Stream It Or Skip It: ‘This Is Pop’ on Netflix, A Music Doc Series With Intersectional Moments On Its Mind

Take a ride back to the 1990s with the first episode of This is Pop (Netflix), an eight-ep run that will look for the moments when pop found new voices and birthed new trends out of thin air. With contemporary interviews and vintage footage, “The Boyz II Men” effect traces the Philadelphia combo’s meteoric rise and historic takeover of the R&B and pop charts, only to see their dominance wane in the face of an onslaught of white guy boy bands. 

THIS IS POP: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Radio static crackles over a title card drenched in the color palette of 1991 MTV, and the harmonized countdown from “Uhh Ahh,” Boyz II Men’s Cooleyhighharmony single from that year, begins. Then, a supercut of footage — it’s B2M in a succession of coordinated outfits, rocking natty bowties, and dancing in unison.

The Gist: The Netflix documentary series This is Pop is set to do some deep diving. With popular music since the dawn of the 1950’s and the imprimatur of the Billboard charts as its guide, the eight episodes delve into everything from the iconic Brill Building sound and the public performance alchemy of foundational musical festivals to brit pop, Swedish pop, country that goes pop, and this lead episode, “The Boyz II Men Effect,” which tracks the vocal combo’s kingmaking 1990’s rise and parses their status as a Black act that dominated the very pop (i.e., very white) Hot 100 as much as the R&B charts. Contemporary interviews with B2M members Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Wanya Morris fill in the biographical details — the group’s formation at Philadelphia’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, their tapping of influential New Edition member Michael Bivins as manager, and the release of the Grammy-winning Cooleyhighharmony. Bivins himself appears, too, as do journalist Kelly L. Carter of The Undefeated, music critic Jason King, and Billboard chart historian Chris Molanphy.

“When we classify groups as R&B and pop, I think what generally differentiates the two is usually the race of the artist that’s making them, or the audience that they’re serving,” Carter says of Boyz II Men’s groundbreaking stance astride the two musical worlds. “And radio back then, of course, was very much segregated.” And while early singles like “Motownphilly” were keyed into the vibrant New Jack Swing sound, it was big, buoyant ballads that pushed Boyz II Men to the top of the charts. “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” of course, but also “End of the Road,” the monumental Babyface-penned single from the Boomerang soundtrack that spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and became the penultimate homecoming dance and senior prom finale. The man himself, Babyface, even appears to muse over the recording sessions for the track.

While Boyz II Men had succeed beyond their wildest daydreams as kids back in Philly, and followed in the dance steps of their heroes in New Edition, the cyclical nature of pop music had another trick, and This is Pop illustrates how, despite their chart dominance and established crossover appeal, it was almost inevitable that the B2M model would be appropriated by white artists, which is exactly what happened with the late-1990’s ascendance of Backstreet Boys, ‘NSYNC, and 98 Degrees. And to that end, Nick Lachey appears to ask for absolution of his boy band sins. The first ep of This is Pop culminates with Morris, Stockman, and Morris performing at their Las Vegas residency, having pivoted once again, the way artists do.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Banger Films, the production company behind This is Pop, also produced the terrific 2019 documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, which had a similar feel for both history and revealing interviews. Meanwhile, the Netflix series Rapture uses profiles of hip-hop luminaries like 2 Chainz and Nas to examine the global influence of the genre.

Our Take: Pop music’s intersectional nature over its roughly seven-decade history is a big enough subject that it might sometimes be easier to take small bites and chew slowly. And that’s what it feels like This is Pop is going to do with its eight episodes — cut the pop music burger into little morsels that each tell a story full of flavor and get at what the larger meal means. Boyz II Men are a fascinating subject for this, since they hit at a time when the cycles of pop were churning, folding the form back on itself to create new sounds and new voices. New Jack Swing, hip-hop’s continued rise, the changing faces and trends of rock and pop — propelled by MTV and pop radio, it was a landscape ripe for a new voice to take the lead, and it turned out four voices did it, instead. This is Pop brings the era to life with contemporary interviews, but it also unearths music video footage, celebrity appearances, and late night TV performances to frame the popular culture of the era in all of its colorful bombast.

Sex and Skin: Nah.

Parting Shot: Wanya Morris is walking through a backstage hallway after another performance at the group’s Vegas residency. “Tired, tired, tired,” he says to the camera. “But sometimes you gotta give it all, you know? Because at the end of the day, if you don’t give it all, somebody else is gonna give more, you know?”

Sleeper Star: “I don’t consider them pop or R&B,” Michael Bivins says of Boyz II Men. “I just consider them fucking singers ’cause that’s what they are.” Bivins proves to be a wry wit in his sitdown interviews for This is Pop, and has a real flair for telling an anecdote, especially if it’s about those heady days of the ’90s music biz.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Everything we touched at a certain point in time turned to gold.” That line from Wanya Morris is spoken with a gleam in his eye as he recalls the bright path of global stardom that Boyz II Men found themselves on during the 1990’s. From histrionic MTV interviews to mall appearances mobbed by thousands of teens, it was quite a run, and one unlikely to be repeated in the more diffuse modern media age.

Our Call: STREAM IT. There’s nostalgia and memories of prom to be channeled for anyone of a certain age, of course. But this lead ep of This is Pop and what’s to follow are also offering fresh takes on a pretty wide subject.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

Watch This Is Pop on Netflix