lustforyou

Ugh she could so easily have a comeback if she just got actual good writers/producers with basic ass music videos (no plotlines allowed as she makes them cheesy) and zero promo (no chances to put foot in mouth) besides daily pap walks styled by Law (I don't even think his work is that good but the twitter girls would gag)

Even Arianators admit this album is (comparatively for her standards) a commercial (and artistic…) flop. She's got the biggest hate train against her rn of like, any pop girl since the early 2010s. The music is repetitive and not very catchy. She's on her 8th album and in her mid 30s vs early 20s. Like it's obvious why Olivia is out streaming and it's not really a drag against Ariana (although it is worth a cheers to Olivia)

Because Camila made a cohesive album with a distinctive sound and interesting/unique aesthetic and branding. As we've seen time and time again, branding and aesthetic matters more than the music oftentimes and will make a career (Zara flopping until she went with Love Island x10 aesthetic, Charli flopping till she zeroed in on minimalism and lime green and coke party girl aesthetic, Sabrina flopping till she committed to 60s sex kitten drag queen looks, one of the founding reasons for Ariana's imperial era unironically being her signature look of high ponytail, oversized sweater, and thigh high boots; etc etc etc) The Spring Breakers/Miami at dusk after a rainstorm/heartbroken party girl getting ready to go out after a day at the beach is a fun and interesting vibe that made it worth revisiting even when it flopped at first And finally, because Camila is finally shaking some of the cringe/uncool/loser persona she's been fighting against since like 2020. Enough time passed that the hate train cooled, CXOXO despite being an initial flop gained her some cool factor back, enough time has passed that theres a little nostalgia for the mid-late 2010s when she came up and she's the only one of Fifth Harmony actually making real music to check out

And good for her. Melodrama "saved" her career to this day. If it wasn't well received and eventually crystallized into a pop classic, she'd be a (much better, but still) Megan Trainor-level figure — a huge pop star in the mid 2010s that was a one era wonder. Or a bigger Sky Ferreira, loved by a niche group for one album but irrelevant in present day landscape She still never matched the commercial heights of PH obviously, but Melodrama's acclaim and recurrent streams/success afforded her more grace, longer interest from fans, and the ability to book more respected and high profile gigs, which (in turn with her live performance skills that she showed off here) helped her become a "legend" style act that can still headline basically any festival she wants despite not having a true chart hit in 12 years. If her sophomore album was just mid (not even actively bad) and then she followed it with Solar Power, I don't think she'd have been able to course correct with Virgin like she did

These are very steep drops and unfortunately with the narrative around her/the tour right now, I really don't even think the tour boost will save it.

Yes, a lot of Gaga's recent single success comes from collabs. But who cares? People bring this up all the time as if these legendary and super successful artists collab with Gaga out of charity or something. They collab with her because of her legacy, her talent in vocals and songwriting, to get exposure within her extremely dedicated and loyal fanbase, to get media attention since she's still a huge current name, etc etc etc. There's a reason Gaga can get cast in huge big budget movies with Bradley and get artists like Ariana, Bruno, Blackpink, Elton John, Bad Bunny (performance) wanting to collab with her, meanwhile Katy gets….Dr Luke and new artist Doechii to collab with her

I did NOT know Taylor was still number 2 with that song Are most the points airplay I'm assuming?

Why are we acting like Lizzo flopping is brand new and something that's never been seen before when she's just the 2020's Meghan Trainor (whom I'm sure was the 90s someone, etc) And I dislike Katy's music post-2014 but lumping her career state in with Lizzo's is delusional

Nothing on TTPD really stands out as a sure fire hit (especially by any artist other than Taylor at her peak), and I'd argue Fortnight and MBOBHFT are the only 2 with real lead single potential. Guilty as Sin is cute but I feel like it's Lavender Haze-esque to me: a good-but-not-amazing pop song that isn't really catchy or unique enough to be a hit Fortnight at least had the chill midbeat lo-fi vibe that was unique-ish for Taylor, and didn't really kill the era. I do think in hindsight MBOBHFT probably would've been the better lead, but I see the strategy

One of these things is not like the others…

Taylor just went number 1 for 2 weeks (and then number 2 for 2 weeks) with a boring country soundtrack song. Literally no one at the current point in time Do yall ever get bored with the same questions?

Ariana really jumped from like, current day Dua Lipa level (and that's no shade) to the most famous person in the world in the span of just a few months Like, she was genuinely a bigger celebrity than Taylor (and everyone else) at the time for (before a hardcore Swiftie drags me, no her sales weren't as high. I'm talking celebrity status) But it is kinda weird how that insane peak seemed to literally last just a year. She's obviously still massive but she's kinda "just another pop star" now when she was, finally, the pop star. Going on a music hiatus to film Wicked after the more lowkey positions (and when streaming firmly established itself + culture shifted a ton post-Covid) hurt her a bit tbh

Serving Dorit Kemsley

Why is this even thread worthy, Lana has been bigger than Katy since 2018

Girl…😭