Search the Community

Hear me out, ALL popstars, I mean, ALL, from their mainstream breakout peak within their first decade. Though I am talking about actual mainstream popstars, not the CRJs, the Grimes, the Melanie Martinez's or the Ava Max's and whatnot. Sure its not their debut era or whatever but the moment an artist kicks out into mainstream you're guaranteed that they'll peak their first decade in it. Michael Jackson, Madonna, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Whitney, Justin Bieber, etc. Every popstar under the sun always peaks within 10 years of their mainstream breakout, except for Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift found success in 2006-2007 but really kicked into mainstream popularity with 2008s Fearless, and many consider her 2014 set 1989 to be her peak, well within the 7th/8th year of her first decade, following that rule, she falls under this category. And her time would close around 2018-2019, and it during that time period, many thought it did with the Lover era (Loser truly won in the end I fear) What is surprising however is that 2014's 1989 era pales in comparison to the level of fame, success and acclaim she has in the 2020s, nearly 15 years later, starting off with 2020s Folklore and Evermore, the re-recordings and with the smashing success of 2022's Midnights (with numbers never thought was possible in the 2020s but she did it), and its expected that she will hit even higher highs in 2024, a whole decade after her original 1989 era. The sky is the limit for TS11 too. Based off of this, she is clearly bending the conventions of what a popstar can do despite the moniker that the older you get = more unappealing you become. Taylor has only become more and more popular as she's stayed in the industry, nearly pushing 20 years in the game and spanning 3 decades, while not only competing, but towering over every other artist both trendy and established. She's managed to take the millennial kids and teens with her, grew up with them, took their kids and teens too, and just recently, took the dads by a chokehold, she's only expanded her fanbase as time goes by. Is Taylor breaking popstar conventions of rising and peak eras?

Defined and popularized by The Pet Shop Boys when discussing their Actually era compared to the reception towards their lead single "Domino Dancing", the imperial phase is an era in which a musician seemingly levels up and becomes a central force in both music and society. Typically discussed in terms of pop music, some of the most famous examples include... MADONNA: Like A Virgin - Vogue, Ray of Light - American Life MICHAEL: Off The Wall - Bad/ Dangerous JANET: Control - Janet. MARIAH: practically most of the 90s until Glitter (perhaps Rainbow depending on the person), TEOM(? although this might just be a comeback era) PRINCE: 1999 - Batman WHITNEY: Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love and more recent examples include: BRITNEY: BOMT - In The Zone BEYONCE* : (in the traditional sense, DIL - Run The World, ST - present, I would make the argument that she's always going to be in her own unique imperial phase for the time being) GAGA: The Fame - Born This Way KATY: Teenage Dream - Dark Horse TAYLOR: Red/1989 - Look What You Made Me Do, Midnights probably marks the beginning of a second imperial phase ARIANA: Sweetener - Positions(s) THE WEEKEND: After Hours BAD BUNNY: El Verano Sin Ti - Present I also think Olivia might be entering hers and SZA could be very well in the middle of hers I would also love to see how imperial phases would play out in international markets since being global isn't a necessary marker (Given that the Pet Shop Boys' imperial phase was pretty much contained to the UK). For me, I would argue that ROSALIA, Bad Bunny, BTS, and Blackpink are the best examples of international counterparts. Some more contained examples could be Angele and Aya Nakamura (Belgium and France) and The Spice Girls obviously. And to add something new, what about alternative acts? Despite them not selling, I have always throughout about making the imperial phase applicable to them (probably more acclaim based rather than sales). I think in this regard, Kate Bush would be the alternative act that experienced a traditional imperial era with Hounds of Love. Using my proposed definition, an imperial phase for someone like Bjork might look like Debut - Vespertine. Enough of my rambling, I would love to read some of your thoughts and please correct me if I made any mistakes Here are some really great sources for a depth in understanding: Pop Pantheon Podcast [x] Tom Ewing's Pitchfork Article [x]

help https://x.com/everlikeme/status/1702706239044497416?s=46&t=p96hCUTLN3rOScpJNbdlGA https://x.com/tis_sjoberg/status/1702685518247666073?s=20 idk why is not incorporating but both tweets have +20k likes already

So, basically is there a song that gets a lot of hate, but is like your guilty pleasure For me it’s these:

GRANDMA, THE WATER IS RISING MY BOUNDLESS HAIR HAS GOTTEN GREEN I'LL BE YOUR SWIMMING FOREST ISLAND BID YOU WALK SAFELY, SAFELY OVER ME

In 1996, she recorded an entire English debut album only to have it shelved by EMI. It’s not her best work but it wasn’t any worse than the numerous R&B albums being released at the time. Then in 2001, her song Blow My Whistle feat. Foxy Brown and produced by The Neptunes was on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack. Was its potential squandered? In 2004, she tried again with Exodus. While the album was a flop, she did hit #1 on the dance charts with Devil Inside. But Exodus ‘04 produced by Timbaland was dead on arrival. In 2009, the good sis tried AGAIN with This Is The One. Despite her growth in popularity, as evidenced by the huge crowds she drew at promotional events in the US, the market said NO to the single Come Back To Me and the album. In between the album cycles, she continued to build her fanbase with the now iconic Kingdom Hearts songs Simple and Clean and Sanctuary. So what went wrong? Did she not work hard enough? Did the labels fumble the promotion? Would more promotion have helped? Was the West not ready to accept a Japanese-American R&B/pop artiste when she was at her prime? Was racism at play here? Was the music just not good enough? Despite her non-existent English career, she remains an icon, a legend, and will forever be the moment. Stream the albums Exodus and This Is The One today wherever you listen to music.

please keep it light and funny

the prediction...

...asking her to be the change that's needed to pivot the way music industry works today. Some excerpts: Full letter below. Thoughts?

From alien goddesses to satanic priestess, both share the same passion for striking visuals, eccentric fashion, and avant-garde approach to rap and pop respectively. Is Doja Gaga's Heiress?

You stumble upon a mystical object that grants you the remarkable ability to instantly acquire absolute mastery over any skill or knowledge you desire (within human capability, so no superpowers). It's a tempting offer, but there's a unique and profound twist to this power. Each time you use it, you willingly sacrifice half of your remaining lifespan, which is already determined by destiny. If you had only 10 years left to live, using the artifact would reduce it to 5 years, but if you have 70 years more years, it would be reduced to 35. The catch is that you can use this power as many times as you like, but with each use, your remaining lifespan diminishes by half. PS: If you accept this gift, there are no loopholes that your newly acquired skills can give you to extend your lifespan. Would you accept this power? If so, how many wishes would you make? And what would you wish mastery over?

Due to overwhelming demand (MSG's word), Olivia added 18 additional NA and EU dates for her first Arena tour. If only she didn't have a tragic initial schedule, I bet she can add additional show/s for every city. For her first arena tour, this is actually insane. With those multiple NY, LA and UK dates, she can fill up stadiums.. Surprised at how her so-called "payola" translates to tour demand? By the way, tickets go on sale starting Sep 21st!

I hear this everywhere in my country (the Philippines).

Rank them from best to worst! Anti-Hero vampire BREAK MY SOUL Paint The Town Red Flowers

It seems like all of Xtina’s contemporaries are getting the award, but she still hasn’t. Dirrty and Beautiful are pretty iconic videos. Does she deserve the award? Should she be next in line? EDIT: This is not an anti-Xtina thread. I genuinely think she is a contender for the award. I have no idea why people assume I’m being shady.

I opened ATRL to the news that the VMAs happened last night. I genuinely had NO idea... like I didn't see anyone mentioning them and no one was talking about them in the weeks before either! Did you know/notice that the awards were on or are you as surprised?

The Independent: 5/5 NME: 5/5 Rolling Stone: 5/5 Consequence of Sound: Positive The New York Times: Positive (90) Variety: Positive (90) DIY: 4.5/5 The Forty-Five: 4.5/5 PopMatters: 9/10 Spin: Positive (90) Paste Magazine: 8.2/10 Clash: 8/10 Evening Standard: 4/5 The Guardian: 4/5 The Irish Times: 4/5 The Line of Best Fit: 8/10 Los Angeles Time: Positive MusicOMH: 4/5 The Observer: 4/5 Pitchfork: 8.0/10 SputnikMusic: 4/5 The Sydney Morning Herald: 4/5 Slant Magazine: 3.5/5 The Telegraph: 3/5 Metacritic: 91 (18 reviews) Album of the Year (AOTY): 85 (21 reviews)

…And become the album with the highest first day streaming debut on Global Spotify? (2022) Midnights (3AM Version): 184M (20 tracks) (2021) Certified Lover Boy: 153M (21 tracks) Do we think it’s possible in this new streaming climate?

for years, Halsey convinced us on how she feels connected to Rock/Punk-Rock-ish genre, doing collab several times with Travis Barker, doing a rock-experimental album, tried to persuade us with her anti-Popstar image, how sometimes she feels anxious in the industry, etc. etc Yet she never releases an output which reflects all the narrative she built around her these years The closest thing she put out with the narrative is Nightmare Meanwhile Olivia delivered such a punk-rock-ish album which is well-balanced with the pop sound and some cursive-singing melancholic side Do you see it?

A really interesting video Thanks TikTok and short attention span What are your thoughts?

No other artist has ever achieved this.

When Flowers came out everyone was questioning its numbers and calling it a fraud but I feel like most people know the song and it’s the biggest hit this year. Now, Seven by latto & jungkook has been smashing on global Spotify and is still #1 despite several releases from big artists and it’s still pulling big numbers like +7M stream on its 45th day AND on a Sunday and I feel like nobody knows this song.. lol I certainly have never heard it. How come nobody is questioning this?

Katy perry's last few twitter posts about shoes have received a lot of twitter likes. But I don't see anyone discussing it anywhere. Is the queen of organic vinegar using inorganic tactics to stay relevant ? https://x.com/katyperry/status/1701768176772784199?s=20 https://x.com/katyperry/status/1699190648988111251?s=20