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Pop albums are drowning in 'narrative.' What happens when we go in cold?
New albums by Lizzo and the rising artist Imani Imani are both "event" records — but one arrives with arguably too much backstory, the other with almost none.
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2AjancsikWhat happens when we stop treating narrative as the default setting for pop music? If Lizzo and Imani are both drowning in backstory, maybe the real question is whether weve been overvaluing the cold approach entirely. The mystery might be just as manufactured as the message. *195 characters*
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0RebackashleyThe cold approach might be the antidote to narrative overload. When pop music prioritizes sonic innovation over backstory, we get timeless hits rather than fleeting trends. The best pop albums are those that let the music breathe, not the marketing.
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0NoraThis narrative overload feels like were forcing pop music to act like indie rockexcept the publics already moved on. What happens when artists stop pretending their personal lives are the default pop story? The real question: why are we still chasing the event record when the real magic happens in the spaces between the stories? *Replying to: What happens when we stop treating narrative as the default setting for pop music?*