I started reading this essay last week and lost it before I could finish so was SUPER glad to see it pop up for me again. worth the wait, loved this thank u for writing!!
I really, really love this post. ("Alt can be cope" - yes, lol!! I say this all the time. I think it's more broadly true, both musically and, like... socially.)
The bit where I'm a bit surprised is about Britney as the OG K-/hyper/"global" pop artist... I don't see it! I mean, I'm sure factually it's true that a lot of these artists are using Britney tracks as a reference point, but Britney herself... IDK. I think it's just hard for me to read the words "Britney herself" and view that as anything other than an oxymoron. Everyone else discussed here I think has a really strong personality, but in my mind when Britney broke onto the scene her big "innovations" were being (and both of these are maximally cruel takes, sorry) 1) an empty vessel for The Max Martin Sound and 2) a new low for pop culture nymphetomania. I have tried very hard to have a more charitable take in the #FREEBRITNEY era, and really do wish the best for her, but like... I don't know what her unique deal is as an artist, or if it's even worth describing her in those terms.
that's a good point! i also struggle to really nail down britney's artistic identity, but somehow she feels special. she is an excellent performer, not just a robot that memorizes dances. If things had gone better, she could have just been a fun quirky dance teacher in louisiana.
i just assume that she's made some significant creative decisions in different parts of her career (like the snake for the Slave 4 U performance) that her handlers, managers, creative directors may not have come up with. it's made her memorable even though she was designed to be a manufactured vessel.
i think that idea is echoed very much in the commercial kpop industry, where the idols are permitted very little artistic ownership yet they do have ambition and a desire to take control and experiment in whatever ways they can without subverting the machine
Yeah, this all sounds right. There's gotta be some reason Britney has persisted in a way that her contemporaries haven't!! ("Lady Marmalade" is pretty much a joint second-place for all of them lol.)
yeah Britney might not have been writing her biggest hits but even as a teenager she had the eye and a strong hand in her iconography (Baby One More Time being set in a high school? Also her idea). Pop music's never been about who's got the widest vocal range or is a 'real singer' anyway, not since the 80s.
not sure re: point about Charli/Gabbriette and surrounding herself with non-threatening women who will never equal her in status. I mean, Gabbriette is not a singer. And then there's that 'Girl, So Confusing' remix feat. a pop star of very much equal or even possibly greater standing than Charli, that's open about their mutual insecurities in relation to each other. That was a huge, ballsy move that bucks both the posturing of 'alt' and the Swiftian style of either unadulterated faux you-go-girling it or casting oneself as victim.
gabbriette's origin story that she was the frontwoman for charli's pop-rock girl group nasty cherry. charli created the band and signed them under her label. so even though gabbriette didn't achieve comparable success as a musician, i imagine charli would still get the social finder's fee for having discovered her.
i agree "girl so confusing'" was powerful because it fit into neither of those binaries, but it was just emotionally honest, maximizing joint slay. i think charli has said that part of the sentiment behind "girl so confusing" was why her and not me if we're so similar? i'm jealous of lorde but i'm going to give her a shot because i know there is something that connects us whereas TS is like this alien with completely different set of powers and you're reminded of how powerless you are in comparison
I would argue Taylor sees herself as being in conversation with/is influenced by *both* Emily Dickinson and Nora Ephron. One of my favorite substack writers just put out an interesting post discussing the similarities and differences between Dickinson and Swift https://open.substack.com/pub/notebook/p/if-fame-belonged-to-me-i-could-not
i agree with you, actually ! thanks for sharing! i do think she is purposeful about her work in conversation with poets--particularly emily dickinson. I think my beef is with the way people try to use taylor swift like a gummy vitamin. for instance, when professors really want to teach is romantic poetry or emily dickinson but they need to use taylor swift as a hook. OR people feel like they need an "intellectual" reason to value taylor swift's work.
This is such a great and insightful analysis! So many great points here. I especially love how you highlight Taylor as a business: “By that I mean as a billion dollar company, she keeps hundreds of people paid and feeds their families. To fail would be to fail them.” At the same time, you do a great job of picking apart her unique appeal as an artist.
I started reading this essay last week and lost it before I could finish so was SUPER glad to see it pop up for me again. worth the wait, loved this thank u for writing!!
thank you so much!! yay algo lol
I really, really love this post. ("Alt can be cope" - yes, lol!! I say this all the time. I think it's more broadly true, both musically and, like... socially.)
The bit where I'm a bit surprised is about Britney as the OG K-/hyper/"global" pop artist... I don't see it! I mean, I'm sure factually it's true that a lot of these artists are using Britney tracks as a reference point, but Britney herself... IDK. I think it's just hard for me to read the words "Britney herself" and view that as anything other than an oxymoron. Everyone else discussed here I think has a really strong personality, but in my mind when Britney broke onto the scene her big "innovations" were being (and both of these are maximally cruel takes, sorry) 1) an empty vessel for The Max Martin Sound and 2) a new low for pop culture nymphetomania. I have tried very hard to have a more charitable take in the #FREEBRITNEY era, and really do wish the best for her, but like... I don't know what her unique deal is as an artist, or if it's even worth describing her in those terms.
that's a good point! i also struggle to really nail down britney's artistic identity, but somehow she feels special. she is an excellent performer, not just a robot that memorizes dances. If things had gone better, she could have just been a fun quirky dance teacher in louisiana.
i just assume that she's made some significant creative decisions in different parts of her career (like the snake for the Slave 4 U performance) that her handlers, managers, creative directors may not have come up with. it's made her memorable even though she was designed to be a manufactured vessel.
i think that idea is echoed very much in the commercial kpop industry, where the idols are permitted very little artistic ownership yet they do have ambition and a desire to take control and experiment in whatever ways they can without subverting the machine
Yeah, this all sounds right. There's gotta be some reason Britney has persisted in a way that her contemporaries haven't!! ("Lady Marmalade" is pretty much a joint second-place for all of them lol.)
yeah Britney might not have been writing her biggest hits but even as a teenager she had the eye and a strong hand in her iconography (Baby One More Time being set in a high school? Also her idea). Pop music's never been about who's got the widest vocal range or is a 'real singer' anyway, not since the 80s.
not sure re: point about Charli/Gabbriette and surrounding herself with non-threatening women who will never equal her in status. I mean, Gabbriette is not a singer. And then there's that 'Girl, So Confusing' remix feat. a pop star of very much equal or even possibly greater standing than Charli, that's open about their mutual insecurities in relation to each other. That was a huge, ballsy move that bucks both the posturing of 'alt' and the Swiftian style of either unadulterated faux you-go-girling it or casting oneself as victim.
gabbriette's origin story that she was the frontwoman for charli's pop-rock girl group nasty cherry. charli created the band and signed them under her label. so even though gabbriette didn't achieve comparable success as a musician, i imagine charli would still get the social finder's fee for having discovered her.
i agree "girl so confusing'" was powerful because it fit into neither of those binaries, but it was just emotionally honest, maximizing joint slay. i think charli has said that part of the sentiment behind "girl so confusing" was why her and not me if we're so similar? i'm jealous of lorde but i'm going to give her a shot because i know there is something that connects us whereas TS is like this alien with completely different set of powers and you're reminded of how powerless you are in comparison
I would argue Taylor sees herself as being in conversation with/is influenced by *both* Emily Dickinson and Nora Ephron. One of my favorite substack writers just put out an interesting post discussing the similarities and differences between Dickinson and Swift https://open.substack.com/pub/notebook/p/if-fame-belonged-to-me-i-could-not
i agree with you, actually ! thanks for sharing! i do think she is purposeful about her work in conversation with poets--particularly emily dickinson. I think my beef is with the way people try to use taylor swift like a gummy vitamin. for instance, when professors really want to teach is romantic poetry or emily dickinson but they need to use taylor swift as a hook. OR people feel like they need an "intellectual" reason to value taylor swift's work.
This is such a great and insightful analysis! So many great points here. I especially love how you highlight Taylor as a business: “By that I mean as a billion dollar company, she keeps hundreds of people paid and feeds their families. To fail would be to fail them.” At the same time, you do a great job of picking apart her unique appeal as an artist.
great post
Thanks for regarding me as an OG!
absolutely... i was devouring these in college lol
https://planamag.com/free-food-for-millionaires-boldly-scrutinizes-asian-women-and-men/