PODCAST: Chappell Roan sets the 2024 MTV VMAs on fire! (w/Lady Emily)

hi I'm Tom nathenson and I'm Lena Morgan surprise um this is a song versus song bonus episode exclusive well it's not exclusive it's a bonus episode we do it every year we talk about the MTV VMAs um we have a special guest in the studio with us today yeah in the studio yes we have lady Emily Emily Bray uh here with us tonight we've had uh had her on the show before and uh we had to pull you into this one we don't usually have a guest when we do the VMAs but we did not know if Lena was going to be here I got a new face and I was like surely after like five days I am not going to be crazy enough to be like I'm watching the VMAs and then I'm GNA run a podcast but I am in fact deeply deeply unwell I've never taken my hand off the wheel not even for a second and so here we are you get like their recovery papers from the doctor they're like you know get bed rest take your medicine at this and this hour don't watch the VMAs and yet here you are still like audibly convalescent I cannot be taught you you're still like your voice is cracking like you we can hear that you are you know still recovering from this I'm in I'm in a weird place for sure um anyway yeah so more interesting God forbid God forbid we I mean I told Emily when we thought you weren't going to be able to do it that she should just do an impression of you but like slightly worse well that's where I'm at anyway so it's fine I I Was preparing I was like I'm going to nail this I'm going to like not nail this but slightly nail this yeah you just have New Jersey reference like Star Trek Star Trek a lot corny jokes um Kevin Smith Romulan yeah see you got it you're great all right since I made you watch the VMAs also you have to be here also and this is interesting to me to have a third person in here especially you because like I don't think you were even born yet the last time MTV was relevant I like no growing up MTV for me was the channel of like next and parental control I don't like they're reality shows I don't know any anything about music no that's in interesting did you I was like I I was like there's a good chance you have never watched MTV as a as a human being like I've seen some you have no fond memories of it no like well like you know I'm a beus and Butthead fan but I got that from my dad and it wasn't like I was tuning in on like MTV when it was happening it was just a thing we watched otherwise like yeah we never kept the channel on MTV except for like the dumb reality shows like Pimp My Ride Like next [ __ ] have you ever watched a BMA no not not in its entirety this is incredible have you ever watched watch even a clip from the DM I've I've probably seen Clips over the years yeah like you know there's there's a lot of iconic m i mean that was one of the funniest parts about the night was that they kept showing like flashback Clips to like these iconic VMA things like Britney and the snake Michael Jackson performing Madonna's Vogue and then it's like here's Cabo all right well this is um we it's a something we suffer through because we do remember the VMAs back when they mattered back when they were when Taylor Swift wasn't just powering them to existence just by her presence every year can I say I I really like this VMAs it might be the best one we've ever covered really that's I don't know that's be there are for sure I don't disagree was actually enjoying it for the most part even the the artists who I don't like um at least for those those first couple hours by the time we we hit that that last hour we were really really crawling through molasses as always but like for a while I was really enjoying this one what what did you think Lena I think that they really hit it by having Megan the stallion as a host A wise choice Charming woman Megan the stallion yeah cuz she's genuine but she's game right like she's fine she she'll she'll sell Burger King or whatever the [ __ ] right she doesn't you know and and she'll put on the Britney Spears I'm a Slave for You outfit and be like I don't know this snake which is great um so I think that that that is a not insignificant part of the strength of this one but also you know if you watch the pre-show the thing that some years you'll get is that the people that are there really all want to I don't know they want to juice each other up like they really genuinely like each other stuff they want them to do well they want to help promote their things like it feels like you know in between the targeted ads there's actually a significant amount of artists who like other artists and I think that that when you see that in the pre-show it tends to bleed through into the actual show and it bleeds through into the performances because like if you feel hyped up by your friends who are there you're going to give a better performance so I think that that is a big part of it too how did you feel about the show let's let's say what was the highlight of the show for you guys I feel like this is an easy question yes I'm starting with an easy one on purpose uh it was the Katy Perry Part obviously duh obviously I think we're all in unanimous uh no it's Chapel rone it's Chapel rone it's uh a star making performance right there that's uh like for for a second I had like this brief fantasy that the VMAs were going to be relevant again just off of this performance it was a really good performance I you know they lucked out in that the biggest artist of the year they can book because she has this is her first opportunity to be booked so she was game and she [ __ ] killed it tonight um I I think that's like I think that's like the first VMA performance in years that I'm going to remember like how long have we been doing this Lena six I think I think this is the sixth one we've done I can't remember a single uh performance of the you know we've done it every year and I can't think of anything that's happened I think that there was I think one I think the first history of rap thing they did that sticks out to me that I remember as being like like and that was maybe three years ago yeah that was a good one but no oh no that was at the no that was that the Grammys oh was it God damn it yeah they did a much and they did a much weaker one for MTV right well never never [ __ ] mind um I remember the Kendrick Lamar one where he sang all right with like the wall of fire that was that would have been before yeah we started doing it yeah and then even then I didn't watch the the entire show I just watched that segment and I was like wow that was a good segment yeah yeah I was going to say I was like man I remember BTS when they blew up they like they did a really good performance and I was like no no that was the Grammys again I think good luck babe by Chapel rone is probably the best thing the MTB bmas have had in quite a long time and also you know it wasn't just like so she gave that performance which was great and then you know they kept going like it's a tight race for Best New Artist there was not no shot in hell that they were going to give it to Gracie Abrams or Teddy swims yeah I was like um it's not a tight race but okay I mean I understand that you have to say that but the thing is that like sa chaperon and in addition to being an incredible performer she got up on stage and she is as the kind of natural Counterpoint to Megan the scallion also in incredibly genuine right like she feels a lot more humble right like obviously there's a certain braggadocious to to what Meg does and Chapel like obviously has got like big drag queen energy but she does feel kind of like soft and more reserved by comparison for herself but you know like I'd said to you that like there's a degree of like artist loving other artists and trying to Glow each other up chaperon came out and was like I'm going to glow up the drag queens the queers and the the trans people and acknowledge that these are the people who inspire me and who Inspire pop art and have done so forever and I was like if I was a kid watching CH Chapel Rowan came out in the 1980s she would have saved my [ __ ] life like I couldn't even tell you who I would be but I would be different and that was the thing like I watched her and I was like she just inspires people every day like I wish that M the MTV VMAs had more power than they do but on the other hand they don't really need to because she's just everywhere that song doesn't have a video yet so as far as I'm concerned the and may never have a video so as far as I'm concerned that is the official music video for uh good luck babe and uh that is what I'm going to use when I have to put it in a in a list in four months yes I wonder I wonder which of the lists is going to wind up on you don't know yeah you actually hated the song the whole time great performance dog chin song I mean we can talk about this later but there were several uh songs on there which I am not uh during the night that I am not a fan of that I thought the performance was really good so all right um I think this is a a star making night for Chapel rone but let's let me ask did you think anyone else really killed it tonight that's a tricky one like Sabrina Carpenter but I kind of like I wouldn't say blew me away it was just kind of like yeah that was I expected a really good performance I got a really good performance out of that kissed an alien that was cool one thing I want to say I did appreciate that Chapel rone just did the one song because I kind of thought she would do a medly and uh I I kind of like appreciate that she had the one just the one song she let it breathe yeah there's a part of me that was like that performance was so good that I would have like I think I just wanted to watch a concert at that point I was just like yeah [ __ ] it let's I'm I'm locked in now I think we should really give it to Benson Boon though you don't think Benson Boon really killed it he did two flips yeah it was night of a thousand flips twice as many flips as every other performer on the stage this night um I didn't um dislike Benson Boon's song Beautiful what's some beautiful things didn't dislike it the first time I heard it and then over the course of this year I grown to really dislike it it's got big aall nation energy and like that's never really been my My Vibe yeah if AAL Nation were you know a Christian rock band yeah it was I listened to it and I was like this song sounds familiar but I don't think I've ever heard of this artist before and then it got like more and more into I was like oh I I hear this all the [ __ ] time in Target this is a target ass song so when I say that there were songs tonight that I don't like where I thought the performance killed Benson Boon is exactly who I'm thinking of yeah I kind of figured like I was like I I was prepared to not like that performance and I was like okay he's he's really going for it this is actually really good and that's the part where I realized Christ I think I'm actually enjoying the VMAs for once like even Benson Boon is bringing his aame he did several flips they were really impressive flips and he didn't miss a note I don't know maybe maybe there is something to this Benson Boon guy that I'm missing because like I was I was pretty impressed yeah no of all people like I expected that to suck and it was actually really good so uh it it it's made me feel a little fer of the song even so I'm gonna say something that I think might be controversial but also maybe not okay kitty Perry was good she was she was I mean I mean I mean she she's been doing she did that Vegas residency for a long time and like you can tell she is a well-oiled machine I mean we were all like the the reason I asked you Emily specifically to join me on this is because you have uh of all the people I know you have had the most fun dunking on that goddamn Katy Perry song I [ __ ] love dunking on Woman's World it sucks so bad I got so excited when they started playing the opening of it at the beginning of the performance I was like yes okay per play play play the song that almost single-handedly untr me yeah yeah and then they and then you know she cowed out and she played the greatest hits collection she's very good at playing the greatest hits collection but I think I would have respected her if she uh sucked on stage more yeah if she played her awful flop song she went down with the Titanic yeah it's like you know go go big you know you have an album coming out in nine days I like that she that after she did the performance she came out and talked for a while and there was the like there was some heat some resentful heat coming off of that woman like she was mad it she been tired of being you know asked about Dr Luke she's had it and I was like you know what you deserve to be asked about it you [ __ ] made this bed you're going to have to lieing it but like I kind of appreciate that she was a [ __ ] a little bit I was like thank you thank it was this fun multi-art unfolding of a speech where it's like start out with j about kids transition to joke about period talk about taking Twitter off your phone talk about touching grass I love don't talk about not getting into discourse she talked talk about the gays she talked about her period twice she talked about it in the in the pre- interiew dur like at the the the pre-show she announced it and I don't know that she was intending to do it then and then I think she decided she was like this is good for me announced it like keeps she's so convinced that this is what's going to get her out of trouble which is so wild to me cuz like you know they asked her about Dr Luke and she was like I made a human soul with arms and fingers aren't I neat and I was like cool human woman that's all right and then and then she was like by the way I'm not doing that right now so menstration and I was like okay okay Kenny Perry we all get it you are a human sis woman we got it boy that the that those attacks on social media she was very close to saying up yours woke moralists she she was edging right up to it it's I so funny I loved it I was so pleased I was like do it do it she was talking about not being online and not engaging in discourse or interacting with hate comments with the same passion of someone that you know is name searching themselves at every single moment of the day yeah I was like you should be friends with Brianna woo the two of you would get along yeah but like you I I agree that you were correct she was good tonight her her hits still hold up the ones she performed the two songs that are new that she did perform are not like horrifically embarrassing even though you are never going to have to worry about them but she did not perform women's world and you know she is like a pro she is I I did see her in Vegas as as as funny as this disastrous roll out has been I I did it does make me feel sad because I I was rooting for Katy Perry for that big comeback before you know a friend of mine has always said like a Katy Perry comeback sounds good in theory it was never going to survive contact with actual new Katy Perry music yeah and I mean I think like the good performance just kind of makes it even sadder right because it's like you see her perform you see her do all these like greatest hits that she's had and and kill it and have this great like Showmanship and Stage presence and and all this cool like effects and stuff and you're like wow you know she's really good she can really do a good job performing I I like these songs I want to see more of this I'm rooting for her in a weird way and then you're like oh but also but she's still the person that keeps working with Dr Luke and you're like she's still the person that keeps working with Dr Luke and she's like what you know and people were like you can't blame a woman for a man's actions you're like oh my God please the girl bossing that we're doing over here can we can we just be real for a second you have to be consider it though this is a woman's world it is we're lucky to be living in Katie's World we're so lucky uh listen that song is terrible it has been hilarious making fun of it it's been I mean like I can never say that I'm not grateful to Katy Perry for giving me a song so awful that we can all collectively dunk on it it's like the one time we've had a monoculture in forever yeah it's been a while but like it was the performance was great she did a great job and like yeah she's not incapable it's just that like if she would just learn this one lesson this one cool life pack don't work with Dr Luke she would be fine no I don't think that's true um because she's not a very good artist yeah I but she is weird and I feel like if she like ventured outwards and found more weirdos you know like make more [ __ ] ET [ __ ] you know like go for it like she's bizarre and like I think if she really embraced that instead of like weird post irony thing that I think she was doing with women's world like I don't know everything about that was so strange I I think the weird thing for me when it comes to Katy Perry is I feel like she's she's constantly trying to like get back that Teenage Dream era success you know even tonight they were like she's the the only fale artist to have five number ones off of one album it's like yeah okay that's incredible also it it's been 15 years yeah I was like he like she she performed so well like she'd better be she's been performing these songs for 15 years yeah it's like yeah and you know she got the quarterback that touchdown that won the football game in high school she could have gone pro uh but it's it's weird because she keeps going after Teenage Dream I actually think she would probably be better off at this moment in time trying to go back to that one of the boys style of like kiss a girl and and Waking Up in Vegas and stuff like that of like like kind of edgier a little bit more like sort of towards the Olivia Rodrigo angle of things um well you know I don't know she's that I don't know I I saw her say that Chapel rone is the best you know a couple weeks ago and I was thinking like you know Katy Perry you can absolutely call Chapel rone one of your descendants you can call Sabrina Carpenter one of your descendants and that just kind of makes uh her failure to seize this moment even more Stark like they her style of music is you know it can succeed if it's good and this is not yeah it's you know you have to decide do you want Woman's World or feminine omon that's it and if I'm going to have somebody's cringe I'm taking Chapel um Carol G I feel like listen we were we were kind of going through like things we liked and I feel like it's I mean like I don't know why I'm trying to keep a glove to Carol G like nobody knows who she is but like um the song that she performed was very nice like there were like two there were like two old folks dancing up on the stage and I was like I can relate to this I was like this is what I want this I am I am that old couple I am a bit of a regon more on as always that hasn't changed I I didn't realize I liked Carol G until like literally tonight but I was like yeah you know I like this song I've heard it a bunch of times and actually I I've decided I like it you like Carol G you definitely do if you took the time to sit down and listen to her stuff I think that you would really enjoy her you know I I like uh she has a she already had one song I really like called me XNA rason and I'm looking up this one her new one that's on the radio right now C an huier Koso that means if we'd met earlier and like it's a good little song and I I I liked it and I I'm not generally into regon but I I did like that performance yeah I mean you know that like as far as artist that like dip into Raton but like do all kinds of stuff like kuchis is my girl like oh always like kuchis like or oras the album that she put out this year was like absolutely fire so good um but I think that Carl G's got a lot of that in her too and so like it's kind of cool to see her at the VMAs and like and give a song that was like nice and like kind of like I don't know like it's like soft passionate I was like this is this is this is nice it was just nice it was just really appealing and I was like ah right Carol G I should go back to listening to her and I bet if I saw her concert it would be incredible yeah this was my introduction to her and I I really liked the song right away I was I was like oh I don't you know I've never not familiar with her but I'm listening to this and I'm like oh this reminds me of like having a nice pool party like and just having some drinks with friends and stuff like that and hanging out was very chill it's very sweet I really liked it and it was a great pallet cleanser after [ __ ] Eminem oh right we should start with the uh the opener uh that that was like the the big deal they booked him at the last minute um back at the top of the charts Mr Marshall Mathers slim shady is back baby guess who's back back again again how do you feel about the return of Slim Shady bad bad not good not good I don't like I haven't listened to the full death of Slim Shady album or whatever it's called I I stopped listening to Eminem after Marshall Ms LP2 when I was like I think about stop yeah place to stop I was like because I used to be really big in Eminem I really liked you know those first few albums you know I I I grew up as a white hip-hop fan so of course I listen to Eminem and then I was just like oh this is just getting kind of corny and not good and then every time he'd be like I'm doing a comeback album that's going to be a return to my Roots I'm like okay I'm going to listen to it he's done that so many it feels like he's done this like 15 times now people kept keep promising that that he's gotten better now I listened to all of kamakazi I just remembered that I listened to all of kamakazi and I was like the only track I remember from that is [ __ ] venom venom his best song of that decade I just yeah it's very here's how I knew that that song was going to be bad immediately before he really even did anything I was like the Steve Miller Band not cool I I can tell you he picked Abracadabra because it has the same Rhythm as uh without me yeah guess who's back back again and yeah that's I knew it was going to be bad the moment I I opened like listen to it and it just starts with that [ __ ] exact same goddamn phone skap exact same godamn guess who's back it is the saddest most pathetic thing in the world of once again ah I I scored the big touchdown in high school I could have gone proo remember how good I was yeah not one but but two Al bundies on the stage tonight you remember me Bundy poke I mean there were sever in one game there were several later in the evening but like Eminem uh came out with the army of slim shadies just like he did back in the year 2000 and I was like boy boy boy that was 24 years ago it's like uh good news uh Lena we're you know it's it's it's the early 2000s again and We're Young and Beautiful nothing has changed literally nothing has changed for MTV we are reaching back already in you know we are reaching back 25 years in the past and that's how we're starting out with because this is MTV I Christ I Christ I I think Houdini is Eminem's worst song I've ever heard from him I straight up do not like it on any level I think the lyrics are so bad like the songs are bad the fact that it's like his big opener that it's his big comeback hit is baffling to me my my shame is that after a dozen listens like the the the sad little Eminem fan in me started to groove to it the first time I heard it just like it is it is definitely the worst thing he's ever made so I'm I'm ashamed to say that it's it's kind of grown on me a little because like the lyrics are it's the thing for me with the lyrics it's not even like oh I find them tasteless I find them offense I just find them [ __ ] stupid dumb no like there's never going to be a point where I think that Megan the stallion line is anything but like the the the saddest thing he's ever made yeah like it's it's not not even a single on Tandra like I I had to like have it explained to me like how this is even a joke like how the punchline worked like let's stop worrying about if it's offensive just like let's say it's bad let's just say it's bad first and then we can move on to whether it's offensive and I was like man Megan the stallion is hosting tonight that and then he moved on to that jelly roll song which was also bad but like in a different way yeah the I mean every bad Eminem song is bad in one of two ways and he showed them both tonight love an artist with range like too like too too jokey but not funny and too sincere but not touching yeah it's it's really funny because like both of those songs remind me a lot of Lose Yourself from or just lose it or whatever it's called from [ __ ] relapse and then Mockingbird where it's like they're both these [ __ ] like Goofy and then weird serious Growing Up song and it's just like why are you going back to this style um those are from Encore I think oh from Encore yeah yeah relapse was the awful one that was very similar to Encore my mistake it's like you confused load and [Music] reload what's wrong with you oh forgive me man yeah I'll tell you Todd watching that and realizing that that is basically a quarter century ago did did I show you the the the video of the of the old woman with her ear no so there's a video of a woman when like this guy is like here's this thing in your house what is this and she's like that's my earn she's like you know I'll be dead someday and like I want everybody to know where I'm GNA where I belong and it'ss in this ear I'm like why would you buy it you seem so pleased and she was like well I'm 85 turned the hard 86 I can't walk I can't eat I can't see can't do anything so the NN seems like a pretty good alternative and then she says I yearn for the earn and I have to tell you she's the most relatable human being that I've ever seen in my life and seeing that and realizing that like that original performance is basically 25 years ago I was like I heard her in my head I was like I yearn for the well for the record you you don't sound like an old lady because you're actually an old lady that's still you recovering from surgery it is true I was I was leaning in end doing her voice a little bit yes it is if you're like why is that voice so weird it's because a like my whole face is swollen and B I'm free form disassociating because I have a new face that is still fresh on and it's weird anyway um all right anything else that we want to talk about that was good for the night um let me see here like the energy kind of I like glorilla I you know oh of course oh yeah I was big on the glorilla train her vinal health PSA it was very nice yeah glow uh no I I was worried that glorilla was one of those people I stumped for that would you would never hear again so like her blowing up this year has been very gratifying and I'm I'm very glad for her I got a win I got a right prediction here yeah so her I liked a lot I liked LL Cool J although it was a weird note to end the the show on I'm not sure I was feeling that yeah I also like it felt really underwhelming um do we do we I mean we talked about Meg hosting she did a she did a little medly yeah didn't like it really I'm surprised I I didn't like it I mean I she she was she wasn't rapping it was a lot of pre-recorded yeah which I I definitely noticed I it it seemed like she was supposed to be rapping and then she just forgot the lines so cuz she was like not not rapping a lot of the time for some reason it was weird yeah I mean she I mean she did um wrap her biggest uh still one of the best lines of the year she did has that under her belt she did get the Megan Law line out there yes but but um it it did feel weird to me that she was just dancing along to her songs a lot of the time and um I like that song she does with the Japanese rapper but I'm not sure like he had the energy you would need for like a big awards show Kakashi St St yeah especially not for the last song of that set it was it was a strange ending point um Zoe krait's dad I didn't know he did music but he was cool uh oh man we were like that was like I felt like we were really scraping the bottom of the barrel there that we got Lenny Kravitz who uh has kind of just like taking up permanent residents at award shows I in spite of the fact that we have not been going his way for a long time uh they gave him uh an award not on screen but like they gave him best rock performance like what boy what happened to this genre that like I saw them hand it to him and like talk to him about it in the pre-show and he was just like yeah you know we're keeping rock and roll alive and you know I'm just always happy to do new music I'm like Lenny Kravitz I don't no man we there had to have been somebody somebody anybody like I mean like at least like a couple years ago they would put on like mon skin and it's like yeah I mean they have a song out it's like I know that there's rock music out there oh yeah but we don't there's no reason to give this to sinna from The Hunger Games at least you know the last relevant thing he did was was acting yeah and he's not an actor at least Dave gr is keeping the spirit of rock and roll I guess but like yeah well is he ever he's he's keeping he's keeping all kinds of things alive these days got him uh I don't know if I would call it a highlight of the night but I did find it very funny every time they switch to Teddy swims on the Doritos extended play stage where he was banished and forced to do covers um that was amazing the Dorito stage was maybe the worst thing of the night um but yes what was that thing I we were joking about his banishment um and I said some [ __ ] dumb thing about like to the to the coldest side of the ranch be gone the of the Cool Ranch yes I mean we didn't really talk about Sabrina car we mentioned her once and she was definitely one of the uh performance I was looking most forward to and you know it was fun yeah uh I like that song I liked all those songs oh I kind not really into please please please honestly but um I wish I I wish that I felt like those songs I think are kind of tricky just because like I don't know I like those songs fine but like they there there's a kind of like cool energy to them do you know what I mean like they're not like they don't feel like really like intense powerful songs they're kind of mellow in their way and so as a live performance I find that like I don't know how you turn those songs into something that is like really exciting to see live I guess yeah I definitely like especially with espresso where it's like the thing that I think really highlights is just how controlled it kind of sounds in a way that that was hard to replicate in the live version um I think out of all of those uh taste was the one that made the translation the best to a live show performance but maybe that's just because of the alien I don't know uh yeah I I I saw Sabrina Carpenter last year before she really really blew up and it's like uh not surprised at all that she is like one of the biggest things in the world right now I thought it was a good performance but like not quite The Knockout I was hoping for yeah it what um I was like maybe maybe I'm kind of a little opposed to medley's in Awards shows maybe I think you should stick to one song yeah no I I I get that uh doing a medley of good luck babe if Chapel Ron had done that that would have been like really um uncharitable to it yeah like that song kind of needs the whole thing you can't really do that and be like we're going to do this hot to go and ping Pony Club like cuz those are like the songs right like I guess like red wine supernovas like the other one but like it's kind of those three at this moment and they just don't make like how would you even make a metally out of that that would just feel so wrong it would just be three songs next to each other yeah so like maybe that's something people might want to you know consider next time maybe maybe stick to your best song yeah yeah learn from learn from chaperon she really got it right wield a sword this is the lesson oh my God and a crossbow yes weirdly one of the most impressive things I saw this night is when she threw the sword to one of her dancers and he just [ __ ] caught it perfectly I don't know why I'm always fascinated by little moments like that I'm like oh wow they didn't mess up the next time she has a castle though I want her to go in like full like Simon Bellmont like a whip like I want a Castlevania era KN the off the gate meat that's what I want all right give me a Symphony of the Night you could do it I believe in you I I feel like we have to talk about the other highlight that we can all agree on was a highlight which was Shawn Mendes debuting a brand new song on stage no one has more deserved of the Dorito stage but didn't get it than Sean men when will it end um Todd has Shan Mendes ever been good you would know I like that you know uh there's nothing holding me back take my uh I like lost in Japan too that's pretty good about to say didn't he do like you know like that that's kind of how I knew I was enjoying the night and that I could put up with this Shawn Mendes song which clearly wasn't good and I was like you know but I'm I'm still I'm still in a good mood uh even though I'm you know I don't think I'm going to hear that Shawn Mendes song again I don't think I'm going to hear any Shawn Mendes song again after tonight uh I would be I would be surprised if Shawn Mendes becomes a presence in my life from here on out I wish we could say the same for Camila Cabo Bo also had a song that was just Dreadful Camila Cabo like I was goingon to ask so like what do you think is the lowlight of the night and just like Chapel Ron was like the obvious unanimous pick there's another unanimous pick here too I'm pretty sure right it was I mean like it sort of it depends on if we're counting uh what's her face from the Doritos stage oh [ __ ] Jesse murf what's it the actual worst the actual worst is her um but yeah like the main people the people that you had ever heard of before prior to this it's definitely Camila Cabo who was like here's a manufactured emotion for you you you like Olivia Rodrigo right here I this is me trying to do like her genuine thing but in a way that's clearly [ __ ] fake beyond belief it just continuously one of our just consistently one of our worst pop stars G I was shocked by the the presentation of the entire thing because you know everyone else gets these big elaborate sets uh you know you know Chappelle got a [ __ ] Castle uh uh uh Sabrina Carpenter came down on a guy like a giant [ __ ] astronaut meanwhile she's G Capo's just like in a [ __ ] glass tube singing to a laptop oh like I I will say this for Camila Cabo she has definitely started to take some real chances uh she is not playing it safe she is like letting herself go wild it's not paying dividends yeah um it just means she's bad in a different way now she's taking chances but not in a way that's interesting and like a El M Kelly Final Act of desperation sort of Taking Chances yeah it's just like I I'm like I'm like who sunk their cost into this fallacy like cuz like there's just nothing there and like there really hasn't been for such a long time that it's like somebody sunk all their Capital like they just put they put they bet it all on her well and they're just spending their last pennies trying to make this thing work and I was like like I'm pretty sure at this point he's not going to happen will Fifth Harmony fans still kill you for saying stuff like that well they are they still right or die I have I I mean I don't want to say I don't care but like every you'll see when this episode goes live yeah you'll discover that the comment section is always 90% people who hate me and like some of that is because I'm genuinely awful but a lot of it is also stands and I never particular cared about that yeah it's just what a weird bad performance from a performer who has just not given anything in years I don't know like weird is just not her brand and she was like very weird on this last album in Parts like that Bizarro attempt at hyperpop that they kept playing during the commercials the [ __ ] oh God that [ __ ] beer commercial they kept playing over and over again with the worst song I've ever heard in my life playing overit every single commercial break that was the low light of the night for me that doesn't count but it was bad the other low light I think we were already mentioned um for for what it's worth I am extremely against any award show performance that does not happen in the building if if if you're not in the building get off my TV that's not a real performance that doesn't count mhm uh this year they had the Doritos uh stage where they gave two people Teddy swims and Jesse murf the opportunity to like be on screen and perform uh like 20 seconds of their songs in between commercials and then I've also of like popular songs from like vma's past yeah yeah that's where they put the artists who are like actually successful like have had hits but have no star power that's that's what happened um Teddy swims has had a couple hits this year but he's he's got no star power so he off the stage he goes he does the same thing he always does he feels like he should be on American Idol not anywhere else he should be on The Voice uh but he was certainly better than Jesse murf who was terrible it was just like a truly awful like she's got you know that a weird kind of baby voice but like they they found a way for it to work for her to have hits um doing it but like she was stretching herself Beyond her capabilities tonight it it sounded bad it was giving like pop star doing national anthem for every single [ __ ] song and it was the fact that it wasn't even like songs it was just she would just over sing the chorus of like Killing Me Softly and then they would just cut to commercial like why are we even doing this I mean it sounded like a cat backing up right like like it just sounded like cat vomit it was terrible oh it was hey tdd you want do you want to step in some [ __ ] sure how about that new how about that new Hy song All right we were we are going to move on to uh the the mixed uh reception from here and this one has split the song versus song Crew here I really like that Hy song and uh someone in here did not you're afraid of her dod you coward I am not you're afraid of Hy and we all know it uh she called you out once and like a baby you were like I like some of your stuff yes that is exactly what happened destroyed you you're destroyed no anyway it was it was that song's not very good it was very like I don't know I thought that song was really good but part of it you know because I like that it was a straight up minivan rock song from 2002 staging of it like I think we all agree this was uh definitely inspired by Lindsay Len's character in Freaky Friday right yeah 100% what what didn't you like about it it just when you do that kind of stuff like I don't know like there still has to be something that like has that little surprise you know that little moment where the song stops for a second and then it comes in hard or like a like a nice cool little bit of faletto or like a cool Harmony or I don't know just and I couldn't really get the vibe on like the lyrics like what we were really doing with the song and I don't know just everything about it was like like weird sitcom staging I know I you didn't like that she didn't she was playing guitar that she wasn't actually playing oh that that is a that is a huge pet peeve of mine I said that in the chat where I was like it always bugs me like if you don't know how to play guitar at all please don't do that like at least learn how to play three chords and then put your hand in the configurations just I'm not asking not to be lied to I'm asking to be lied to at least somewhat competently I I I beg I didn't actually notice if she was playing guitar or not I'll have to take your word for it I do know that like I said I did see Katy Perry in Vegas there is points where she come breaks out a guitar and starts riffing and I'm like I can tell that that's that's not plugged in that like that's that's probably not even a real guitar like that's like I I'm look trying to see if there's even strings on it just starts doing the entro to Through the Fire In Flames uh I guess I have to be like the Centrist tiebreaker here between like on how we feel about Hy I my first instinct is to say that I liked the song that's good that's good that's that one one for me yeah well because because here's the thing it does sound like it came from 2002 and my [ __ ] little brain is like wow early 2000s you were a kid then this is the music you listen to when you were a kid isn't this cool that it's back wow great awesome you were five I I have been D yeah I have been dying to hear someone that sounds like uh Fifi Dobson or one of the other AV LaVine wannabes that popped up in her wake yeah this could have been played on Radio Disney with a censored version I I will say that I think that I'm not sure how I feel about the song as a whole just in the sense of like I I'd have to listen to it a few times to really catch it I definitely think it needed some more changes and things like that I feel like it might be one that works better in the context of like a greater album than it does like in the middle of the VMAs you know yeah I mean like look if I actually hear like a studio recording of it maybe there's steps of it that I missing do you know what I mean yeah uh I I definitely think that like I would love to hear like the actual like studio version of it just to see what the production sounds like you know get a lot of that you know intricacies of it see if if they're actually playing guitar on it you know maybe there are some shredding in there that that Hy is doing I don't know but I liked it but I also I I could not tell you what the song sounds like right now at this moment in time yeah um another mixed re review I'd give to is Lisa uh yeah I think new woman is a pretty good song I like that one uh right away I think her she did it as a pairing with Rockstar and I don't think that song's good at all uh I liked her first song did not like her second song not a fan yeah this this was my first time hearing both of those songs and I was like new women great Rockstar that start I was like I don't know what this is this doesn't sound good yeah uh ra Alejandro nothing uh yeah that was a nothing performance and um I don't know if I have said this during the many VMAs we have covered here but like I I think I'm fully anti- Anita at this point they have consistent ly pushed her every year and not once has one of those songs caught on and I don't know maybe maybe pairing with DJ khed and Fat Joe is is the push she needs I that that DJ khed bump yeah gota gotta get that Jennifer Lopez's therapist bump uh but like I don't know I I've just never been impressed with the and it's it's starting to get it's starting to feel really uh shoved down my throat when I watch the Awards She's become like the her of of the MTV VMAs like she only exists to be at this award show like just like her is for the Grammys yeah that was the thing like I I was like saw her a bit in the pre-show and I was like who who is this person like they they're talking about how she's won so many VMAs and how she's like you know very acclaimed and like well known and stuff like that I've not heard a single thing about Anita and I looked her up and I'm like I still know nothing about Anita because it seems like it's just the VMAs yeah um I I I keep up with the Hot 100 Anita has never really made an impact there like Ju Just through osmosis I have you know learned who Carol G is and Rosalia is and those are like actual those feel like actual people who matter at least yeah at least this side of the Equator like maybe Anita is really big down south but she's never done much up here and I I I've never been impressed so there you go yeah I wouldn't say it was a bad performance but I also at nothing from it like really stuck with me yeah um she I I don't I don't know I've never felt her you know it's funny you mentioned uh how um she's won a lot of VMAs usually at by this point in the podcast we have talked about like the awards themselves there were Awards the show every year I am shocked at how less and less the awards matter I think there were they gave out like four like they didn't even give out hipop of the Year anymore like the MTV yeah it's like best Latin best afro beats like it's interesting the picks it it felt like they picked it not based on like what would get the most views like there but like who was there at the time like we'll say best k- pump on stage because Lisa is here uh like we'll do best Latin on stage because Anita's here you know so on so forth I I think it's interesting they didn't even give best hip hop on stage because they gave it to Eminem Eminem was there and uh I think it's like the MTV has been so degraded as an like there are already hip-hop Awards the the BET Awards that's where the things actually happen yeah so like I guess at this point they've decided declared themselves redundant in that regard there is no k- poop Awards and there is no uh you know Latin Pop Awards or at least I mean I guess the Latin Grammys they count do they even show those anymore I don't even know just out of having and there's certainly no afro beats yeah so like they gave out best afro beats on um on stage like so weird to me like there's not even like an afro beats like radio format in this country and like yeah that was so is that like a thing they've done in previous years is that a category they usually have um apparently they gave it out last year but I don't remember them giving it out on stage it's a the MTV VMAs have become such a strange Beast that they give out K-pop and afro beats and Latin Awards but not rock or R&B or hipop or pop for that matter yeah which is that one's a weird one cuz Taylor Swift won that one apparently according to Wikipedia Taylor was there yeah and Taylor won several Awards she won she W too she basically opened and closed the night right yeah she did not um announce a new album thank god um she I mean she announced that you should vote that's that's nice of her but yeah she she came out dressed as like 1995 erasa she did yeah and then she closed Ed by saying that she wanted to believe she came out in a different dress for her uh for her second award where she won the big one of the Night video of the Year presented by Burger King yes yes the Burger King wishes to congratulate I know the other years she has won this I I think there was you know a pretty strong case that those are in fact the biggest song of the year fortnite um I don't know that feels I have literally never heard that song until tonight admittedly I've been kind of avoiding tortured post it's Department oh but I I have not heard a single song from it in my own natural coming UPS of travel or listening to Spotify or anything it just never shows up anywhere for me I mean I've heard it quite a few times but like you know I forc myself to listen to these over and over again and uh yeah I mean like I was like I was like I've certainly heard lunch more than this but I don't know that I would say that I like lunch no dinner person like that's that's a what's that dinner person that's the song I wish I liked more but you know I like other songs off of that Billy album like I say this every year but like if you're not going to treat the awards seriously like they it doesn't really feel like there's any point in watching this it felt like there was more point this year because they had a couple of the you know the biggest stars and they delivered mhm um you know they they booked Olivia Rodrigo back when you know she was blowing up and it didn't really feel like like those performances really lived up to what you know the billing and Chapel rone did so I definitely think that like it was a big benefit to just be able to like get chapel rone and and Sabrina Carpenter and all these other people like right at the height of the Z gist where it's like they haven't made too many TV appearances or at least in in Chapel's case haven't made too many TV appearances and so it's like oh there's an exciting thing of like what's this going to be like uh versus you know I guess Eminem's doing Houdini [Laughter] oh Steve Miller Band let's go Abra AB Abra I hate that the chor is kind of catchy uh I mean that's it is what it is it is I I've never disliked that song but like if someone wants to tell me Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band is a zero out of 10 song like what's my counterargument uh yeah um it's just well it's not about whether it's good or bad it's that it's profoundly deeply uncool it's the stupidest song both of them yeah uh if we are talking about that the handing out of awards can we talk about the weird flave of flave moment that started out the night uh I I feel it's how sad it is that they have to like I barely remembered this story this is like a month- old story and it's as current as they're going to get they got Jordan Childs to get her metal from from Flav of flave and boy that bit went on forever it was the I don't it went on so long that I was like some of this is not scripted yeah cuz he was like I got you your money and I was like what is happening yeah I was like it didn't feel like a bit it felt like like when someone talks to you while you're at like a coffee shop and you're just like okay cool awesome great cool no that was that was like the only bit of the night really once again I want to say the the bit that I liked was Meg and the I'm a slave for you Britney Spear's outfit with the snake and her saying I don't know the snake I don't know why that tickled me so much but I was like I love you making these stallion there there were some there were some I wouldn't call them bits but just introduction segments that I liked uh you know I thought bringing Paris Hilton was you know that was hot that was iconic she she promoted her her album just like just like she's been doing on Twitter for the last few months I get her out yeah I was honestly and Cindy ler Cindy ler was there yeah Cindy loer was there Cindy loer uh they made her introduce Sabrina Carpenter and I feel like it is very cruel that they made her introduce someone with so many RS in her name it's like and now tonight Saina Carpenter going yeah she's she really is like fully entering her Carol cane era yeah she she very much sounded like Carol Kane's character on a unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Ren lilan Ren Cindy going back to to Paris hon I had this like moment of fear and also Joy when they're like coming on stage with a new album coming out Paris Hilton I was like oh my God are we going to get a performance such a disappointment where was it yeah I was like okay cool I guess we're getting Lisa from from black pink sure I guess can you bring Paris Hilton on stage uh I'm no I wanted I wanted Paris Hilton to come out and be like and now introducing my friend with her like 20 years late album Sky Ferrera that's the that's the [ __ ] album drop I wanted at the VMAs is Sky Ferrera comes out and goes I finished it here it is it's live now could you imagine you know much like Katie Perry is there to promote her newest album mostly played her Greatest Hits I think Paris Hilton should have been there to promote her newest album but instead just songs from repo the gentic Opera I mean why not we were we're already ending the night with [ __ ] LL Cool J who that that would have been hot that would have been hot you know uh L C didn't even do the deepest bluest my hat is like a shark fin song oh like that was so weird that they ended with LL um like of all acts like that uh like we are we are seeing hip-hop really get into its like classic rock era where they the old guys come out and they perform all their hits like he started with [ __ ] headsprung that song's 20 years old and it's his newest hit yeah the thing that was weird for me is that they were like oh we're going to end with like a a dedication like medle to like Death Jam records and I was like okay cool we're going to get like a lot of Legacy artists coming on stage and like doing a bunch of things it's like nope it is it is mostly LOL yeah he had Public Enemy do one song enemy for one song and then uh you know they did more Classics uh uh L Cool J songs from 1988 to 1996 yeah here's the thing like if if I'm going to watch one artist go between LL and Public Enemy No bro they could have they could have saved this by having Brad Paisley come out you did it uh the night after the debate this is the unity we need uh also I did like that just to try and make him relevant they pointed out that he's the one who coined the word goat meaning greatest of all time and then they had pictures of literal goats he had pictures of goats they didn't like like like Merill stre like he didn't know what it was it it very much is that like classic rock era of like remember the song you like it's on a t-shir shirt that you can get your dad now thank you yeah and also like goat is the name of an LL Cool J album that like bombed hard it didn't have any hits on it oh also Carson da was there to be like happy 911 everybody oh right yeah that was that was the weird part of the night because Taylor Swift also started by like doing a dedication to 911 and it was very strange because it was like you know I want to just before I get into it just remember like what happened in New York 23 years ago today waking up in New York all I can think about is the lives that were lost and just thank the people who who who dedicate their lives to saving others on that horrific day I want to thank my video team who helped me put this together it's like hey can I I like maybe this is again controversial but like it's an off number Year guys we don't have to talk about like here's here's the thing first of all probably should not have done this on 911 second of all even if you did honestly if you go it's it's year 23 talk about it year 25 we're out we're over two decades out for when it happened I was in college when that happened I remember every second of it we don't have to talk about it at the VMAs is at year 23 it's okay to just go like they know uh I mean it's it's it's it's okay to forget we said never forget but it's okay to forget every now and then I mean this wasn't supposed to happen on 911 like you know that right like it was supposed to happen on uh 910 but that's right and then they moved it because of the debate because uh we had to you know all watch you know Donald Trump talk about how they're eating the dogs and they're eating the cats I'll tell you that that's what the VMAs is missing the transgender illegal aliens that Sabrina Carpenter kissed tonight there you go well that I guess you're right that was there but I truly like it would have been pretty funny like Taylor show should have came out and just said like I want to thank the cats and the dogs they were delicious yeah I thank you I mean Taylor swi should have just come out and said I want to thank the cats for her role in cats 2019 I think another moment that really stuck out to me I don't know why I find it funny but just Orlando Bloom coming out to introduce Katie Perry threw me the [ __ ] out and Yeah and Todd you kind of correctly identified that like there's something kind of toxic about her so like going to get it's like well it's safe to say that her husband's going to do it yeah like that no one can get mad at him for introducing his wife I I I was kind of suspected they weren't going to even show anyone dancing to her admittedly good performance except Orlando Bloom but they did show some other people including Taylor Swift yes well they showed Kitty scissoring and then they cut to Orlando Bloom like see it's cool guys my boyfriend don't mind it don't mind it incredible all right is there anything else that we have on the docket we've been talking for a while no I think that I think that covers pretty much everything yeah the good stuff was good it was fun to make fun of the stuff that was bad uh please stop in inviting camil cab to things and uh wolf Jesse murf but um uh for the most part I think this was a good performance uh a good show by the low low standards of a of a you know a 2020s VMA I liked it uh this ran great Sabrina Carpenter competent plus and she's just great just seeing her is like she's good it's nice that she was there um L Cool J still alive he he's still alive this would I hopefully this does not age poorly when this drops uh no I mean I was kind of uh on the fence when we started this but I think having talked it through I think I kind of agreed with you Todd I think this is this is the best of the VMAs I've watched for sure you you've literally only watched you've watched one this one yeah and it's the best one of the ones I've watched so I mean it's it's the trust us it could get much worse where we should have had you to watch some of the really really sloggy ones honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be I think I think the performances really carried it through like I'm used to watching I watch the Oscars every year so I'm used to watching like four hour boring ass padded award shows and this one at least the main thing that surprised me is just how little awards were actually given out here I was prepping I was like I have to research all these nominees and like what what they do in their songs and it's like no I'm not going I'm not going to [ __ ] see them nope um yeah those uh there are no words anymore uh I I I was shocked too I'm I'm shocked every year like the the there's always less awards that was anyway that was the video music appearances yes thanks everyone bye bye