The Resurgence of Popstars
By Stella Violet
The Britneys and Christinas of the 2020s are beginning to emerge into the limelight. In the past four years, we have seen the Disney to Popstar pipeline resurface, with Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter being the most notable. What sets these two apart is the drama surrounding their paths to stardom and how much it reminds me of the Selena Gomez/Miley Cyrus feud of 2008. Even though, yet again, the man rarely gets any blame, the outcome has been two mega-pop stars.
The most difficult thing in today’s society is to admit that both Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter’s music is good. There is this unspoken stigma behind liking Top 40 music because you’re labeled “basic.” It’s like if you don’t listen to underground music on Bandcamp or Kanye West, you’re an “NPC,” and that’s simply not true. If half of you weren’t so pretentious [directing this at my friend Axel], you’d realize girly pop is actually good. Not everything you listen to has to be so depressing with a touch of a British accent.
This switch happened around 2018 when pop music began to sound like overproduced garbage. And much of it is attributed to industry plants that appeared out of thin air, like Ava Max. This ultimately ruined the reputation of Top 40’s music, and it became “lame” to listen to anything on the radio. One of the only popstars that stuck it out through this time was Ariana Grande, but other than her, the pop music space has been dominated by men. Don’t get me wrong, The Weeknd is great, but he will never be a messy pop girl.
That’s why pop stars like Charli XCX and Addison Rae are getting so much attention now. Some people might come for me for saying Addison Rae is in this category because she initially blew up on TikTok. However, that woman did the biggest 180 I have ever seen, and over the past few years, she has distanced herself from the influencer space and focused on being the campiest girl alive.
They are the prime examples of what it looks like to embody early 2000s pop music. “Von Dutch” by Charli XCX and the “Von Dutch Remix” released this week with Addison Rae are the types of songs that make you want to “live that life” of those you see on social media. Honestly, celebrities live a life many envy and use to show this off.
Paris Hilton and Heidi Montag’s discography and careers in the early 2000s prove this theory. And maybe some people at the time didn’t get it at the time but if you go back and listen to their music, you’ll hear that vibe. I miss when celebs would show off their lives in a cunty song because, to me, it’s like a manifestation in my ears. So, I hope we continue to get more songs like this from Charli XCX and Addison Rae. And if you want to find more songs like “Von Dutch,” I suggest listening to Addison Rae’s EP, which perfectly captures the early 2000s feeling of wanting to be the most popular girl in school.
Beyond the music, I must see more public drama between the pop girlies. In the 2000s, it felt like we experienced everything with celebrities. I get it; people want to be more private, but you are in the public eye for a reason. And to be clear, I’m not talking about Britney shaving her head in front of the paparazzi; I’m talking more about Twitter feuds and petty one-liners in songs. It’s also interesting that celebrities don’t get caught partying in the public eye like they used to. However, I appreciate that Olivia Rodrigo is beginning to share her going-out experiences on talk shows like Jimmy Fallon.
I also have a few predictions about who has the potential to become pop stars. So, if you enjoy girly-pop music, you should start listening to these artists. We’ve seen a bit of attention come toward Madison Beer lately, and I think she genuinely has the potential to go far. “Make You Mine” is her latest release, and the song is just so good and catchy that I literally cannot stop listening to it. She has the music, the looks, and the drama to reach a higher level of stardom, and I hope she does. Side note: what is so special about that producer who dates every 19 to 22-year-old girl, including Madison Beer and Olivia Rodrigo?
The next person with potential is Tate McRae. However, her situation is a bit tricky. Her performances and outfits give her this 2000s pop star vibe, but her music needs more work. “Greedy” is a catchy song, but I just hope in the future, her songs give more cunt and originality rather than something that sounds like it was manufactured in an industry plant lab.
My most controversial take on a potential pop star is Nessa Barrett. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I would look her up on TikTok because that is where she became famous. If I had heard that statement come out of my mouth a year ago, I would have laughed in your face, but lately, I’ve really been enjoying her music, specifically “Lie” and “Dying on the Inside.” These are also a few of her latest songs, which have proved to me she has the potential to be more than an influencer who decided they wanted to try out having a music career.
Overall, 2024 is the year pop girls have returned, and I’m forecasting they are here to stay. I hope anyone reading this who has preconceived notions about any artists I mentioned in this article gives them a chance. Put your ego aside when you find a moment alone tonight and go listen to “Feather” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Obsessed” by Olivia Rodrigo, or “Von Dutch,” the remix with Addison Rae, and I promise you’ll feel that early 2000s nostalgia and “loves” it.
If you want to get more into pop music, I compiled some playlists to get you into the pop music spirit.
