celeb news Variety: JLo & JT are pop stars aging poorly, Ariana & Madonna aren't

[ImpressMeMuch]

https://variety.com/2024/music/opinion/aging-pop-stars-struggle-popular-music-1235943142/ 

 

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Fifty may be the new forty in some areas of life, but popular music isn’t one of them.

    

 

What a bizarre-ass article...

 

 

On Justin and JLO: 

 

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The music on “Everything I Thought It Was” is a solid if predictable revival of his classic sound, but the at-times cringingly sexual lyrics are like being forced to watch the happily married couple Timberlake lovingly sings about in other songs drunkenly dirty dancing.

 

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Just ask J-Lo, whose “This Is Me… Now,” is a self-absorbed and self-financed $20 million multi-platform story of her reunion with Ben Affleck — a romance that was shipwrecked two decades ago largely by “Gigli,” their vilified 2003 rom-com collaboration.

 

 

On Ariana and Madonna:

 

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Compare those dated flood-the-zone rollouts with the one from 30-year-old Ariana Grande’s for her first album in three and a half years, which she teased with a few Instagram posts, released to rapturous reviews and followed with an “SNL” appearance that was tasteful where Timberlake’s was mostly tacky.

 

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Which brings us to Madonna, who finally hit pause on overloading her concerts with sub-par new material and launched a triumphant greatest-hits tour last year...

 Not surprisingly, the “Celebration” tour has been received with a level of religious reverence the singer hasn’t inspired in decades.

 

[MALAMENTE]

Why is Ariana even mentioned though? She’s not even their peer

[wehavetostan]

Calling Ariana an aging pop girl is crazy. She’s 30 and these artists are 45-65

[Sugar-Rush]

Not them acting as if 30-year-old Ariana is old.  Also did they really have to drag Madonna's newer material.

[Blue Monday]

To think that Variety used to be a respected trade publication... what exactly is the point of posting sh*t like this 

[Katamari]

It’s getting weird….

[Revolution]

These examples seem too cherry-picked. Taylor and Beyoncé are huge. Kanye has the #1 song right now. Aging pop stars seem to be doing fine.

 

JT and JLo just happen to have no artistry whatsoever and haven’t for a while now.

[Bethenny Frankel]

The Madame X Tour wasn't that bad, idk why they're dragging Madge

[cat1867]

7 minutes ago, MALAMENTE said:

Why is Ariana even mentioned though? She’s not even their peer

Most pop stars careers last 5-7 years. Ariana is on her 12th year so she is a veteran artist despite her young age.  And I think she is interesting comp since her era started out rocky but her release week made it a proper blockbuster.

 

 

[nadiamendell]

Who is funding the hate campaign against these two? 

[ImpressMeMuch]

6 minutes ago, Sugar-Rush said:

Not them acting as if 30-year-old Ariana is old.  Also did they really have to drag Madonna's newer material.

I will not stand for this MDMA erasure 

[ImpressMeMuch]

not the downvotes, I'm not the author of the article lmao  

[Shelter]

When did Variety become so tacky? The last few years they have become messy 

[Trent W]

Ariana is barely 30

 

What is wrong with people?

 

The ageism is insane lol

[Sheep]

idk I think this comparison has more to do with TALENT than age. 2 of the greatest performers to ever come out of pop music vs 2 of the worst. 

[Inverted]

Jem Aswad, the writer of this article, is one of those pop girl obsessed millenial gay men masquerading as a legitimate critic. Don’t take it so seriously. He’s basically an “elder” ATRL member. 

 

23 minutes ago, Blue Monday said:

To think that Variety used to be a respected trade publication... what exactly is the point of posting sh*t like this 

This is not from Variety, the actual trade magazine. It’s the online version. Like the website version of Forbes, it’s been taken over by aging, chronically online gay men obsessed with pop girls, not actual critics . 

Edited March 15 by Inverted

[Blue Monday]

4 minutes ago, Inverted said:

Jem Aswad, the writer of this article, is one of those pop girl obsessed millenial gay men masquerading as a legitimate critic.

 

This is not from Variety, the actual trade magazine. It’s the online version. Like the website version of Forbes, it’s been taken over by aging, chronically online gay men obsessed with pop girls, not actual critics . 

Yeah I know, but they're sullying the name of Variety with garbage like this is my point

[HASHTAGPOW]

 Ariana is 50 years old 
 

[stevyy]

23 minutes ago, wehavetostan said:

Calling Ariana an aging pop girl is crazy. She’s 30 and these artists are 45-65

In Hollywood you can either be young (12 y.o.), middle aged (20) or old (30). 

 

You can either be thin (40kg) or young (12. y.o.).

 

*this joke was taken from Steve Martin at the Oscars.

 

 

[SinnerCity]

@GelatoDid you write this?

 

[Inverted]

9 minutes ago, Sheep said:

idk I think this comparison has more to do with TALENT than age. 2 of the greatest performers to ever come out of pop music vs 2 of the worst. 

Since when was Ariana one of the greatest performers to come out of pop music?

 

Both J.Lo and JT are much better performers. 

[stevyy]

10 minutes ago, Sheep said:

idk I think this comparison has more to do with TALENT than age. 2 of the greatest performers to ever come out of pop music vs 2 of the worst. 

JT is not one of the worst performers... lol. 

 

He sold just as many albums as Beyoncé and Gaga. And his live performances are outstanding. 

[Gorjesspazze9]

What’s up with Variety these days?  They use to be respectable and informative, now they are kinda giving typical Twitter Stan. 

[Moonlight Nation]

25 minutes ago, Revolution said:

These examples seem too cherry-picked. Taylor and Beyoncé are huge. Kanye has the #1 song right now. Aging pop stars seem to be doing fine.

 

JT and JLo just happen to have no artistry whatsoever and haven’t for a while now.

Agreed. Shout-out to Kylie Minogue too as another veteran (hate the term 'aging' pop star) who's gotten a cool resurgence lately. 

 

It feels wrong to put 34-year old Taylor alongside these artists, but she did begin her career in 2006 and has managed to reach new heights 17 years later, which is genuinely unprecedented especially in light of ageist trends the industry had shown in past few decades.

 

Edit: I think what contributes to sustaining longevity for veteran and legacy acts is a combination of talent + artistry, having your finger on the pulse, and the likeability factor. Whoever wrote that Variety article failed to acknowledge that both Jennifer Lopez and especially Justin Timberlake have become deeply uncool to the eyes of the current generation, with past controversies, scandals, and poor behaviour being frequently brought up whenever there's conversation about them in pop culture circles. You could argue the same for Kanye, but he already built a devoted cult following and an undeniable discography to his name, so the castle can no longer crumble.

Edited March 15 by Moonlight Nation

[shoganai]

Ariana is still 30 even if she now looks 50