Pop Stars Have Lots To Say

Hey, is life really a "love-game?"

Ah pop songs, many trash the successful pop singers of our time. You’ve probably heard it before, "no talent… ruining real art… commercialized people with no vision… or anything to say."

I’ll go over a few things about pop-musicians that are relatively difficult to deny.

1. Pop stars generate tons of happiness.

The actions of one pop star, often observably lead to feelings of happiness, elation, and joy in the hearts of many people, according to their own relation of their experiences.

People of all shapes and sizes, even those who don’t understand the language the song is sung in, find it easy and fun to commune with pop music as a background environment. They find it easy to dance to the music, and connect over discussion of the music.

2. Pop stars usually had to overcome haters, people telling them they couldn’t succeed, and other experiences most people would shy away from.

‘Haters’ is a term to describe people who are behaving in jealous, envious, judgmental, trash-talking ways.

Many people on earth are too scared to pursue their dreams for fear of others judging them. Pop stars are possibly the most judged people on earth. The Inquirer, gossip-mags, kids and adults alike…

There are so so so many people just waiting with baited breath for the chance to launch their opinion on how awesome or shitty a certain popstar is. Listen to the conversations you hear at parties, on the street, or in the subway. It’s all "Oh my God that Britney’s shameless."

The stars who didn’t have a struggle early in life, those who were just randomly ‘discovered’ are often so physically and mentally and emotionally unprepared to deal with such responsibility, power, and freedom that the fritter it away and end up with a life few would envy. Drug problems, health problems, malevolence and dissrespect, loss of dignity, etc., often times later in their flagging careers, their ego’s will act up and get them arrested, trying to regain the attention they received so randomly early in life. Would you want to go this route? Would you ‘handle it better’? Are you judging these people in your day-to-day life?

3. Pop stars sing about and echo issues that are on almost everybody’s minds.

Pop stars strongly reflect our collective unconscious. When they sing about bitches + hoes, money + fame, love + loss, and the masses everywhere connect with these phrases and lines and songs — it’s because they’re all thinking about the same topics. They are engaging topics. They lie at the core of the our current societal conditions.

Yes, there are tons of people "looking for love" (love lies within each of us, but it’s a rare mind who actively and consciously thinks thoughts like this.)

Yes, there are so many people practically dying to get out of the 9-to-5 grind and achieve financial success or radiant, socially approved beauty.

Yes, it’s easy to see people becoming miserable all week and yearning powerfully over and over about "getting out", "getting wasted" (and/or crunk), and "partying hard." "Before I leave / brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack /
‘Cause when I leave for the night / I ain’t coming back."

4. Because of #3 corporations, record labels, and society as a whole supports pop stars.

It’s because the masses think about love, sex, money, fame, partying, distraction, release, etc. and connect so easily on these topics, that anyone singing about them with a catchy beat, attractive looks, and strong drive and marketing, seems to succeed so strongly. Even with all the people trash-talking them, huge throngs of people buy these pop stars albums, memorize, sing, and dance to their songs, and follow their every move and breath. A lot of time, calories, energy, attention, and conversation are absolutely devoted to these pop stars, and it’s because they have their fingers on the pulse of what the masses are hungry for. They fill a need (niche) in the world.

Even the intention behind this article is to discuss something people really have on their minds. Perhaps for the next big pop sensation that comes out, you’ll have a fresh perspective from some of the information shared here.

5. Pop stars are generally comfortable with fame, success, sex, and money.

They can sing/talk about these issues publicly because they’ve transcended it. Things people are not comfortable with remain as hidden as possible, or masked/disguised by something else.

If a person has an embarassing secret or ego-driven neurosis, the last thing that person will generally do is to feel comfortable investing massive amounts of time and effort into polishing said issue into into a song for the masses to dissect. If a person is able to publicly sing, with passion, and invest their time + energy into a certain topic, it’s a safe bet they’re comfortable with it.

Pop stars are able to handle the trash-talk, the gossip, the people who at any given moment choose not to hug someone, not to be charitable, but instead choose to judge, label, and hate-on others. Pop stars have a strength of character that allows them to continue to grow and evolve their lives, where other less-prepared people might be easily overwhelmed.

We could look at how indie artists accomplish this as well, but that’s not the focus. The focus is to observe the success, the beauty, the power, and the general good will pop stars have.

A musician friend of mine, Suresh Singaratnam recently saw Taylor Swift at an airport, and observed her behaving very graciously and down-to-earth regarding her fans (possibly harping & incessant) attention. Suresh himself offered her respect on his facebook, noting that from his first impression, even though he’d never personally listened to her music, as an artist she seemed to him to be an awesome person, with a healthy attitude towards fame and life.

Nicole Scheringzer + Ne-Yo on Independant Women:

Nicole Scheringzer – Winning Woman

Where them girls at? (Girls at).
That like to be in charge.
When the heat get too hot, they just keep turnin’ it up.
Never let ‘em cheat-sheet, they just sweat, gotta go hard.

 

Ne-Yo – Miss Independent

‘Cause she work like a boss
Play like a boss
Car and a crib
She ’bout to pay them both off
And her bills are paid on time

With this massive hit, Ne-Yo sings about his take on gender issues (he also works in social concerns regarding ‘bills’). Some people connect with it, feeling it furthers ‘feminism’, some connect cuz it’s a slick rnb groove about whole women, some connect with it cuz they hate how it sounds so lame and weak and ‘pussified,’ or something else altogether, either way, hundreds of thousands of people had something to say about it and were delighted to talk about it when it debuted.

Jason Derulo + Plain White T’s on Success:

Jason Derulo – Watcha Say

But when I become a star we’ll be living so large
I’ll do anything for you
So tell me girl

 

Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah

Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me girl
Someday I’ll pay the bills with this guitar
We’ll have it good
We’ll have the life we knew we would

It’s a common condition, a person is born, goes through many life-lesson’s, all the while honing in on their true purpose, the goal that will fulfill them, and taking whatever steps towards that they feel able. Whether it be achieving fame or raising a family or becoming a criminal or dictator, songs about the eventualy achievement of ‘success’ are prevalent.

Jay-Z + Kanye on Jealousy:

Kanye West – Good Life

Haters give me them salty looks, Lowry’s
50 told me go ‘head switch the style up
And if they hate then let ‘em hate
And watch the money pile up, the good life

 

Jay-Z – Jockin’ Jay-Z

Haters (are) like
Hov, why you still talkin’ money shit?

[beat]


‘Cause I like money bitch

I like fly shit, you like gossip
I let you do you, why you ride my tip?

Jay-Z notes, in poignant thug-speak, that people ask him why he sings about money with such a passion and joy (they probably phrase it more like "Man, all you rap about is money and bling, geez."), and his response is that he leaves people to their own favourite topics of discussion and inspiration, whether that be petty gossip or discussing success, money, and women — what reason do these questioners have to judge, label, and pester him regarding his own discussion topics or issues to sing about?

Lupe Fiasco + Beyoncé on Matching thoughts, words, and actions:

Beyoncé – Single Ladies

Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
Don’t be mad once you see that he want it
If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

 

Lupe Fiasco – Superstar

While you was lightin’ your purple I was over the scripts
See, I couldn’t walk the walk
Couldn’t really talk the talk
Had to get my talk to properly explain my walk
Cause this lack in talk had my walk lookin’ off

Lupe speaks to those who smoke their days away, hoping for their wishing on a star for success to ‘succeed’ for them, with no physical actions being taken. He’s been there, and he realized he couldn’t "walk the walk" until he got his "talk properly", his words and actions did not match, and so ‘societal success’ was elusive.

Keshia Cole, TLC, and Missy Elliott on Being Beautiful (in a socially praised and accepted way):

Keshia Cole – Let It Go

‘Cause I got it like that
But it ain’t even gotta be like that
Yo’ man he be callin’ me back
Cause see I’m fine and a matter of fact
He asked how I do dat dat
Fit my jeans over baby fat

 

TLC – Unpretty

You can buy your hair if it won’t grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that mac can make
But if you can’t look inside you
Find out who am I, too
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty

 

Missy Elliot – Work It

See my hips and my tips, don’t ya
See my ass and my lips, don’t ya
Lost a few pounds and my whips for ya
This the kinda beat that go ra-ta-ta

Missy discusses her own mindset, that of a beautiful, attractive, sexy, powerful person. Missy Elliot, interestingly for the majority of her career was not what most of society would consider "hot" or "sexy", short and high up on the BMI, she still achieved her own fame and always sang powerfully and passionately about her own beauty and her own appreciation for her physical body. Lately she’s slimmed down quite a bit, ‘causing a small controversy with many of her fans who had grown attached to her old style.

Ke$ha + 50 Cent on Partying:

50 Cent – In Da Club

You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub
Look mami I got the X if you into taking drugs
I’m into having sex, I ain’t into making love
So come give me a hug if you into getting rubbed

 

Ke$ha – Take It Off

And now we lookin, like pimps
In my gold Trans-Am.
Got a water bottle full of whiskey
In my handbag.
Got my drunk text on
I’ll regret it in the mornin,
But tonight
I don,t give a…

So much of society is like a powder-keg. Cities are filled with people who spend so much of their beautiful seconds on earth choosing things that feel miserable, feel horrible, and feel uninspiring. Many successful pop stars achieved their success from doing what they felt passionate about, whether it be hanging around in VIP clubs and wearing attractive clothing, or locking themselves in a basement until they created their debut hit. The point is, when people talked to them, they were not miserable or tired and drained from pursuing a million activities that felt shitty to them.

And now many of them sing songs praising partying and going out and having fun. They know people will connect with it, they have fun singing about it, and the songs are upbeat, dance-able, ‘party’ tracks.

Nickelback + Nas + Cypress Hill on Fame:

Nas – Nas Is Like

Ask me now, I’m the artist, but hardcore, my science for pain
I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame
Saw fiends shoot up, and do lines of cocaine
Saw my close friends shot, flatline am I sane?

 

Nickelback – Rockstar

Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We’ll all stay skinny ’cause we just won’t eat
And we’ll hang out in the coolest bars

 

Cypress Hill – Rock Superstar

So you wanna be a rock superstar, and live large
a big house, 5 cars, you’re in charge
comin’ up in the world, don’t trust no body
gotta look over your shoulder constantly

Though the scene hasn’t heard from Cypress Hill in awhile, that kind of places them even more to the realm of Pop Stars, for pops stars are often treated like fads, subject to the fickle whims + thoughts + attention spans of an audience who often doesn’t grow as fast or experiment as much with their own lives. Cypress notes that famous people tend to attract large amounts of praise, gifts, praises, and honours. The flipside of this, is usually that they are also subjected to tremendous judgment, scrutiny, gossip and scandal. This ‘dark side’ is handled differently by everyone, and pop stars commonly are well-equipped mentally, emotionally, physically and financially to deal with it. (*Kanye West’s public image appears far more sensitive than most pop stars to criticism [1] [2])

Pussycat Dolls + Christina Aguilera on Sex:

Pussycat Dolls – Buttons

I’m telling you loosen up my buttons baby (Uh huh)
But you keep fronting (Uh)
Saying what you going do to me (Uh huh)
But I ain’t seen nothing (Uh)

 

Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

 

Christina Aguilera – Dirrty

Wanna get rowdy
Gonna get a little unruly
Get it fired up in a hurry
Wanna get dirrty
It’s about time that I came to start the party (party)
Sweat dripping over my body
Dancing gettin’ just a little naughty
Wanna get dirrty
It’s about time for my arrival

Christina Aguilera’s Dirrty is a good example of how songs have been getting more and more sexually open, (at least through language and articulation), and this reflects and mirrors society. Some would suggest that the songs are the ’cause’ of society’s focus, as they influence the children. The other side of this is why would any artist create sexual songs if there was no audience around fiending for it, ready to appreciate it? And if for some reason they did, the song would go nowhere and reach no one’s ears, with no interested market around.

Britney + Taylor Swift on Love:

Britney Spears – Crazy

Baby, I’m so into you
You got that something
What can I do?
Baby, you spin me around
The earth is movin’ but I can’t feel the ground
Every time you look at me
My heart is jumpin’ it’s easy to see

 

Taylor Swift – Love Story

Romeo save me they’re trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult but its real
Dont be afraid well make it out of this mess
Its a love story baby just say yes

Love, I’d bet it’s the most common topic of any style of art, across the board. Pop stars touch on it often, with great financial and social success. Taylor Swift’s love story echoes the age-old Romeo+Juliet archetype of love (using the names directly), and people love it. Why? Because there is a huge audience that will eat it up. Millions of lonely people out there seeking, seeking, seeking, some other who’ll complete them. If people all felt whole and complete in themselves, perhaps the music that gets appreciated and spread, might be different.

Anyway…

It’s interesting to me personally, that so many people have so much to say about pop stars, and celebrities in general, because to me it seems that it’s the audience, the masses, and society as a whole which dictates what succeeds what manifests all around us in our daily lives. If everyone was hyper-religious for example, I’d bet there’d be a lot more successful singers singing about spirituality.

So if it’s society that decides, and society is simply all of us individuals, thinking our thoughts, then the change starts with us.

If we stop focusing/caring about celebrities and trashing them so much, and start appreciating what they’re trying to tell us, and how they show us very strongly where our priorities lie as a society. If we don’t like it, we can change our society. How do we change our society, with our own thoughts, which ripple and inspire others, in every conversation we have, and everything do.

This idea, this mindset, this idea is what the masses, the audience, *loves* to focus on. It might NOT be what you personally focus on, but as soon as you start trash-talking about it, you’re *are* focusing your attention on it, and strongly, and ‘negatively.’

Even my writing this article draws attention to pop stars and their music, but hopefully in a refreshing innovative way.

Thanks for reading

(If anyone wants to make a song about me and SpiritSentient, feel free )