I saw this tweet yesterday (which isn't viral and I'm not calling it that ) and I also saw the following posted on ATRL:

Quote

BASIC?  Excuse me? This is Dua Lipa. You’ll really confuse Albanian pop girls. Dua isn’t serving basic disco pop. If you want to hear that type of music, check Ava or Bebe. 

 

So I thought I'd ask the question of the wider ATRL community to get their thoughts. Is Dua Lipa's music basic pop music or is it pop excellence?

 

NB: For the sake of this thread, basic pop music isn't necessarily bad, I'm asking whether the music is simplistic and formulaic or if it's lyrically clever/melodically interesting and unique.

Basic but does its job

It's pop music but that doesn't mean it's necessarily "basic". 99% of ATRL faves don't have a better crafted pop album than FN 

“Basic” in the sense that she’s not reinventing the wheel. She’s taking a successful formula and putting her own spin in it and making it work. Can’t wait for whatever comes next from her. 

well produced pop music (better than ari and katy since they're in the tweet).

 

 

2 minutes ago, Mark Rih said:

It's pop music but that doesn't mean it's necessarily "basic". 99% of ATRL faves don't have a better crafted pop album than FN 

99% of atrl faves are more than one of it. 

Its basic, she hasnt released anything to be called genius

 

but it is a great and fun basic and thats fine

It's a Barbie soundtrack song. Were they expecting a Roisin Murphy type of song for a Barbie soundtrack?

 

 

edit: it sounds good!

Edited May 23, 20233 yr by Marry The Gods

it’s genius in its basicness 

Despite me preferring the Olivia Newton original I would say Physical is genius for a song that was pushed to radio context matters! I'd say Don't Start Now was a breath of fresh air too.

 

If someone's trying to imply she's the pop Björk tho then that's where you lost me 

There are different levels of basicness. It's music made for radio after all. It's basic to a certain extent, although it's not at the level of Ava's or Bebe's faceless pop. Dua's pop definitely has more personality. And it's really really good.

 

Comments like that tweet were going to happen sooner or later. If you drop the same sound you have milked for years, people won't be crazy about it anymore. However, it's a song for the Barbie soundtrack. That person is delusional if she were expecting artistic growth or experimentation. That's probably going to happen in the new album, not in a random soundtrack. 

Edited May 23, 20233 yr by thatsmydemi

It's basic but so are the Katy and Ariana's music too. 

Future Nostalgia was a huge step up for her in terms of her image and sound; it proved that she could not only deliver on a strong concept, but change it up from her debut album. Love Again, Pretty Please, Levitating, Don’t Start Now… PHYSICAL? The production on those songs is so rich and deep, not to mention Dua’s voice sounds right at home on them. She really did usher in the disco revival in pop music, that should count for something. 
 

But even if didn’t, and these were just strong songs she had released, why does everything need to be this genius, avant-garde experience? it’s not just that it’s not sustainable, not every artist is meant to do something like that. Why is ATRL pretending like half of their faves don’t release basic bops they have no hand in creating outside of getting in the booth? 
 

Edited May 23, 20233 yr by Blue Monday

Pop music can be both basic and genius. They’re not mutually exclusive

 

And FN sounds basic now because literally everyone tried to replicate it in the two years following its release.

What's "basic" anyways? To some people her music is literal art and others just aren't into it.

 

That's literally the case with every kind of music, genre, artist etc. 

Basic but good 

there's no point arguing over an artist who has never written a single song in her entire career

 

she's as good as her writers are, and her writers were pretty decent for FN and it worked 

Anyone who thinks that Future Nostalgia is a "basic" album just has appalling taste and poor knowledge of music.

very basic, I can see the appeal for some people, but there's nothing really stan-worthy

Swan Song was a genious avant-garde pop song that not many people get it

Dua was basic AF! She was literally in the same box as your usual Zara Larssons, Anne Marie’s and Bebe Rexha’s etc. Then Warner said NO, and forced her into writing camp, made a budget available to develop her as an artist and alter her sound and the result was FN. She broke the mold of basic with hard work all jokes aside cause FN is definitely a great album that broke barriers, only time will tell that. Her debut… eh not really. THAT is the basic one. Also its weird to tweet that cause she only has two albums to judge 

Praying she's still working with Ian Kirkpatrick 

Genius 

 

i definitely wouldn't stan if it was basic, others could never do a FN

Basic or not that depends on her writing camp , FN was great and she carried the era well 

Neither? She makes very good pop music, it's not outstanding but it's pretty damn enjoyable.

 

Also that tweet is such a reach when Dua only has 2 albums out and some of you think she's going to make Future Nostalgia type of music for the next 10 years