Where Did It All Go Wrong for J.Lo?
She was still hoping to break out as a star herself, so she began looking to past cultural icons for inspiration.
Jackie Huba • Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
Hipgnosis Songs Fund bought a 50 percent stake in the funk star Rick James’s catalog, which includes his irresistibly catchy 1981 hit “Super Freak.” To monetize its prize, Hipgnosis found a lightly modernized update of the “Super Freak” track, had Nicki Minaj assemble a songwriting crew and voilà: In 2022, Ms. Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” essential... See more
Marc Hogan • Same Old Song: Private Equity Is Destroying Our Music Ecosystem
What makes this trend so dispiriting isn’t artists seeking financial stability – it’s the hollowing out of cultural aspiration itself.
“Now the culture is most exemplified by people whose entire end goal appears to be empty profiteering. ... Double sell-outs don’t deserve our esteem as ‘creative’ people. They should be content with the reward they c
Some commenters scoffed at the sight of celebrities carping about the work of being famous. But these artists have hardly been lazy or reluctant to play the music business’s games. Each of them is known for elaborate music videos, spectacular stage productions, and otherworldly fashion. They’ve hustled, for all of their careers, to seem larger than... See more
Spencer Kornhaber • TikTok Killed the Video Star
Poparazzi seems to lack any of the hallmarks of anything lasting. There is nothing new to the mode, nothing that cannot be done elsewhere, nothing truly unique or interesting. Restricting what you can do in a social network works with the length of a video, but it doesn’t really work with photos. It’s just another app that will be gone in a few mon... See more