![]() ![]() Barack Obama was in the White House, Snapchat was at the vanguard of social media, and the internet’s Great Debate was whether a dress was blue and black or white and gold. And in a diversifying landscape where streaming and hip-hop rule and major breakthroughs are rare, this career model may signal what the future of pop success looks like for everyone else too.Īs far as pop culture goes, 2015 might as well be the Stone Age. This boutique stardom has given artists like Jepsen the ability to make a living without needing to be all things to all people, or selling albums, or even being on the radio. They release product idiosyncratically, often tour nonstop, and feed their faithful through social media. These micro pop stars are supported by small but fiercely devoted fanbases, consisting largely of LGBT fans and the internet’s cool-kid Pitchfork crowd, keepers of traditional pop while it’s fallen out of favor with mainstream audiences. Unburdened from the pressure of churning out trendy radio singles and hitting album sales targets, performers like Jepsen have embraced an altogether different type of pop success, something quainter than the all-encompassing appeal their sound might have them pegged for. While a select few pop artists, namely Ariana Grande, have managed to break through to global superstardom by being authentically conversant with hip-hop, more have either abandoned or been deprived of traditional pop preeminence, instead becoming niche heroes. Over the past few years, however, hip-hop’s growing domination of radio, streaming, and the charts has changed the power dynamics of celebrity in music. But what sets these artists apart in today’s broader music landscape is their dedication to the kind of inviting, melodic, stick-in-your-cranium earworms that made superstars of everyone from Michael Jackson to Taylor Swift. This crew trades largely in classic, “pure” pop music sometimes it’s got a country twang, as with Musgraves, or trends towards hip-hop, as with Monae and Lizzo. ![]() Since the release of Emotion, now a beloved cult pop classic, Jepsen has emerged at the forefront of micro pop stardom, leading a wave of artists that also includes Charli XCX, Lizzo, Janelle Monae, Kacey Musgraves, Troye Sivan, and Kim Petras. 16, and she hasn’t had a song chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since that album’s lead single, “I Really Like You,” stalled at No. This should come as no surprise: Jepsen’s last full-length album, 2015’s Emotion, debuted at No. 12 on iTunes, and none of its songs are in Spotify’s Top 200. It’s the type of music you’ve heard a million times before but, when done well - as it often is on Dedicated - the type you love all the more for its cozy familiarity.ĭedicated, though, won’t be a chart topper. It’s a classic pop record: simple lyrics, pleasingly generic production, and swelling, sugary hooks. Last week Carly Rae Jepsen released Dedicated, her first album in four years. ![]()
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