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The realities of being a pop star

itscharlibb.substack.com

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Re: The realities of being a pop star

#21

Post by ivraatiems »

There is a weird assumption people make that somebody as successful as Charli XCX isn't smart because her persona is "I like cocaine and partying," and then are surprised when she can express herself like this. Like she says: "Another thing about being a pop star is that you cannot avoid the fact that some people are simply determined to prove that you are stupid."

Making music at any professional level is extremely hard work. Touring and dancing and hosting shows is even harder. It requires a substantial intellectual capacity and stamina to achieve. You either have these things yourself, or you are propped up entirely by others who have them and are invested in you for money's sake. Given Charli XCX's background, it's not actually surprising that she, in fact, has all the talent, skill, and intellect required to do this stuff herself.

Editing to add: Another place to look to learn that people with this skillset often have very very deep inner lives is Dua Lipa's book club podcast (https://www.service95.com/tag/book-club). As someone who used to run these kinds of in-depth interviews, I can say, she is damn good at it.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#22

Post by IshKebab »

> I find that this is often where the stupidity narrative can be born. I’ve always wondered why someone else’s success triggers such rage and anger in certain people and I think it probably all boils down to the fact that the patriarchal society we unfortunately live in has successfully brainwashed us all. We are still trained to hate women, to hate ourselves and to be angry at women if they step out of the neat little box that public perception has put them in. I think subconsciously people still believe there is only room for women to be a certain type of way and once they claim to be one way they better not DARE grow or change or morph into something else.

Nah it's nothing to do with women, it's simple jealousy. Everyone wants to be successful. If they can dismiss successful people as lucky or whatever (tbf some are) then it makes them feel better about their own failure to be successful (they are just as good; they just weren't as lucky).

A natural human tendency. Look at all the people saying Elon Musk isn't really an engineer. Yeah right, he definitely is heavily involved in the high level technical decisions. Yes he's an arsehole and moderately racist and probably quite lucky too but he is good at his job.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#23

Post by [deleted] »

cypherpunks01 wrote: post #4

> "A couple of weeks ago Yung Lean came for dinner at my house .. He is probably one of the wisest people I know." Two sentences I would've not predicted in close proximity to one another! Hah, love it. Guess he's been through a lot over the years.

[deleted]

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#24

Post by bitwize »

The Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" is one of my all-time favorite 80s hits. Mark Knopfler pretty much composed the lyrics simply by transcribing some remarks he overheard from blue-collar servicemen working at an appliance store, and adjusting them a bit to make them scan and rhyme.

The deliberate irony is that contrary to the servicemen's belief that rock stars live a life of ease, the life of a musician can be grueling. You have to spend years mastering your instrument(s) and then win the record-deal lottery; after which your time is pretty much divided between being in the studio recording, on tour performing and promoting the album on a round-the-clock schedule, and with the rise of MTV shooting music videos. It's no wonder rock stars are prone to hedonism; they probably think they have to drink deeply of relaxation and pleasure while they have the opportunity, in order to reset and be ready for the next album, the next concert tour, the next press event...

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#25

Post by stavros »

carabiner wrote: post #2

Fascinating. Also impressive rawness, and it doesn't even seem like she passed it thru Chatgpt. It's insane that my first inclination is to detect those telltale signs in a blog post, and here I found none.

Nobody who likes writing would use ChatGPT to write. First of all, it takes the fun out of it, and second of all, its writing is clinical and corporate. I'm writing to express myself, how would I accomplish that through someone else?

I don't think trying to detect ChatGPT is a good use of time. Either the writing is good, or it's not.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#26

Post by andrewinardeer »

dfxm12 wrote: post #19
andrewinardeer wrote: post #9

I couldn't think of anything worse than to be known world wide. You couldn't go out in public without being hounded or swamped by people. The parasocial relationships people form with you can put your life in danger. Even worse is being a politician - particularly at a global leader level. Surely there has been an average Joe who has shithoused their way into being a leader of a significant country. Once you do that,…

What does shithoused mean in this context? All the meanings I know for it don't fit, not even metaphorically...

Sorry for the bogan nomenclature.

I mean "fell upwards". Gave it a shot for shits and giggles and made it.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#27

Post by bitwize »

mrdependable wrote: post #12
some_guy_nobel wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I found it pretty hollow too, but I probably went into it with the wrong expectations. The title of the article sounds promising, and the writing is decent enough that I believe something interesting could be said, but in the end it felt less introspective and more self-indulgent. I'm sure she could write the essay I was hoping to read, but it turned out to be the essay I should have expected instead.

Britney Spears always struck me as an idiot, and someone who is unable to think very deeply at all. But I read her testimony, in very unsophisticated language, of how her father treated her with fascination and sympathy.

I think hearing an authentic voice about what it's like "on the inside" of music industry, being a celebrity, etc. is valuable, even if the speaker doesn't meet the average HNer's standards for intelligence, originality, creativity, or depth.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#28

Post by jspash »

varjag wrote: post #3
carabiner wrote: post #2

Fascinating. Also impressive rawness, and it doesn't even seem like she passed it thru Chatgpt. It's insane that my first inclination is to detect those telltale signs in a blog post, and here I found none.

Yeah there's a 'delve' there but it almost feels it was put in as a taunt.

I never quite understood this “tell”. I use the word all the time. As do a lot of the people I have know. Written and spoken.

Is this maybe an American thing? Ie it’s just not used much there?

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#29

Post by TechnicolorByte »

IshKebab wrote: post #22

> I find that this is often where the stupidity narrative can be born. I’ve always wondered why someone else’s success triggers such rage and anger in certain people and I think it probably all boils down to the fact that the patriarchal society we unfortunately live in has successfully brainwashed us all. We are still trained to hate women, to hate ourselves and to be angry at women if they step out of the neat litt…

How’s that 2016 promise of LA to NYC autonomous driving goal going for Musk? Or his Cybercab venture going? And the decision to not use LIDAR in his vehicles? Or the Cybertruck’s dismal engineering and sales?

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#30

Post by astrange »

ivraatiems wrote: post #21

There is a weird assumption people make that somebody as successful as Charli XCX isn't smart because her persona is "I like cocaine and partying," and then are surprised when she can express herself like this. Like she says: "Another thing about being a pop star is that you cannot avoid the fact that some people are simply determined to prove that you are stupid." Making music at any professional level is extremely…

> There is a weird assumption people make that somebody as successful as Charli XCX isn't smart because her persona is "I like cocaine and partying,"

Considering cocaine is both illegal and has an obviously unethical supply chain, you'd think someone would try, you know, prosecuting her or something.

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