Dirty Pop
I have questions.
Watched the VMA’s Sunday night…which I think is an awards show for mainstream music videos.
Or a 2 hour long commercial/pr machine for pop culture.
Considering this in the context of what it was, it was pretty indicative of the state of pop music right now.
Or what pop music has ever been…formulaic cogs in a pr machine controlled by uncreative record label executives.
There are a few stand outs where undeniable musical talent is hidden beneath outlandish personas (the Ga.gas, the Kanye.s, and yes even the Miley’s.)
But what bothers me is that their musical talent doesn’t sell their albums. It’s an entire package.
It’s being an entertainer.
Like textbook dictionary entertainer :
1. a professional singer, comedian, or other performer who takes part in public entertainments
2. any person who entertains
Entertain :
1. to hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse…
They fit.
Ms. Cryus tweeted this today
Smilers! My VMA performance had 306.000 tweets per minute. That’s more than the blackout or Superbowl! #fact.
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) August 26, 2013
She is correct in that it doesn’t matter that millions of people across this nation worldwide were pretty much throwing up in their mouths at her spectacle of crassness.
Fact is, millions of people across this nation worldwide were thinking about her.
And were exposed to her.
And many of them will probably still listen to her music…or she might even pick up a few curious people who listen to throw shade.
And she might get new fans from that.
Or even…as I tweeted earlier, she might decide to change things up again, normalize her behavior, and sell millions with a new album and a hitmaking production team like her Di.sney predecessors did.
Nothing new under the sun.
It makes me sad though there there are SO MANY musically talented artists that no one will hear from because they’re not edgy enough or sexy enough or whatever enough…
And that it’ll probably always be that way because it’s human nature to be distracted in that way.
Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course…it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”.
Not many people in music industry have achieved that third part.
Looking at concert gross or album sales really doesn’t paint an accurate picture either, especially in this digital age.
How do we measure the “idol-ness” of an entertainer these days?
On the scale of unknown to Micha.el Jac.kson?
Is there a metric somewhere that keeps track of how much someone is beloved?
And is it possible to reach MJ status and not be a crazy person?
I love MJ, but is he truly the greatest entertainer the world has ever known?
Jesus doesn’t count.
