Satori

Hot tea on a cold ‘n rainy day. Sum fax were saidted.

So much tea and righteous rejoicing in this thread.

Right? Like on paper her approach to "Slave 4 U" just should not work, but she somehow made this weird little vocal niche for herself with the panty moans and sexwhispers that's unmistakably Brinni and gets a pass where other gorls just can't.

I love Vocal-lor. 1989 was the first of her albums where I really thought she used her voice optimally. She's even better now and she's improved light years as far as live performances go. I remember when she debuted and people laughed at videos of her being off-key but she's an extremely reliable live performer now so haters can seethe.

Selena hands down. I can't stand listening to her music at all because she sounds so fucking stupid. Even her dumb little panting/yelping talk-singing kitty purr noise things sound flat and revolting. I used to think of Kesha in response to questions like this but the good sis can sang and her last album put on record what used to be reserved for live performances that her fans linked to for receipts. Britney's a bad singer but she works well with what she has. I actually like her messy smoky lower register and as far as the breathy non-vocals go she's the only one of the whispering divas to make that interesting. Selena and Janet (mostly) can't relate.

If this were true then she would have arranged BUWYG to go #1. Oops. It would also be way easier to goose her sales by buying more of her own records than it would be to use bots for some streaming conspiracy... Millions of streams = a relatively small number of alberm sales. Radio payola is real but it benefits all the faves unless they’re in a Janet/Madonna situation and have been blacklisted or are over a certain age. Thar said, what Ari’s done may have had designs on chart success but, like, all the pop girls do that. It’s what their social media accounts are for. It’s why labels are involved for strategy and why we always fume when our faves wont promote to our heart’s content. The fact is that she’s peaking and taking advantage of it. Literally everyone does that when it’s their turn.

I would honestly love if this has a tour film or something tied in with it a la /I’m Going To Tell You A Secret/. That movie was a more meaningful glimpse into her life and artistic vision than literally any/all of the stuff she’s done with social media.

More like “Katy mourns Karl by paying tribute in her weekly shoe promo post.” It’s tacky but 100% typical celeb behavior and far less than many other faves have done with far more exposure (and increased cringe factor) than Katy’s tweet.

I this this is the latest iteration of the more social media-driven type fever era that is the new standard for a peaking artist. I’m thinking of Cardi, e.g., but Ari’s feels more substantial. Gaga’s initial peak might be a better comparison, but Gaga’s was about much more than her. It was like she marshaled post-Bush cultural poetics in a weird way. And big as Ari’s spot now is, I think it’s a bit off from what we saw with big numbers fever like we see with Adele and Taylor, and those are quite a bit off from happened with Michael/Madonna/Beatles. She’s definitely more than killing it in today’s context though. Success has a different shelf life and manifests in different ways now, but she’s surely at the top at the moment.

I want it to be true but I don’t think it is. Ari’s current project feels like the most urban entry in a catalogue leaning that way to begin with. I DO agree we’re seeing more success for gorls and some positive changes on that front that bode well for pop, but we’re still a long way off from even hinting at the last big pop era when Gaga/Katy/Britney etc were running the game from 2008-12ish.

Ah well to each his own. Glad you like Illusion and the title track. I’m still recovering from ALF tour version of the former. Divine. I will say Cupid Boy is the last song on the album I grew to like and it took YEARS. Lol. Now I tolerate it bc I’m very fond of/sentimental about the album.

Most rock music embraced by the gp is, so yes, but it's not terribly surprising. What makes it infuriating is that damn movie.

Lol which 8 do you skip? I remember you being more fond of it the last time we had a mini-convo like this about that album.

Thank u, next alberms Kylie, EY, ROL, LGTI Arts & Crafts Albuhms KM — 4 IP — 4 or 5 LY — 8 Probz 0; Fight me Fever — see above BL — see above X — see above Aphrodite — see above ARS — see above New Number Whew Dis KMO — 3 or 4 Golden — catch me in a year when I come back to this album with fresh ears; I couldn’t get into it upon release