Beyoncé's House

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The world stops with a Beyoncé drop. On Monday, June 20th, our prayers were answered with “Break My Soul,” the lead single off of her upcoming album, Renaissance. The song draws from several places of inspiration: lyrically, it’s a cathartic dance-floor ode to liberation, soundtracking the current cultural moment that some have called the “Great Resignation.” Sonically, though, “Break My Soul” is Beyoncé’s foray into house music – a genre that the chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Jason King, summarizes as “a highly rhythmic dance music created by mostly Black and brown artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” propelled by a fanbase of queer and trans communities of color. There’s been an undeniable buzz that Beyoncé is “bringing house music back.” And from Charli XCX to Drake, it does feel like house music is currently having a moment in mainstream pop music, paralleling the original rise of the subculture from the ruins of disco. But the genre “has always been here,” in King’s words, and has decades of history. In this episode of Switched On Pop, we unpack house music – and how Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” fits into the genre. Songs Discussed Beyoncé - “BREAK MY SOUL” Beyoncé - “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” Drake - “Falling Back” Thelma Houston - “Don’t Leave Me This Way” Robin S - “Show Me Love” Bob Sinclair, Steve Edwards - “World Hold On (Children of the sky)” Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj - “Swish Swish” Charli XCX - “Used To Know Me” Livin’ Joy - “Don’t Stop Movin’” Mr. Fingers - “Can You Feel It” Madonna - “Vogue” Black Box - “Ride on Time” CeCe Peniston - “Finally” Aqua - “Barbie Girl” Big Freedia - “Explode” Beyoncé - “Formation” Drake - “Nice For What” Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers - “Get Lucky” Destiny’s Child - “Say My Name - Maurice’s Last Days Of Disco Millennium Mix” Beyoncè - “FIND YOUR WAY BACK” Madonna - “Deeper and Deeper” Janet Jackson - “Together Again” C & C Music Factory - “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by FX's, Fleischmann is in trouble.
0:04.0	Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Daines, Lizzy Kaplan, and Adam Brody,
0:08.2	this drama tells the story of recently divorced Toby Fleischmann who dives into the world of
0:13.4	app-based dating. The kind of success he never had in his youth. Then, his ex-wife disappears,
0:19.1	leaving him with her two children and no hint of her return. FX's Fleischmann is in trouble,
0:24.6	now streaming only on Hulu.
0:39.4	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding, and I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
0:44.0	The world stops when there is a Beyoncé drop. And on Monday, June 20th,
0:48.7	we just got the first single of her upcoming album, Renaissance. The song is called
0:54.5	Break My Soul.
1:06.5	It is a cathartic dance floor, liberatory chorus. The verse is about workers' rights,
1:13.6	the great resignation, mass unionization. This is a significant release for Beyoncé.
1:27.8	She's teaming up with producers, Tricky Stewart, and the Dream. Do you know what else they've
1:31.8	produced with Beyoncé? It's been six years since Beyoncé put out her last studio solo record
1:47.8	Lemonade. And like that record and all of her releases, she's putting this out in a new and creative
1:53.6	way. She doesn't abide by the traditional album and single release model. She always upends it.
2:00.4	The song was released as I said on Monday. What day do you songs release on Friday?
2:04.3	That's right. Do you know why? I don't know. So it used to be that new music was released on
2:09.6	Tuesdays. But when Beyoncé put out her 2013 self-titled album, it came out surprisingly on Friday.
2:17.7	And it's overwhelming success. Play the big part in why the music industry decided to shift
2:23.5	for these days to Fridays. And she's doing it again. Now she's saying Monday's the day.
2:33.7	And not just any Monday. It's the combination of pride, the Juneteenth Federal holiday,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.