The Weeknd debuts question for the culture: Where's Lana on BB's Greatest Popstars?

[Movimento Perpétuo]

I agree.

[MatiRod]

2 hours ago, Katamari said:

hes the biggest cheerleader for the pop gurls tbh 

He basically is an honorary pop girl since the BBTM era lol. Serving better bops than most of the girls.

[sailor angel]

and he's absolutely correct!

[Moonlight Nation]

Billboard's list was fundamentally flawed from conception. Highly inconsistent criteria, counting rappers as popstars, and prioritizing media coverage, scandals, and lowbrow drama over actual qualities that determine a pop artist's greatness. For me, the list's credibility went down the drain the moment they put Bruno Mars at #20 and The Weeknd at #18. Absolute joke that Drake ended up as the highest ranked male artist. 

 

That being said, despite these frustrating issues, I'd say Lana deserved a place in the top 25, especially with how this list turned out. I agree with other comments here that she leans significantly more on alternative + singer-songwriter than your conventional pop star, but she played such a crucial role in shaping the sound of mainstream music from the 2010s onward - the type of impact that deserves to be recognized, especially when her influence is so strongly felt in more agreeable popstars like Billie Eilish, Lorde, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift.

 

And fine, she might not have a #1 hit or even many top 10s to her name, but her streaming presence is impressive for someone who actively avoids trends, she collects viral TikTok songs like candy (which include unreleased material), and "Born To Die" 's longevity on the Billboard 200 speaks for itself. 

[modeblock]

15 minutes ago, Moonlight Nation said:

Billboard's list was fundamentally flawed from conception. Highly inconsistent criteria, counting rappers as popstars, and prioritizing media coverage, scandals, and lowbrow drama over actual qualities that determine a pop artist's greatness. For me, the list's credibility went down the drain the moment they put Bruno Mars at #20 and The Weeknd at #18. Absolute joke that Drake ended up as the highest ranked male artist. 

 

That being said, despite these frustrating issues, I'd say Lana deserved a place in the top 25, especially with how this list turned out. I agree with other comments here that she leans significantly more on alternative + singer-songwriter than your conventional pop star, but she played such a crucial role in shaping the sound of mainstream music from the 2010s onward - the type of impact that deserves to be recognized, especially when her influence is so strongly felt in more agreeable popstars like Billie Eilish, Lorde, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift.

 

And fine, she might not have a #1 hit or even many top 10s to her name, but her streaming presence is impressive for someone who actively avoids trends, she collects viral TikTok songs like candy (which include unreleased material), and "Born To Die" 's longevity on the Billboard 200 speaks for itself. 

Rappers can be pop / rock stars too. In this case, it just means popular music artists that have a 360 approach to their presentation: delivering social media content, controversy, performances, music, and visuals. Making generic "pop" -sounding music that's unknown to the general public, for example, doesn't make anyone a popstar. The WHOLE package is needed. Lana delivers on all fronts: easily accessible music AND alternative experimental artistry. She's 100% a pop star and deserves to be on this list, even by their metrics. 

Edited Thursday at 07:51 PM by modeblock

[Sazare]

Seems she's exactly where she should be

[CovalentBondage]

I love me some Lana but she doesn't even have an iconic performance (iconic because its good)

[LegaMyth]

The real question should be, where is Alicia Keys?

[skeeyee]

Question for the culture me thinks 

[Moonlight Nation]

52 minutes ago, modeblock said:

Rappers can be pop / rock stars too. In this case, it just means popular music artists that have a 360 approach to their presentation: delivering social media content, controversy, performances, music, and visuals. Making generic "pop" -sounding music that's unknown to the general public, for example, doesn't make anyone a popstar. The WHOLE package is needed. Lana delivers on all fronts: easily accessible music AND alternative experimental artistry. She's 100% a pop star and deserves to be on this list, even by their metrics. 

That's a fair argument. I guess I just feel that, with the exception of Kanye West, the rappers they chose lack on consistency (especially Eminem and Nicki, though one could argue their peaks alone were important and influential enough) and/or the 360 aspect you mentioned (Lil Wayne). I'm admittedly not familiar enough with Jay Z's career and trajectory, and while Drake did have some undeniable moments and cared about his craft between 2009-2015, he's been frustratingly hit-and-miss since, and for me it felt wrong ranking him as the highest male pop star over the likes of Bruno, The Weeknd, or even Bieber and Kanye.

 

It would understandably be way too early to include Doja Cat and Tyler The Creator, whom I believe take this 360 approach and deserve to be considered popstars. Ditto for Kendrick Lamar, whom I'd actually argue already deserved to be somewhere on this list.

 

And yeah, fair enough for Lana too.