What pop star is the biggest trend follower?

[The Child 18,994]

3 hours ago, Ray of Light said:

Sonically, Sia 

How?

[brizoda 3,109]

Rihanna

[Irrelevant 20,273]

38 minutes ago, CrazyMonster said:

How?

Cheap Thrills says hi 

Spoiler

But she wrote that for rihanna or somebody, so it makes sense 

 

[Bear 7,515]

Rihanna always goes with the trend, but usually she is right at the front of it. 

Sia has set annoying trends, and now lots of songs sound like they were made by her ( though she does write a lot of them which could be why )

Madonna went from an ultimate trend setter to a trend follower these days, only she isn't very good at following them. 

[Mr Judas 4,106]

On 12/01/2017 at 4:36 PM, Bebe said:

Is it really Rihanna though? She seems like more of a trend setter. I remember the umbrella days when that hair cut was everything, and became the most popular cut of the year.

Tegan and Sara revealed that their 2013 single "I Was A Fool" was largely inspired by "Umbrella."
Demi Lovato said that while recording Unbroken, her third studio album, she drew inspiration from Rihanna.
Tinashe did a remix of one of Rihanna's songs.

And plenty of other artists seem to be influenced by Rihanna too.
Rita Ora was constantly criticised for being like a Rihanna clone style wise, Keke Palmer has been told her looks are like Rihanna's, I also think Rihanna has played some role in pushing rnb into a darker, edgier place.

Rita Ora, Tinashe, Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, Willow Smith & Demi Lovato have cited her as inspiration.

Even Beyonce, who is no doubt incredible and inspired Rihanna early on, started acting a little 'harder' and dressing a little edgier - she also started singing songs like Hold Up that have a reggae edge Rihanna has been capitalising on (apparently the song was even originally written for Rih, but never sent to her). Rihanna has constantly infused reggae and dancehall into modern day music, as a result of her Barbados roots, and other artists have followed in that trend.

The girl's last #1 single 'Work' featured her speaking Jamaican patois and Creole on a classic, but modernised dancehall beat. That's distinctly Rihanna and that's distinctly caribbean - where was the trend hopping there?  

Work is undeniably on the tropical sound trend, that began in 2015, it was quite obvious.

Then tripping onto electronic sounds in 2010,11,12 so yea... She hops onto trends to get the hit. 

But I can't deny her influence on the industry, probably more than Gaga, who is literally credited for bringing in electro pop into the scene in 2008.

And I don't deny that she cant rock on any sound and still sound soo good, she does have country songs, ballads that are really good. But I'm just trying to say that she is the first person that comes to mind who has had several hits just by hopping onto several sounds that were just on the verge of oversaturation. 

[Bebe 16,562]

3 hours ago, vrajesh said:

Work is undeniably on the tropical sound trend, that began in 2015, it was quite obvious.

Then tripping onto electronic sounds in 2010,11,12 so yea... She hops onto trends to get the hit. 

But I can't deny her influence on the industry, probably more than Gaga, who is literally credited for bringing in electro pop into the scene in 2008.

And I don't deny that she cant rock on any sound and still sound soo good, she does have country songs, ballads that are really good. But I'm just trying to say that she is the first person that comes to mind who has had several hits just by hopping onto several sounds that were just on the verge of oversaturation. 

Undeniably?  well I disagree completely. There was a lot of people incorrectly calling  Work 'tropical' but it's actually clearly dancehouse

"Rihanna's  “Work,” currently spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, isn’t your typical chart-topper. No, the Drake-assisted song isn’t part of a new genre that many in the mainstream media are calling “tropical house.” And no, it isn't one of the pop anthems we're used to from Rihanna, like her last album's lead single, "Diamonds.” As the first half of her ‘Work” video, filmed in the beloved Caribbean restaurant The Real Jerk in Toronto, makes explicit, Anti’s lead single is undeniably drenched in dancehall -- a genre with deep roots in Jamaica's club scene that spun off from reggae in the 1970s. The track is a proud, powerful reminder of the Barbados-born singer's West Indian roots -- and a milestone for dancehall: The last song in the genre to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 was Sean Paul's “Temperature” in 2006"

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/6889497/rihanna-work-dancehall-essay

It's something she has dipped into for her entire career too. Dancehall has it's roots in Reggae that Rihanna has played with before - even her first two albums had dancehall influences, 2005's Music of the Sun and 2006's A Girl Like Me, I mean her debut single Pon De Replay had dancehall influences and even used her native Bajan Creole that Work also features. I think it's unfair to call Work trend hopping when it's a sound that's a reflection of her West Indian roots and a sound that she has been dealing with since 2005.

Her electronic sounds in 2012 with songs like We Found Love where no doubt influenced by the trends in electro-pop but really moved the sound more towards EDM.


I'm not saying she has never followed trends, all mainstream artists have -including Gaga - But the biggest trend follower? She is more of a trend setter without a doubt.
 

 

 

[Versace 7,410]

Surely Rihanna, especially with her yearly release cycle where you can actually see her follow the trends. She took a break and you'd think ANTi would be something more original, while it may be for Ri's standards, it sure did follow a trend or two. 

 

[Rush 1,481]

Rihanna

[Mr Judas 4,106]

On 14/01/2017 at 1:53 PM, Bebe said:

Undeniably?  well I disagree completely. There was a lot of people incorrectly calling  Work 'tropical' but it's actually clearly dancehouse

"Rihanna's  “Work,” currently spending its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, isn’t your typical chart-topper. No, the Drake-assisted song isn’t part of a new genre that many in the mainstream media are calling “tropical house.” And no, it isn't one of the pop anthems we're used to from Rihanna, like her last album's lead single, "Diamonds.” As the first half of her ‘Work” video, filmed in the beloved Caribbean restaurant The Real Jerk in Toronto, makes explicit, Anti’s lead single is undeniably drenched in dancehall -- a genre with deep roots in Jamaica's club scene that spun off from reggae in the 1970s. The track is a proud, powerful reminder of the Barbados-born singer's West Indian roots -- and a milestone for dancehall: The last song in the genre to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 was Sean Paul's “Temperature” in 2006"

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/6889497/rihanna-work-dancehall-essay

It's something she has dipped into for her entire career too. Dancehall has it's roots in Reggae that Rihanna has played with before - even her first two albums had dancehall influences, 2005's Music of the Sun and 2006's A Girl Like Me, I mean her debut single Pon De Replay had dancehall influences and even used her native Bajan Creole that Work also features. I think it's unfair to call Work trend hopping when it's a sound that's a reflection of her West Indian roots and a sound that she has been dealing with since 2005.

Her electronic sounds in 2012 with songs like We Found Love where no doubt influenced by the trends in electro-pop but really moved the sound more towards EDM.


I'm not saying she has never followed trends, all mainstream artists have -including Gaga - But the biggest trend follower? She is more of a trend setter without a doubt.
 

 

 

Okay even tho I am wrong about Work.

TIWYCF ends the discussion. 

I already mentioned that, rih  has different sounds in her albums, that doesn't mean she sets trends. Setting a trend implies that everyone else in the industry pick up the same sound. The trend rn is tropical house, like we all know. Its gonna change soon.

And rih had set trends early on, but later, she relied on them to get dem hits, even while maintaining her artistic integrity over successive albums. 

Seriously the navy are blessed to have such a pop diva, that does both, hits and artistic integrity, I'm all prraide for her, but don't deny that she doesn't follow trends rn. 

Bookmark me, she will release a trend following song, just for the hit, in the future.

[StrawberryBlond 13,286]

Madonna - She's not the trend follower that a lot of people think she is. And I'm not even talking about her recent work either. @DiscoHeaven23 , you made a good point with her new work but she's been doing it long before that. Her first couple of albums released in the 80's were completely of the time, pure 80's sound, nothing new. It wasn't until Like A Prayer that she started trying something new. Bedtime Stories was released in 1994 and consisted of RnB ballads, which was hopping right on the new RnB trend set down by Whitney, Mariah et al. Ray Of Light may have been a bit different for American audiences when it came out in 1998, but that was when the whole rave/club music scene had been huge in the UK for several years. In 2002, she did that notorious VMA performance with Britney and Xtina, both big names at the time, and this led to a feature on Britney's song. Confessions on a Dancefloor was again, new territory for Americans with its dance/disco sound but in Europe, that sound had been big for years with their love of Kylie and Kylie was going through a very successful time when that album was made and released (it was no wonder its singles did well in Europe but not in America). And from 2008 and onwards, there are no words. She was actually late to the party with Hard Candy, making an urban influenced sound just as urban was getting replaced by dance. So, I really don't know why she's hailed as such a trendsetter all these years. She only has about 4 albums that you could call risky for their time.

Taylor Swift - She's always been a shrewd businesswoman when it comes to what music she thinks the public will like. She started her country style back when country pop was really taking off in America and she ran with it until it was obvious that it couldn't sell quite as well as it used to. Speak Now is her lowest selling album to date, despite slaying with Fearless the time before, and the singles didn't sell well, her fans don't like to bring it up. She realised that if she wanted to maintain her high level of fame, she had to change. So she went poppier with Red in 2012, when pop was all the rage, collabing with Ed Sheeran, who was just starting to make a name for himself in the States. She then went full-on pop with 1989 and made a habit of inviting as many celebrities on stage during her tour, nearly all of them being new artists or ones trying to make a break-through. There were no has beens, just the most current, hottest names of the moment. And she's now apparently working on an urban-influenced album, in line with the urban trend coming back strong in the last 2 years. Not to mention, she seems to date men according to how popular they are at the time, when they're at the peak of their fame (Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston spring to mind).

Rihanna - Yes, she does take risks, many of them, but she's known for keeping in line with trends too. She featured Sean Paul on one of her early tracks back when he was big, also Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5. She made her early music in accordance with the urban trends that ruled in the 00's. The Loud era was quite a sellout for her when she changed her look from cropped haired edgy tomboy to wavy redhaired soft sex symbol. She made dance tracks which was a big sound in 2010 and did duets with Eminem, who was also doing well at the time. She took a risk by going off in a strong urban direction with Talk That Talk despite dance being huge in 2011...but she did team up with Calvin Harris for We Found Love and Where Have You Been, which both became singles and were the only dance tracks from that album. Unapologetic and Anti are examples of her really branching out, but there were still collabs with Sia, Chris Brown and Drake in that time, all of whom were going through career peaks.

Beyonce - She's always been an opportunist with her collabs. She always had one big collab per album where she teamed up with someone who was huge at the time and then didn't really want to associate with them again. Jay Z with 03 Bonnie and Clyde and Crazy In Love, Sean Paul with Baby Boy, Shakira with Beautiful Liar, Gaga with Video Phone and Telephone, back with to Jay with Drunk In Love. Only 2 albums where she didn't have a big collab. Her music got edgier when edgy urban came back into fashion and she only became hugely supportive of black liberation through her music when speaking up for black rights became relevant and cool.

will.i.am - He's been selling out ever since BEP became big. He made their underground sound into mainstream RnB when they became known through Elephunk. He continued to maintain this sound with Monkey Business. But when EDM became big in 2008, they suddenly dropped the electronic THE E.N.D. and continued that sound with The Beginning. He also branched out into making further EDM sounds with his solo album. But then around 2014, when urban started coming back, he's been slowly going back to a more urban sound. His clothes and hairstyle have also changed throughout the years to suit whatever genre he's doing. Basically, he's an artist who only wants to make music that's relevant at the time, only wants to make the stuff that the public are making popular, so he's never deemed uncool. But doing that only makes you look dated in the long run.

[Bebe 16,562]

9 hours ago, vrajesh said:

Okay even tho I am wrong about Work.

TIWYCF ends the discussion. 

I already mentioned that, rih  has different sounds in her albums, that doesn't mean she sets trends. Setting a trend implies that everyone else in the industry pick up the same sound. The trend rn is tropical house, like we all know. Its gonna change soon.

And rih had set trends early on, but later, she relied on them to get dem hits, even while maintaining her artistic integrity over successive albums. 

Seriously the navy are blessed to have such a pop diva, that does both, hits and artistic integrity, I'm all prraide for her, but don't deny that she doesn't follow trends rn. 

Bookmark me, she will release a trend following song, just for the hit, in the future.

Again, like... TIWYCF doesn't end the conversation of whether she is the 'biggest trend follower'. Was it a trendy song? Sure, but that doesn't make her the biggest trend follower.

I explained in my very first quote to you what trends she has set and the numerous popular artists that have stylistically and sonically been inspired by Rihanna. The numerous artists who have admitted to looking to have a sound like Rihanna or be styled like Rihanna. I even mentioned Beyonce releasing a reggae inspired hit with Hold Up, when the song was originally written for Rihanna who has been making reggae and reggae inspired hits for years.

I explained how many music publications credit her with moving the urban sound from light and poppy to a darker and more alternative place - something which a range of popular artists (from The Weeknd to Drake to Nicki and Beyonce) have capitalised on and further developed.

I've admitted she has followed trends, like all commercial popstars have, but she has also taken more risks and been more individual than like 90% of them. 

That's not much of a prediction, I'd make the same prediction for Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Madonna - even Gaga  Again, her last album was Anti that was not at all a 'trendy' record. One trendy feature doesn't mean she 'follows trends rn'.


If you disagree it's fine, we are just going to have to agree to disagree, I just think Rihanna is the odd choice over the range of pop artists that flock to Max Martin and Dr Luke for every album they make.

[Cailleach 2,974]

On 12 January 2017 at 8:19 AM, ApplauseftAdele said:

Carpool Karaoke RIGHT after Gaga 

Reductive

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

Katy Perry copies Gaga a lot and I'm not even talking about music. 

I may be wrong about these but...

Gaga gets inner arm tattoo (the Maria Rilke wherever the name is writing) Katy gets one there.

Gaga gets septum piercing, she got one soon after. 

Gaga releases a single, Katy has to do it on the same day. 

 

[holy scheisse 20,324]

Is everyone forgetting that Rihanna's We Found Love spawned an entire age of shitty pop songs with that horribly cliche build up followed by an edm interlude!!  but at the same time, her Loud era ws obviously inspired by Gaga's sound. 

[PeterPan 0]

7 minutes ago, holyscheisse said:

Is everyone forgetting that Rihanna's We Found Love spawned an entire age of shitty pop songs with that horribly cliche build up followed by an edm interlude!!  but at the same time, her Loud era ws obviously inspired by Gaga's sound. 

We Found Love is epic