The story of how the song “Deep End” came into existence and became a hit is kind of wild. One person who really didn’t see it coming is the person who created it, Fousheé. She’s a singer and songwriter from New Jersey. You might have seen her competing on The Voice in 2018. Soon after that, she got asked to make a pack of vocal samples for the music platform Splice, where users can download samples and include them in their own songs, royalty-free. Coming up, Foushée tells the story of what happened with one of those samples, and how that led to her making “Deep End.” That song has now been streamed over 385 million times. Fousheé became the first Black female artist to hit the Top 10 Alternative Chart in over 30 years.

You can buy or stream “Deep End” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Itai Shapira, producer
Fousheé’s “Be Kind to Your Ears” sample pack on Splice
“Deep End Freestyle” by Sleepy Hallow
Fousheé’s “Deep End” TikTok video

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AURORA is a singer and songwriter from Norway, who released her first EP in 2015, when she was 19 years old. It featured this song, “Runaway” and after it came out Aurora went on to win Norwegian Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Artist. And she played the voice of the North Wind in Disney’s Frozen 2. This year, six years after that debut EP came out, Aurora’s song “Runaway” became a huge hit on TikTok. At the time this episode was recorded, between YouTube and Spotify, “Runaway” has been streamed over half a billion times. For this episode, Aurora looked back at how the song first began, and how it evolved over time, from the demo to the final version.

You can buy or stream “Runaway” here.

@iamauroramusic

I love this trend so much 🥀 there is so much beauty in this world. ##runawayaurora ##runaway

♬ Runaway – AURORA

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Magnus Skylstad, producer and co-writer
Odd Martin, producer and guitarist

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Sparks are the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, a legendary duo from Los Angeles. Over the last 50 years, they’ve released 25 albums. They’ve collaborated with Giorgio Moroder and Franz Ferdinand, and they’ve influenced bands like Joy Division, Faith No More, Björk, and countless others. Director Edgar Wright, whose films include Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver, and Scott Pilgrim vs the World, has made a documentary about the band called The Sparks Brothers. It premiered at Sundance, and comes out in theaters on Friday, June 18th. In this episode, Ron and Russell break down their hit song, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us,” which came out in 1974.

You can buy or stream “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Adrian Fisher, guitarist
Norman “Dinky” Diamond, drummer
Martin Gordon, bassist
Muff Winwood, producer
Island Records
Top of the Pops

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