E1: Welcome to BibimPOP with Sean

In this debut episode, I introduce myself and share the inspiration behind starting BibimPOP with Sean. Together, we’ll dive into the exciting world of pop culture—everything from music (obviously including K-Pop) and movies to TV and celebrity buzz. Plus, I’ll be sharing my Spotify Wrapped for 2024—revealing the songs, artists, and genres that defined my year. Tune in and join the conversation!

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro - Welcome to BibimPOP with Sean
• 1:43 Why A Podcast?
• 4:27 Why Pop Culture?
• 5:47 What is BibimPOP?
• 7:24 My 2024 Spotify Wrapped
• 19:39 Closing - Subscribe, Like, and Share

Transcript

Hi everyone. Welcome to the first episode of BibimPop with Sean. That's me. I'm Sean and I am so excited to kick off this podcast about pop culture. I have loved pop culture ever since middle school. Whether it was staying up late to watch Survivor with my parents, watching MTV's Total Request Live TRL right after getting home from school or jamming out to 94.5, the popular radio station where I grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.

Pop culture has always been the perfect mix of entertainment and inspiration for me. So thank you for listening. Please subscribe, like and share BibimPOP with Sean with friends, family, on your social media channels. Thank you so much! In this inaugural episode, I am going to talk about why a podcast, why pop culture? What is Bibimpop?

And then, just for kicks and giggles, we're going to take a look at my 2024 Spotify rapped. Because I have words. I have things to say about my Spotify wrapped outcomes, some disappointments, and some things that I'm really excited about. So let's just, you know, jump right into things.

Right. All right. So why a podcast? Many people don't know this about me, but when I started college, my first major was actually in broadcast journalism. My idols growing up were like Ryan Seacrest, Carson Daly, Jeff Probst. I mean, these people I watched on TV growing up were just like, so magnetic. And I thought their jobs were so cool, and that's what I wanted to be.

That's what I wanted to do. And I think actually, Jeff was around 38 years old when the first season of Survivor aired. So all that to say, it's never too late to start something new, to chase a dream, revive a passion. And speaking of Survivor, I was a castaway on season 45 of Survivor. The best season ever, if I do say so myself.

And if you haven't seen it, get your Paramount+ subscription now and get to work. You need to see it. It's so good. And I just want to say, I mean, I'm going to talk about Survivor here and there on this podcast. It's not going to be the focus of the podcast. But as far as this conversation about why a podcast, I just have to say that I was truly inspired by the other castaways on my season, so many of whom just do things that they absolutely love every single day.

And I'm really grateful to consider myself blessed enough to have a career that I really enjoy. I'm an elementary school principal. Shout out to my students. They are the best. And I've also been looking for a creative outlet. So I thought, why not go back to my teenage roots and do something that has always been on my radar for the longest time, that I just haven't felt was accessible for broadcast journalism?

I mean, content creation is so easy. Well, it's not easy. It's a lot of work. But it's just so much more available to people now. And so here we are. And I think for me, what sealed the deal, I okay, so my younger sister Krista and my husband Matt and I went to go see wicked the other day in theaters and absolutely loved it.

Will discuss later, definitely. But in the first scene, my sister Krista, she leans over to me and she asks, wait, is that Ariana Grande? And immediately I knew I needed to do this podcast because I'm like, if my own sister didn't know that Ariana Grande is in wicked, then I am doing something wrong and I need to get information, important information out to the masses ASAP.

So here we go.

Right. All right, so why pop culture? I mean, more than just my love and my interest in pop culture. Really pop culture impacts everyone. Whether you like it or want to admit it, it impacts and affects you. Pop culture mirrors the cultural values, interests and traditions of society. And so even if you're not into it, you're going to be exposed to it through advertisements in print and online media conversations in the workplace, billboards as you're driving.

There's just no way to get around it, so you might as well just be informed and subscribe and listen to this podcast. And if I'm going to do a podcast about something, it has to be about something that I enjoy. And pop culture is just one of those things for me. For me, it all started at about 13 years old with my very first Discman.

For those of you who don't know, a Discman is a portable CD player where you like, plug in through an ox cord, some headphones, and my very first albums, my mom got them for me. They were Britney Spears, oops, I Did It Again and NSync, Bye Bye Bye. And nearly 23 years later, here we are.

All right, all right. So I know everyone's wondering what is even pop. This past October, I took a life changing trip to Seoul, South Korea, and I fell in love with all things K culture. And one of the things I fell in love with was k food, including bibimbap, which is an amazing and vibrant Korean dish with rice and veggies, kimchi, yum meat bulgogi, yum.

Spices, egg. It's really just a little bit of everything in one bowl, which is how I envisioned this podcast. We are going to talk about music, movies, TV, fashion, celebrity news and we'll also mix in some K-pop. K-pop culture is just really exciting to me because honestly, for the first time in mainstream media, I see my Asian heritage represented.

I'm half Chinese. Shout out to my mom. And growing up there were very few popular like mainstream media, popular actors, singers, influencers and it's just really special to me to see a lot of popular Chinese celebrities in the K-pop space. So I'm going to dedicate at least some time in the podcast to K-pop culture. So as a nod to both pop culture and my newfound interest in K-pop, we have BibimPOP.

Right. All right. I've set the scene for BibimPOP with Sean, this amazing podcast that you're all going to subscribe to and like, right. And now I have some things to say I want to talk about my 2024 Spotify Wrapped. For those of you who don't know, Spotify Wrapped is essentially a report that Spotify, a music platform, generates for its listeners every year about what their top songs that were listened to were, who their top artists were, what their favorite genres were.

And so it's really cool to see at the end of a calendar year, like, what did I listen to? We're just going to go ahead and start with my top artists of 2024, and we'll start at the bottom with number five. My fifth most listened to artist was Ava max. I don't know, like Ava max didn't really come out with too many new songs this calendar year, so I must have just been listening on repeat to her album Diamonds and Dancefloors from 2023, which honestly, all of the songs so amazing, so good.

If you haven't listened to the album, you need to, but I'm like, why, why, why am I listening to so much music from 2023? In 2024? She did have a song come out this year that I know I really liked her song spot a fake. Like I can spot a fake from a mile away. Anyway, I'm not going to say it, okay, but it is, so it's so good.

If you haven't listened to it, give it a listen. I also liked my Oh My, which was a single that came out this year, I think in the summer. Anyway, so Ava max, shout out, hopefully we get more music from you in 2025. My fourth most listened to artist was Todrick Hall. Todrick Hall is honestly a genius.

He's such a creator. I bet my most listened to song by him this past year was actually a song that he produced for Disney, the big Disneyland Parade this last year was called The Magic Happens Parade, and the song that they use in that parade I just thought was so fun. So honestly, I probably listened to Magic Happens from the Disneyland Parade about, billion times.

It's just fun. Anyway, yay! My third most listened to artist was an artist that I actually hadn't listened to previous to this year. Her name is Madison Rose and I listened a lot to her album Technicolor The Full Spectrum, which actually was released in 2022. Like very similar to Ava max. Like very poppy, very upbeat, very fun, like Dancy.

I definitely listened to this album a lot on the stair stepper doing my workouts, but yeah, just discovered Madison Rose this year and had a lot of fun times with her. Apparently because she was my third most listened to artist. All right. My second most listened to artist is SEVENTEEN a k-pop boyband. I cannot say enough amazing things about SEVENTEEN.

I went and saw their concert this year. Matt and I went to San Antonio to see them in November, and they put on an absolutely incredible, amazing, unreal show. They have such great energy. Shout out to my Bias Joshua Hong. Love him. But yeah, they're all their music is just so good. Their most recent like mini album Spill The Fills came out this year.

If you haven't listened to it, listen to it. Is on you. Love money, fame, rain water. I mean, that's all the songs on this mini album are all bops. They're all hits. Love them all. Yeah. So shout out to 17. We're definitely going to talk more about 17. And my number one most listened to artist in 2024 was Tomorrow X Together or Tomorrow by Together or TXT, another K-pop boy band.

Oh my gosh they are so good. They are so good. And Matt and I went to go see them in concert this past. What was it? I think it was in May in the San Francisco Oakland area. Shout out to my bias from TXT who did K love? And it was so fun. They performed some older songs like nine and three Quarters Run Away and also some newer songs like Sugar Rush, Ride Devil by the window and also some of their absolutely latest release songs like Deja Vu, all of their music is so good.

If you haven't given them a listen, you have to. You must. So those were my top five artists of 2024. I'm pretty pleased about my top artists. I think it's a good representation of who I've listened to, although there were some that like I felt like would be on my top. That didn't make it like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift I'm surprised that at least those two didn't make it into my top five, because I definitely listened to a lot of their music.

Charli XCX, I mean, where are they? Where are they? Why are they not in my top five? I need to know. Anyway, let's now talk about my top songs, which I have to tell you, I am pretty much majorly disappointed in my top songs. Like I need to, I don't know, I need to do something about what I'm listening to and like, pay more attention.

The songs I'm listening to the most, apparently, because let's talk about my top songs from five going to number one. My fifth most listened to song of 2024 is Iconic by Madison Rose. This song is fun. I mean, she talks about Tyra Banks in it, which I think is so fun. Iconic is just a song that will get you hyped.

I really listened to this song a lot on the stair stepper, just getting me pumped, getting me going like, yes, I've got this. That's the type of energy it gave me. So I get it. That was my number five. My number four. Most listened to song and I felt bad. I don't even know how to pronounce this artist's last name.

The number four most listened to song. It's called chemicals by Grant. No h k an o c h e I think he actually he's like, he's an artist. Like, obviously he's an artist. He started out in the Kidz Bop space. I think, like he recorded Kidz Bop songs and is now older and records like his own personal music as a soloist and his music's good.

Like, I really enjoy it and I will continue listening. And he released a song called chemicals and it just has like a smooth beat. So if you haven't given listen, go find it. Chemicals by Grant. No. Kind of catchy. Anyway, it was good. I'm surprised it's my number four most listened to song. I didn't think I listened to it that much, but even more surprising is my number three most listened to song, which is titled She Doesn't Mine by Kermani Cremo and I like, did someone hack into my Spotify one day and just put this song on repeat like a thousand times?

I know I've listened to the song at least a little bit because it's on like my current playlist, but I didn't think I listened to it that much. I'm grouped and gagged. I don't even I don't have words because I don't even think I like the song. I mean, it's good, it's got like a good beat. I like the little like the the singer does this little, like, voice inflection, like, like, which I think is kind of fun.

But again, I wouldn't say, like if you ask me, what are your favorite songs right now or of this year, that song wouldn't even pop into my memory. So sorry to Croman. And also you're welcome to, because I've streamed you apparently many times and you've probably made at least some money off of me, so you're welcome. My number two most listened to song is You Only Love Me by Rita Ora.

Listen, I love me some Rita Ora. She's fun. She was in the Descendants four movie this year, which I thought she did spectacular in. I love descendants, I love Disney, all the things. Anyway, let me see. Okay, I actually have my Spotify pulled up in front of me right now. You Only Love Me by Rita Ora. This song came out in 2023.

Okay, so it's it's not old. I'm also, again, a little behind the times, and you're probably wondering, why am I listening to this podcast if Shawn's just going to talk about things from 2022 and 2023? Anyway? I'm sorry. Okay. Like this was my second most listened to song. I like Rita Ora. I didn't know I liked this song as much as I did.

Okay. And my number one most listened to song and I blame my sister Christopher, this one, because she sent it to me in a text message and was like, listen to this song. So I listened to it. And again, apparently I really liked it because it's my number one most listened to song. Even though, again, if you asked me is what was your favorite song of 2024, I would probably give you something like K-pop, like supernova by Aespa or I don't know, but definitely not.

Definitely not this song. It's titled I Don't even want to say it. It's titled I Don't Want to Wait by David Guetta and One Republic. David Guetta is still around, I guess. How old is he now? He's got to be like, I don't know, in his 50s. But apparently I really liked this song and I'm not going to lie, I like his music and I like ish One Republic.

But put those two together and apparently they make super mega hits that Sean really, really just absolutely loves. Question mark, because I guess I did. I love this song. And you know what? I think I know why, I think I know why. It just came to me. In this song, they talk a lot about the weekend and how excited they are for the weekend.

Like, I don't want to wait like I want the weekend. Let's make tonight the weekend anyway. And apparently, I really like it. And I have just realized that I don't want to wait for the weekend. I love my weekends, and this song probably gave me at the, this year. The energy I needed to save, the weekends coming, and I love weekends.

I don't want to wait for the weekends. So if you haven't given this song a listen and you like weekends, then maybe you'll love this song too and it will rise to your number one. Anyway, those were my top five songs of 2024. I hope you enjoyed listening to that mess. Okay, Spotify also tells you like your favorite genres of the year, and I had a lot of favorite genres.

You know, K-pop came to one of them, you know, some other things. But I have to highlight what Spotify Wrapped told me that my favorite genre was in February. And I quote literally it said February was your MC bling actor teen pop phase. You were really into artists like Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Montag, and Hilary Duff. Close quote I don't know if I've ever been so proud of myself in my entire life.

I love that for whatever reason, in February I was like, yes, I'm going to listen exclusively to Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Montag, and Hilary Duff, all of which have not put out new music for literally years. Like, I couldn't even tell you how long it's been. But you know, every now and then it's fun to just, like, throw yourself back in time and, relive those happy, happy days.

I don't know, but anyway, that was my favorite genre of February. How fun for me. I would love to hear what your 2024 Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music replay outcomes were. So, you know, shout me out. Let me know that. Look at that. We made it through our first BibimPop with Sean episode together. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening.

Like, seriously, this is so fun for me and for me to have the opportunity to share something I enjoy with you is really meaningful. So just thank you. As a reminder, please like, subscribe and share this podcast. The more people that listen will just give me the motivation to keep content creating. It was so fun to talk about my 2024 Spotify Wrapped.

I've had so many thoughts and I've been waiting to share them. And so thank you for giving me the space, outlet and time and the platform by which I could. You can also follow my socials for updates on this podcast. You can follow me @ BibimpopwithSean on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook, and you can follow me @ BibimpopSean on X, formerly Twitter.

I didn't have enough characters to include the with, so for Twitter or for X, it's just @ BibimpopSean. New episodes will be dropping soon, so stay tuned and we'll catch you later.