MingYouToo Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 I know MPG is such an outdated term but it refers to female artists who transcend multiple genres and are essentially very popular to the point that they dominate the market every time they release. They dont have to be all on the same level of success nor are they on the same genre of pop but all exhibit a level of dominance/POPularity many of their peers could only dream of. Examples of active MPGs: Taylor Swift, Adele, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, and now SZA! After debuting with massive numbers, constantly debuting Top 10 and is projected to sell north of 300k, a number most artists can only ever dream of, is SZA now a member of the coveted group MPGs? Spoiler And im not going to argue with the girls saying shes a main r&b girl, because if shes a main r&b girl shed be the only one in that group given how massive she is compared to everyone else. Thats like comparing Taylor Swift to Meghan Trainor commercially. She is pop simply because of the nature of her popularity, pop is quite literally whatever is mainstream and she is THE face of mainstream r&b. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byzantium Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 As far as I am concerned she definitely is. It is not an official title or anything worth debating over. It’s just a shorthand to say that you are talking about the top women in the industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrokenMachine Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Yeah, she has the hits, her albums do well and always gives something to talk about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fridayteenage Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 maybe we'll have to see how the album does in the upcoming weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orsay Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 54 minutes ago, MingYouToo said: And im not going to argue with the girls saying shes a main r&b girl, because if shes a main r&b girl shed be the only one in that group given how massive she is compared to everyone else. Thats like comparing Taylor Swift to Meghan Trainor commercially. doesn't Summer Walker also do strong opening week #s? And Jhene Aiko? SZA may be the biggest R&B girl right now but the difference between her and Summer/Jhene is no where near the difference between Taylor and Meghan she just doesn't make pop music or fit the pop girl archetype imo. same way I wouldn't call Lana a pop girl cause she's more alternative in genre/public image. Also SZA has never had a radio hit (without Doja's help) in the way you would expect of an "MPG" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MingYouToo Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 2 minutes ago, Orsay said: doesn't Summer Walker also do strong opening week #s? And Jhene Aiko? SZA may be the biggest R&B girl right now but the difference between her and Summer/Jhene is no where near the difference between Taylor and Meghan she just doesn't make pop music or fit the pop girl archetype imo. same way I wouldn't call Lana a pop girl cause she's more alternative in genre/public image. Also SZA has never had a radio hit (without Doja's help) in the way you would expect of an "MPG" SZA has hits tho? Hit Different, Good Days, Love Galore? All solo and past 400M streams, led by her and are way bigger than Girls Need Love (Summer's biggest hit) You're right that they're closer than Taylor - Meghan but the point is SZA is beyond these girls by miles. Maybe its bc Summer and Jhene dont do collabs but the point of the matter is that SZA has the global HITS + the album numbers + the celebrity these girls don't have .SZA is a global force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duybeeGAshantiGA Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Maybe she is like Lana. She does not exactly belong to the group of Taylor, Ari, Bey, Gaga, Billie, etc. because of the genre of her music and how she is not this mega pop star. But her opening week is so strong we cant rule her out. She is in her own lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letemtalk Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 The criteria seems to change all the time depending on who we are talking about. In the past ATRL has said that a MPG needed 2 successful eras and Top 5 hits from 2 successful eras as well as a lot of subjective things that no one can agree on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*-ChriZ-* Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Sza is definitely up there as the current IT girl of RnB. Constantly delivering Hits as a feat or solo, big album sales, acclaim. Shes doing great and its nice to see a successful RnB representation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MingYouToo Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 18 minutes ago, Letemtalk said: The criteria seems to change all the time depending on who we are talking about. In the past ATRL has said that a MPG needed 2 successful eras and Top 5 hits from 2 successful eras as well as a lot of subjective things that no one can agree on. there is no clear definition because its always subject to change. however, its always a combination of these things: hitmaking ability, strong first week power (indicative of fanbase + gp interest), celebrity status. sza has a mixture of those and deserves to be in this group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodflowers. Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Yes, she is a superstar that delivers quality albums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrorblade Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britxbrit Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Honestly? Yes. The only reason why some people would say no is because she doesn't make gaudy dance/pop and isn't white. Y'all look ridiculous trying to rule Sza out when her first week opening numbers are projected to be bigger than Billie, Dua, and Doja's previous first week numbers. This forum only crowns female artists who fit into an extremely narrow and outdated criteria as the true "it girls." But when someone who doesn't fit into that narrow criteria ends up being more successful, y'all wanna pretend to be shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrgVisual Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 No SZA is like modern-day Alicia Keys who nobody has ever considered a MPG She belongs to that group of Alicia, Pink, Lana who are successful musicians but never been that popular as a celebrity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polgg48 Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 solo number 1 or multiple top 10 ( shirt missed ) then she is, see summer walker album seller no hit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.E.M. Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 im scared for the influx of SZA avis and bandwagon stans SZA's been that girl, it's a shame ATRL only started paying attention now that she's smashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinning Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 1 hour ago, R.E.M. said: im scared for the influx of SZA avis and bandwagon stans SZA's been that girl, it's a shame ATRL only started paying attention now that she's smashing. This. Bandwagon f*gs If you didnt' pay attention to SZA during ctrl then just don't bother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnikaSlays Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 I’d argue that she’s been up there since Good Days/KMM, but SOS definitely solidifies it. She definitely has the streaming power and cultural impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooart Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 SZA's been that girl since CTRL's release in mid 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 SZA has been the queen of R&B since Ctrl and this new album not only just solidified that title but also put her ahead of many "main pop girls" so I'm inclined to say yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inmymendes Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 She is the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theshigo Washidu Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 12 hours ago, duybeeGAshantiGA said: Maybe she is like Lana. She does not exactly belong to the group of Taylor, Ari, Bey, Gaga, Billie, etc. because of the genre of her music and how she is not this mega pop star. But her opening week is so strong we cant rule her out. She is in her own lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Sexy Savage Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 6 hours ago, Sept said: She belongs to that group of Alicia, Pink, Lana who are successful musicians but never been that popular as a celebrity All excellent artists she’s in amazing company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Sexy Savage Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 3 hours ago, Shinning said: This. Bandwagon f*gs If you didnt' pay attention to SZA during ctrl then just don't bother !!! The definition of you just had to be there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Sexy Savage Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 She’s potentially gonna open more than Olivia, Billie and Chromatica so she’s doing fine loves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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