You don't wanna close your eyes for this episode! (Or your ears, I guess, since podcasting isn't a visual medium LOOK I'M TRYING TO WRITE AN INTRO OKAY DEAL WITH IT)In this episode, we talk about our top 5 blockbuster movie jams! What constitutes a "blockbuster"? I dunno, you'll have to ask Dan, J or me (Zack, yo0O). And I ain't tellin'. But we break it all down in the episode, as well as picking five jams that fit each of our bills.Come join us as we rediscover movies from years past! Is your favorite blockbuster jam not on the list? What did we miss? Please let us know in the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: a quick review turnaround, covering new albums and top 40 charting singles from the month of June. Sometimes it be like that! Sometimes you get two reviews in three weeks. Consider it a gift to each of you, Dearest Listeners. Your gift back to us? You already know: Keep. Kicking. Ass.

Ayyyyyyyyyyyy!Wait, no that's not it... what I meant to say wasMayyyyyyyyyyyy!!We're cashing in those floral chips from the deluge of April, and planting the seeds of May's musical bouquet. That made no sense, and that's fine! Because it ALSO makes no sense for two (but actually four, but really only two) albums to enter the Toppest 40 charts in May.Safe to say it was an interesting month on that side of the house, as well as the new release album side. Fun all around the block, here at the KickAss! Did you have fun in said month? Did you find anything that you particularly enjoyed? Let us know in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: do you like blockbuster flicks? Do you like the music from blockbuster flicks? It's Top 5 Blockbuster Jams. That's what we're doing. No way we could really make that one a guessing game, so you get a freebie. You also get to Keep. Kicking. Ass.

Holy crap, Ass-Kickers - 2002 was a very formative year for the four of us, which makes it even worse that it was such an AWFUL year for popular music. But, because the RNG Gods dictate so much of what we do on this here podcast, we must relent.From Ja Rule to Jewel, from Creed to Eve, from Ludacris to Elliott, Miss...y. (Did I mention Ja Rule? He's here a LOT.)We do what we always do: we take the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End list, we correct it, and we present all of you our very correct interpretations. We were all over the map here, and that's fun! We love that for us, and for all of you.But what say you? What were you bumping in 2002? Did it even make this list in the first place - and if so, did we slot it where it properly belongs? Let us know in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: the floral episode, the output of the April showers. It's a good one. They're all good ones. And so are you. Especially when you Keep. Kicking. Ass. Which is always, obvbiously.

It's Ones all the way down. SomeOnes last week, One Song this week. The topic: one of the most transcendent, prolific artists of our generation. Some would add the qualifier of "hip-hop" or "rap", and while that would be accurate, it's far from necessary.To wit: compile the list of all seven humans with 27+ Grammy awards. Take out conductors and producers (John Williams, Quincy Jones, and Sir Georg Solti - legends in their own rights, of course).That leaves you with four performers: Beyoncé, known for being Beyoncé; jazz standard Chick Corea; expert bluegrass fiddler and EXTREMELY underrated and amazing vocalist, Alison Krauss; and our artist du jour, none other than Kendrick Lamar.IDGAF who you are, what style of music you release, whether you are part of a band or solo or whatever. It takes a truly stratospheric artist to reach K.Dot's heights. And we talk about all of those heights on this episode.We all picked one song from his six-album discography (plus a few mixtapes) as the best, with the knowledge that there were no wrong answers to this question at all. Okay, there were a small handful of wrong answers. But very, very few. This discography was a true joy to listen to, and I implore all of you to do the same.Which song hits as your top from Kendrick's full catalog? Let us know in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: ranking! But, like ranking what has already been ranked! It's an awful year too. You'll enjoy it. We enjoyed it. That's it. Keep. Kicking. Ass.

Hey! So, yeah, it's SomeOnes time.A recap of the rules: each of us are given a random year from 1975-2025. Each of us then has to pick a song that was #1 on the chart. On a chart. On any chart. On several charts? We'll allow it! As long as it's one chart.It can be the Billboard Hot 100, of course. Or it can be a different Billboard chart. Or a different chart in another country. Who knows what weird stuff we'll find? We're very good at that, as you know by now.We then talk about it for as long as we would like, because, well, vamping about a subject for several minutes is also something we're very good at.Did we hit the mark this time with our years and our songs? Let us know in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: we fix another Billboard Year-End list. A third thing that we are, in fact, very good at. But we gotta point out something that all of you are good at before we go - and that, of course, is Kicking. Ass. Especially when you Keep doing it.

Since we're talking about April, here's a very quick shout-out to a very little-known pop outfit called Fooled by April. They're what Maroon 5 would be if Maroon 5 were good... so basically Kara's Flowers with more polish. They had one full-length in 2005, and... that's actually about it. But it was rad! Go check it out AFTER you check out this episode... of the Fairly KickAss Podcast..........yes I just did the bad intro for the write-up. That's where we are.Where we were, Dear Listeners, was April. It was a month with a great deal of music. And how great was it? How were the albums? How were the newly-charting singles?I guess you're gonna have to listen to find out. Report back to us in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: we talk about some #1 chart hits from various years! Which chart, you ask? Beats us. It'll definitely be fun though! I will say that it won't be as fun as you Kicking. Ass. however, as much as we would like to try to make that so.

[ZACK'S NOTE]Yo! Zack here. This is a little... punch in, I guess? What's it called if I punch in a podcast description? No matter. It's that thing.What you're about to read is the very first description of the very first Deep Dive episode we ever did, from back in February 2021. We mentioned it, we promised it, and we delivered it: it's the Divinyls! It's a bit rough around the edges, both in terms of audio quality and host quality. We were just baby podcasters! We've gotten better!What wasn't rough, though, was the level of passion and analysis we brought to the table, even back then. Over five years later, we still love to do this music podcast thing, and we still commit to bringing you fresh, unique content, with the same passion and analysis we have all along.So with all that said, enjoy the episode! Usual plugs and what's-next-iness to follow.We are debuting our Fairly KickAss Deep Dive series, where we'll take a lesser-known artist and tell you all you need to know about them.  You've probably heard of most of these artists, but we'll take that to the next level.  We'll give you history, lineup changes, and interesting tidbits - and of course, reviews of the albums and tracks.On the first Deep Dive, we spotlight Australian rock band Divinyls.  Their big hit was "I Touch Myself", but there's far more to them than that.  Come join us for this episode, and learn all about lead vocalist Chrissy Amphlett, guitarist Mark McEntee, and a rotating door of other band members.That's it! Pretty short descriptions back in those days. And no plugs! Again, baby podcasters. Tell us what you think, and how far you think we've come (or haven't) in the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: We review April. All of it. Current events, weather, new snack foods... oh and apparently music, as I have been informed. I'll go ahead and delete my several paragraphs on the new Grogu Nilla Nummies, and instead tell all of you to Keep. Kicking. Ass.

I admit: this is one of those episodes you have to hear to really understand what's going on. But I'm gonna try to describe it anyway, because that's kinda what this whole thing is for!So, as we've gone along with this podcast - six freakin' years, give or take! - we've had artists that have factored into things more than others. For you long-timers, you'll know one of these artists immediately, because he's Rule 1 - and that rule is Prince. If we had a mascot of sorts, it would be Mister Rogers... I mean Prince.But what about all the non-Prince artists we've talked about over the years? The ones we've covered extensively? The ones we love and adore? The ones that all three of us can confidently say are an integral part of this show, and that the show would not be the same without them?That's what this episode is about. We take all those artists, and - with the power of us three jerks - we come up with our Mount Rushmore list of four (plus Prince, so technically five... SUE US.)FINE, so I really could describe it. SUE US AGAIN. Litigious much? I digress.It turned out to be a fun episode in a vacuum, but also a lovely walk down memory lane. So come walk with us, specifically to all of our socials... hope it's not too long of a walk to get to all these lovely places!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: We go meta with a Vaulted episode that was mentioned during this episode. Will the artist in the Vaulted episode be one of the four? Who knows. Actually, I take that back: we know. We ALSO know that you must Keep. Kicking. Ass.

We've exhausted the entirety of the "First Quarter" category on the Wikipedia "List of 2026 Albums" page, and we've gone through the same amount of charting singles.(That's 25%, if you're a NERD who does NUMBERS.)So... yeah! This thing. This thing is our monthly reviews thing, where we review the monthly stuff. I mean, I just don't know how else we can say it after all this time! J and Zack rank new albums, and Dan ranks new charting singles, and a good time is had by all.I know you're expecting a "...and then excitement happens!", to which I regret to inform you that, no, there is none of that sort of thing here. No fun, no whimsy, no japes or ribs. We don't shenan once, and we definitely don't shenanigan.But we DO do (heh) some social media stuff. To wit:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: We look within at the meta of FKA. Does that sound dumb? It's probably gonna be dumb. You know the deal by now. And WE know that you must Keep. Kicking. Ass.

(updates in bold)It's Part 2 of the Hall, y'all!The Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio, is open to the public, but that doesn't mean you can just waltz in and be enshrined. No, you must be voted in by a group of industry experts with over a thousand members, and one of those members are representative of everyone who is NOT a member of that group of industry experts.Got all that again? Good.The 2026 Hall of Fame class has been narrowed down to 17 maybes, which will be further narrowed down to some number of actual entrants into the Hall. How many, you ask? An amount! That's how many. (If you couldn't tell by now, the game is made up and the points don't matter.) (Also, you knew all this from before. If this is news to you, go back and put your ears on Part 1 first! Then report back.)In the second part of the rare FKA two-parter, we tell you (this was a typo fix, sry) who we feel has the best chance of the 17 to get in, who probably won't be enshrined, and how our thoughts stack up to the fan vote. Let me tell you, the fan vote is a WILD ride, which is all I'll say.Actually, I lied! I will say more. For instance, I will say that you can hit us up in all the usual ways:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fairlykickass.bsky.socialInstagram: https://instagram.com/fairlykickassTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fairlykickassThreads: https://www.threads.net/@fairlykickassWebsite (for Ride-Along Playlists): https://fairlykickass.com/Next week: March... pre-showers? Clouds, I guess? We do music, not weather. We also make sure that you Keep. Kicking. Ass.