Nowadays we expect from pop girls to really shake thing up with each era - new aesthetics, new genre etc. but when you think about it, even Madonna - the queen of reinvention - couldn't always pull this off. What would happened if instead of Hard Candy she released proper follow up to Confessions (sorta like "That! Feels Good")? And then there's the purple elephant in the room... Why are people freaking out about Guts cover, especially since Vampire is smashing? Maybe reinvention is better for some popstars while others just don't have to do that?

 

Look the truth is most succesful artists don’t need to constantly reinvent themselves because they’ve build a fanbase for themselves and they know what that fanbase wants.

 

Heck even Taylor didn’t start truly reinventing herself until 1989 when she became a full fledged popstar

 

However, as POP STANS, it is nice to see someone embrace a new sound/genre with each album. It’s just the escapism of it all

Edited July 2, 20233 yr by Love Again

29 minutes ago, Love Again said:

Look the truth is most succesful artists don’t need to constantly reinvent themselves because they’ve build a fanbase for themselves and they know what that fanbase wants.

 

Heck even Taylor didn’t start truly reinventing herself until 1989 when she became a full fledged popstar

 

However, as POP STANS, it is nice to see someone embrace a new sound/genre with each album. It’s just the escapism of it all

Bingo - it also has to feel authentic. Forced reinvention always miss.

2 hours ago, Love Again said:

Look the truth is most succesful artists don’t need to constantly reinvent themselves because they’ve build a fanbase for themselves and they know what that fanbase wants.

 

Heck even Taylor didn’t start truly reinventing herself until 1989 when she became a full fledged popstar

 

However, as POP STANS, it is nice to see someone embrace a new sound/genre with each album. It’s just the escapism of it all

She was a country girl before so it made sense too stay the same

Music and artists are seen much more seriously than they should. At the end of the day, it’s nothing else than music and entertainment.

 

People should just realize that and enjoy music for what it is. 

Evolution >> reinvention

It's still important. Look at Ariana, she stopped reinventing after sweetener, and her grasp on the culture is majorly weakened. It knocked her off the trajectory of becoming a true pop superstar. 

 

Lana has been doing something similar; COCC, BB and DYK all seem to be chasing the same energy that encapsulated NFR. It's getting a bit stale and lacklustre- and the audience is in need of a musical and sonic reinvention. 

Gays get bored so easily of something or someone and since most of a pop star fanbase is gay well…..

1 hour ago, Feanor said:

Evolution >> reinvention

And that's the tea

If you reinvent well, then I think it’s a very fun experience as a stan. That being said, there are also artists that remain fun and interesting without making drastic changes to sound and image. At the end of the day, if the music is good I don’t think that it matters too much if it’s totally new or in line with the past. 

I do love reinventions, but also love when artists can pull off "evolution" rather than reinvention, like a previous user said

 

Lana Del Rey expands and develops her world, to the point that both critics and GP love it. Each album is just a new and updated version of herself, the characters that surround her, the places she goes to and the situations she's in. Hell, even the weather. People usually say her music is like a painting, but I see her music as a map that's constantly expanding, discovering new places step by step. She's literature.

 

She's had two reinventions though, imo. From trashy blonde Lizzy to glamorous auburn Lana. Then when she went from glamorous auburn Lana to apocalyptic SoCal expert poet sea enthusiast Lana.

Organic evolution is the best 
Most of the time what you call a reinvention it's just pop girls changing their style

That is just cheap PR 

3 hours ago, Feanor said:

Evolution >> reinvention

I like this!
 

So in other words, it needs to be a change to makes sense for the long term?  I don’t think many artists have that level of foresight these days unfortunately lol.  
 

And it means they need to stick to whatever changes they make (sonically, aesthetically), but I think some artists (or their labels) are too focused on charts, that they don’t show this type of commitment.

 

 

Edited July 2, 20233 yr by professor2000

Yes, reinvention doesn't mean the output will be good

the truth is, you’re not going to last as a female in pop without constant reinvention. Is it overrated? Sure, but it’s necessary. You’re going to have to reinvent something whether it’s sound or aesthetic at a certain point. (I say usually by album 3 if not 2 if the first was a smash).

 

the GP in fickle in terms of attention. More pure dance - pop artists (Britney, Madonna, Rihanna, Dua). Someone like Taylor wasn’t bound to it until she went pure pop then she learned the insane pressure of pop to constantly reinvent and I don’t think she has that type of vision. She moved to more alt and indie styles immediately after. Adele is similar, but now the GP is feeling the fatigue. She needs to reinvent her sound. Lana is safe cause she’s considered alt and never was in the spotlight of mainstream success. I can keep going.

I wouldn't say "overrated," per se, but I don't feel as though it's ultimately necessary unless it's the artist just naturally growing and evolving. The interests and vibes of people begin to change and they start to represent that in their interests and how they carry themselves, and I don't see why the same wouldn't apply to those who are actually artists. And, often times, it's not even about anyone reinventing themselves, it's just them coming out of their shells. I don't think an artist should go out of their way to force a reinvention, though.

If you want to be mainstream you have to re-invent to maintain your popularity. Te best thing to do is to have a consistent familiar aesthetic that could recognize that it's you as you re-invent. Example, Beyoncé you will never see her without some shade of blonde in any of her visual work. She'll go from pageant to avant garde but what grounds it is the familiar blonde hair. Same with Taylor and her red lipstick.

No. Reinvention is amazing only when done right as Madonna. Evolution feels more natural like janet and britney

 

MJ, jt, ed get dragged here for always staying the same 

I don't know but Ray of Light was everything.

 

5 hours ago, Chris said:

I don't know but Ray of Light was everything.

 

Probably best reinvention in pop music ever done. Absolute 180 change of style. And then with Confessions pretty much the same… her mind… I don’t think anyone else could pull that off