Welcome to the new episode of the Billboard.com Pop Shop Podcast, Billboard’s weekly audio breakdown of the Billboard charts, hottest music news and year’s biggest musical events. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard co-director of charts Keith Caulfield and Billboard.com senior editor Katie Atkinson every Tuesday on the Pop Shop Podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in iTunes (click here to listen to the previous episode on Billboard.com).
On our latest show, we welcome two rising stars: Ferras and Brayton Bowman!
Ferras, who is signed to Katy Perry’s label UnSub (formerly Metamorphosis Music), recently released the single “Closer,” which drew praise on Twitter from the likes of Sia, Kesha, Tegan and Sara and Idina Menzel. In our chat, Ferras talks about the making of “Closer,” how he was “overwhelmed by the support” of the single from A-listers, and how he met and became friends with Perry nearly 10 years ago. That friendship ultimately led to his signing with her label in 2014 and the release of his self-titled EP that year. What’s Perry like as a label boss? “She’s really awesome,” Ferras says, adding, “She’s a dear friend of mine and obviously very talented and a great supporter… She really listens to what I want to do.”
Katy Perry Launches Label, Signs Pop Singer Ferras
As for Bowman, he teases his upcoming EP 22 Minutes Later, which is led by the single “What’s Really Good?” The sassy track is the latest in a string of sizzling cuts Bowman has dropped on SoundCloud in the past three years. Some might be familiar with Bowman through his “boo,” MNEK, who Bowman affectionately refers to as an “executive producer” of his life. (MNEK also produced “What’s Really Good?”) We caught up with Bowman in mid-June and in our chat, we discuss how he recently collaborated with Kara DioGuardi, his fondness for interludes on albums, how he got amusing advice from JoJo on how to define his genre of music, and how he’s “pretty f—ing excited” about his new single.
Plus, Keith and Katie dive into the Kanye West/Taylor Swift/Kim Kardashian saga over the song “Famous,” the latest singles from Katy Perry (“Rise”) and Britney Spears (“Make Me”), how Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” has a pretty good chance at hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 soon and Drake’s latest chart triumphs.
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