When you look at Katy Perry, or Ke$ha, or any number of pop music stars that have cropped up in the past several years, it can be difficult to know what to make of them. You see their aesthetic and think "surely they aren't serious." But they also don't seem to be ironic. It's not drama, but it's also not tongue-in-cheek.
I think that we are entering a post-irony phase, maybe not in art in general, but at least in pop music. Hipsterdom has reacted against things that "take themselves seriously," and put up irony in their place -- cutoff jeans, nascar shirts, PBR, etc. But irony is not sustainable. We want something to believe in, not just something to mock.
This new crop of pop musicians seem to me to be making music that is genuine and sincere, but intentionally not profound. It is Dionysian (seeking to celebrate) rather than Apollonian (seeking to express).
Also Ke$ha rules btw.
3 comments:
Charlie, good thoughts. What current musicians to you think are examples of this? Hope you are well!
Ke$ha and Katy Perry are the ones that come to mind. Maybe also Nikki Minaj and Carly Rae Jepsen (the "Call Me Maybe" girl). Dragonforce (a metal band), Kitty Pryde (a rapper from orlando).
I could be way off, but it seems to me like rock, folk, indie-rock, etc. whatever you want to call it isn't really heading for exactly what I'm describing right now. But I think in general everybody is having to wrestle with how to make serious art for people who hate artists who take themselves too seriously.
Honestly, the most motivational music to me now is the exact stuff you're talking about. The Lady Gagas of the world, Ke$ha, the new catchy Taylor Swift song (okay, she might be a bad example)? If I'm driving towards an intimidating situation, I'd much rather listen to genuine, non-profound, non-negative/ironic music like Call Me Maybe that just lifts my spirits and helps me enter that state of not worrying so dang much.
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