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 Tuesday’s edition of the show on Billboard.com).
This week on the show, we sit down with superstar DJ/producer Martin Garrix! We caught up with the 20-year-old Dutch DJ/producer a few weeks ago just as his latest single, “In the Name of Love,” with Bebe Rexha, was taking off at mainstream top 40 radio. The song currently sits in the top 20 of the Pop Songs airplay chart and recently became Garrix’s second top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
“I’m so happy,” Garrix says about the success of the track. “For me, it was something new. A lot of people knew [me] for hard-hitting house stuff — 128 bpm stuff. And I felt like I wanted to do something different.”
Garrix broke through big time in early 2014 with the smash track “Animals” — his first top 40 hit on the Hot 100. It was also his first of so far 15 hits on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
In our chat, we talk about the success of the new single, what it’s like to play a 21-and-over club in Las Vegas when you’re not even 21 yet, and how he says he’s got “so much music” ready to release (and he could even drop an album right now if he wanted to). We also discuss how it feels to know that his music transcends language barriers and how he’s been able to perform internationally in front of enormous crowds. “There’s nothing more inspiring,” Garrix says of playing shows around the globe and seeing fans react to his music. “I get to travel the world doing what I love to do — making other people happy. … They might not even understand my words, but the one thing everybody understands is music.”
In addition to our talk with Garrix, the Pop Shop team dives into all things Grammy Awards as the nominations for the 59th annual Grammys were announced on Tuesday (Dec. 6). Plus, we’re previewing Billboard‘s Women in Music gala, which will take place in New York on Dec. 9 where we’ll be honoring Madonna as our Woman of the Year. But wait, there’s more! We’ve also got chart chat about a new No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 from The Weeknd, how The Hamilton Mixtape is heading for No. 1 next week, and news on the return of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to the Hot 100.
Listen above and click here to subscribe/rate the Pop Shop Podcast on iTunes.