Pop music is decidedly distinct from other genres primarily because it’s as much a sport as it is an art form. Popstars are frequently pitted against each other in online conversations that faintly echo the cavalier spirit of a gladiator match. One star announces a win and rival fanbases congregate in the comments section hurling insults and scathing remarks—banter is the term. But this competitive spirit that pervades the genre goes beyond undermining an artist’s achievements. Losses or lapses are considered impiety and consequently treated with scorn. A certain degree of commercial viability is required of artists of all genres, we live in a capitalist contraption after all. But while Jazz musicians or RnB artists can afford to be content with rave reviews from critics and a decent amount of commercial acclaim, Pop artists need to satisfy a litany of commercial metrics to be considered successful. The terms we describe successful Pop songs with—“Hit,” “Smash,” “Blown”—validate this point. Also, as a general rule, the bigger the artist, the longer the list of requirements they need to satisfy to be considered successful.
Just like a gladiator match, in the Pop realm, the consequences of failure are brutal. Stars on the decline are scorned and irreverently escorted to the doldrums. These formerly hot stars are said to have “fallen off”. To fall off is to wake up one day and realize that the luster of stardom that had garlanded you like a royal robe has disappeared, suddenly a vestige of a past era. To avoid the scorn that accompanies falling off, popstars have to always pedal at full velocity, oftentimes sacrificing artistic freedom for vanity metrics.
Davido, who recently released his fifth studio album 5ive, is the latest popstar to be caught in this ugly side of the Pop landscape. Since the album’s release, he has enacted a sublime press run, taking on an impossible amount of media engagements. His media savvy culminated in an impressive debut for the album. 5ive put up impressive numbers on local charts, most of which the album tops currently. Social media chatter about the album has also steadily grown. However, a contingent of people remained unpersuaded about the album’s draw, instead waiting for the album’s performance on the Billboard 200 before making their verdict. It’s crucial to grasp the implication of this: in the Afropop realm, perceived quality is filtered through the lens of commercial success.
In the days leading to the 29th of April, when the Billboard 200 would be updated, I noticed an increasing amount of tweets from people basing their opinion of the album on its imminent performance on the Billboard 200 chart. A lot of these tweets were from trolls. One hilarious one reads “That Album Talks “JUST IN: Davido’s “5ive” has NOT debuted on the Billboard 200 chart” later today is going to send me to mars.” For context, Album Talks is a music blog that has earned notoriety for announcing the performance of major Nigerian albums on global charts, often with a satirical bent. But this stripe of tweets didn’t come from just trolls, fans also fretted about the album’s performance on the chart. Timeless, Davido’s previous album, had debuted at 37 on the Billboard, anything lesser than that would be considered a failure. 5ive eventually failed to debut on the chart and you can only imagine the degree of tumult this caused on social media.
Pop music is undoubtedly a sport. In fact, the meta-narratives and banter around a project are part of the fun. But it’s almost obscene that we’ve elevated vanity metrics to the point where it no longer feels fun. Music conversations have been whittled down to a contrived exchange of statistics. One can only imagine how it feels for the artists whose months and years of work are casually reduced to a game of numbers. Make no mistake, commercial viability is by definition a core requirement of Pop music. But holding artists to unthinkable standards, and stripping conversations of nuance, is not. We’ve stripped these conversations of their distinctive lighthearted vibe and soon, we may be living the consequences of our cynicism.
