E12: ænergy Unleashed: The Rise Of aespa & Their Virtual World Domination

Get ready, K-Pop newcomers and enthusiasts! 🎧 In this episode of BibimPOP with Sean, we dive deep into the multiverse of aespa, SM Entertainment’s cutting-edge girl group. 🚀 From their groundbreaking AI concept to their record-breaking hits like “Next Level” and “Supernova”, we explore how Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning are redefining what it means to be a global (and virtual) phenomenon. 🌍💃

We’ll break down their most iconic tracks in a rapid fire discography review, discuss their unique concept that bridges the real and virtual worlds, and help you to know who the fiercely talented members of aespa are! 🎶✨

Whether you’re a dedicated MY (aespa fan) or just curious about why aespa is taking the world by storm, this episode will have you saying, “I’m on the Next Level!” 🔥 Hit play, and let’s get æ-mazing together! 🎤🎉

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Episode 12
• 4:48 The Rise of aespa
• 12:53 Aespa & Avatars
• 18:47 Aespa Rapid Fire Review
• 32:40 Subscribe, Follow, Like, & Share

Transcript

Hello Pop Tarts, and welcome to another amazing episode of BibimPOP with Sean. Where pop culture ate. I am thrilled to be sharing with you some very exciting news. I have some collaborative opportunities for BibimPOP with Sean coming up very soon. Next week I will be dropping an episode where I interview a K-pop store that is local to my area.

I am so excited! The store is called K-pop Hive. So definitely stay tuned for that episode. I can't wait for it to drop not too long after that episode. I am going to drop another collaborative episode where I interview K-pop Club Night, which is an amazing organization that goes around all of North America, including Canada, to put on incredible K-pop events at clubs where people can dance the night away to their favorite K-pop idols.

K-pop Club Night will be coming to my area in Salt Lake City very soon, and I cannot wait. So definitely stay tuned and make sure you catch those episodes when they drop. I will most certainly be keeping you updated on those collaborative opportunities, so stay tuned before going into today's episode of BibimPOP with Sean. I just want to say that I really hope everyone in Los Angeles is getting the support and love and care that the city so much needs right now as they recover from the tragic fires.

Seeing the daily updates about the fires was just so sad, and I'm really grateful to have been in a position to contribute financially, even though I wish I could have contributed more. I guess if everyone is able to do their part, our collective support can really make a big difference. If I lived in closer proximity, I would have loved to donate my time as well.

So many of my friends who live in Los Angeles donated their time and it was so inspiring to see all the support that they gave. And what I've learned and been reminded of is that even if people are not in a position to contribute financially or give of their time because they don't live in close proximity, that is okay.

People can always spread the word post on social media and more. There are just so many ways to give back to those in need. It's not just about money. Los Angeles definitely has a very special place in my heart. I have many friends who live there from all different times in my life, such as back in my dating days.

I have friends from when I was in high school living in new Jersey that now live in LA. A lot of my friends from college moved out to LA, and of course, I have a great community of survivor friends that also live in LA. And so to my LA friends, I love you. Please stay safe and keep in touch.

Sending everyone in Los Angeles the very best energy. Shifting now to a very different topic, I did have someone go onto my Buzzsprout podcast website and on that website you can leave me messages. And someone left me a really great message saying, what about Diddy? And I don't have much to say about Diddy other than that comment made me think about how my mom and my younger sister, Christa, went and saw Diddy in person when he was on live with Regis and Kelly, and I didn't get to go.

I can't remember why, but I just remember thinking it was so funny that my mom and my sister went to go see Diddy in New York City, and I remember asking them, like, why did you go see him? And they were like, we didn't know that he was going to be the guest that day. They just got tickets to go see the show, and it just happened to be Diddy.

So while I don't have much to say about him right now on BibimPOP with Sean. But I do have to say is I loved this comment because it reminded me of that hilarious story. I am so excited for today's episode! Today we're doing another K-pop deep dive into a girl group this time, and we are going to be talking all about the amazing group Aespa.

We will start by talking about the rise of Aespa, and then I'll talk about all the members giving you a little background and context, and then I'm going to do a rapid fire going through their albums and mini albums, every song and tell you what I think very briefly, so you can start listening to Aespa today. Today, right after this episode of BibimPOP with Sean.

All right, so here we go. Let's talk about aespa.

Aespa is usually spelled and represented with all lowercase letters a, e, s, p, a, and they are a South Korean girl group formed by the mega giant K-pop label SM entertainment, and they are currently one of SM Entertainment's largest, most popular groups. They officially debuted in November of 2020 during the most impacted Covid year, which created challenges when it came to performing in person and connecting with fans.

For many artists, the worldwide pandemic could have doused their flame, but SBF found incredible success in the face of one of the most difficult times in our world's history. I mean, if you can't already tell, I am obviously going to be talking about how amazing aespa is, what I love about aespa, and there are many things, but one thing is that they debuted with a very specific branding in mind.

aespa is a combination of the words avatar, experience, and aspect, which deliberately highlights their exploration of the real and virtual worlds. I love how aespa has so much symbolism in their music and music videos, including how each member has. This is so cool. Each member has a virtual counterpart called æs, which is spelled starting with the character a e.

You know, like when the A and the E are connected if you like, are on a MacBook. I think if you press and hold the A button down and then option six comes up, it's option six, it's the A and the E connected. That's the character anyway a e together called Ise. Teen Vogue did an article back in 2021 to explain aespa’s mix of reality and virtual worlds, saying the following quote on the surface, aespa’s story is rooted in the concept that we exist in two worlds the real world and the virtual one.

In this virtual world, we all have digital avatars that have been created with our data. Every photo we upload, every video we consume, every song we listen to, every purchase we make as the physical manifestation of our online selves. The æs are a more perfect version of us. They are who we choose to show to the world. Similar but not always truthful.

But what happens when your æs becomes corrupted? That's where aespa’s concept takes a darker and more compelling turn. Okay, close quote. I love it. It's so intriguing. It feels like a choose your own adventure story and I am here for it. I love that aespa dives into the metaverse and acknowledges, through their music and artistry that in our contemporary world, we all have our quote, real lives and then our alter egos, which are captured through our digital footprint.

Oh my gosh, it's so cool. And the storytelling here is so believable. I mean, just think about the different lives you lead. For example, I'm gonna talk about myself here. Professional career Sean is vastly different from personal Sean, and everyone who knows me personally is like, how are you an elementary school principal? Like, I don't get that. Help me understand that.

And it's because I am a different person at work than I am when I engage with people on a personal level, when I'm at work, I'm a leader. I'm a problem solver. I am generally very serious, goal driven and make decisions based on data. I am attentive to details, responsive to stakeholders, and I engage meaningfully with my students, my faculty and staff, and the community.

Also, shout out to the best faculty, staff, students, community ever. I love them, they're so awesome! Okay, but what about personal Sean? If you are in my close inner circle, I am very goofy. I'm outgoing, I love to play games and laugh. I'm loud, extravagant, I know, hard to believe I'm loud, extravagant, and some may say extra and social media.

Sean is even different from career Sean and personal Sean social media Sean is curated, filtered, sparkly which, fun fact is a word that Jeff Probst used to describe my season of survivor that I was on. Anyway, let me just call this out here. Look, social media is so interesting. I acknowledge that many people, myself included, construct our social media pages and feeds like Instagram to represent the best version of our lives, which depict sometimes this unrealistic idea of what our lives are actually like.

For me, obviously I have difficult times and hard days. There's a lot about life that gets me frustrated, sad, and upset, and I use my social media to focus on the positive because that's the energy I want to put out into the world, which then, by default and unintentionally appears to be a depiction of a too good to be true life, right?

Anyway, all that to say, I think there is a lot of validity and what APA is doing with their image because the same person is leading all these different lives at least for me, it's true. Again, I just love how unique and different aespa is just from the formation of the group. Conceptually, it's like before even listening to their music, you know you're going to get a different experience than what you're used to, and that is so cool.

Although aespa has only been around for a few years, they have had monumental achievements, to name a few. They have received multiple Asia Artist Awards in 2021 for the Hot Trend Award and Rookie of the Year Award, and in 2024 for the Best Artist Award for music. They have also received Asian Pop music Awards in 2024, most recently for Best Album of the year.

They've received Circle Chart Music Awards in 2020 for artist of the year for streaming unique listeners. They've received multiple Golden Disc Awards in 2025. This year, song of the Year and Best Digital Song and Best Album. They also won Best Album in 2023 at the Mama Awards in 2024. They've got a whole list here. They've won Best Choreography, Best dance performance for a female group, Best Music video song of the year, worldwide Fans Choice top ten.

I mean, the list just goes on. Melon Music Awards in 2024. Another large list here. Album of the year. Artist of the year, Best Female Group, Best Performance, song of the year and more. They've also been mentioned in the Financial Times in 2023 for the 25 Most influential Women in Forbes magazine, in 2020, two for 30 under 30 in Asia, and in 2021 for Korea Power Celebrity.

They were also in time magazine in 2022 for Next Generation Leaders, and they were also the very first K-pop group to ever perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2022, which is a pioneering moment for K-pop in the USA. Obviously, their accolades speak for themselves. I fell in love with Expo when I saw them perform live as the headliners at the K link K-pop music festival in Seoul.

They sounded great, their energy was amazing, their choreography was on point, their visuals were spot on, and they just hit. They were so, so so so amazing. I was a fan of their music before, but after seeing them live, call me obsessed. Okay, pop tarts, if you're liking this content and this discussion and please remember to subscribe, follow, like and share BibimPOP with Sean.

And don't forget that I have some exciting collaborative opportunities and events coming up, so definitely stay tuned and make sure to pay attention to this podcast for more information.

All right. aespa has a total of four members in the group. Definitely less than the nine members I previously introduced to you in the zero based one episode. However, I guess you can technically say aespa has eight members if you count the four real members and the four virtual or alter ego æs members. For today, we will just go through the four real members.

Maybe I'll talk a little bit about their metaverse avatars, because that's just fun and different and weird, and I like it. And an article by paper it says about aespa’s avatars. Quote, they exist as both real life idols and cyberpunk heroines with digital avatars. Algorithmic I'll algorithmic mythically. Wow, that is a really hard word. Let's try that again.

Quote cyberpunk heroines with digital avatars algorithmically created from their data, Karina describes their æs members as their best friends, culled from their online identities and personal data. Close quote Karina then essentially tells paper quote, they're not our identical copies, but they're very similar to us. Close quote. Such a cool concept. I'll say it again and again. So let's talk about Karina as the first member that we will talk about.

Karina was born on April 11th, 2000. She is a leader, a main dancer, a lead rapper and a sub vocalist. Her nationality is South Korean and she was scouted by SM entertainment through social media. She was a K-pop trainee for four years before debuting Can You Believe That? Four years in training before debuting. She has a background in performing arts and ballet and modern dance.

She's the tallest member of the group and she is year of the Dragon. Like yours truly. Next in the group, let's talk about Giselle. Giselle was born on October 30th, 2000, and her role in the group is that she's the main rapper and sub vocalist. She is Japanese Korean. She was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and has fluent English.

Because she went to an international school, being able to rap in multiple languages has been a huge benefit to her overall skill that she provides to Aespa. She was a trainee for almost one year and I read on K profiles.com I love this. Her favorite movie is Deadpool, which is. I think that's so fun. I think it shows that she just kind of has this edgy, fun personality.

Next in the group is Winter and Winter was born on January 1st, 2001, a new year baby, I love it. Her role in the group is that she's a lead vocalist, a lead dancer, and she is known for her visuals in the group. Her nationality is South Korean and she is from Busan, which is by the ocean and I want to visit.

There are so bad some day it looks beautiful. She was discovered through an SM entertainment audition and I believe she was a trainee for almost four years. Last but certainly not least, let's talk about the member Ning, Ning and Ning. Next birthday is October 23rd, 2002. Her role in the group is that she's a main vocalist, her nationality is Chinese, and Ningning actually competed in a few Chinese singing competitions, including China's Got Talent.

She joined SM Entertainment's trainee program in 2016, and she is the youngest member of Aespa. So now you know the four members of Aespa? Well, I should say, you know, they're real live versions of themselves. Let's talk about who they are as their avatars, avatar experience or æs. Karina is depicted in the alternate virtual universe as a leader who is strong, confident, fearless, and has a commanding presence, avatar experience, or aes.

Giselle is depicted as creative, bold, and edgy, bringing an exciting and unpredictable energy to the group. Avatar experience or æs winter is depicted as a friendly, cheerful, personable, and full of life, giving off a very optimistic and hopeful vibe and avatar experience or æs nickname is depicted as a combination of sweet and sassy, also highlighting her creativity, artistic and adventurous nature.

All right, so you know, you know what the next question here is who is my bias? And this one is so hard for me. All four are so incredibly talented. If I had to choose, if I had to choose, I would say, I would say Ning, Ning and Winter. I don't know, it's too hard to choose Ningning is just so fun when she performs and winter is so powerful and has great visual skill.

So both. I'm choosing both. I don't know, maybe I just need a little more time to narrow my bias down to one. You have to maybe check in with me later. For now, I am saying I don't know, it's too hard because really, like with a bias, you you have to choose one. You can't have two, you have three, 4 or 5 or they're all your favorites.

That's not a thing. So I'm just going to go with the winter, I think. I don't know okay. Winter, winter. Let's go winter I like, I like went no Nanning I changed it again. Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I really like her. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I can't I just can't okay. There you go.

You know check in with me later. I'll have someone decided eventually. Eventually I will choose a bias. Right now I'm between Ning Ning and Winter. Let's move on. Let's talk about their epic music.

Right. All right, pop tarts, I definitely want to tell you about music. And really, I want to give you my thoughts on all of these songs from their main albums. Their albums are Savage, the first mini album which has six songs. Girls, the second mini album, which has nine songs. My world, the third mini album which has six songs.

Drama the fourth mini album which has seven songs. Armageddon, their first album which has ten songs. And whiplash, the fifth mini album, which has six songs. So I'm going to spend maybe 15, maybe 10s or less on each song. So we are going to be going through these really, really fast, rapid fire review. I wish I could talk about each song in depth the way that I would like, but then we would be here all day and ain't nobody got time for that.

And after I finish this rapid fire round, I'll then tell you my top ten songs overall, that I think you should start listening to this very moment if you're a new listener. So let's get into it with the first album, Savage, the first mini album. The first song is a energy, a e like the character that aespa uses for a lot of their image, this song essentially introduces the members of Aespa.

The drum beat is so fun. 8.5 out of ten the next song is Savage. This is the lead track of this album. It's electronic pop. The music video contributes to their overall narrative of this futuristic alternative world idea. Nine out of ten I'll Make You Cry is next. This song has a heavy overproduction synth beat. It's a powerful song, and as you can imagine, this song is about exacting revenge.

Seven out of ten the next song is Yuppie Yuppie. This song is the hidden treasure of this album. It's easily glanced and skipped over. But don't ignore this one. It's cute, it's flirty. It showcases aespa’s playful and fun side. It's about finding and celebrating your own beauty and we need more of this. 9.5 out of ten next is iconic.

aespa is giving the energy once again in this song as they strive to be icons in their own right. 8.5 out of ten and last on this album is Lucid Dream. This is a great song with a slower, sentimental beat with lyrics about a loved one leaving. And even though it was a dream, being on the constant search for the one nine out of ten, let's go to the next album girls.

The second mini album. The first song is girls. This song has all the elements of a good song. I like we damn girls, we damn girls, we damn girls. It's got futuristic vibes, it's vocally warped. Hold up near the bridge is so cool. 7.5 out of ten illusion. Any song that starts with a siren, you know what to expect.

Beats bass. Good song seven out of ten. Lingo. So this is a bop. It's fun. It feels like I'm just riding with my girls. Six out of ten life's too short. This song slows it down, shows their vocal ability, range and harmonizing. 7.5 out of ten I see you at first listen. This first verse makes you wonder, am I going to like this?

And then the chorus comes and it's so cute. Eight out of ten Life's Too short English version I like the lyrics in this song. I'm doing me regardless, and I don't care what you say about it. And it don't matter if you like it or not. I'm having all this fun, so why would I ever stop? And I also like this.

Some people are so mean, all behind the phone screen when we're all trying to live our lives. Why you got to be so vicious? Be about your business instead of getting up in mine. Preach my girls, I love this 7.5 out of ten I don't know, I might have to bump this one up higher. Let's go! 8.5 out of ten I love this.

The next song is Black Mamba. The production on this song is great. It's got a little bit of everything. It's super engaging, very dancey, which you know, I love. 8.5 out of ten forever. This is a slow, sweet, slow dancing with a candlelit background type song. It's definitely on my bathtime playlist. 6.5 out of ten and closing out this album is Dreams come True, and with a song title like this, you would think that this would be a slow song like forever.

Well it's not. It is a mid-tempo beat. It's perfect for just vibin. It kind of has this ethereal sound. I love this song. Nine out of ten. Let's hop to the next album, My World. The third mini album, the first song, Welcome to My World. This song has a very haunted and spooky sound and I like it. Eight out of ten.

The next song is spicy. Okay, hold up for just a second. Are you kidding? I love this song. It's the ultimate self-confidence song. You can catch me dancing to this song in my room, in the car, everywhere. I like these lyrics. Tell me what you see when you look at me. Because I'm a ten out of ten. Honestly.

Close quote I love it. 9.5 out of ten. Salty and sweet. Continuing with the flavor profiles here we have this song. This song definitely showcases the group's edgier vibe. Nine out of ten thirsty. Definitely a slower track with some R&B vibes. The rapping is very crisp and clean in this song. Quote. Yeah I got you boy. SIP sip, sippin all night.

Close quote. It feels like an Ariana Grande song. I love it. 8.5 out of ten I'm unhappy this song is chill. It's got a smooth beat, nothing complicated. It's about finding happiness regardless of what others think. The quote I'm unhappy lyrics from the start of the song turn into quote I'm so Happy lyrics at the end of the song and I like that.

Evolution seven out of ten and the last song on this album, Till We Meet Again. This ballad is a cute song dedicated to fans. For as we might not be able to be together always in person, the music will always connect us. It's so cute. Seven out of ten look at that! We are really rapid firing through these albums and these songs.

Let's go to the next one. Drama. The fourth mini album. The first song drama. This is bad girl energy for the win. This song exudes confidence and I love it. I bring all the drama. Mama close quote 9.5 out of ten. Trick or treat. Now you see me. Now you don't catch me if you can. Boy. Close quote I love these teasing lyrics.

It's a fun song. 8.5 out of ten don't blink. This is a good song. It's kind of catchy. Seven out of ten hot Air Balloon This song is cute. It's playful. It's giving summer vibes, splashing around at a waterpark, enjoying the sun from Paris to LA. Love you all the way close. Quote eight out of ten YOLO. This song is high energy.

It's got a bright production. It feels happy and I like happy. 8.5 out of ten you. This is Aspas standard slow song if you will. Seven out of ten better things I got better things to do with my time. Close quote. This is the song I want to listen to as mean people on the internet try to get my attention by.

You can tell with this album that aespa’s storyline continues to unfold as they are experiencing personal growth. I like this song. 8.5 out of ten. Let's move on to the next album now. Armageddon the first album. The first song is supernova. This song slaps so hard. All hits, no misses, total obsession. It's high energy, dancefloor ready in your face banger.

Perfect for all the pop tarts. Seeing them perform this song live was like core memory for me. I will never forget it. One of their most popular songs. And conceptually, this song is about a cosmic big bang that opens a portal to a different universe. It's about to bang bang. Don't forget my name, Sue Souza supernova. Close quote.

Oh, it's so good. Ten out of ten for sure. Armageddon. This song is very dramatic and gives me very like posturing vibes. Nine out of ten set the tone I like how they say in the chorus quote. We set the tone close quote. It's fun. I feel like it's one of those songs that just grows on you the more you listen to it.

Eight out of ten mine I like the little warped sound of voice moments that happen throughout the song. 6.5 out of ten licorice. From the first couple of seconds of this song, I knew I would like it. I like the rock influence in the production of this song a lot. To 8.5 out of ten Bahama, this song is happy pop with soothing and melodic voices.

I'm sipping my virgin pina colada listening to this song. Nine out of ten. This next song has a very interesting name. Listen to this long chat. Parentheses. Hashtag tag red heart emoji. Close parentheses. Okay, this is a mid-tempo song. It has a very sweet tone to it. I like nicknames, high notes in this song. So good. Eight out of ten Prolog.

When I think about their more metaverse, an alternate reality concept, this song focuses more on their humanity side. I love the upbeat production. This song addresses the messiness of growing up, navigating disappointment, anxiety, and more. It's just so real. 8.5 out of ten Live My Life I love this song. We've got another amazing song here by Aespa. I imagined myself at their concert.

Biggest smile on my face scream singing the lyrics as I jump up and down dancing. This song is fun. It's happy, it's adorable. aespa’s voices sound great. It's great. Pop tart top 40 content here. But you and me keep believing I live my life close. Quote ten out of ten and wrapping up this album is melody. The album closes out with this song in a soft, slower vibe.

I think this must be a fan dedicated track, which those are always cute. Seven out of ten all right, we're on our last aespa album here. The most recent one that released whiplash, the fifth mini album, the first song on this album, whiplash. I am nonstop, I kid you nonstop dancing to this song. The choreography is great. My husband and I will randomly be like one look, give him whiplash.

Close quote and then mimic the choreography. Like this actually happens on at least a few times a week basis. This song oozes confidence and I love it. It's so catchy. Just close your eyes, breathe in, and visualize close. Quote. Obsessed with this song? Definitely at the top for me. Kill it with a song title like this. Are we surprised that this song gets into their darker, edgier side?

7.5 out of ten Flights Not Feelings sweet vocals in this song. Quote catching flights, not feelings I'm not trying to hurt myself. Trying to burn myself. Close quote seven out of ten pink hoodie. This is a good message about loving yourself. Being who you are, and having confidence. A high energy song seven out of ten flowers. The R&B production with this smooth guitar is really nice and it's a good switch up to most of aespa’s other songs.

It's a good way to show their range and ability. Seven out of ten Just Another Girl I like this pop with a little bit of rock. Quote. Make me crazy. Just another girl stop. Close quote. Boys better be listening to aespa’s warning in this song. No betrayals accepted here 8.5 out of ten and as a bonus, let's put in Next Level, which was not on a mini or full album.

But it's worth mentioning because it became one of their more popular songs that was just released as a single. Essentially a posturing song saying get on my level because you're slacking. I love the parts in the song where they do the call like, ooh, I can't do it, okay, I'm not going to do it. You just have to listen to it.

It's really great. I got to see this song live as well. Loved it. Nine out of ten. All right, there we go. We just went through rapid fire. So many songs. So out of all of these songs and note that aespa does also have a few more. But out of all these songs, which made my top ten, here you go from number ten to number one.

Number ten, dreams Come True nine. Armageddon eight. Salty and sweet seven. Lucid dream six. Yep yep five. Drama four. Spicy three. Live My life two. Whiplash and number one supernova. Woo! And there you have it. Pop Tarts, my favorite songs. And also a review of all their songs from mini albums and full albums. We did it. Please give aespa a listen if you haven't already.

They are definitely what's hot in K-pop right now. In fact, they are currently on a world tour and in the USA this very moment. I would love to see them. If you're going to their show, please let me know. I want to hear all about it. And if you are just getting into their music, please let me know what you think and what your favorite songs are.

I'm really excited to continue on this tech inspired, futuristic artificial intelligence. Meet a universal journey with aespa and hope you'll join me for the Galactic Ride as well.

Right pop tarts, that is a wrap on this episode. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget that I have those exciting collaborations and events coming up. We'll be talking more details soon. Next week I'll be dropping an episode with K-pop Hive, a K-pop store right here in my local area. I cannot wait, it's going to be amazing.

And just a heads up and an update on my episode release schedule, I had this goal of pushing out episodes twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I've done pretty well up until this point, and I know it's only like mid-January, but when I create content, I want to create really good content for you. I don't want to just create something and rush it out just for the sake of putting it out.

And I also have some other personal life goals that I want to be making sure I'm making progress. And for example, my husband and I are starting our journey with adoption and we need to really focus on that and do some work around that, because that is a very important goal for us. And so I think I might be trying to do maybe one episode a week.

And so let's try it out. We'll experiment a little bit together. But I promise you the content is going to be great. So remember to subscribe, follow, like and share, BibimPOP with Sean and follow me on social media for updates @bibimpopwithsean on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok and @bibimpopsean on X, formerly Twitter and go to my podcast website bibimpopwithsean.buzzsprout.com.

Leave me some messages and check out more information there. Thank you so much for listening to BibimPOP with Sean where pop culture ate.