Pop Shop Podcast: Fleur East Talks U.S. Debut & ‘Sax’ Single, RedOne Teases New Music, Plus Our Tonys Preview

Keith Caulfield
·2 min read
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Welcome to the new episode of the Billboard.com Pop Shop Podcast, Billboard’s weekly audio breakdown of the Billboard charts, hottest music news and year’s biggest musical events. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard co-director of charts Keith Caulfield and Billboard.com senior editor Katie Atkinson every Tuesday on the Pop Shop Podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in iTunes (click here to listen to the previous episode on Billboard.com).

On our latest show, we welcome singer/songwriter Fleur East, two-time Grammy Award-winning producer RedOne, and preview the 2016 Tony Awards! Listen to the show below:

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East broke through in 2014 as a contestant on The X Factor in the U.K. and went viral with her cover of Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” Since then, she signed with Syco Records and released the single “Sax” in the U.K. (which reached No. 3 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart) and the album Love, Sax and Flashbacks. Now the singer/songwriter is promoting “Sax” as her first single in the U.S. and has already appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden (who performed some choreography with East during her performance), Dancing With the Stars and Today. In our chat, East discusses her influences (they range from Michael Jackson to Tina Turner), how she got Corden to dance with her, the sound of her album, and what advice Syco’s founder, Simon Cowell, has given to her.

‘X Factor U.K.’ Alum Fleur East on Getting a Second Chance With Simon Cowell: ‘I’m Living a Dream’

In addition, we caught up with producer RedOne, who recently released his new single “Don’t You Need Somebody,” featuring Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah and Shaggy. RedOne talks about how he got Iglesias on the track (it wasn’t as easy as you think), does a heck of a Shaggy impression and discusses some of the artists he’s working with (including Kaya Stewart and Capital Cities’ Spencer Ludwig). Of course, we also asked him about working with Lady Gaga and the possibility of new music from the pair. (He produced and wrote songs on Gaga’s first three studio albums, including the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.”)

Plus, Keith and Katie preview the 70th annual Tony Awards (which air live on Sunday, June 12), discuss some of their favorite live musical theater experiences, and the phenomenon that is Hamilton. On top of all that, the Pop Shoppers talk about P!nk’s latest top 10 single on the Hot 100 with “Just Like Fire,” the news of both Dierks Bentley and Fifth Harmony scoring their highest-charting albums ever on the Billboard 200 with their new albums, and how The Monkees swing in with Good Times!, their highest-charting album since 1968.

Listen above and click here to subscribe/rate the Pop Shop Podcast on iTunes.

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