Billie Eilish started releasing music when she was 14 years old. Her debut album came out last year, when she was 17. It debuted at Number 1 on Billboard, went triple platinum, and won her five Grammys. Billie made that record with her brother and creative partner, producer and artist Finneas O’Connell, in their parents’ house in Highland Park, Los Angeles.

While working on that album, they also started writing this song, “Everything I Wanted,” which came out as a single in November 2019. It was Billie’s second top ten hit, and it went double platinum, too. In this episode, you’ll hear some of the original voice memos Billie and Finneas made while writing, and the two of them explain why the song was almost never finished.

You can buy or stream “Everything I Wanted” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

If you or someone you love is having thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK, or text HELLO to 741-741. You’re not alone. And if you’d like to make a donation to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, you can do so here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Side-chain compression

Deftones are a Grammy-winning band from Sacramento who’ve sold over ten million albums. Their ninth album, Ohms, came out this year, on September 25th, 2020. In this episode, singer Chino Moreno breaks down how the title track came together, and how they literally went back to where things started in order to create it.

You can buy or stream “Ohms” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Risk – board game
Chi Cheng – former Deftones bassist
Terry Date – producer
Jane’s Addiction
Prophet-5 synthesizer

Rapper Killer Mike and rapper/producer El-P first met in 2011. They both had established rap careers, but they entered a new era when they started making music together as Run the Jewels in 2013. They’ve been nominated for a Grammy, and they released their fourth album, RTJ4, in June 2020. Like all of their albums, they made it available to download for free. In this episode, El-P and Killer Mike break down the song “JU$T,” which features guest vocals from their frequent collaborator, Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, and guest vocals from Pharrell Williams.

You can buy or stream “JU$T” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Nicholas Ryan Gant
Aquemini – Outkast album
Lord Infamous
Project Pat
Migos
Death of Eric Garner
Shure SM57 microphone