base talk Where are the Gen Z Pop Boys? Why are they non-existent?

[Gwendolyn]

Inspired by this post:

 

And video:

 

Every music generation we would have main pop boys, in the 80s we had MJ, George Michael, David Bowie, Prince, in the 90s we had NYSNC, BSB, Boyz II Men, Ricky Martin, Diddy. At the dawn of 2000, we saw Usher, JT, Chris Brown, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and so much more. 2010s saw the rise of 1D, Justin Bieber (with the multiple Justin Bieber clones ), Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran's domination and Khalid. In the 20s, Harry Styles is doing amazingly, Lil Nas X was making waves and Jungkook's solo career is off to a great start; it seems like there's a massive drought with Gen Z pop boys across the board.

 

The ones we had (Kid Laroi and Khalid) fell off after a era and such, and the women seem to be coming stronger and dominating the pop sphere right now with the newer arrivals of Chappell, Tyla, Sabrina, Gracie. And more veteran Gen Zs such as Olivia and Billie. We can't sy the same for the men though. 

 

Even older male stars are selling out stadiums and arenas due to the drought 

 

Is there a reason why this happening, and what we can do to fix this drought?

Edited Saturday at 12:49 PM by Gwendolyn

[Moonlight Nation]

Lil Nas X was showing immense potential in 2021. The "MONTERO" era was phenomenal! But unfortunately he struggled to keep this momentum going. He could have easily attempted a fourth single off the album in 2022, or even dropped the deluxe he kept teasing. Instead, we had that non-event collaboration with Youngboy NBA, a promising one-off with "STAR WALKIN" - whose lack of promo hindered any potential it had, and then the bizarre "J CHRIST". 

It's frustrating because it genuinely seems he forgot what made people like his music in the first place, with "J CHRIST" being a textbook example of style and cheap provocation over substance. I hope he gets his groove back, but it seems he's struggling with inspiration at the moment.

 

Otherwise, I believe there's simply been significantly less demand for pop boys compared to other genres. The 2020s have brought us a fair share of excellent breakthrough male artists, but they're coming from country (Zach Bryan), folk (Noah Kahan), or R&B (Brent Faiyaz, Steve Lacy, Tommy Richman). Yes, Benson Boone is having a cute moment this year, but it's more music-driven than artist-driven in my view, whereas Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan are larger-than-life with their personalities and artistic personas. Even someone like Ed Sheeran cultivated this type of following at first despite being a fellow singer-songwriter with guitar type.

 

Pop music has historically been a genre where women thrive better. You mentioned the 2000s but that's another decade where the male pop acts were vastly outnumbered by the women. And even those you mentioned outside of Williams were considered more as R&B or rock. 

Edited Saturday at 01:23 PM by Moonlight Nation

[AbeHicks]

This is not really true. Benson Boone and Noah Kahan are literally right there. Post Malone's I Had Some Help is somewhat pop-ish too.

Edited Saturday at 01:08 PM by AbeHicks

[Bindi]

Not atrl complaining about the lack of male domination in the recent pop music landscape 

 

[My Tears Ricochet]

The male pop star audience moved on to Kpop a long time ago

[OrgVisual]

Because there are too many RAP boys and COUNTRY boys dominating the charts already. We don't need anymore Pop boys sorry 

[Yog]

28 minutes ago, AbeHicks said:

Noah Kahan

He's not pop tho 

Edited Saturday at 01:36 PM by Yog

[ScorpiosGroove]

they all suck 

[Afterglow]

36 minutes ago, AbeHicks said:

This is not really true. Benson Boone and Noah Kahan are literally right there. Post Malone's I Had Some Help is somewhat pop-ish too.

Who? Sis they mentioned pop boys that popped off from debut. Your Micheal's, Justin's , Ed's, Chris', 1D's, etc. And Post Malone is like a millennial age himself. 

 

There are no Gen Z pop boys, just like there's a lack of notable pop girls. I feel bad tbh I feel like the Millennial and Gen X's have such iconic pop eras that debuted legends, and it's just not happening anymore. 

Edited Saturday at 01:44 PM by Afterglow

[brraap]

Gen z boys all fall into the rap genre or other categories now, there's loads of new comers - example ; peso pluma, central cee, junkook 

[Kuntmonster]

Jung kook is right there sweaty

[AvadaKedavra]

Pop Music is the only genre where women-ladies are dominant forces
In the rest of genres they get mocked and mistreated. Rock-Hip Hop-Country.........
Im glad girls thrive in pop music  im ok with Pop boys havin a small place in pop music

Edited Saturday at 02:25 PM by AvadaKedavra

[PopKills]

Conan Gray is right there and y'all should get into him! 

[Meowfie]

Because you guys arent streaming me 🥺

[Digitalism]

35 minutes ago, Kuntmonster said:

Jung kook is right there sweaty

This

[SimpleKindofLife]

I guess Benson Boone is one but his voice is grating so I can't see him lasting long

[Taylor fanboy]

We don't need them.
 

Come on ladies, bury the patriarchy!

 

FEMALE CEO's and Label Heads next!

[superben]

We already have the K-pop boys

[Cheers]

Men in pop have less longevity than the women.

Which makes King Bieber's reign even more impressive  

[HASHTAGPOW]

Starburst 

[JonginBey]

As if y'all would support them anyway

[Storm653]

3 hours ago, My Tears Ricochet said:

The male pop star audience moved on to Kpop a long time ago

The only right answer. 

[Illyboy]

I don't think I listen to any but one of my friends listens to Grant Knoche a lot, isn't he pop?

[Illyboy]

Also, are we counting straight or also queer pop boys? If we also count queer ig Troye Sivan and Sam Smith are out there.

Spoiler

I don't listen to them tho IJBOL

 

[Fitzswiftie]

• The biggest stars come from other genres (right now hip-hop - for at least a decade -, country and the Spanish speaking world). So that's where the locals have been getting their "pop" fix from. 

• All the best performers/musicians are either gay or Korean, and those are unfortunate still niche in a silo'd echo chamber in the internet age.

 

• The audience for male pop stars ventured off to K-Pop and indie pop/queers (see Troye and Charli still touring/streaming well individually without musically compromise but 10 years had to make concessions to appease top 40 programmers)

 
• Generally quality of the pop boys music isn't that good compared to their women. Lazy comparison but you listen to Liv's "Obsessed", Rina's "Espresso" and Josh's "Golden Years" back-to-back and it's easy to see why the first two blow up huge.