Pop Culture Predicting Recession, "No One Should Have Kids." -Gen Z Pop Star, Beyonce's Cowboy Carter--Collaborator Regrets the Album (The Five for 04/07/25)
Plus, Zack Snyder's new UFC movie. South Park team pairs with Kendrick Lamar for "Musical Comedy." Controversial 90's hip hop legend returns...to mixed results.
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication abou the stories that matter.
Due to 12 hour workdays last week, this one is a bit later than expected.
Let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
One of the most anticipated IP coming to Netflix…is really making fans angry (myself included). Writer/Director Greta Gerwig, who has been nominated for four Oscars, is one of the kindest people I’ve ever interviewed (read that here, if you like). I was open to her interpretation of the Chronicles of Narnia book series.
Then…uhhh…this.
From The New York Post
In the novels written by C.S. Lewis, Aslan is a talking lion who serves as Narnia’s guardian. In the original “Narnia” movies, Aslan is voiced by Liam Neeson.
News of Streep’s alleged casting as Aslan sparked a mostly negative reaction from fans on social media.
“But Aslan is a male lion?” one fan wrote on X.
“Of course, we need a female Aslan. It would be crazy to just write a female character,” another person said.
A different fan asked, “Why do they feel the need to gender-swap Aslan?”
“Aslan is literally a male lion. Will all due respect to Meryl Streep’s acting abilities, there’s no conceivable reason to cast a female as Aslan unless it is to deliberately subvert C.S. Lewis,” another tweet read.
Before I freak out as much as the people in the NY Post…a few very practical questions.
A). What does Streep bring to this character, exactly?
B). Will Aslan still be male lion? Because the second novel has a VERY big plot point that requires the lion to have a mane. Female lions do not have manes.
C). Has Gerwig learned nothing from World War Z, The Witcher, The Dark Tower, HALO, or Anne with an E, all movies/TV shows that bombed by straying too far from the books?
Filming reportedly starts this summer, so I guess we’ll find out next year.
[two]
One of the biggest pop stars in the world just argued…for the end of the human race, I guess?!
Pop star Chappell Roan is no stranger to controversy: She’s gotten pushback for complaining about “abuse and harassment” by strangers in public, canceling a performance at the last minute to prioritize her health, and refusing to endorse a presidential candidate in the last election.
And now, with comments she made last week as a guest on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Roan has really stepped into a hornet’s nest: She’s angered moms.
When asked by host Alex Cooper if she’s still close with friends back home in Missouri, she said that she is, but that their lives are very different, with many of them parents to little children.
“All of my friends who have kids are in hell,” the 27-year-old said. “I actually don’t know anyone who’s, like, happy and has children at this age. I literally have not met anyone who’s happy, anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who has slept.”
As the oldest of four kids herself, Roan added that her mom had her at 23, asking, “Why did my parents do that?”
First off, let’s have a little grace here. Roan is in her twenties, and you’re allowed to say a few dumb things. She’s also had a record deal for most of her 20’s, which tends to shield one from growing up. She’s good at her job (I’m a casual fan), but maybe not so much at speaking on other subjects.
I don’t doubt that what Chappell said is true, in her eyes. The little years are tough. If Roan doesn’t want to have kids, it’s certainly not my job to talk her into it. But the natural conclusion of this worldview, that no one should have kids, is the extinction of the human race in about 80 years.
You know what else was hell? My great-uncle’s experience being trapped behind enemy lines at the Battle of the Bulge. His company ran dangerously low on ammo, and survived freezing temperatures from November to January, when he was finally medevacked out after taking a piece of a grenade to the face.
But the benefits? Well, I really enjoy not speaking German, and not worrying about my entire family being thrown into a gas chamber, since my wife and daughters are part Jewish.
If you want a happy life (not just a happy week), live a meaningful one. If you want a meaningful life, you’re going to have to embrace seasons of pain.
The fact that a twentysomething pop star doesn’t know that, speaks more to her age and inexperience than any kind of higher truth.
[three]
Rhiannon Giddens, best known for the Trio Carolina Chocolate Drops, was guest performer on 2025’s Album of the Year, Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter. She is now having songwriter’s regret about participating:
But it was some of the other things Rhiannon Giddens said about the Cowboy Carter experience—or maybe what she didn’t say—that has some wondering if that experience was less than ideal.
In the interview, Giddens remarks, “When I think about my banjo playing, I think of the lineage I have received through Joe Thompson and everyone who taught him … this connection to a very deep piece of my culture. Every time I pull my banjo out, I’m thinking of that.”
Giddens continues, “If ever I do something that seems counter to that, there’s a very good reason. There are two examples I could pull out, in my entire 20-year career, where I feel like I had to make a compromise in order for a greater good. This was one of those times. What was hard for me was to feel that gift treated as any other transaction in the music industry.”
Though you have to sort of parse though what Giddens is saying, she seems to be implying that her banjo part on “Texas Hold ‘Em” wasn’t used in the Joe Thompson tradition, and instead of being handled with a sense of reverence or understanding of Black banjo history, was simply utilized as just another element in the song by just another contributor.
For those who don’t know, Joe Thompson was considered one of the last true old-time Black string band musicians. He passed away in 2012.
Giddens also said, “I did it for the mission. So, my idea of what the mission is and somebody else’s idea of what the mission is are not going to be the same thing. There’s a reason why I’m not a multi-millionaire. If you are a multi-millionaire, there are reasons why. No shade, whatever. It means you do things in a certain way.”
She then continued, “I don’t do this because I want to look pretty and make a lot of money, and so when I rub up against that world, it’s always hard.”
Though none of us should be so presumptive as to put words into the mouth of Rhiannon Giddens, you can definitely tell there is some disappointment both how Giddens was utilized on Cowboy Carter, and how the overall “mission” of the album was approached.
The simple fact is that Cowboy Carter did not achieve the mission it set out to, or at least the mission that was assigned to it by so many in the press and in academia before its release. Many promised it would revolutionize country music, dramatically open country up to Black and Brown performers—especially women of color—and reclaim the banjo’s Black origins.
But here nearly a year after the release, it’s empirically true Cowboy Carter did not achieve any of these things. It’s true that country music continues to open up more for Black and Brown performers, but it’s uncertain, if not unlikely, Cowboy Carter has anything to do with that.
Before we move on, please take a moment to listen to Joe Thompson, who died in 2012:
A year ago, Giddens tried to defend her participation, especially after she had criticized Beyonce’s “country” incursions in the past (see that here). I sent her that link in 2024, and asked for an explanation:
Two things can be true at once. Beyonce was absolutely robbed at the 2017 Grammy Awards, when her iconic Lemonade album lost to Adele’s 25 in multiple categories. It’s also true that Cowboy Carter winning album of the year was obviously a make-up award for what happened to Lemonade. The tour isn’t selling well, and the album quickly fell off the charts.
What’s weirder is how Beyonce claimed she was “empowering” black and brown country artists, but shoved Linda Martell (the first black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry) into a spoken word intro, while featuring white performers Post Malone, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Miley Cyrus onto big radio-friendly tracks (but they were bad songs, so it didn’t work).
The songwriters and artists of color on Cowboy Carter are all great, and you should go give them a listen (full coverage in this issue of The Five).
It’s not just Giddens who can feel how bad this went. Cowboy Carter fell off the charts pretty quickly, and the tour is not selling well. Twenty years ago, the music industry could have brought Beyonce more success for the album with sheer brute force and marketing dollars, but in 2025, the streaming numbers tell the truth.
[four]
It’s an odd paradox…when the economy gets unstable, pop music gets louder and more optimistic. And as the markets tank due to unstable tariff policies…Kesha is bringing back the bombast.
Last year, it was 2010’s pop resurfacing on the streaming charts…now it’s new music heading in this direction, with Kesha blowing back up on the scene.
Fashion is predicting a recession as well.
One of the major signs a recession is looming is in the fashion world. Previous years' fashion trends have revolved around short skirts, crop tops and overall party culture. Recently, this trend has changed; business casual wear seems to be the new normal. Searches for longer skirts, modest tops and neutral colors are on the rise. These searches last peaked in the mid-2000s. Brands are switching their collections to fit this trend. The brand PrettyLittleThing has been known to produce pieces for vacations or clubs, but now they focus on business attire. The brand even changed the colors on their website from bright and fun to neutral colors. The decline in clothes meant for going out also means people are going out less.
Last summer, people everywhere were having a messy, carefree “Brat Summer” filled with partying and having fun, but now, people cannot afford the party lifestyle. Trump's recent tariffs affect European spirits and canned beer imported from Mexico. These tariffs will affect the costs of drinks at the bar; going out is already expensive, and the rising costs of drinks are forcing more people to stay in. However, some people predicted the decline before the tariffs were announced. There is a new unofficial index to measure the economy called “The Stripper Index.” This implies if strippers are going a long time without making money, the economy is struggling. Currently, dancers in Vegas are struggling to make ends meet, which means dancers everywhere are struggling.
The current state of pop music is also a sign a recession may be looming. Recession pop refers to the music made during the recession from 2007-09. The moment of pop music was dominated by artists such as Kesha and Lady Gaga, who both are back releasing similar tracks to those they made in the late 2000s. These tracks are characterized as being feel-good songs and centered on living in the moment. The return of the indie sleaze genre, which was popular in the 2000s, could also be a sign.
It’s often said that politics is downstream of culture. In this case, culture is downstream of…economic policy.
Prior to this, the biggest names in Gen Z mainly made bedroom pop about anxiety and depression, like Julia Michaels’ excelling single “If the World Was Ending.”
It’s worth listening to both singles to hear the vibe shift.
Personally, I think recession pop is pretty obnoxious, and not very good music. But it’s trending for a reason. And whatever your tastes are, that’s worth noting.
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup.
[movies] Color me excited. Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) is taking on a UFC story for his next project, Brawler. It’s gonna be the Rocky story again, which is what all boxing/fighting movies are. Do we need another one of those? Well, I’ll always watch. || The next live-action Spiderman will be titled Spiderman: Brand New Day. The next animated Spidey, Beyond the Spiderverse, hits theaters July 4, 2027.|| Director Sam Mendes (1917, Skyfall) will release FOUR separate Beatles biopics (one for each member of the band) that is being dubbed the “first bingable theater experience.” See them in 2028. || In addition to John Wick 5 (again, I’m kinda against that one), the Wick universe is getting an animated prequel, and a Cain spinoff.
[shows] It’s great to see Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Aquaman) back in a TV leading role. Chief of War for Apple TV+, tells the true tale of a local chief who tries to unify the Hawaiian islands to fend off western colonization. || South Park returns for season 27 in July, after two years off. Diddy’s trial and an all-out war with Canada will be the main plot points. || Speaking of South Park, the show’s creator are working with Kendrick Lamar on a comedy series. Out in 2026.
[music] Indie icon Sufjan Stevens will re-release his standout album Carrie and Lowell for it’s 10th anniversary, including seven new songs. || Will Smith is returning to rap after a 20 year hiatus. His recent freestyle exceeded my expectations…only because they were so low. Not great, but not bad. || Newcomer to the Americana world Jack Van Cleaf snags a guest vocal from Zach Bryan. It’s great. (YouTube).
[gaming] Doom: The Dark Ages has strong early reactions, and is worth noting if you’re into old school shooters. || Nintendo announced Mario Kart World for Switch 2, which will be $80, or $50 bundled with the system (Trailer). The Japanese company will also be reviving the James Bond game series.
Freaking out over the Indiana Jones threads running through this one.
John Krazinski (The Office, Jack Ryan), Natalie Portman (Star Wars, Black Swan) and Domhnall Gleason (Ex-Machina, Star Wars) lead a ridiculously stacked cast in a story about siblings chasing the fountain of youth.
The 80’s and 90’s featured a handful of classic spoof/parody comedies, including The Naked Gun, Airplane, and Hot Shots! Part Deux.
I loved these movies as a kid, and was very surprised to see Liam Neeson (Taken, Schindler’s List) pop up in the sequel (which has the same name as the original). The dude seems to be very committed to the absurdist comedy style here. In theaters 08/01.
Until the next one,
-sth