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).
On the latest show, we welcome two special guests: Allie X and Ruth B. The rising singer/songwriters stopped by the show (for separate interviews) to talk about their new albums, their songwriting process and more.
Ruth B broke through a little over a year ago with her viral hit “Lost Boy,” and now she’s back with her debut full-length album Safe Haven. Meanwhile, Pop Shop fans are probably already familiar with Allie X, as she co-wrote half of Troye Sivan’s debut full-length effort, Blue Neighbourhood, including the hit single “Youth.” Allie X’s latest album, CollXtion II, was released June 9.
In our respective chats, we talk to the artists about writing music and how the process is different for each of them. Allie X has written for other pop acts -- and has often found herself in sessions with other writers and producers with the goal of completing a song to pitch to an artist. Conversely, Ruth B goes it alone, and feels that songwriting is a very personal exercise.
This article originally appeared on Billboard.com.