What’s Next? (Pop Shop Podcast) – Billboard

Maren Morris has been a country hitmaker since her 2016 breakthrough “My Church.” But last week, she released a pair of new songs — “The Tree” and “Get the Hell Out of Here” — along with a mission statement that makes it clear she’s no longer interested in playing by the rules of country music.

“These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing towards the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” Morris said in a press release. “Honoring where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved in country music, but also freely moving forward.”

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are looking at other recent examples of stars working outside country — Taylor Swift’s explicit pop pivot, Kacey Musgraves bypassing the establishment, Zach Bryan charting his own course — and how they’ve all found their own lanes beyond the genre. Morris herself has already found success outside country, with her Billboard Hot 100 top five hit “The Middle” with Zedd and Grey (also a seven-week No. 1 on Pop Airplay) and her crossover hit “The Bones,” which topped the Adult Contemporary and Adult Pop Airplay charts.

Listen below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Olivia Rodrigo doubles up at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with her new GUTS album and its single “Vampire,” how Fleetwood Mac is back on the Billboard 200 with a new archival live album, how friend of the podcast Josh Groban can be heard on a new No. 1 album on our Cast Albums chart, and how rising jazz star Laufey makes a splash on the Billboard 200 and atop our jazz charts with the largest debut for a jazz album in nearly two years.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)