ONE DIRECTION (with Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos)

Pop Pantheon

Rolling Stone Senior Writer Brittany Spanos joins DJ Louie for a conversation about British boyband, One Direction. First, Louie and Brittany break down how generational waves of boybands have riffed on a similar formula in their performance styles, musical tropes, and teen fandemonium over the last 50 years. They discuss how One Direction both stands in that lineage and break from it, beginning with their formation on the reality show X Factor, use of newly emergent social media platforms to galvanize their massive stan army, The Directioners, and their aesthetic reliance on rock signifiers rather than American r&b. Louie and Brittany then tackle all of One Direction's albums, the culture of Directioner-ism, trace the heavily referential nods they makes towards moments in rock 'n roll history, common subjects of their songs, the bombshell departure of Zayn Malik, and their impact on both boyband and pop history. Finally, Louie and Brittanny rank One Direction in the official Pop Pantheon.

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