They were all independent acts forced into a group that had no creative control over anything they were making and were still competing against each other. They all seemed to hate it and the lack of freedom. Nothing about it is worth celebrating

Bad Bunny has become a LGBTQ+ icon. First, he stood up for Alexa Luciano Ruiz, a Puerto Rican transgender woman that was murdered after having the police called on her for using the women's restroom. After the media described Alexa as "a man in a skirt," Bad Bunny performed on The Tonight Show wearing a skirt and a shirt that said (translated) "They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt." Next, Bad Bunny released Yo Perreo Sola (translated to "I Twerk Alone"). The music video featured a Bad Bunny in drag twerking on himself and ended the video with a message that said (translated), "If she doesn't want to dance with you, respect her. She twerks alone." The song and video both brought attention to the LGBTQ+ community, encouraged feminism, discouraged harassment, and broke gender roles. Not only has Bad Bunny been praised for these actions, but he has been praised for breaking the toxic masculinity and gender roles that are common in Latinx culture. It's incredible brave and commendable for a straight man to be standing up for such a macho-dominated culture. I recently came across an article on The Guardian discussing Bad Bunny's role as a LGBTQ+ icon. The article discusses how he has gathered praise from queer media, as well as queer icons like Ricky Martin. However, it also discusses how Bad Bunny is relatively new to this role and how it can be problematic that a straight male is getting more recognition for this than other actual queer artists. They argue that maybe we should be more careful about celebrating straight allies more than celebrating actual queer celebrities. They provided the example of Nick Jonas, a straight ally, frequently being hailed as well. What are your thoughts on the article? For me personally, I completely disagree with the article. I think this comment on /r/popheads sums it up perfectly: Thoughts? Should we be celebrating Bad Bunny as a queer icon as much as we have been?

I think one of the main reasons there has been so much turnover in #1 songs (there have been 4 different #1 songs in the US in 4 weeks) is that there isn't those playlists at stores, at restaurants, sets at clubs, so many people tuning into the radio on their way to work/at work/going places, etc. that are keeping the same songs in heavy rotation. I think both Dua Lipa's and Bad Bunny's new music would've been a lot more popular had it been a normal summer. Anyways, awesome thread! I'm going to feature it on the homepage in a few min. Welcome to Exhale!

omg I forgot about that! backpack kid

I just came here to say that Yo Perreo Sola is THAT *****.

I awarded you 15 points for this incredibly thoughtful response. I had never thought about the concepts behind these eras or the storyline that connected them, so this is super interesting to me. Fantastic post, thank you for your insight

Lady Gaga and Blackpink's new song, Sour Candy, has recently reminded me of Katy Perry's Swish Swish and reignited my love for the song. I loved Swish Swish when it came out, and I love it today. The beat is just too good. The song is sassy, fun, and makes you feel like THE baddest *****. Nicki's bridge is fantastic. The song should be a total gay anthem. It's the perfect mix of a gay anthem: shade-throwing, sassiness, a club banger, wordplay, and empowerment. So why did it only chart at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and why is it still relatively unknown? One could argue that it's the cheesy, even childish, music video, but it has over 600 million views on YouTube, so maybe that isn't much of a valid argument. Is it just another result of Katy Perry becoming a bad taste in the general public's mouth for the Witness era? Or am I wrong, did the song not deserve to do well because maybe it's not really that great? Thoughts?

I thought the same thing the first time I listened and every time I’ve listened since. I wondered if she was calling out her fanbase for the pressure she faces. It seems too much to be coincidental. Isn’t she the one that named the fanbase “little monsters,” and then she writes a song saying “these monsters torture her?“

Oops ITZ Blackout Glory easy

Ooh that is interesting

One of the best superbowl performances in years I forgot about it tbh

Lana followed by Avicii

Wow, has it really been 5 years already? Back on June 5, 2015, Zara Larsson released her beachy summery bop, Lush Life. The song was the lead single off of her international debut album, So Good. Before you ask, "who?," the song topped the charts at #1 for 5 weeks in Sweden has over 880 million streams on Spotify, and over 674 million views on YouTube. The song is arguably Zara's most popular and really brought her on the scene globally. Any fans of Zara Larsson or Lush Life?

Pretty Girls, Perfume, and Make Me... Pretty Girls is an embarrassing cringefest. So much secondhand embarrassment. Perfume is just insanely boring of a video for me, and I'm mad we didn't get the original version. I actually like the Make Me... (American Dream) video and I think Britney looks gorgeous in the official Make Me... video, but the cheesy intro and cringey plotline just ruin it for me.

The same reason why you feel you look great looking at yourself in the mirror and then you see a photo of yourself at the event you got ready for and think you look like a bloated beaver. Britney is human like the rest of us. I don't think it's right to sit here and point out bad looks. Everyone has their good and bad looks. It's part of being human, so let's treat her as one instead of a product that's supposed to be perfect all of the time.