In Case Anyone Needed Additional Evidence That Celebrities Have More Influence Than Politicians, Look No Further Than the Plea to Taylor Swift Amid L.A.’s Hotel Strike

“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s the Spider-Man platitude so often wielded for those who are actually in offices of power. And yet, it’s [Read More…]

Unlike Most Women in Music, Tony Bennett Didn’t Have to Constantly Change His Image In Order to Endure

“I was like the Madonna and the Michael Jackson of my day,” Tony Bennett once told Conan O’Brien during a 1993 interview. The notable distinction [Read More…]

“Mind Your Business” Has the “Piece of Me” Tone That Keeps Britney Spears Firmly Associated With the 00s

For those who were worried that the 2000s might never come back authentically (instead having to settle for ersatz imitations like the makeup aesthetic on [Read More…]

Madonna Taps Into The Sentiments of Her Pre-Fame Drive on “Popular” With The Weeknd and Playboi Carti

Like Madonna’s 2018 collaboration with Quavo and Cardi B on “Champagne Rosé,” “Popular” marks another unexpected trifecta in terms of musical partnerships for the Queen [Read More…]

Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” Proves That Madonna Absorbed the Critical Vitriol for Other 50+ Pop Stars So They Could Keep Talking Like Teens and Twenty-Somethings in Their Songs at Any Age

As the discussion continues about whether or not “middle age” really exists anymore, among the many pop stars to benefit from the decision that it [Read More…]

Miley Makes Us “Jaded” By Offering Tired Visuals Amounting To a Dolce Glow Ad That Kind of Rips Off Britney’s “My Prerogative”

Giving us the third visual in five months from her Endless Summer Vacation era, Miley Cyrus’ “Jaded” video is not all that much different from [Read More…]

Martha Stewart’s Sports Illustrated Cover Is A Landmark Moment…But Also Presents a Double Standard in Terms of Praising a “Correct” Way for Women to Be Embraced As “Sexy” at Any Age

There are “kinds” of women who get lauded for doing the same things that other women have already been doing for quite some time. Martha [Read More…]

Acrostic Poems Never Die: Shakira Revives the Elementary School-Favored Poetry Method on “Acróstico,” Takes a Risk on the “Song For My Children” Genre

For those who thought Shakira was all embitterment and revenge with her song subjects of late (hear: “Te Felicito” and “Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions #53”), [Read More…]