POP MUSIC THREAD: Taylor Swift officially joins us

[Prelude]

i dont think kanye's new album appeals to the general public

 

[Ke$ha]

Not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything but wouldn't it make more sense to have threads for specific artists? That way fan wars wouldn't break out since everything would be separate. And may be make a Billboard thread too that could be updated regularly with chart position so this thread wouldn't get cluttered with that stuff? Just a suggestion.

That sounds like a good idea

I seriously dunno when blurred lines is gonna leave the top spot!

Dont worry I will be here to comfort the BL fans when Applause dethrones it from the number one spot in a few weeks

As for the Top 10, I'm still not sold on Blurred Lines. HOWEVER, I saw the video, and I think I know why it's #1 (you dirty, dirty boys).

Its a very tacky video. Its sleazy and degrading to woman but thats to cover for the fact that Robin Thicke has very little talent IMO

 

[Geekachu]

It was officially confirmed today. Gaga announced it herself, and she said that she's releasing the single cover tonight.

Yeah and here's the damn cover

Spoiler: Applause Artwork

[img139]http://www.wwd.com/images/processed/wwd/2013/07/29/landscape/01-large/page-1.jpg[/img139]

The damn ho has the nerve to release four/five amazing promo pics and this is the artwork for the single. I am being tested rn.

i dont think kanye's new album appeals to the general public

Yeah I was going to say this but Black Skinhead is faring pretty well in the UK. Then again that's probably more so suburban white boys who hang off Kanye's music as if it's some cool accessory rather than the gp.

Its a very tacky video. Its sleazy and degrading to woman but thats to cover for the fact that Robin Thicke has very little talent IMO

lmao his album got absolutely slaughtered by the critics. If you ask me he comes across as a greasy creep in the video. The guy also has a wife. It makes the experience so much more uneasy.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

That sounds like a good idea



Dont worry I will be here to comfort the BL fans when Applause dethrones it from the number one spot in a few weeks

Its a very tacky video. Its sleazy and degrading to woman but thats to cover for the fact that Robin Thicke has very little talent IMO

Oh please, every female artist like ever(married or not) has had a half naked(or naked) man in their videos but the second a guy does the opposite he is a creep *rolls eyes*

They are just boobs people. Also all they did the whole video was walk around topless, they didn't even do anything degrading.

 

[noobers]

Also all they did the whole video was walk around topless, they didn't even do anything degrading.

Well that's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one.

It isn't "just boobs," it's Thicke blatantly exploiting women to promote his song while whispering "I know you want it" into their ears. And I'll give you credit, it'd admittedly be fairer if the men in that video appeared naked as well. But I guess if they did that, they wouldn't be able to spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick" in balloons.

#THICKE

 

[Kreis]

Oh please, every female artist like ever(married or not) has had a half naked(or naked) man in their videos but the second a guy does the opposite he is a creep *rolls eyes*

They are just boobs people. Also all they did the whole video was walk around topless, they didn't even do anything degrading.

Rapey lyrics aside, it seems to me that you think male objectification is just as bad. I mean, the way women and men are portrayed in media, such as videos or photographs, is entirely different. Women usually just serve as props and typically are made to make ridiculously degrading poses, while men mostly are not. Don't get me wrong, men can and are objectified, but not in the same scale as women are.

Take a look at this parody video, and tell me that you don't find it ridiculous when the roles are reversed:
[video=youtube;tKfwCjgiodg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKfwCjgiodg&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Well that's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one.

It isn't "just boobs," it's Thicke blatantly exploiting women to promote his song while whispering "I know you want it" into their ears. And I'll give you credit, it'd admittedly be fairer if the men in that video appeared naked as well. But I guess if they did that, they wouldn't be able to spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick" in balloons.

#THICKE

lmaoooo

 

[Blackjack the Titan]

Take a look at this parody video, and tell me that you don't find it ridiculous when the roles are reversed:
[video=youtube;tKfwCjgiodg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKfwCjgiodg&feature=player_embedded[/video]

It's not ridiculous. I can't lie. This is my two cents.
If I found this video silly and ridiculous I'd have to say the same thing about JLo's Dance Again MV (see also: Lady Gaga's "Alejandro", Katy Perry's "Teenage Drean"), but I found nothing of the sort. Pop music is just exploiting the opposite sex (from the artist) more and more with suggestive content and nudity, so I don't find it weird. (Well, another thing was that I was raised in a medical family so the uncut human body isn't so new/surprising to me. Lots of factors come into this discussion on this, but we're talking about Pop music).

thats to cover for the fact that Robin Thicke has very little talent IMO

"Little talent"
Robin's been around for a while now (12 years IIRC).
As I read, his wife approved of this video concept (must be pretty faithful).

 

[Silent Conversation]

Yeah and here's the damn cover

Spoiler: Applause Artwork

[img139]http://www.wwd.com/images/processed/wwd/2013/07/29/landscape/01-large/page-1.jpg[/img139]

Um... hm. I'm not really sure to think about this. I guess the paint on her face is supposed to symbolize the "art" part of ARTPOP? I dunno, I don't necessarily like it that much, but it's certainly an interesting choice. Although I feel like this should have been an ARTPOP promo picture instead of a single cover.

Also, I read earlier today that Gaga has insisted that when everybody refer to her new album, they must spell it in all caps. I'm here for a thread rule that anybody who doesn't write it like that gets permabanned.

 

[flamebeam]

I'm here for a thread rule that anybody who doesn't write it like that gets permabanned.

hmm... what if i'm on my phone, and it's giving me problems, and i don't feel like it?

But I guess if they did that, they wouldn't be able to spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick" in balloons.

#THICKE

wait, they do that in the video? hmm... i kinda wanna watch the whole video. i only saw like 30 seconds of it, but i felt it was enough, because it was various topless girls prancing around. so if this is all true, then what is it that makes this song such a hit? the beat is a little catchy, but then again, which song isn't? i mean, i just can't wrap my head around them -- i mean "it"

AND OMG BURN IS SOOO GOOD! i really hope it takes off. i'm not usually a fan of ellie's albums, but she's had some good singles, and even though Need Your Love isn't her style, she's the one who makes that song for me. so yeah, i'm rooting for Burn

And for my final point, if people wanna talk about pop music, and less about the Billboards, well nobody's stopping you. I like the weekly updates; SC likes them; i guess other people like them. but there's lots of things to talk about, if you want. i consider myself a casual poster here, so i honestly don't care, but discuss what you want. pop music is a general subject with lots of topics.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

Well that's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one.

It isn't "just boobs," it's Thicke blatantly exploiting women to promote his song while whispering "I know you want it" into their ears. And I'll give you credit, it'd admittedly be fairer if the men in that video appeared naked as well. But I guess if they did that, they wouldn't be able to spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick" in balloons.

#THICKE

I'm saying females use half naked males in their videos all the time so why is it such a crime when guys do it. The whole point of the video is to get people to watch, girls get guys so girls will watch it, guys get girls so other guys will watch it. Also it's a freaking song, good lord the man is not promoting rape and he's freaking married. He even says that guys tried to control women and they fought back.

Rapey lyrics aside, it seems to me that you think male objectification is just as bad. I mean, the way women and men are portrayed in media, such as videos or photographs, is entirely different. Women usually just serve as props and typically are made to make ridiculously degrading poses, while men mostly are not. Don't get me wrong, men can and are objectified, but not in the same scale as women are.

Take a look at this parody video, and tell me that you don't find it ridiculous when the roles are reversed:
[video=youtube;tKfwCjgiodg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKfwCjgiodg&feature=player_embedded[/video]


lmaoooo

No and I don't find it objectification, the girls/ males were in no way forced to be in these videos and know exactly what they are doing. They consented to be "objectified" as you say.

The point is these girls aren't even doing anything wrong in the vid, they are literally just walking around topless.

However that parody video is freaking offensive because of who they used as the guys. They literally just found the gayest guys they can find and made them look ridiculous. You might have a comparison if they used a bunch of hot guys the way the girl version did.

Justin Timberlake just did the same thing in his new video too and I don't think it is degrading. Nudity isn't something I find shameful or wrong, in fact if the roles where reversed and a girl artist had a bunch of naked guys walking around like that(which by the way has already happened too), I would have no problem with it.

Like I said it's just boobs, it's not the end of the world.

 

[Geekachu]

The mother****ing naivety in this thread right now.

[img139]http://25.media.tumblr.com/e3760744f2217760914c99d3489d100f/tumblr_miymtzSyCo1qz8pjzo1_400.gif[/img139]

They are just boobs people. Also all they did the whole video was walk around topless, they didn't even do anything degrading.

Pop music is just exploiting the opposite sex (from the artist) more and more with suggestive content and nudity, so I don't find it weird.

this whole post

You do realise that it's not the nudity itself that's inherently the crux of this issue? It's just that the female nudity is entirely predicated on society's culture of objectifying women as objects of sex. Sex itself - or at least the heterosexual sex portrayed in the video and song - is generally a mutual act between a man and a woman; both parties are equally involved in the intimacy. Yet, in the video it's only the women who are portrayed as being overtly sexual while the men are permitted to walk around in their suits.

There are two levels of sexuality conveyed in the video through both it's visuals and the lyrics themselves. The men may walk around fully dressed however the women are degraded to the point of being objects of male desire. The men furthermore significantly have the entire narrative voice in the video - delivering the rapey and as equally objectifying lyrics as such as 'I know you want it', 'Tried to domesticate you / But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature', 'What rhymes with hug me?' What purpose do the women serve other than their statuses as mere desire?

You need to understand that the video is rooted in modern day misogyny and sexualisation of women. The statement itself it's not just 'lol boobs', it's what they represent when pitched against three successful men in the music industry who deliver the voice of the song all the while walking around in their suits. It's not a song about sex. It's entirely one sided.

Also pop music is not about exploitation of the opposite sex and music videos are not solely about attracting attention. Go do some research first before you make such sweeping statements.

But I guess if they did that, they wouldn't be able to spell out "Robin Thicke has a big dick" in balloons.

#THICKE

The balloon writing wouldn't nearly be as bad if he didn't carry on that exact same 'idea' in some lyrics on the album.

Also, I read earlier today that Gaga has insisted that when everybody refer to her new album, they must spell it in all caps. I'm here for a thread rule that anybody who doesn't write it like that gets permabanned.

That's been news for yeaaaaaaars. I agree though and they should buy it first week too.

And also apparently it's a still from the video so looks like we'll be getting clowns for the video

 

[1rkhachatryan]

The mother****ing naivety in this thread right now.

[img139]http://25.media.tumblr.com/e3760744f2217760914c99d3489d100f/tumblr_miymtzSyCo1qz8pjzo1_400.gif[/img139]





You do realise that it's not the nudity itself that's inherently the crux of this issue? It's just that the female nudity is entirely predicated on society's culture of objectifying women as objects of sex. Sex itself - or at least the heterosexual sex portrayed in the video and song - is generally a mutual act between a man and a woman; both parties are equally involved in the intimacy. Yet, in the video it's only the women who are portrayed as being overtly sexual while the men are permitted to walk around in their suits.

There are two levels of sexuality conveyed in the video through both it's visuals and the lyrics themselves. The men may walk around fully dressed however the women are degraded to the point of being objects of male desire. The men furthermore significantly have the entire narrative voice in the video - delivering the rapey and as equally objectifying lyrics as such as 'I know you want it', 'Tried to domesticate you / But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature', 'What rhymes with hug me?' What purpose do the women serve other than their statuses as mere desire?

You need to understand that the video is rooted in modern day misogyny and sexualisation of women. The statement itself it's not just 'lol boobs', it's what they represent when pitched against three successful men in the music industry who deliver the voice of the song all the while walking around in their suits. It's not a song about sex. It's entirely one sided.

Also pop music is not about exploitation of the opposite sex and music videos are not solely about attracting attention. Go do some research first before you make such sweeping statements.



The balloon writing wouldn't nearly be as bad if he didn't carry on that exact same 'idea' in some lyrics on the album.



That's been news for yeaaaaaaars. I agree though and they should buy it first week too.

Oh trust me if the world wasn't so OMG no dicks allowed anywhere but porn and the ever so rare movie, there would be naked guys in videos and movies all the time, big difference is that shirtless guys are treated like no big deal where as a lady without a shirt on is treated as a big deal because it's rare, in fact I've only ever seen it in two videos(the two that I mentioned).

See now if society wasn't so anti nudity there wouldn't be any objectifying anything because it would be normalized(on both sides).

Also I know music videos aren't only about attracting attention but it is a big part of it, after all, if no one watches the vid, what's the point??

 

[Geekachu]

See now if society wasn't so anti nudity there wouldn't be any objectifying anything because it would be normalized(on both sides).

It's not about anti nudity when the males in the video are anything but nude (and feminists). Also there's a whole catalogue of hip hop videos from the 90's through to the early 00's if you haven't seen enough female nudity in music videos.

Also I know music videos aren't only about attracting attention but it is a big part of it, after all, if no one watches the vid, what's the point??

So they can express something artistically?

Look, none of this is going through to you so I ain't gon' try anymore.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

It's not about anti nudity when the males in the video are anything but nude (and feminists). Also there's a whole catalogue of hip hop videos from the 90's through to the early 00's if you haven't seen enough female nudity in music videos.



So they can express something artistically?

Look, none of this is going through to you so I ain't gon' try anymore.

That's because the men can't be nude or else the vid would be permabanned.

But I'm saying society is like that, I mean there are so many comments on videos of this type saying OMG I can't believe they are topless or to that effect.

I get the artistic part but they gotta make the money and sell records and get views or nobody makes their artistic vision, you can not like it all you want but it always comes down to money.

 

[The Doctor]

All this talk about the nudity in the "Blurred Lines" video and yet nobody's mentioned that the video's inherently awful. It's just them standing about or "having fun" (if I could put that in bigger quotes I would, seriously Pharrell is the only one who looks like he's having a good time) on a blank sound stage with whatever spare props were hanging about, while those big ugly hashtags take up half the goddamn shot.

Even in the version where the girls are wearing clothes, they don't look like they're enjoying themselves. I swear one of them glances off to the side at the end of the video like she has no idea what to do. I'm not a prude by any means, I'm sure they were told exactly what the video entailed and were assured nothing bad would happen to them, but given how creepy the lyrics are, casting your video with unhappy-looking supermodels doesn't help this look any less skeevy.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

All this talk about the nudity in the "Blurred Lines" video and yet nobody's mentioned that the video's inherently awful. It's just them standing about or "having fun" (if I could put that in bigger quotes I would, seriously Pharrell is the only one who looks like he's having a good time) on a blank sound stage with whatever spare props were hanging about, while those big ugly hashtags take up half the goddamn shot.

Even in the version where the girls are wearing clothes, they don't look like they're enjoying themselves. I swear one of them glances off to the side at the end of the video like she has no idea what to do. I'm not a prude by any means, I'm sure they were told exactly what the video entailed and were assured nothing bad would happen to them, but given how creepy the lyrics are, casting your video with unhappy-looking supermodels doesn't help this look any less skeevy.

Meh, I like the song so I really don't care all that much about the video(or the girls since I'm gay). My whole point is all the *****ing that a girls boobs are showing, I mean in this day in age, boobs should not be this much of a shock.

Yes I get the lyrics aren't all that women positive but really if you are into any kind of rap this should not surprise you. I mean the rap part was the worst part in terms of against women or whatever.

 

[The Doctor]

Meh, I like the song so I really don't care all that much about the video(or the girls since I'm gay). My whole point is all the *****ing that a girls boobs are showing, I mean in this day in age, boobs should not be this much of a shock.

Yes I get the lyrics aren't all that women positive but really if you are into any kind of rap this should not surprise you. I mean the rap part was the worst part in terms of against women or whatever.

Todd in the Shadows compared the lyrics (not just TI's verse) to "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots, a song intended to be from the point of view of a rapist. Compare:

I know you want it,
I know you want it,
I know you want it

I know you want what's on my mind
I know you like what's on my mind

Do it like it hurt, like it hurt

You wouldn't want me have to hurt you too, hurt you too

The way you grab me
Must wanna get nasty
Go ahead, get at me

I said you shouldn't have worn that dress

This isn't even about being attracted to women, it's behaving like a creep. Those last two lines are used, quite frequently, as a rapist's defence: "Well if she didn't want to get raped, she shouldn't have acted like that with me in the club, wearing that tight a dress! I couldn't control myself!" Combine that with a video that features women standing about topless, pouting and with glazed expressions, and it doesn't really look good for these guys.

 

[Kreis]

Holy ****, I just got to looking at this thread again, and Geekachu just wonderfully covered what I was going to say. 1rkhachatryan, if you still think it's about OMg the booBs, it's not. If you can't grasp what we're trying to say, then you're just hopeless.


Also, I think you don't know what sexual objectification means, so please look that up. If you do know what it is, then refer to my last sentence above.


But of course, ROBIN THICKE MADE A GOOD SONG SO HE CAN'T BE MISOGYNISTIC!!!

 

[Silent Conversation]

I'm not going to into the sexuality of the music video because I don't want to fuel this debate that's taking over this entire thread. But I will give my opinion as to why it's so popular (because the one thing people seem to have in common here is that nobody understands why it's so big). My understanding is that 2013 seems to be the year where people are getting tired of hearing the same electro-pop songs that have been dominating from 2010-2012. Therefore, when anything "different" sounding has gotten attention, it's been blowing up (this happened with Thrift Shop earlier this year). Regardless of whether you like it or not, Blurred Lines sounds quite different to music usually played by pop radio, and once it got its limelight on The Voice, it blew up because of that.

A lot of people will probably disagree with this and I might get some hate directed towards me for saying this, but I personally think that you can like a song even if you disagree with its lyrics. Reading the lyrics, I think Blurred Lines is a pretty immature song which does objectify women. However, it has a really nice sound to it, a very catchy beat and Robin Thicke does have a fairly good voice. I acknowledge the stupidity of the lyrics, I just choose to ignore that and enjoy the song anyways. (And before any of you tell me I can't do that, this is what like half of you did with Call Me Maybe last summer)

 

[Lord Scalgon]

Justin Bieber - the spoiled era.

As many of you have noticed by now, whether you heard it via social media or a news source, not too long ago, he urinated in a mop bucket, then insulted then-president Bill Clinton and dropped an F-bomb on an ex-Commander-in-chief, and yesterday in Toronto, he spat on his fans. In terms of our perspective, we can simply imagine that he's gradually becoming more of a spoiled brat. If you need a list of his inappropriate acts in 2013, well, here it is:

• Possession of marijuana
• Reckless driving
• Flaking and tardiness from his own concerts (this tarnished his reputation)
• Disrespected Anne Frank by labeling her a "Belieber"
• Breaking laws (most notably, going inside 21+ nightclubs when......well, you know why)
• Attempted smuggling with his monkey...and ditching it in Germany. PETA, anyone?
• Urinated on a mop bucket
• Insulting political figures
• Spitting on his own fans in Toronto

(the list isn't really complete, but it's to get some idea)

Should he ever keep up with this type of behavior, we can only imagine his life and career slowly crash and burn. I feel like I want to direct this question to all the "Beliebers" in this forum. How do you feel about his ways? Despite these recent events, would you still continue to be a Belieber, and if so, why?

And to direct this question to everyone else reading this thread: What do you think about the fate of his life and career?