Present yourself as a victim and succeed in pop

The conversation about music is transformed and, as well as years ago, when the 2008-14 crisis, everything was about us in front of the self, and community awareness against financial ax, now many interviews with singers point more to their latest episode of anxiety or eating disorder than to the evolution of their artistic language. Experiences that four days ago were hidden, because they eroded the successful image of the character, figure understood as imperial, without weaknesses, now they are exhibited and becoming the promotional material with which a record launch or a tour is faced.
It sounds hard said like that, but it is what there is. I do not distrust the veracity of these intimate crises in the media: I understand that they are real, as should be those that today suffer many citizens, strikingly the youngest, who in recent times have made the statistics on mental health jump through the air. Music is a mirror of reality. But They talk about intimate fractures and therapy sessions artists with the aspect of perfect winnerswhich can squeak in the eyes of those who suffer from similar episodes and suffer above to reach the end of the month.
The anguish of the poor rich child? There are the suffered testimonies of successful singers, both female and male, very young or not so much, in our closest scene: From Amaia a Aitanaby Dani Martín to Alejandro Sanz. And beyond: Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Juanes.
We wonder why there are now many more soloists than groups in the ‘mainstream’ (all of the top 10 of artists most listened to in Spotify in 2024 in the world), and this is one of the keys: the projection of the vulnerability and a certain epic of the spirit of overcoming, a personal mark that generates emotional connection and An intimate undulation story that is more difficult to build and viralize than when it comes to a band with varied identities and a dispersed focus.
Presenting yourself as a victim of some evil, phenomenon or ailment greater than you, when you are visibly a winner, would have precipitated accusations of Llorica or Cínico in other times, and Today is not: awakens understanding, encourages proximity. There is perceived a bubble, a shelter, because all that healing rhetoric collides with a real world that is a bit harder and ruthless every day. But it is also, as well, how the stadiums are filled. Yes, we live an exciting time.
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