The Atlantic explores how pop music died when it became political and didn't let listeners escape from the world

[Itscuzim31]

3 hours ago, BUWYGF said:

 their political involvement was:

1. not sincere
2. done so they could get more fans and listeners
3. forced

I dont think it was the fact they got politically involved as it was the fact that people saw through their bull**** and through the fakeness of it all that made them hate it  and its still the same to this day.

All these artists have their mouth full with being feminists and saving fellow women at all cost, but really they do it only when they can profit from it and when it represents absolutely 0 danger to their careers, which in itself, is extremely hypocritical. Pop is dying because stars turned from someone like Madonna, with sincere intention, to bey, gaga and taylor, who are incinsere in nearly everything they do

THIS. SO MUCH THIS. Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation (and its 7 top 5 singles) says hello. If you make GOOD pop music it can Be political and very successful. 

[BUWYGF]

1 hour ago, Itscuzim31 said:

THIS. SO MUCH THIS. Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation (and its 7 top 5 singles) says hello. If you make GOOD pop music it can Be political and very successful. 

perfect example tbh  Like a prayer, for example, shook everyone with only its MV, and its a bop with it as well. All of these pop divas have been trying to recreate this moment but failed, BECAUSE IT IS NO SINCERE

[TSmidnighTS]

5 hours ago, BUWYGF said:

Beyonce, Gaga, and Taylor, although extremely talented, started this trend which honeslty everyone hated after a year or two. I enjoy music of all three (although I enjoy only 4 songs from Beyonce tbh) but their political involvement was:

1. not sincere
2. done so they could get more fans and listeners
3. forced

I dont think it was the fact they got politically involved as it was the fact that people saw through their bull**** and through the fakeness of it all that made them hate it  and its still the same to this day.

All these artists have their mouth full with being feminists and saving fellow women at all cost, but really they do it only when they can profit from it and when it represents absolutely 0 danger to their careers, which in itself, is extremely hypocritical. Pop is dying because stars turned from someone like Madonna, with sincere intention, to bey, gaga and taylor, who are incinsere in nearly everything they do

I do think that once Taylor went political it hurt her too. She went political for the first time on Lover and that album didn’t quite sell as well as expected.

Its so hard though. Celebrities get dragged left and right if they don’t speak up about all the things happening in the world. They are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.

[britney_rocks]

[bruinoc]

I agree that Pop music is dead at the moment, but it is not because it became political.  Pop music today is no more political than it was in 2010 when Katy released "Firework" (her biggest hit), Kesha dropped "We R Who We R", Pink came out with "Raise Your Glass", etc during the rise in bullying/suicide rates among the youth and all those songs went #1. Gaga, too, has always incorporated politics into her music especially during BTW, and that was one of her biggest eras. 

I think many consumers of pop music are too young to remember that this ebb and flow constantly happens. In the 90s, hip hop/rnb and rock dominated until the latter part of the decade when Pop made a resurgence thanks to our Queen. In the early 2000s the same thing happened until Gaga/Katy/Rihanna/Taylor brought Pop back. We are just going through the same thing again. As much as I love Ariana, Dua, Selena etc, we need to wait for the next Gaga/Britney/Beyonce to reinvigorate the pop scene because the girls we have today don't cut it (Sorry not sorry). 

Billie Eyelash 

Doja Cat 

Jessie Ware, Halsey, FKA Twigs, Rina  

 

 

[Greg_del]

20 hours ago, GMFlop said:

But...but... what about Taylor? 

[Pili94zoo]

Interesting article  I kind of agree. 

[ALBAVEASP]

Katy Perry's “Dark Horse” is also the one thing to blame. It inspired and paved way to a more populated trap and electronic genres these days, ending the hay-days of radio-friendly pops. If only she chose “Walking On Air” over that distorted mixed bag of synths. 

[ALBAVEASP]

6 hours ago, ICouldntThinkOfOne said:

There is no expiremental music on Prism, and a lot of, if not all, of the criticisms witness recieved could be applied to Prism.

PRISM has experimental elements in it. It’s just the way her label and critics marketed the record as safe and fresh-out-divorce material. The only things that era messed up were the promotions and single choices, which Witness suffered from and took all the bad weights off PRISM. 

[Rojo]

Thanks God we have Dua. 

How can some of you drag her this way, she give us everything and she's so humble. Ugh. Y'all need to stop being delusional and hating. 

But haters are the greatest stan.

[Greg_del]

4 minutes ago, B-R-I-T-N-E-Y said:

Thanks God we have Dua. 

How can some of you drag her this way, she give us everything and she's so humble. Ugh. Y'all need to stop being delusional and hating. 

But haters are the greatest stan.

Thank god someone with a brain.

Dua is literally an amazing person, great personality (wink at you Taylor), her songs are all BOPS and she can REALLY sing. And her stage presence is awesome now.

[SkyNet]

I need music to switch off from the world. Not to make me think about daily struggle. Some artists that I used to love and look up for went very political and it turned me off.

Everyone, you do you, just don't be afraid to lose people because of that.

[MX3]

Something I have def noticed is pop stars take themselves too seriously in that they all wanna write (or co-write) songs that reflect their personal life. 

Justin Bieber's last two albums have clearly reflected his marriage and being in love when his first albums were bops written by other people and discussing a variety of fictional (or semi fictional) relationships. Kanye West is also super autobiographical - although he kind of always was??? But not as much. I think Lady Gaga has also begun doing this more.

I think the person who started this trend was Beyonce. She put out albums that were all just pop songs based on different perspectives and then her self-titled was all about her point of view, her story and her marriage. 

Artists just take themselves so seriously now and its like ugh....and it's funny because these superstars actually lose their relatability cause their life just isn't relatable lol. And they lose some creativity cause after a song or two....it's like okay. great. anything else to say? 

[SailorSpice]

14 hours ago, SUCCESSICA IS A QUEEN said:

Not your fad self getting brave when you weren't even alive during pop music's peak from the late 90s/early 00s and thinking we're in a pop revival when the state of music couldn't be anymore dry. We have to laugh.

Again, Dua is a cute girl and she cares about her craft so I'll give her props but she isn't anything revolutionary sweetie. The only reason you even hype her is because she's literally the only pop girl in 2020/21 who is giving the gays something to dance to  The fact that she was the SIXTEENTH most searched female artist of 2020 should tell you enough. As far as Ava, I won't even go there. 

Again, did you not read?  I clearly stated above that 2019 was a great year for music. It wasn't until 2020 and the rise of Tik Tok that music significantly declined and lost its value. Next time, stretch before you do all that reaching.

Welcome back from the dead @Lilith 

[DignifiedLove]

2 minutes ago, ClumsySpice said:

Welcome back from the dead @Lilith 

The fact that you think this is Lilith is sending me

[SailorSpice]

1 minute ago, SUCCESSICA IS A QUEEN said:

The fact that you think this is Lilith is sending me

I know, I need some sleep  

Spoiler

are you though? 

 

[BritneyLover]

As much as i love and grew up to music from the US, and being britney my one and only FAVE, i have to say it amazes me how the media says WHY english pop is dead cause it went political and spanish pop is cool just because it stayed neutral LOL. COULDNT IT BE several causes like... that spanish pop is having its momentum cause its being ***ier, freshier, trend setting or anyhing like that? Lol

[popprison]

Pretty much true. It's definitely a turn off and flops most of the time. Or debuts high because of crazy marketing, hype and high collaborations but the songs are not good. 

[MonAmour]

Madonna was political for decades and it worked. This article is bull****. 

[filmandstage13]

I’m not buying this. The late 60s pop was essentially built off anti-war sentiment. Rhythm Nation, Prince’s Sign O the Times, Waterfalls...

Pop music just ebbs and flows and its content shifts. This article reminds me of silly article they wrote in 2010 proclaiming Gaga to be “the last pop star.” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/06/the-last-pop-star/308089/
 

I love the Atlantic, but they don’t really seem to have their finger on the pulse of pop music.