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Man, this show is crazy. Oh my god.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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Today we're joined by Olivia Rodrigo.
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She's a singer-songwriter whose double platinum debut single driver's license broke all kinds of records including Spotify's most streamed song in a week ever.
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She followed that up with her critically acclaimed No Skips album Sour which likewise shot to the top of the Billboard charts.
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It's been Olivia Rodrigo's year, but how does she handle the spiciest wings on the planet?
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That's the real question and we'll find out today.
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Olivia Rodrigo, welcome to the show. Hi.
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I'm so nervous um but so excited.
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I was just telling you off camera that um I've watched so many episodes in preparation um but very stoked to be here. Thank you for having me.
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What is going through your head right now?
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Like are you a fan of hot sauce?
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Not at all, which is why it's going to be interesting to see how I act.
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Um I am the worst with spice.
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Like literally I like think that bell peppers are spicy and I don't eat bell peppers.
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So like this going to be fun. The handle? Okay. I'm just going to go. Okay. Not bad at all.
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So in the intro I mentioned how you're smashing all kinds of records and I'm sure that you've long felt that there's something special about the music, but even you have to be surprised by how quick and how big everything's blown up.
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Are you aware of this driver's license extended cinematic universe whereby fans will remix the song from the perspective of like that blonde girl or the physical driver's license itself?
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Yeah, that's actually super cool um to like watch everyone like create stuff with the song that I created and people were like so fun with it.
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Like there was one like from the perspective of the road and like stuff like that.
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Well, I love songwriters and this is like really cool to see people write songs to like something that I had made. It was really cool.
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And then what's the origin story of the cover art because that likewise has been reimagined a million different ways online?
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Yeah, we were at another shoot and I like knew that the album was going to be called sour and one of my makeup artist was like let's just like put it on your tongue.
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Like let's just like cut out the letters and like put on your tongue.
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I was like that's really cool and so when it came time to do the actual shoot we like put sour on my tongue and put a bunch of stickers on my face which I thought was cool.
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And then I was so like pissed off in the photo and there was like these like happy stickers on me and I thought it was like a cool like metaphor or something like that.
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But yeah, it's it's been cool to see people recreate that too. Okay. Wait, together? Cheers. Cheers. Good so far.
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So I understand that your overnight success story wasn't so overnight at all actually taking singing lessons at 5 years old and then not long after doing singing showcases and performing at grocery store openings nearly every weekend.
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Do you remember the first ever local talent show that you won?
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Like can you paint the picture for us? Oh my gosh. Yeah, I do remember.
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It was called like it was like for like the boys and girls club and it was like a boys and girls club like idol or something and I was so stoked and they gave me a trophy that was like as tall as me at the end and they like gave me like a big like check with like it was It's it was like a $100 just to think that like at eight years old I was like, "Oh my god, I'm rich.
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I can buy an American Girl doll."
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I've like always been singing and making music since I could literally talk and I've been writing songs since I was like nine years old.
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It's so funny to like watch old videos of me back.
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I was like so like confident and like go up there and like own it.
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I like wish that I was still like that nowadays but it's a little more difficult when you're older. Mhm, good.
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A little bit of a step up. Yeah. I'm okay though. I'm okay.
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I'm definitely at a higher temperature than I was before I sat down at this table but I'm all right.
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I'm all That's the that's the slow roasted nature of Hot Ones. Slow roasted. I love that.
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So it's clear from watching your music videos that there's a certain sentimental chord that you can hit.
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For example, mixing in VHS effects or cult classic horror movie references in a song like good for you.
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How do you think about blending in novelty and nostalgia in your art? Oh my gosh.
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This is a thoughtful question.
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I I've always been like such a visual artist.
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Like every time I hear like a song of mine I like can like instantly like sort of picture um like what it looks like and I don't know maybe that's like my style of songwriting too but yeah, I'm really inspired by vintage things and I'm obsessed with the 90s and 90s music and 90s pop culture and so there's definitely like nods to that um in my music but also like I was born in 2003.
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It's very much a Gen Z sort of thing so um I mean that like inevitably shows itself in everything I do.
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Speaking of the good for you video, I know that scene where you're in a in a bedroom that's filling up with water. There's no CGI involved.
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The curtains behind you are actually on fire. Hell yeah.
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Is that something that you can do multiple takes or is that the kind of scene like you really have only just one shot?
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We really like had one shot.
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Um that was so much fun that they literally like built a room, like flooded it, and then like set [ __ ] on fire. It was so cool.
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And like, my poor manager was like so worried the whole time.
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She's like, "Oh my god, don't burn to death." But it was so much fun.
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It's always fun to do practical effects, and that music video was just so much fun.
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We shot the entire thing in a day.
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We were just like running on adrenaline, so yeah, it was it was a good experience.
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All right, speaking of running on adrenaline, are you ready to move on here to the next hot sauce? Yeah. I'm actually surprised.
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I thought I'd be dying by now.
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I know we have like long way to go.
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This one just enjoy this All right. as long as you can. Oh god.
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You're like, "I'll get used to it, girl." Not bad. I feel good. I was so nervous.
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I I'm probably going to die like come like near it, But right now, so far, doing laps around any expectation you had for yourself so far. Yeah.
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I really thought I was going to die after the first one. I am so bad at spice.
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So, I've spoken to comedians in the past, right?
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When they have something in their head that makes them laugh, they think about where does this joke work best, you know?
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Does it work best in my stand-up material?
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Does it work best in a TV sketch?
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Does it work best in a pilot?
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I'm curious as a musician who covers such a wide gamut of styles, how do you know when a feeling or an idea will fit best in like a pop punk song versus like a heartbreak ballad versus like an alt rock anthem?
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I feel like sometimes it always it doesn't always have to like be so linear.
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Like, some of my favorite music is music that's like super upbeat, but like the lyrics are like so [ __ ] depressing.
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I don't know, I think that's the cool thing about making music in 2021 is everything is becoming increasingly genre-less, and you can just like do whatever you want.
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I'm always like very like lyric-centered person to like answer your question.
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And um, anytime I'm like coming up with an idea like a comedian would, I just always like write it down on my phone.
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And every single song that I've ever made is usually like from that place.
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In an interview with Rolling Stone, you talked about how much you don't like vocal chops.
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What are some other tropes in pop music that you actively try to steer clear from?
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Oh, that's really difficult cuz I love everything.
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I'd be like, oh, I don't like like down the middle pop, but I like love down the middle pop.
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So, I don't know what it is. Um, I don't know.
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I am like a big musical theater lover and I make my songs like so dramatic sometimes and my producers be like, reel it in, Olivia, reel it in. It's actually good. It's like delicious.
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You're single-handedly like expanding my taste.
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All right, Olivia, we have a recurring segment on our show called Explain That Gram where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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So, we'll pull up the picture on the monitor.
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You just tell us the bigger story.
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Can you give us two highlights and one lowlight from your first trip to London? Okay.
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Um, first of all, that outfit was I really loved.
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That's definitely a highlight.
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I like probably wore that outfit 2 days in a row because I was like, shh, like nobody say that I'm wearing it the second day, but I just have to wear it again because I didn't get pictures in it the first day.
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Um, second highlight obviously is I performed at the Brits, which is my first performance ever.
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Uh, I sang driver's license and that was so much fun and lowlight I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say this, but we were quarantining in this little like like a like a real like 18th century English cottage in the countryside. Sick.
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was so cold and we couldn't figure out how to turn like the central air and heating.
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Um, but they had a fireplace and so we like like lit the fireplace all the time and that's how we kept warm.
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And I just remember like one day waking up and it was so smoky and I think I got like mild carbon monoxide poisoning cuz for the whole day I couldn't stop like throwing up in our like English countryside house.
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So, it's definitely a lowlight. Um, I recovered.
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I don't know if I had carbon monoxide poisoning, but I was very sick for a day.
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But it it worked out in the end. I had fun. Made it through.
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All right, up next, you called the deja vu video one of your favorite things you've ever done.
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Why is this project in particular, why is it on such a pedestal for you?
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And what story does it tell?
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It has kind of a Killing Eve vibe to it.
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Yes, I'm so glad you said that.
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That is that was like literally the reference.
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I remember them coming up to me like, "What do you want to do?
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Like you can literally do anything you want to do with this song that you wrote."
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And that was just like so freeing and exciting for me.
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And definitely was like a Killing Eve type theme.
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I didn't want to like hit the nail on the head of what the song was talking about.
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I didn't want to be like so literal and specific.
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So we thought it would be cool to sort of like portray a story of like two girls who were like obsessed with each other because I feel like I don't know feminine adoration is like something that I and lots of my friends feel very intensely and don't really talk about super often.
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So that was the theme of it.
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Plus you got to smash up all those TVs. Oh, yeah. It was so fun. It was great. Okay. Mhm. Mhm. A little more heavy. Uh-huh.
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Definitely like clearing out my sinuses a little bit. I can like breathe easy.
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So it's clear that you and Dan Nigro really went into the lab with a real vision for sour.
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Thinking back on all the creative decisions, is there one that you're proud that you defended on behalf of the album? Mhm. Yeah.
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Um the first thing that comes to mind is deja vu actually.
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Uh the post chorus was initially going to be vocal chops, which we talked about before, which I hate for whatever reason.
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And everyone was like, "The vocal chops sound amazing.
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It's like so cool and like trendy and all this."
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I was like, "I literally would rather die than put vocal chops in my song.
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Um, no shade to anyone who does.
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This is just not my thing.
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Um, and uh, so I wanted to put that like really cool um, like chunky crunchy synth sound in there.
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It sounds like an electric guitar, but it's actually a synth.
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And uh, I had to fight sort of hard to get that on the record, but it happened and I'm I'm really glad that it happened that way.
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And I'm sure like at this point, you know, the team's starting to fill up and you have a lot of people that are like, you know, do this or that or say this or that or wear this or wear that.
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What's something that you find yourself pushing back on? I don't know.
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I guess the thing I push back on sometimes is like sometimes I'm just like, "Yo, I like need a break.
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Like I can't write anything anymore.
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Like I'm completely tapped."
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So, I mean that's the only thing I'll ever like, I don't know, push back on, I suppose. You and me both.
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You know, this this show has just been going like pretty much hitting every Thursday for like the last 6 years and sometimes I'm like to handle it?
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Well, I just I think about what it was like back in the day to have like a normal job and I'm like, "Well, if this is the thing that I have to do to not go back cuz I can't go back.
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I can never go back, then I'll just deal with it."
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But you know, sometimes I'm like, "Hey, you know, between seasons maybe we can take more than 3 weeks off every once in a while." Yeah. Go on vacation.
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Go on a Go on an expensive vacation with the Hot Ones money. I'm saying. I'm saying. All right.
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Are you ready to move on here to the next wing? Mhm.
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Love Burns hotter than L. This is perfect. Okay. Oh god, I'm feeling it. Mhm.
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It's really delicious though.
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It's like It's a great vegan wing.
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What insight do you have on putting together a kick-ass bridge?
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Because you do really seem to nail those kinds of moments. Yeah.
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Um, I think the coolest thing about a bridge Oh my god, this is hot.
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I think the cool thing about a bridge is like talking about something that you didn't talk about in the rest of the song.
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It's like providing like another like opinion or like another perspective or something on the song.
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Everyone's laughing at me.
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I think I'm a really Oh my god, my eyes.
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I'm a super dynamic songwriter.
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I love songs that are like really quiet and then get really big and like stuff like that.
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So, I always either try to have like a like a like a down bridge where it gets like really quiet and introspective or like a really like big one. Um, I don't know.
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A bridge is just something like different cuz I like my songs to be just like all over the place.
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Off of Hope You're Okay, what does it mean to address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings? It's very poetic. I have no idea. I don't know. It sounds cool, huh? I don't know.
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Um, we wanted to like have something that's sort of a little abstract and up for your interpretation. And I love butterflies.
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It's like a a sour theme, so incorporated that in there.
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Is there an Olivia Rodrigo lyric that comes to mind when you think about how you're feeling right now? Um, happy and healthy. That's the line.
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I'm very happy and healthy.
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I'm living my best life currently.
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Eating hot ones with you.
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You say that now because you haven't tried the next wing yet. Oh, the bomb? Oh, Jesus Christ.
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The one with the like the nuke on it? Jesus Christ. Okay. Here I go. My nose is running. Ah. Mhm. Ah. The immediate. Ah. Ah. Okay.
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The the Hot Ones experience is starting to take form. Mhm. Okay.
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So, on your birthday last year, you tweeted, "I'm 17 years old today, but I still do not know the different styles of eggs, only scrambled."
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Now that you're a year older and have just tried one of the spiciest wings of all time, I want to hit you with a few different egg preparation styles to see if anything's changed over the last year, okay? Yeah.
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What style of eggs is this? Sunny side up.
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It is sunny side up, Olivia. You know your eggs.
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All right, up next, do you know this?
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Um It's a hard I mean, like it's not hard-boiled. It's like a Oh my god. Um What is it called?
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They like have them at tea parties. What is it called? Deviled eggs. That's poached egg.
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Yeah, those are eggs Benedict, but technically you're right, those eggs are poached.
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Things go Things flying off the edge here.
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We're flying off the edge here. Flying off. Okay, sorry. No, no. Long leash on this show.
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Whatever you got to go through to get through it.
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When someone asked you your favorite snack recently, you replied, "Trader Joe's oatmeal cookies till the day I die."
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What's your response to people who think that an oatmeal raisin cookie can never ever be better than chocolate chip?
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god, I hate chocolate chip cookies. I don't know what it is.
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I love chocolate and I love cookies, but chocolate chip I can't even say Chocolate chip cookies are not it for me.
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Everyone makes fun of me because oatmeal raisin cookies are like grandma-y cookies, but they're the best.
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And I feel like they're actually like hearty and like somewhat healthy for you.
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Like oatmeal has like fiber and stuff. I don't know. Oh, let's speak. All right.
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All right, up next we have the scorpion disco. How are you feeling? How are you feeling? Oh my god. It like bur- Oh my god. It like burns your lips. Mhm. Mhm. All right, now or never. Okay. [ __ ] Oh my god.
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Um So, one thing you and I have in common is asking people that we meet for the first time if they have any ghost stories and I imagine that wouldn't be a move of yours unless of course you had at least one of your own. No, I don't.
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I don't [ __ ] with ghosts and they don't [ __ ] with me.
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It's like It's a really great thing that we have going on.
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Um The one that I do tell is my mom grew up in Wisconsin and her parents like had this like nice house that they got for really cheap and one day she woke up to go to the bathroom and she saw a man standing at the top of the stairs.
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And she didn't tell anyone until 25 years later and my grandma was like, "Oh, you know, the reason we got the house for so cheap is because a family died in the basement.
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Like a man died in the basement." Which blew my mind.
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I heard that story like 12 years old and I was like, "Oh my god, Mom, that's crazy."
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Um Don't have any myself and hopefully never will. [ __ ] Oh. I'm crying. Oh my god. Man. This show is crazy. Oh my god. Oh my god.
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But for somebody who thought a bell pepper was spicy, you're doing amazing things here today. It's adrenaline. All right, man. Cheers. Last one? Cheers. Cheers. Oh my god. All right. No. Wow. Okay. All right.
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Olivia Rodrigo, thankfully we've made it to the end of our spice symphony here today and just one more hurdle left to go.
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So, to close things out, what I want to do is name a hot sauce and you tell me the first musical effect that comes to mind.
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You know, maybe the hot sauce can remind you of a grunge guitar riff or a big synth or Okay.
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a mellotron and we'll just take it from there. Does that sound good? Uh okay.
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I think you think I'm smarter than I actually am, but I'll try.
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Love Burns Hotter Than Hell.
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Um I think of like a sick like crunchy like pedal guitar riff. Hell yeah. Da'Bomb Beyond Insanity.
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Um I think it's some like EDM thing. Like some cool like pad. Scorpion Disco.
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Something off like a Dua Lipa record. I don't know.
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Oh no, you know what it is?
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It's like a like one of those like MIDI like um violin things that like sounds fake.
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And then the last dab, the wing that you just ate.
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Um piano because because yeah, that yeah, a piano thing cuz piano is my favorite and that one is my favorite because it's the last one and then we're done. We are done. You made it through. Nothing else to go for. No more vegan wings.
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You have conquered the table, Olivia Rodrigo.
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Now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
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This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life. Hey, what's up?
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My name is Olivia Rodrigo.
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I just finished Hot Ones and it was a lot of fun.
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I'm never going to eat a hot wings ever again in my life, but it was fun today.
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Yeah, you can listen to my first album sour everywhere. Hope you really like it.
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You might cry like I did in this episode of Hot Ones because it WAS SO SPICY. THE BEST. INCREDIBLE. Strawberry ice cream. my favorite. I love that. We We listened.
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We listened to the album. We know. Oh, thank you. You crushed it.
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Oh my god, that was so fun.
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Such thoughtful questions. Oh, thank you. Uh, wow. Which one was the worst?
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Oddly, the this the this one.
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Mhm, that's when it you were like Yeah, that was when I was like, oh, shit's getting real.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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This is Sean Evans checking in with some very exciting First We Feast news.
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Now, when I'm not over here choking down chicken wings on Hot Ones, I happen to be a huge pizza guy.
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Sicilian, Neapolitan, deep dish, dollar slice, frozen pizza, I love it all.
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Which is why I'm excited to announce that First We Feast has a brand new show, Pizza Wars, where pizza master Nicole Russell takes on contenders in a battle royale of different pizza styles.
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I'm on there judging the deep dish episode, naturally.
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But, the show has other great guests as well, including buddies like Binging with Babish and Frank Pinello.
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But, that's enough chitchat.
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Let's let the sizzle reel do the talking.
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All right, roll the tape.
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The misconception is that if you get a lot, it's good.
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Bite for bite, this is the best eating experience I've ever had on one of these things.
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My opponents and I will be taking on a new piece of theme challenge every episode.
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I wish that I could give you both trophies, but they only gave me one.
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Do you guys have an extra?
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They don't have an extra. Don't get it twisted.
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This is a competition and I want to win.
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But I'm also here to catch up with a few of my friends.
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I couldn't have done this episode with nobody else.
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Learn some new tricks to use at home.
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You got to slice the garlic thin.
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So thin that it liquefies in the pan.
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Nonna, thank you for that.
23:42
Thank you, Nonna, and eat a whole bunch of pizza. Salute. HERE ALL. OH MY GOD. WOW. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED. SO GET READY, PEOPLE. Pizza Wars is coming.