldn’t be, I wasn’t surprised, but yeah, I don’t know. I just I love, I think Billy Joel is so funny, so cool. And there was, like, a bit of a revival, a bit more with Billy Joel stuff with “The Boys”, the like, Amazon Prime…

Ria
The show?

Mia
Yeah, yeah. It came out a few years ago.

Ria
Yes, I know.

Mia
You know this. But there was a lot of Billy Joel in it. I thought that was interesting that they it was just like, because, like, the main character is, like, obsessed with Billy Joel, and like, plays this stuff all the time. So that was, like, a huge figure of the soundtrack. I just think it’s worth noting.

Ria
I just know that they have a cover of “Rapture” by Blondie.

Mia
They do and they do. Do you like “Rapture” by Blondie?

Ria
I do like “Rapture” by Blondie.

Mia
I like the song before she starts rapping. Is that controversial?

Ria
No, it’s not controversial. I think it would have been better if she did the rap in French and because it sounds like she wrote it in French and then translated it to English, like it just sounds off.

Mia
Fab 5 Freddy.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Yeah. I don’t know. I just…

Ria
Do you know who Fab 5 Freddy is?

Mia
Do you know who Fab 5 Freddy is?

Ria
Yeah, he’s a real rapper.

Mia
Seriously?

Ria
Yeah, from the 70s. He was at the beginning of the movement, and he was friends with Debbie Harry, and he took her to a rap club, and that’s where she first, like, found out about rap music and got inspired to write the first impression.

Mia
And she was like, Now this is mine.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
And those are something I will do.

Ria
Exactly.

Mia
That’s funny.

Ria
I like to compare that one with “Genius of Love” [by Tom Tom Club] because around the same time, and it has a random like rap section in there.

Mia
Yeah, I don’t know if I would consider that rap. It’s just kind of them, like yelling things like, it’s just kind of, I don’t know, I, maybe I’m thinking of the live version.

Ria
It’s definitely inspired by rap.

Mia
Yeah, I’m thinking of the live version, because they mentioned, they mentioned Kurtis Blow they mentioned James Brown. They mentioned…

Ria
Even with Kurtis Blow, like not Tom Tom Club, but Talking Heads, the part in the song “Crosseyed and Painless” where he’s going, like, “facts are simple and facts are straight”. That’s directly pulled from Curtis Blow’s song, “The Bricks”.

Mia
Seriously?

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Dang, that’s fire. I did not know that. I’ve heard a few Kurtis Blow songs, but I did not know that that was directly pulled from that. That’s so epic and so awesome. I feel like a lot of Talking Heads…we’re gonna start talking about Talking Heads again.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I feel like before we’ve already done it, sorry. I feel like a lot of their stuff, I imagine it coming out like late, like mid 80s, and a lot of it, like pure music. I always imagine it coming out like 1983, ’84. They were coming out with that in 1979.

Ria
Yeah, because “Stop Making Sense” came out, like, mid 80s, right?

Mia
Yeah. “Stop Making Sense” was ’84…

Ria
’84?

Mia
Yeah. And then because “Speaking in Tongues” was ’83 .

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
And then, “Remain in Light” was 1980.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Which is, like, that is the craziest, like, run, are you serious?

Ria
Good for them.

Mia
Good for them, seriously. And then they had, because they had [“Talking Heads:”] 77 that came out. Did somebody come out with ’77 or was it just…

Ria
Well, yes.

Mia
Because I know that they did the CBGB sessions in ’77.

Ria
I believe it did come out in ’77

Mia
So, ’77, ’78, what were they doing in 1979, hanging out?

Ria
Didn’t they do a live one?

Mia
In ’79?

Ria
“The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads”?

Mia
I thought that ’78.

Ria
I don’t know.

Mia
Anyways, it’s just years.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
It’s just, what’s a year? I love it when artists have, like, really, really, like, crazy long careers. Like…

Ria
Sometimes they jump the shark and I get sick of them.

Mia
Yeah?

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I don’t know. I just, because I imagine how long a year is in my life, and then I imagine how long a year is in their life, and then they’re able to produce, like, all of these records within those years. And it’s like, what have I done?

Ria
You’re only 20, you’re okay.

Mia
What have I done? Yeah. You know the stuff where it’s like, Leonardo DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa when he was like, no, he wasn’t that young. Anyways.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I don’t have anything to do with that.

Ria
Another artist that was playing a lot during DJ-Athon, or not a lot, but always kind of pops back up every now and then is Tribe Called Quest. There’s always a few DJs that just make an effort to put them on.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
I feel like I’m one of them. And I just, I’m always happy to see them there.

Mia
Yeah. What about Tribe Called Quest do you enjoy?

Ria
I like the types of drums they use, and they were one of the first East Coast rap groups to kind of have that sound, like what comes to mind is Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. They were the first two. They were a duo and a trio, and they just really kind of honed in what made East Coast rap sound so distinct, and they were able to incorporate so many artists like Jungle Brothers and even Busta Rhymes, and really help build it into what it became in the 90s, which is what really lived on in the iconography, like when you remember Biggie Smalls and Wu Tang Clan, that’s really what you think of.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
And it’s such a distinct sound, different than like Southern hip-hop with OutKast or West Coast hip-hop with N.W.A or Tupac, and just a lot of the rhythmic or even silly things, like when Busta Rhymes starts going “raow, raow like a dungeon dragon”, and that lives on to get reinterpreted. And you can see how that would influence an artist like Ol’ Dirty Bastard to have his type of styling and stuff like that. I don’t know. I just, I love going back and listening to it.

Mia
Yeah, I just, I love how much hip-hop as a genre builds upon itself, because you can pull influences from, like, funk groups and like, Daley Selleck, a lot of and then, like, even in the 80s with like Zapp, that was, like, they’re, like, one of the most sampled groups ever, a lot in West Coast, I guess, West Coast funk/West Coast hip-hop.

Ria
Yeah. But yeah, funk really is the foundation, because if you even think of like [The] Sugar Hill Gang, their song “Rapper’s Delight” is credited as one of the first like mainstream rap songs, and that’s pulled off of funk based break beats.

Mia
Yeah, it’s super cool. It’s really hip genre.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
But DJ-Athon was a really big success. Do we have anything else to add on that before we segue into our, our next section?

Ria
Not a ton. We have all our rotation shows still going during DJ-Athon, so it’s nothing too far astray from the Weekly Gems, but those other picks were always interesting to see.

Mia
Yeah, it’s because people are like, what song do I want to play that everybody else would enjoy, but it is also representative of what I like?

Ria
Fine line to walk.

Mia
It’s a very fine line to walk, but I think our DJs are good at it.

Ria
They’re so talented. Shoutout DJs.

Mia

They are so talented. Shout out all the DJs. We love you. So Grammy talk. Hello.

Ria
Grammys!

Mia
Grammys!

Ria
Alright, I think we’re just gonna tap into the higher voices and figure out who’s gonna win what.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Want to go, want to start with the big genres or big categories?

Mia
Yeah. Let’s do it.

Ria
All right, so the nominees for a Record Of The Year are: “Now and Then” by The Beatles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “360” by Charli xcx, “Birds of a Feather”, by Billie Eilish, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, and “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift, featuring Post Malone.

Mia
Okay, and now is the time for us to discuss?

Ria
I think we can discuss, yeah.

Mia
And take, take inspiration from, take inspiration from the powers that be, and our oracle-ness.

Ria
Not gonna lie, I feel like The Beatles being included—why?

Mia
The other thing where it’s like, why is there a 56-year-old woman here?

Ria
DEI inclusion.

Mia
DEI inclusion. We have all no ageism in the Record Of The Year. I, so, my prediction, my prediction. Well actually, the spirits, the spirits are a bit confused right now. The spirits have a lot to think about.

Ria
If it follows recent trends, it’s probably gonna go to Billie Eilish.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
I could see it going, I really see The Grammys, The Academy does love Billie Eilish a lot.

Mia
They love Billie Eilish.

Ria
I think my personal pick would be “360” or “Texas Hold ‘Em”. Yeah.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
But “Good Luck, Babe!” is also really good, and I can see Chappell Roan kind of doing what Billie Eilish did back in, like 2017 and like sweeping.

Mia
Because I feel like Billie Eilish, she swept the past few years, like she really was raking them in. And I feel like releasing this new record, it was kind of overshadowed…

Ria
A little bit. I don’t-

Mia
I think, by Chappell Roan and “Brat” summer and a little bit of “Espresso”, honestly.

Ria
A little bit, but I also just don’t think it was promoted as much. And I also just don’t know if the kind of fan base she speaks to was having the energy for a summer release.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Because like…

Mia
It was all very, like, reflective and calm and like, I don’t know. There were a lot of really serene tracks on there. And it’s like…

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
With all of the energy that was going on.

Ria
And “Birds of a Feather” is nominated, but I feel like by far the biggest thing Billie Eilish did this year was “Guess” with Charli xcx.

Mia
Yeah, and it was with Charli xcx, so that following suit.

Ria
Hyping off of “Brat” summer.

Mia
But Charlie xcx was also like, I feel like that’s, she’s, I don’t wanna say she’s a niche artist, but I think that in terms of, like, the Grammys and like general, like mainstream success. I don’t know if she’s quite as big as…

Ria
No, I don’t think so, but. Okay, I’ve been a I’ve been an angel for many years now. I’ve been a Charli fan. I do know that she wasn’t exactly like Taylor Swift levels of fame.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
So then, even with the release of “Brat”, I was surprised by how huge it became, because “Von Dutch” was released as a single in February, and all of the Charli xcx fans, the fan base, loved it. Yay, Charli’s new albums coming. And we kind of just expected it to be Charli’s fans enjoying it, and then it just absolutely took off.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
And I never expected that this would lead to sold out stadium tour.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
But…

Mia
Yeah, I guess you’re right. You’re right.

Ria
So the fact that The Academy has picked up on it and has even nominated it, I think it’s just showing like, oh yes, she did get the numbers, so she will be nominated. But I don’t, I don’t see her taking it.

Mia
No, not for Charli?

Ria
Not over established artists in this category.

Mia
Well, because “Texas Hold ‘Em”, Beyoncé has never won Record Of The Year.

Ria
She’s won Record Of The Year. She’s never won Album Of The Year.

Mia
Oh, there’s a difference.

Ria
Yes.

Mia
Hello?

Ria
Record’s just the song.

Mia
Seriously?

Ria
Yes, all of these are just songs.

Mia
What? Wow.

Ria
I don’t understand the difference between Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year.

Mia
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Ria
I’m guessing that Record Of The Year is something that’s released as a single that you could like or like, back in the days you could buy it as a record, like a 7 inch.

Mia
But you could also buy an album as a record.

Ria
Well, yeah, but that’s not it. Album Of The Year is Album Of The Year. Record Of The Year is one song.

Mia
Then why wasn’t it 78 of the year?

Ria
You ask them.

Mia
Riddle me this. Why wasn’t it 7 nights of the year? Riddle me this.

Ria
We could easily Google this.

Mia
Yeah. We could do that.

Ria
We’re not doing that.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Anyways, what’s your prediction?

Mia
I, I would, I honestly kind of want to go with Beyoncé.

Ria
Yeah, I think that they’d be happy.

Mia
Sabrina Carpenter had her, like, I don’t know, she had a moment, and she, like, peaked really, really aggressively.

Ria
I think she has a better chance of Song Of The Year.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Because a lot of them overlap. A lot of these are the same.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
The nominees. Okay, moving on to Album Of The Year. We’ve got “New Blue Sun” by Andre 3000, “Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé, “Short n’ Sweet”, Sabrina Carpenter, “Brat” by Charlie xcx, “Djesse Vol. 4” by Jacob Collier, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” by Billie Eilish, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” by Chappell Roan, and “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift. Thoughts?

Mia
I, I kind of want to say “Brat”.

Ria
“Brat” is my favorite. “Brat” is my, my pick, but my prediction. I want it to be “Cowboy Carter” so badly.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
I want if it’s “Brat”, “Cowboy Carter” or “[The] Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”, I will be happy. The rest of them, I don’t think, made as much noise.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
The Andre 3000 nomination kind of baffles me, because it is a good album, but it’s like an ambient flute album.

Mia
Really?

Ria
Yes.

Mia
Interesting.

Ria
I didn’t expect it.

Mia
You have to have your ambient flute.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
You know, you got to have your ambient flute.

Ria
Yeah. There was also a controversy when that album came out, because it’s an, it’s a flute album, but since Andre 3000 is known in the rap space, they were all releasing it or promoting it as hip-hop and rap.

Mia
Interesting.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Huh. I personally, I’m leaning towards “[The] Rise and fall of a Midwest Princess” for my pick, personally.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Just because I really enjoyed it, I really love Chapell’s voice. I just think that she really made them. She made them. She had a moment, she, she was, the moment she is, the moment. She’s just doing her thing. And I think that I would be really awesome she got it, although I know that she is nominated for Best New Artist.

Ria
Yeah, that’s crazy to get both Best New Artists and Album Of The Year.

Mia
And I think, and I think that would be that would like, make that would make my day. That would make my Grammys.

Ria
There’s someone else in Best New Artist who I do, I think Chappell Roan is gonna… we’ll get there. We’ll get there.

Mia
We’ll get there. Yeah, I’m gonna getting ahead of myself.

Ria
Song Of The Year.

Mia
Song Of The Year.

Ria
We’ve got “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey, “Birds of a Feather”, Billie Eilish, “Die with a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift and Post Malone, “Good Luck Babe!” by Chappell Roan, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Please, Please, Please’ by Sabrina Carpenter, and “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé. I really like, I liked “Please, Please, Please” more than “Espresso”.

Mia
Oh, absolutely.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I do not love “Espresso”.

Ria
I like “Espresso”.

Mia
I don’t know. It kind of ticks me off.

Ria
I like it. It’s just not something I’m like going out of my way to put on.

Mia
Yeah, I listen to “Please, Please, Please”. But I have to listen to it, like, many times in a row.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Like, I can’t just listen to it once.

Ria
That’s fair.

Mia
And I think it’s really cool that she was able to create a song like that. Also, Sabrina Carpenter, in my mind, it’s weird that she’s like, now, like, a really big pop artist, because I remember her from like, Disney Channel.

Ria
Yeah, I can see that pipeline. That’s not an uncommon one.

Mia
Really? I don’t know.

Ria
Disney Channel to pop star pipeline.

Mia
Wasn’t she? Okay, okay, okay. But like, because, wasn’t she in “Girl Meets World”?

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
I don’t know. That was just such a weird show.

Ria
That show was odd.

Mia
It was odd. And for her to go from that to being a pop star, I feel makes more sense that, that’s like, that’s stranger. I know that there’s a whole pipeline, but that’s like, a big deal. But I feel like, just the contrast.

Ria
Don’t forget her role in the hit movie, “Tall Girl”.

Mia
I forgot about “Tall Girl”.

Ria
I didn’t. I could never forget.

Mia
Made a mark on you.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
How do we feel about “Not Like Us”?

Ria
I love that song. I think it’s so good. I think it’s fun. And I think it’s…

Mia
Do you think it’s gonna win Song Of The Year?

Ria
…clever. I don’t think so, because I know how the Grammys work.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
They don’t, they don’t…

Mia
Yeah, the Oracle knows how the Grammy works. The, your…

Ria
I don’t think they’re gonna pick him. I think it would be really cool if it went to Shaboozey. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard that song.

Mia
And I don’t either, either. I don’t, either.

Ria
I know he’s featured on “Cowboy Carter” twice, so.

Mia
Wow, Shaboozey.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
He’s on there. I really loved “Good Luck, Babe!”.

Ria
Yeah, that’s a really good song.

Mia
Yeah, it’s incredible. The first time I heard it, I said it sounded like “Last Christmas” by Wham!.

Ria
Yeah, to me…

Mia
Since…

Ria
…it reminded me of Cyndi Lauper.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
She’s so 80s.

Mia
She is so 80s. I heard a Cyndi Lauper song that she released in like, the early 2000s and I was like, Who is this? Who is this? She stepped out of her time capsule.

Ria
She’s back.

Mia
I don’t know. I, Yeah. Cyndi Lauper, maybe.

Ria
Okay.

Mia
Maybe.

Ria
Now we’re at Best New Artist. We’ve got Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin…

Mia
Khruangbin!

Ria
Raye, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims. Didn’t Raye, like, win the most BAFTAs ever?

Mia
I don’t know, man.

Ria
I think I heard that.

Mia
I don’t pay attention to the British.

Ria
Yeah, I think she won, like, the most BAFTAs ever.

Mia
Wow.

Ria
In one night.

Mia
Dang. Best New Artist.

Ria
I have not heard one song by her.

Mia
Can’t say I have either.

Ria
Sure she’s talented with all those BAFTAs.

Mia
Also, Khruangbin is not best new—Khruangbin has been releasing stuff, like, I thought they were really popular back in like 20, like 2019, 2020.

Ria
Well, Sabrina Carpenter has been releasing stuff.

Mia
This is true. This is true, but I haven’t really heard much from Khruangbin this past year, as opposed to Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan. I feel like that would make, it less topical. But that’s just my opinion.

Ria
Yeah. They’re greasing those palms.

Mia
But that’s just my opinion. So what were you? You were saying this…

Ria
I love Doechii and I want Doechii to win, but I think it’s going to be Chappell Roan. I don’t see any planet on which Chappell Roan does not win this award. I think the internet would go up in arms, and I think that people would be really upset if…

Mia
People didn’t…

Ria
…Chappell Roan didn’t win.

Mia
People would not be pleased.

Ria
But I want Doechii to win.

Mia
You want Doechii to win. What about Doechii do you like?

Ria
Everything. Her songwriting, her flows, everything. I was listening to Doechii on the way here.

Mia
Wow.

Ria
In my headphones, walking around campus.

Mia
I saw, I was watching your Airbuds.

Ria
She is so, so, so talented. And I get to see her this weekend [11/16-17/24], and I’m going to be changed as a person.

Mia
Oh man, yeah, because you’re going to…

Ria
Camp Flog Gnaw.

Mia
Camp Flog Gnaw.

Ria
Raye is going to be there too.

Mia
Oh man. Well, then you can be the judge, you can be the judge, and then you can influence the spirits.

Ria
Yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna telepathically signal to Doechii that she should win.

Mia
Well, I mean, like, signaling to her, it’s not gonna matter.

Ria
True.

Mia
I feel like you need to signal to the Grammy, the Grammy folk.

Ria
The voters.

Mia
The people at the Grams.

Ria
Okay.

Mia
Do we want to do—do we want to do Best Pop Solo Performance? Because I feel like…

Ria
Yeah, we can skip ahead the loser categories.

Mia
Okay. Love you, producers, love you, songwriters, we are just gonna go to the big ones.

Ria
Okay, this category, I genuinely like all of these songs, so I would I’m not gonna be too pressed either way. But we’ve got “Bodyguard” by Beyoncé, “Espresso”, Sabrina Carpenter, “Apple”, Charli xcx, “Birds of a Feather”, Billie Eilish, and “Good Luck, Babe!”, Chappell Roan.

Mia
And that’s Best Pop Solo Performance.

Ria
Yes. I love “Bodyguard” by Beyoncé, it’s one of my top three on “Cowboy Carter”.

Mia
Is that what you think is gonna win?

Ria
I don’t know if it’s gonna win…

Mia
The award.

Ria
I think “Good Luck, Babe!” might, might sweep, or “Espresso” might sweep.

Mia
I think it’d be awesome if “Good Luck, Babe!” sweeped.

Ria
That would be cool.

Mia
Swept? Swope?

Ria
I also, I love “Apple”.

Mia
“Apple”. It’s a catchy one.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
It’s a catchy one.

Ria
I’m surprised that one got this nomination and not, like, “360”.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Or “Talk, talk”.

Mia
Yeah, I don’t know. I think “Apple” has a bit more variation in it. I like “Girl, So Confusing”. That’s my favorite one off the record.

Ria
That one was my favorite too.

Mia
Off that album.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
We need to, we need to figure out the distinction between record and album on that.

Ria
I think a record can go either way, but an album is an album.

Mia
Yeah. What are your thoughts on this category in general?

Ria
I like all these nominations. I am happy.

Mia
Nice. Should we, should we move on to the next or what…

Ria
What’s your pick? You said “Good Luck, Babe!”?

Mia
Yeah, you know me. You know me.

Ria
Yeah, okay. Ooh, “Guess” is nominated in Best Duo Performance. I think it would be so cool if that won.

Mia
Yeah, that would be pretty flames. I can’t imagine, I can’t imagine the—so, for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, we have “Us” from Gracie Abrams’ featuring Taylor Swift, “Levi’s Jeans” from Beyoncé featuring Post Malone, “Guess” from Charli xcx and Billie Eilish, “The Boy is Mine” from Ariana Grande and Brandy and Monica, and then “Die with a Smile” from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. And that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars joint I’ve heard a lot about and gonna be honest with you, I haven’t heard it once, but I have heard bits and pieces because people that I know like it.

Ria
The only song in this category that I actively like is “Guess”. I think for the Beyoncé nomination, they should have nominated “Two Hands to Heaven” by Beyoncé with Miley Cyrus, because that song is better.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
But this one’s fine, not my favorite on “Cowboy Carter”.

Mia
Okay. I also found Record Of The Year is for the performance and production of a single track. Album Of The Year is for a full album. And why wouldn’t they call it Single Of The Year?

Ria
I don’t know.

Mia
And what’s the difference between Song Of The Year? What–

Ria
Song Of The Year doesn’t have to be released as a single, it can be an album cut.

Mia
Then why don’t they just call it Single Of The Year, Grammys?

Ria
Probably because back in the day, they didn’t call them singles.

Mia
Yeah, but there’s always…

Ria
The Grammys are old.

Mia
There’s always time for change. Well, they added a new, there’s new, didn’t they have a new thing for Kate Bush?

Ria
Yeah, they add new categories, but they don’t typically rename them.

Mia
Okay, if, dear sweet Grammy folk, if you’re listening to this, if you have the ability to add a category, you have the ability to change a category.

Ria
I kind of like that it’s called Record Of The Year. I think…

Mia
Really?

Ria
…it was more weight to it than Single Of The Year.

Mia
But you see how confused we got.

Ria
You got confused. I didn’t.

Mia
Wow. I guess that’s, that is true. I am, I am confused a lot of the time.

Ria
Don’t push your confusion on me.

Mia
I’m simply trying to be level with you. I’m trying to level with you. Should we go to, should we do any—

Ria
Best Pop Vocal Album.

Mia
Yeah? Yeah.

Ria
“Short n’ Sweet”, Sabrina Carpenter, “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, Billie Eilish, “Eternal Sunshine”, Ariana Grande, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”, Chappell Roan, “Tortured Poets Department”, Taylor Swift.

Mia
Wow.

Ria
I’m practicing to be an auctioneer.

Mia
I think you could do it. Well, how would we feel if Taylor Swift won Best Pop Vocal Album?

Ria
Oh, I don’t like this album at all, and I don’t think it has a lot of artistic merit, but vocally, I don’t think she’s doing anything special. I don’t think it’s anything super amazing. I’ve heard Taylor Swift songs,I think she can do better. And I also just don’t like the way it’s produced. I really do not like this album.

Mia
You couldn’t have said it better myself. You had a lot of good points on that one. I, I’ve just yet to see anything imaginative come from Taylor Swift in the past…

Ria
Five years.

Mia
Little more than that.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Yeah. It’s just, I would say, past 10 years, 10, 15. How long has she been around?

Ria
10 years is a stretch.

Mia
How long has she been around? When did she start releasing stuff, 2008?

Ria
I just, I remember…

Mia
2007?

Ria
I don’t know, probably since 2009?

Mia
Okay, ever since then. I don’t like Taylor Swift one bit.

Ria
I don’t—she’s not my favorite. I, when I was little, I could, like, jam out to the hits, like, “Blank Space”…

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
…and stuff like that.

Mia
Because you’re little.

Ria
Yeah, but…

Mia
You didn’t have any discernment.

Ria
Even then, I think, like, it’s a little reductive to just say, like, all her music is terrible…

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
…because there’s, there is merit in pop music.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
I don’t think that the reason those songs got so big at the time are because people do like them. And, like, I liked them, like they were nice to listen to. But as the culture has moved on, Taylor Swift has not.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
And people want different things out of pop music now, and she doesn’t quite hit on those things the way she used to.

Mia
Yeah, okay, “Blank Space” does bring me back to, like, 2014.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Like going to elementary school. I do have good memories with that one.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
It’s, it’s, you know, she made her songs. She made her music. What did the oracles think that the Best Pop Vocal Album’s going to be?

Ria
I hope it’s “[The] Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” because I do think that vocally, it’s the best one.

Mia
Yeah, it’s, she, she, I would agree. She has this insane range, just does so much with her voice as an instrument. It would be really affirming to see that.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
Also just Chappell Roan. I think she, she’s been through it. I think it would make sense for her to get it. But the Academy, I don’t know if the Academy, the people know the Grammys,

Ria
You never know.

Mia
You never know what they’re thinking.

Ria
Okay, we’re getting into Dance, which is what I like. Let’s go, let’s speed run.

Ria
Yeah, okay. Best Dance/Electronic Recording. I really like “She’s Gone, Dance On” by Disclosure, and I hope it wins. But I also really like “Witchy” by KAYTRANADA. We’re also gonna stop saying all of the nominees and just talk about the ones we like now.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Okay. Best Dance Pop Recording, loving this category. I hope it’s either “Von Dutch” or “Got Me Started” by Troye Sivan. “Von Dutch” by Charlie xcx, I want that one to win unequivocally.

Mia
Yeah, because it has, it’s a very recognizable track, and it’s very like, I don’t know, it’s, it’s…

Ria
“Von Dutch”, cult classic. But I still pop.

Mia
Quite so.

Ria
Best Dance Electronic Album, it better be “Brat”. There’s no way it’s not “Brat”. And I think those are like—oh, and then [Best] Country Album better go to “Cowboy Carter”, or else I will be a sad person.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
And “Yeah Glo!” by GloRilla is nominated [for Best Rap Performance]. Love seeing that one, but I do think that “Not Like Us” is gonna sweep up.

Mia
Also, interesting. One more thing I wanted to comment on before we wrap this up. Best Alternative Music Album, Clairo’s “Charm” is in that category.

Ria
I think that’s a fair place for it.

Mia
Right next to “Wild God” from Nick Cave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Ria
I think that’s a fair place to put it.

Mia
Really?

Ria
I don’t think it would make sense in the pop category.

Mia
I would consider, I would consider that pop.

Ria
I wouldn’t.

Mia
Really?

Ria
No, it’s drawing very clearly on R&B influences. I think they could have placed it in R&B, honestly.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
But I don’t think it belongs in the pop category.

Mia
Huh, interesting. I don’t know, I feel like, I feel like I could consider, like, “All Born Screaming” from St. Vincent is also in that category. I could consider that alternative music. But I, just considering…

Ria
I thought that one would be rock, but…

Mia
Really? I mean alternative music, I guess. That’s, that’s a crazy genre.

Ria
It’s kind of just their catch-all.

Mia
Yeah, it is. It does become a catch all.

Ria
Did you have any thoughts on any of the rap nominations?

Mia
Not really, honestly.

Ria
If Best Rap Performance went to “Nissan Ultima” by Doechii, I think that would be awesome.

Mia
I really, I’m overestimating. I don’t, actually, it would be awesome if “Not Like Us” got that. But that’s kind of a niche like…

Ria
I think it could do Best Rap Song, but I think Best Rap Performance would be “Nissan Ultima”.

Mia
Yeah, you’re just, you’re just pushing for Doechii.

Ria
If you just listen to it, it’s like, skillful the way she’s rapping in it. And if you’ve heard, there are videos of her live performances, and it’s like a fast song, and it’s intricate, and her fans are wrapping it back bar for bar. And I feel like that’s just a sign that you’ve made a really, really good song.

Mia
Yeah.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
The people, the people don’t lie.

Ria
Yeah.

Mia
The people don’t lie. All right, I don’t think I have anything else.

Ria
I don’t think so either. That, that’s Grammys.

Mia
All right. That wraps up our predictions for the Grammys and our little DJ-Athon recap. Hope you liked it, thank you so much, so excited to see…

Ria
Thank you.

Mia
…the Grammys are February.

Ria
February.

Mia
So exciting. So we’re doing, we kind of jumped the gun a little bit on this but we…

Ria
We’re giving you all time to think about what we’ve said.

Mia
Yeah, to mull it over, if you will. Arighty. I’m Mia.

Ria
I’m Ria

Mia
Thanks so much for listening.

Both
Buh-bye!