Switched on Pop

Drake's Slop Era

Switched on Pop

Show Notes

Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused, clubby Maid of Honour. All three albums have much different vibes, and are Drake’s first official solo efforts since his seismic beef with Kendrick Lamar back in 2024.

There’s a lot of music to talk about. As a result, Reanna argues that we are living in an era of “Drake Slop” – low-effort, mass-produced dumps of music, often with confused intentions. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Reanna, Charlie, and Nate explore all that these three albums have to offer, and try to figure out exactly what is going on in the twisted mind of Aubrey Graham.

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

Drake – Shabang

Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us

Drake – Circadian Rhythm

Drake, Central Cee – Which One

Drake – NOKIA

Drake – Make Them Cry

Drake – Janice STFU

Drake – Make Them Pay

Drake, Future, Molly Santana – Ran To Atlanta

Future, Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar – Like That

Drake – 2 Hard 4 The Radio

YG, Slim 400 – Word Is Bond

Mac Dre – 2 Hard 4 the Fuckin' Radio

Drake – Rusty Intro

Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds

Drake – High Fives

Drake – Tuscan Leather

Drake – Classic

Drake – Teenage Fever

Drake, Sexyy Red – Cheetah Print

Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA – Rich Baby Daddy

Afrika Bambaataa, The Soulsonic Force – Planet Rock

Drake – BBW

Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls

Drake – Princess

A$AP Rocky – PUNK ROCKY

Drake – Find Your Love

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

More from Switched on Pop

Oct 20, 2026

The music of global girl group KATSEYE might be confusing on first listen. A less-generous read might consider their songs to be rudimentary: the lyrics are mostly nonsense, the instrumentals evoke lesser 2010s pop songs, and the aesthetic can’t decide whether it’s targeted to children or adults. However, maybe the nonsensical nature of KATSEYE is also… the point? And maybe that point is tethered to early surrealist movements of the early twentieth century?

Oct 14, 2026

For the 500th(!) episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate try to answer the question that has stumped critics and philosophers since the dawn of sound: does bad music exist? Their quest to answer something so nebulous leads them through the annals of taste, and in the process, they recruit several other critics and journalists to give their two cents on the topic. Can things actually be bad, and if so, how do we define them?

Oct 6, 2026

One year after the release of her twelfth studio album The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift is back with an encore. Specifically, The Encore, four tracks that have polarized critics and Swifties alike, from the country-esque number one hit “Patient Zero” to her ode to married Ohioan bliss, “Cleveland!” For some, the new songs lean into Swift’s worst writing impulses. But for others, including our hosts (and resident Swiftologists) Charlie and Nate, the tracks call back to earlier eras of Swift’s songwriting, and perhaps evoke more nuanced discussion about what it means to release music as the biggest artist in the world. The question is: are we ready for it?

Sep 29, 2026

Five years after her first appearance on Switched on Pop, Carly Rae Jepsen returns to the podcast to talk all things Day and Night, her latest album. Born out of Swedish disco, big emotion, and substantive life change – including becoming a wife and a mother – the double album is a tour through the organic and the synthetic, both in equal measure. For Charlie and Nate, this is a full circle moment, and along with discussing the record, the two talk to Jepsen about the origins of the show, her songwriting process, and what it means to be such an important champion of pop music.

Sep 22, 2026

Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo’s new album ESTRUS can be summarized in the opening lyrics of the album’s closing track, “source of life”: “Feral, fragile, numb, ecstatic / sad, euphoric, catatonic / Horny, repulsed, proud and shameful / Good, demonic, contradictions.”

See all episodes →