BY MIKEY MIGO
It's hard to really define what "pop music" is. One side of the fence will go the easy cynical route and be all "it's popular music! Pop is anything that's liked by the masses!" I don't agree with that at all. While, pop music IS popular, there's much more to it when defining a musical genre. Pop music is for children and those who don't care to put in any effort towards their musical tastes. Pop music is the McDonalds fast food chain at the end of your street. You could drive a few miles out to a better restaurant, but McD's is so close that your lazy ass just goes and gets your normal "Number Three" from the Value Meal list.
Pop music, for the most part, is disposable and clean fun. The songs are simple, catchy, and musically crisp. The themes often talk of love, parties, and other upbeat themes. More times than not, there's no musician within the marketed product. They might have a back up live band, but it's all about the product be it a solo artist or group. Usually, the pop performer doesn't even write their own songs. In terms of talent, pop music is the shallow end of the kiddy pool.
Just look at the 90's pop rise. We got boy bands. A group of "pretty boys" are packaged together as a product; a product that just so happens to sing and dance. We got Backstreet and NSync from jump street, but then we got knock offs like 98 Degrees, O-Town, and LFO. I'm sure that some of the poster boys I mentioned are nice guys and maybe even DO have some sort of talent, but they pretty much sold their self respecting soul for these projects. I can really only think of one exception. On the flip side, we were also given Spears and Christina. They were the same as a boy band, but just gender reversed. Instead of pretty boys, it's sultry and voluptuous young ladies to sing, dance, and be sex symbols. And just like the boys, there were knock offs. We got Jessica Simpson, Pink (yeah, I said it!), and a good half dozen more "B class" and many many even lower than that. Millions of albums are sold, arenas are full, and MTV shows their videos on a constant loop. Mission accomplished.
That's really just the 90's, but it seems that pretty much the same thing has been going on for nearly 50 years. Still, there ARE some legitimate musicians and artists who are grouped with the "pop" label. They do technically fit the description of what a pop artist is, but they have that extra something. By that, I mean that I personally like them. I am not close minded and can appreciate pretty much any well written piece of music outside of country, because let's face it, that's not music. Country is more of a subliminal call for the reorganizing of the confederacy.
That's neither here nor there though, this is about pop music. Like I said, there's some "pop" artists from other the years that I can openly admit to enjoying or at the very least tolerating.
9.) Madonna
Not new Madonna, old Madonna. When she had a little bit of edge to her and wasn't British. I'm talking about "The Material Girl" that wore wedding dresses and fishnets. Back then you could still see a soul in her eyes. Now, not so much. If you lived during the 80's and didn't at least enjoy "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Virgin", and "Material Girl" then you're pretty jaded.
8.) The Beach Boys
Before they started being a bit more experimental, their brand of surf rock was easily associated with "pop". They get extra points with me because they can actually play instruments and wrote for themselves. "God Only Knows" is good enough to get them on this list, but then there's even more hits that we all know and probably love.
7.) Elvis
I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I fully acknowledge that he completely stole his style and music from better artists. Still, I appreciate a small handful of his timeless hits. My grandmother was a huge Elvis and Motown fan so I got exposed to it a lot as a child. Songs like "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender", and "Jailhouse Rock" are good tunes no matter what era you're from.
6.) Whitney Houston
Like Madonna, I'm talking about the old Houston. Not the cracked out crazy lady that she's become. Now, I'll admit it. I enjoy her insane antics and am hoping for her to have a huge comeback. To me Whitney Houston's vocal work was always the better of the two when comparing to Madonna. The song got a bit, that's a sarcastic understatement, how you say… overexposed, but her cover of "I Will Always Love You" is really a beautifully sung song. She has more upbeat songs, but her voice is meant for tracks like that.
5.) Lionel Richie
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the song "Dancing on the Ceiling". Don't mock me for it. I was like five or six, but I still remember singing along to it and really enjoying it. As I got older, I was more open to songs like "Hello" and with that he pretty much cemented his place in my musical lexicon.
4.) Usher
This is a half joke/half serious pick. Him singing a little too close to Michael Jackson's coffin aside, I really can't deny how talented Usher is. For the past few years I've made cracks like "smoother than Usher", but the joke is that NOTHING is smoother than Usher. NOTHING.
3.) Mariah Carey
She's got more hits than a bong at Tommy Chong's house. I'm not a fan of all of them. Hell, I'm not even a fan of seventy five percent of them. That still leaves around a hundred and seven big hits. I dare you to listen to her work on the MTV Unplugged album and tell me she's not ridiculously talented.
2.) Justin Timberlake
I suppose you could say that Mr. Timberlake is the exception to the 90's boy band rule. I don't agree. I'm putting him on the list based off his solo work alone. Of all the current pop stars out there right now, I anticipate JT's releases most. Granted, that's still not THAT much anticipation… its still anticipation. I remember reviewing his last album when it came out because NO ONE ELSE wanted to. Hell, I got mocked for it. Now that people acknowledge this guy's awesomeness they act as if they've always been in on it. This guy made "Sexy Back". That's good enough for me.
1.) Michael Jackson
Yeah, who else would be number one? Michael Jackson wasn't just called "The King of Pop" as a witty moniker. He really was and still is the king of the entire genre. I've made Jackson jokes over the years like everyone else, but I never stopped enjoying his music and appreciating his talent. "Thriller", "Off The Wall", "Bad", and the majority of Jackson's work is considered classic. By the way things are going on the charts currently; I'm not the only one who feels this way. Great songs, great performances, and just the greatness of this man's talent easily make him the best total package music has ever seen. I really don't see him being dethroned anytime soon…
What pop artists do you like? If you're going to post "pop sucks!" then you're in denial. You'd of HAD to of listen to it to form that opinion. Man up. Admit to your demons.
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