Best Albums of the 21st Century
So many albums, so little time! + SAG Award nominations and Gov Ball lineup
Before we dive into our usually scheduled programming I want to take this space to send my love to anyone affected by the fires in LA. Some of my favorite memories with my friends have been in LA and seeing these fires destroy this city and the homes of all of these innocent people breaks my heart.
Here are a few ways you can help:
This week’s podcast episode was the first “regular” episode in a few weeks and it felt so good to be yapping about current pop culture events again. We talked about Nikki Glaser being an incredible Golden Globes host, Nicki Minaj being sued by her ex-manager, Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series “With Love, Meghan” and more. If you missed the episode you can listen to it below or read my podcast notes.
But for everyone looking for some extra pop culture juice in your cup, let’s get into it.
Rolling Stone drops their 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century
If you know me, you know I love a list; especially when it’s music related, so Rolling Stone dropping their 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far list was like Christmas morning. I went through and pulled out my honorable mentions from the list and was pleasantly surprised to see a majority of my favorite albums of all time on this list as well (one of these days I’ll do a dedicated post all about my fav albums, but that’s for another day).
249: Electra Heart - Marina and the Diamonds (this album screams nostalgia)
245: The 1975 - The 1975 (say what you want about Matty, this album will always hit)
237: Autobiography - Ashlee Simpson (I mean, duh)
235: Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa (pop perfection from start to finish)
230: Bangerz - Miley Cyrus (this album will ALWAYS be a fav of mine - IYKYK)
196: Speak Now- Taylor Swift (forever a top two favorite Taylor album for me)
185: Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides - SOPHIE (one of the most unique and ahead of its time albums we’ve ever gotten. we miss you SOPHIE 💔)
150: Survivor - Destiny’s Child (once again: I mean, duh)
134: Teenage Dream - Katy Perry (this is the pop music bible IMO. quite literally altered my brain chemistry)
126: Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé (do I need to explain this more!?)
119: Pure Heroine - Lorde (this album is so integral to who I am today and I’ll never get tired of it)
112: Emotion - Carly Rae Jepsen (once again, pop perfection)
82: Born This Way - Lady Gaga (I have vivid memories of listening to this album for the first time and physically feeling something shift)
80: Blackout - Britney Spears (AHEAD OF IT’S TIME - Britney was truly such a force in pop music)
77: 25 - Adele (we ALL remember where we were when this album sold 3.3M copies in one week)
72: 1989 - Taylor Swift (my other favorite Taylor album)
62: Born to Die - Lana Del Rey (much like Marina’s album, nostalgia to the max)
61: Thank U, Next - Ariana Grande (a shift in pop culture)
53: Riot! - Paramore (I ran this CD into the ground in 2007)
41: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan (duh)
40: Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves (if this album wasn’t on the list, I’d have so many questions)
39: Sour - Olivia Rodrigo (not a lot of people can release a perfect debut album…Olivia Rodrigo is not one of those people)
37: Renaissance - Beyoncé (should be top 5 IMO)
36: Red - Taylor Swift (lyrically, Taylor’s best album)
35: Brat - Charli xcx (you guys already know how I feel about this album)
29: Ctrl - SZA (in SZA we trust)
25: Melodrama - Lorde (favorite album of all time, it’s literally tattooed on me forever. I’ll never ever get tired of this album)
21: Anti - Rihanna (Rihanna could never release an album again and this would be the perfect end of her music career)
20: The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga (forever my favorite Gaga project - much like Teenage Dream, physically altered my brain chemistry)
17: 21 - Adele (yes, yes, yes)
18: BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé (changed the game with that digital drop!)
7: SOS - SZA (I repeat: IN SZA WE TRUST)
5: Folklore - Taylor Swift (not MY fav but it did rattle the culture so I get it)
1: Lemonade - Beyoncé (I mean, absolutely correct)
What’s your favorite album of the 21st century!?
SAG Award Nominations are here!
Award season is here and wasting absolutely no time. The SAG Awards (which will take place on February 23, 2025) have announced their nominees and our witches (both good and bad) are leading the nominations alongside Shogun with 5 nominations each. I’m more tuned into these award shows this year because there isn’t a clear sweep (as we learned after the Golden Globes) so I’m dying to know who wins what award, at which award show.
Female Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture:
Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown
Jamie Lee Curtis - The Last Showgirl
Danielle Deadwyler - The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande - Wicked
Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez
Male Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture:
Jonathan Bailey - Wicked
Yura Borisov - Anora
Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain
Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown
Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice
Female Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture:
Pamela Anderson - The Last Showgirl
Cynthia Erivo - Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón - Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison - Anora
Demi Moore - The Substance
Male Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture:
Adrien Brody - The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig - Queer
Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes - Conclave
Motion Picture Cast:
Anora
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
Gov Ball teases 2025 lineup to include Olivia Rodrigo, Benson Boone, T-Pain, and more
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Gov Ball is always one of my favorite weekends of the year and has been since I went for the first time in 2015 (Drake, Lana Del Rey, and Charli xcx performed, it was unreal).
They posted a teaser on Friday morning to give us some clues on who’s performing this year so of course I had to put my detective shoes on…
Purple Car with Stars: Olivia Rodrigo
Boone’s Cereal: Benson Boone
Nappy Boy video game: T-Pain
“Tucker” ID: rolemodel
Background Music: Sexy to Someone by Clairo
These are the only ones I picked up while watching, and I’m sure we’ll get 2-3 more teasers before the actual lineup drops. I’m praying we get a Rachel Chinouriri set, but time will tell!
New Music Releases
JADE - IT Girl
Olly Alexander - When We Kiss
And that’s a wrap on this week’s newsletter! Sending my love to everyone in LA and hoping the end is near.
Catch you guys on the podcast on Wednesday 💖