Episode 5 Recap: "Somebody Can Send Your Luggage"

Greeting Bad Bitches and Gentlepeople. It’s that time again… the Chamomile Tea Podcast recap. Episode five was fun to record, and it drove to the core of what we love….social issues and pop shit. Let’s begin.

Bring it Back - Girl Groups of the Past & Present

[Image Credit: Billboard.com]

[Image Credit: Billboard.com]

In anticipation of Fifth Harmony’s upcoming self-titled album (coming out August 25th), Ton and Angie break down girl groups from the past and present. In this conversation, the duo sits down and discusses what makes a girl group successful, what happens when a girl group gets popular, and also what can internal conflict can do to a group. Ton and Angie also asks the question “Are girl groups done in the United States?” When discussing about various music market, the duo goes in depth of how countries like the United Kingdom (i.e Little Mix, Spice Girls)  and South Korea (i.e Girls Generation, 2NE1) have sky rocketed the usage of girl groups, but United States seems to be over with the concepts of groups. The concentration of this topic goes deeper in terms of the debate on individualism vs. collectivism in certain cultures, and what that means with the future of girl groups. Either way, the history of popular girl groups still has a deep legacy in the music industry, and in our hearts.  



For this week’s weary, Ton takes the first jab at former Fifth Harmony member, Camila Cabello, and her developing solo career. However, it wasn’t her new music that was making Ton talk about this dangerously problematic singer. Ton notes that Cabello, since her involvement with Fifth Harmony, has shown obvious examples of anti-black rhetoric and behavior. It was noted that Cabello was silent during an incident with ex-band member Normani Kordei when she took a break from twitter due to racist cyber bullying that she encountered that was started with a comment she made about Cabello during an interview video. Ton even points out multiple sources of her discriminatory behavior in the past, which makes her an easy target for her hypercritical behavioral patterns in her upcoming career. Cabello’s obvious biased perceptions has caused a huge conversation about anti-blackness in other POC communities, especially since the artist has been linked to multiple black producers, songwriters, and artists. Of course with every other weary, this came without a pure solution. However, it should be noted that actions from Cabello is far from normal, and should be discussed in public discourse.

HBO’s Confederate

In other breaking news that deals with race relations, Angie’s weary focuses on the upcoming HBO show titled Confederate. On July 19, HBO announced  that their successful show-runners  ,David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of Game of Thrones, would create a fictional drama a that imagines a modern-day Confederacy with an intact slavery industry. The show's premise asks "What would the world have looked like … if the South had won?” In the typical classic Angie fashion, she cites her southern upbringing, and discusses how the image of the confederacy is a dangerous one, especially with the existing white terrorism that exists today. As well, Angie also address that traditionally disenfranchised writers don't get the call to do other stories outside of their identity, and even when they do a story about themselves, executives have preconceived notions of how their stories should be told. Even with the more detailed presentation that HBO tries to pull out with this show, it still doesn’t need to be given the benefit of the doubt, especially with the racial climate that exists in America.


Song of the Week

Angie: Spice Girls “Say You Will be There” Spice Girls

Ton: Destiny’s Child  “Lose My Breath”  

To get more in depth conversation about these various issues from this episode, be a homie and listen to this week’s episode. We got nothing but truth and love from you guys.

Until next time!

Chamomile Tea