Earworm, Season 2
Role: Associate Producer
E3. Jacob Collier Deconstructs a Stevie Wonder Classic
E4. The Ingredients of a Classic House Track
E5. We Measured Pop Music’s Falsetto
E6. Where Sicko Mode’s Weirdest Moments Came From
Vox’s Earworm, a video series that dives deep into the origin stories of sounds in pop music, is back for a second season. We’ll be telling stories that cover everything from the 1980s backlash against heavy metal to the otherworldly sounds of Jamaican dub music.
Stevie Wonder is one of the most widely celebrated artists in history. His music is infectious, melodic, and thoughtfully inspired by the jazz musicians who came before him. In his legendary song "Sir Duke," Stevie paid homage to the late Duke Ellington and his other predecessors. Jacob Collier is a rising star in his own right and is Stevie Wonder's self-proclaimed greatest fan. Here, he breaks down the jazz influences and syncopations Stevie uses to create the magic that is "Sir Duke."
E3. Jacob Collier Deconstructs a Stevie Wonder Classic
With a disco sample and drum machine house music took over the globe.
E4. The Ingredients of a Classic House Track
It’s nearly impossible to turn on the radio and not hear a male artist singing really high. Likely, he’s a tenor, and more often than not, he’ll sing in falsetto. Think Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Drake, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes, Adam Levine, Sam Smith ... the list goes on and on and on. This isn’t a trend — it has been the status quo for decades. Using the data diving know-how of The Pudding, and drawing on the expertise of Anthony Roth Costanzo, a professional opera singer, I dig into the world of the high male vocal range by tracking how pervasive it really is across the decades.
E5. We Measured Pop Music’s Falsetto Obsession
"Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott was an unexpected chart-topper. It sounds more like three songs than one. Its disjointed, other-worldly effects, echos, and song structure are a far cry from the traditional pop songs we're used to, but it's in these off-kilter moments that we get glimpses of a musical culture and genre that was centered around sonic experimentation and innovation, and has influenced everything from punk, rock, and pop for nearly half a century: Jamaican dub.