I agree. I'm 33, turning 34 this year. And I feel better than ever. I like my home and my friends and my style. I'm in grad school now and I feel really good about my future prospects you know, all things considered. I deleted social media off my phone. If it's really serious, I'll read about it in a newsletter or hear about it on podcast. I don't need to be on social media all day, everyday. I have homework lol.
Now, I could be misinterpreting your, "The Africans" comment and what you said after, however, the continent is not homogenous in regards to skin tones as-well, they range from the deepest hue to the lightest and everything in between. Yessssssss, The 30's are definitely the free to be yourself decade and so liberating.
I’m sorry. I lol’d at “I believe in power b****”. As I age, I believe in it more and more.
Just to add. I live in LA, shopped for houses in Palos Verdes. Palos Verdes is south of the city of LA. No fires there (horrrrrible air quality). It’s majority white (50%) and Asian (30%) but a very nice, very expensive area.
Love this, really curious to know if your feelings around pop stars in their 20s has changed? You made some comments about Chloe and Normani not being at the top of their game and comparing them to Beyoncé and Britney who were huge stars before they were 21. Do you think these young pop girls have more time?
Hi Kevin! Of course, they have more time! There's always an opportunity for them to make something great. Chloe improved greatly with the 2nd album, and Normani just needs a clearer creative vision.
Victoria Monet and CoCo Jones really ushered in the 10 years for overnight success with their wins from the 2024 Grammies. They don’t have the streaming numbers, sponsorships, or award performances of Chappell or Sabrina. This is very concerning to me. Victoria and Coco are still unknown by the general public. Even Tinashe doesn’t have the same opportunities as the white pop girls. I wonder how this lack of opportunities for the Black women celebs will impact young Black girls.
I don't see this as a racial justice issue. Victoria and CoCo aren't doing the same thing as Sabrina and Chappell, so it makes sense that their audiences are different. If you're looking for a Black woman with broad appeal and huge hits, SZA is it. My niece loves her.
I disagree with this point. Victoria ad Coco are popstars with hits. They need to be marketed to a wider audience. They are both doing Pop and R&B. I am reflecting on your video about the difference in the acceptance speeches of white and Black women winning at the Grammys for 2024. This is supposed to be a lifechanging award but it hasn't resulted in as many opportunities for them. For example, Chappell is praised for being pro-Palestine. She is able to reject opportunities that do not align with her politically. Kehlani was nearly blacklisted for talking about Palestine. Coco and Sabrina are Disney girls. Coco was fired from Disney for suggesting to go on a Pop and R&B path. Sabrina has a number one album with Pop and R&B influences. I believe there are blind spots in your pop culture critiques from 2024. I believe this is influenced by the lack of interviews or conversations with other creators, journalist, and etc. about pop culture. I believe this helps you round out your critiques. Your political analysis is still A+. The solutions have gone astray due to to blind spots in the pop culture. Are you going to have more conversations or interviews with your peers this year on Patreon or on YouTube?
I can assess comparisons when they're apples to apples.
1. Victoria makes music that leans heavily toward R&B. Coco's album and latest single are straight R&B. I don't see why comparing Coco and Sabrina is appropriate just because they're child stars. How can you compare streams across genres? I expect R&B to have a narrower audience.
2. Lizzo and SZA are more stylistically similar to Sabrina and Chappell and are huge and critically acclaimed. SZA is about to do the Super Bowl.
3. Sabrina is on her 6th album, right? She put out a bunch of stuff that didn't work and then hooked up with some of the most prominent pop songwriters/producers in music and made hits. Chappell worked with Dan Nigro of Olivia Rodrigo fame over several years and made hits.
If the question is, why do the women with the bigger hits get more streams and support? That isn't a mystery to me.
Finally, white ladies flopped hard in 2024. I'm sure Dua, Camilla, Kacey and Katy would've loved bigger success. They didn't make hits.
Shout out to Glorilla, though. She *really* had the best year ever in 2024.
Genre only matters for Black artist, especially Black women. We are seeing more international artists be true to their genres. This Bad Bunny new album is for a Latin audience. It is on billboard because of his hits plus marketing team. In my opinion, Tyla is in the same category as Victoria and Coco. (I am not bringing up the stupid race argument. I completely understand that race is different in other countries). Tyla can be described as R&B, Pop, and Amapiano. Summer Walker is R&B and she is marketed well. She has similar numbers to Glorilla. Unfortunately, streams matter to get VMA performances, festival appearances, brand deals, and concert venues. Artist don't make money until they get into arenas.
1. I am comparing Coco and Sabrina because Sabrina was allowed to fail. She speaks in interviews about Disney not giving her autonomy in her creative process. Coco attempted to advocate for herself, and she was fired. Coco recalls in an interview with Rolling Stones and Arya Star that she had to accelerate the learning process of the music industry with her EP. Sabrina had years of experience talking to producers, songwriters, A&R managers, etc. Those are rooms that few Black women are placed in.
2. Lizzo is an anomaly. I hope that she doesn't stay an anomaly. SZA success is also due to her team. White platforms continue to mislabel her music as R&B. TDE continues to market her to a wide audience.
My big argument is that R&B doesn't have a wider audience because of marketing. Hip-hop is it's sibling genre, and marketing dollars was placed into the genre. Hip-hop has taken a hit in recent years because it left R&B behind for Pop music. We have seen White artists like Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, and Adele enter R&B. They have commercial success. The same money can be placed in Coco and Victoria. I big reason why it is hard to grow up for Gen-Z and Gen-alpha is because they are not allowed to fail. It is especially hard for the Black teens and tweens because they see the harsh critiques of Black popstars. I wish that other Black artists were given the opportunities of Megan the Stallion. I agree that she doesn't have many hits. She is allowed to fail and learn. Act ii is better than Act i. Meg's partnership with Glo shows that a 30 year old can ask for help from a 20 something. They are rumored to be completing a collab album. That is amazing! We would have never seen this is in the 2000s. We need to let Black artist fail and still present them with opportunity. We need to let the successful Black artist get the same opportunities as the white girls. Because that is equity.
Justin Timberlake is coming off two consecutive flops. Sam Smith went pop years ago. I definitely wouldn't characterize that last Adele album (or any Adele album, to be honest) as R&B.
The mainstream embrace of genre is cyclical. It corresponds to sociocultural and political shifts, not simply marketing. I understand the passion, but I don't think this is a great read of where music is and why pop culture shifts. Nor do I think Victoria and CoCo (or Summer Walker, for that matter) have underperformed. They're doing remarkably well with work made for and consumed by Black people.
I agree. I'm 33, turning 34 this year. And I feel better than ever. I like my home and my friends and my style. I'm in grad school now and I feel really good about my future prospects you know, all things considered. I deleted social media off my phone. If it's really serious, I'll read about it in a newsletter or hear about it on podcast. I don't need to be on social media all day, everyday. I have homework lol.
Now, I could be misinterpreting your, "The Africans" comment and what you said after, however, the continent is not homogenous in regards to skin tones as-well, they range from the deepest hue to the lightest and everything in between. Yessssssss, The 30's are definitely the free to be yourself decade and so liberating.
I’m sorry. I lol’d at “I believe in power b****”. As I age, I believe in it more and more.
Just to add. I live in LA, shopped for houses in Palos Verdes. Palos Verdes is south of the city of LA. No fires there (horrrrrible air quality). It’s majority white (50%) and Asian (30%) but a very nice, very expensive area.
😂 And thank you for the correction re: Palos Verdes!
Love this, really curious to know if your feelings around pop stars in their 20s has changed? You made some comments about Chloe and Normani not being at the top of their game and comparing them to Beyoncé and Britney who were huge stars before they were 21. Do you think these young pop girls have more time?
Hi Kevin! Of course, they have more time! There's always an opportunity for them to make something great. Chloe improved greatly with the 2nd album, and Normani just needs a clearer creative vision.
So many points Well said - I can hear the sophistication, the maturity - sounds so good on ya ❤️
You brought back those growing up memories for sure - and I'm in the well over 40 space ☺️
Victoria Monet and CoCo Jones really ushered in the 10 years for overnight success with their wins from the 2024 Grammies. They don’t have the streaming numbers, sponsorships, or award performances of Chappell or Sabrina. This is very concerning to me. Victoria and Coco are still unknown by the general public. Even Tinashe doesn’t have the same opportunities as the white pop girls. I wonder how this lack of opportunities for the Black women celebs will impact young Black girls.
I don't see this as a racial justice issue. Victoria and CoCo aren't doing the same thing as Sabrina and Chappell, so it makes sense that their audiences are different. If you're looking for a Black woman with broad appeal and huge hits, SZA is it. My niece loves her.
I disagree with this point. Victoria ad Coco are popstars with hits. They need to be marketed to a wider audience. They are both doing Pop and R&B. I am reflecting on your video about the difference in the acceptance speeches of white and Black women winning at the Grammys for 2024. This is supposed to be a lifechanging award but it hasn't resulted in as many opportunities for them. For example, Chappell is praised for being pro-Palestine. She is able to reject opportunities that do not align with her politically. Kehlani was nearly blacklisted for talking about Palestine. Coco and Sabrina are Disney girls. Coco was fired from Disney for suggesting to go on a Pop and R&B path. Sabrina has a number one album with Pop and R&B influences. I believe there are blind spots in your pop culture critiques from 2024. I believe this is influenced by the lack of interviews or conversations with other creators, journalist, and etc. about pop culture. I believe this helps you round out your critiques. Your political analysis is still A+. The solutions have gone astray due to to blind spots in the pop culture. Are you going to have more conversations or interviews with your peers this year on Patreon or on YouTube?
I can assess comparisons when they're apples to apples.
1. Victoria makes music that leans heavily toward R&B. Coco's album and latest single are straight R&B. I don't see why comparing Coco and Sabrina is appropriate just because they're child stars. How can you compare streams across genres? I expect R&B to have a narrower audience.
2. Lizzo and SZA are more stylistically similar to Sabrina and Chappell and are huge and critically acclaimed. SZA is about to do the Super Bowl.
3. Sabrina is on her 6th album, right? She put out a bunch of stuff that didn't work and then hooked up with some of the most prominent pop songwriters/producers in music and made hits. Chappell worked with Dan Nigro of Olivia Rodrigo fame over several years and made hits.
If the question is, why do the women with the bigger hits get more streams and support? That isn't a mystery to me.
Finally, white ladies flopped hard in 2024. I'm sure Dua, Camilla, Kacey and Katy would've loved bigger success. They didn't make hits.
Shout out to Glorilla, though. She *really* had the best year ever in 2024.
Genre only matters for Black artist, especially Black women. We are seeing more international artists be true to their genres. This Bad Bunny new album is for a Latin audience. It is on billboard because of his hits plus marketing team. In my opinion, Tyla is in the same category as Victoria and Coco. (I am not bringing up the stupid race argument. I completely understand that race is different in other countries). Tyla can be described as R&B, Pop, and Amapiano. Summer Walker is R&B and she is marketed well. She has similar numbers to Glorilla. Unfortunately, streams matter to get VMA performances, festival appearances, brand deals, and concert venues. Artist don't make money until they get into arenas.
1. I am comparing Coco and Sabrina because Sabrina was allowed to fail. She speaks in interviews about Disney not giving her autonomy in her creative process. Coco attempted to advocate for herself, and she was fired. Coco recalls in an interview with Rolling Stones and Arya Star that she had to accelerate the learning process of the music industry with her EP. Sabrina had years of experience talking to producers, songwriters, A&R managers, etc. Those are rooms that few Black women are placed in.
2. Lizzo is an anomaly. I hope that she doesn't stay an anomaly. SZA success is also due to her team. White platforms continue to mislabel her music as R&B. TDE continues to market her to a wide audience.
My big argument is that R&B doesn't have a wider audience because of marketing. Hip-hop is it's sibling genre, and marketing dollars was placed into the genre. Hip-hop has taken a hit in recent years because it left R&B behind for Pop music. We have seen White artists like Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, and Adele enter R&B. They have commercial success. The same money can be placed in Coco and Victoria. I big reason why it is hard to grow up for Gen-Z and Gen-alpha is because they are not allowed to fail. It is especially hard for the Black teens and tweens because they see the harsh critiques of Black popstars. I wish that other Black artists were given the opportunities of Megan the Stallion. I agree that she doesn't have many hits. She is allowed to fail and learn. Act ii is better than Act i. Meg's partnership with Glo shows that a 30 year old can ask for help from a 20 something. They are rumored to be completing a collab album. That is amazing! We would have never seen this is in the 2000s. We need to let Black artist fail and still present them with opportunity. We need to let the successful Black artist get the same opportunities as the white girls. Because that is equity.
Justin Timberlake is coming off two consecutive flops. Sam Smith went pop years ago. I definitely wouldn't characterize that last Adele album (or any Adele album, to be honest) as R&B.
The mainstream embrace of genre is cyclical. It corresponds to sociocultural and political shifts, not simply marketing. I understand the passion, but I don't think this is a great read of where music is and why pop culture shifts. Nor do I think Victoria and CoCo (or Summer Walker, for that matter) have underperformed. They're doing remarkably well with work made for and consumed by Black people.