Pop Culture podcasts to keep you current, plus: Why are TV recap shows so popular?

With so many platforms it can be hard to keep track of the latest pop culture trends. So this week we're sharing pods to keep you current by rounding up the best in pop culture.

First, we'll meet MC Sha-Rock. You may not know her name, but she's an integral part of hip-hop history. 

Her group the Funky 4 + 1 was one of the first rap groups to ever perform on national TV. But shortly after, her career hit the glass ceiling. Louder Than A Riot explores how Sha-Rock's legacy got buried in the hip-hop archive.

Then we look at the origins of another hip hop icon Drake. But we're not talking about his mixtape. We're talking about his performance on Degrassi: The Next Generation with an episode from the podcast Back Issue that asks, "Do you remember the teen show that made you fall in love with teen shows?"

From there we change lanes from hip hop to 90s pop. In a clip from Switched on Pop, we'll hear from Seal himself on how his timeless hit "Kiss from a Rose" became a surprising but enduring classic. Yes, the Batman Forever soundtrack was an integral part of the song's legacy (thank you, Joel Schumacher). 

Plus: we look into the rise of TV rewatch podcasts. Why are they so popular and why does every celeb seem to have one?

Switched On Pop: "Kiss From a Rose" is one of the most unusual number 1 hits of all time. Seal's song can't decide if it's in minor or major, it uses an old-fashioned waltz rhythm, and its lush orchestration and elaborate vocal harmonies support mysterious lyrics about a "greying tower alone on the sea." Seal himself wasn't sure about the song, and needed some convincing to include the composition on his 1994 album SEAL II."

Louder Than a Riot: "In 1981, MC Sha-Rock and her group, the Funky 4 + 1, were invited to perform on Saturday Night Live. It was one of the first nationally televised rap performances ever, expanding the reach of the nascent genre to mainstream audiences who might never have heard or seen it before. It was almost certainly the first time many viewers had seen a woman rapping. But little did SNL's audience know that Sha-Rock was hiding something — for the sake of the group's continued success, and for her own survival."

Front Burner: "As a kid in the Winnipeg suburb of Transcona, Tyson Smith was obsessed with hockey and the Winnipeg Jets. He dreamed of being a professional goaltender. Decades later, Smith – now known as "Kenny Omega" – has made his way to the Jets' home arena for a different reason: he's performing as a professional wrestler. Omega joined Front Burner host Jayme Poisson to discuss the culture of wrestling in Winnipeg, his path to fame in Japan, his push to expand inclusivity and storytelling in the sport, and swirling rumours about what he'll do next."

Back Issue: Josh Gwynn is joined by Amil Niazi to revisit Degrassi: The Next Generation. Does the show stand up? Or did it age about as well the the cottage cheese you forgot in the back of the fridge?

2 Black Girls, 1 Rose: Time for a reality TV deep dive. If you watched season 3 of Love is Blind, then you may have had a lot of questions for Zanab Jaffrey. Co-hosts and real-life BFFs Justine Kay and Natasha Scott-Reichel did too. Here they dig deep on "the cuties debacle," Zanab's experience as a woman of colour dating a white man on TV, their epic wedding breakup, and more!

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For more great podcasts, check out CBC's podcast portal, subscribe in Apple Podcasts and everywhere you get your podcasts.