Pitchfork : The enduring appeal of stars who flop

[Jinzo 9,639]

I have noticed that the term “flop,” employed to describe big artists or albums that fail to top past commercial victories, seems to grow in popularity with each passing year. Lady Gaga’s last two albums, Joanne and ARTPOP, have become synonymous with flopping, despite boasting hits like “Million Reasons” and “Applause” and carrying her to the Super Bowl stage. It has been suggested that Lorde, Kesha, and Demi Lovato’s zeitgeist-dominating but mildly underselling 2017 releases Melodrama, Rainbow, and Tell Me You Love Me were all flops, even though each featured a major hit in “Green Light,” “Praying,” and “Sorry Not Sorry.” The term has become so casually wielded that even Taylor Swift’s Reputation, which debuted with 2017’s biggest sales week at more than 1.26 million copies sold, sparked conversation over whether the album could be considered a flop by Swift’s A-list standards.

And yet, surveying the message-board and Twitter chatter among self-identifying pop “stans” (a term adapted from the Eminem songto describe the most obsessive of fans), those who adore these supposedly fallen stars seem to revere them more than ever. If a music industry undergoing a sales and streaming flux has led to flopped albums being more common than ever, then so is their silver lining: the underdog effect that leads some listeners to rally around their favorite pop star with even more fervor.

While we may have reached peak flop last year, the exultant reaction to underselling pop LPs isn’t a new phenomenon. Some of the albums that occupy a near-mythic place in the pop stan imagination—like Britney Spears’ Blackout, Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION, or Christina Aguilera’s Bionic—failed to match the commercial success of their creators’ previous releases, despite featuring singles that landed in the top 40. Perhaps not coincidentally, many these albums also represent the critical highpoints of each singer’s career. Similarly, critical darlings like Charli XCX, Tove Lo, and Tinasheinspire adamant adoration with releases that barely register with the broader public. Look harder and you will even find stans still obsessed with records by Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and onetime “Hills” heel Heidi Montag, despite the fact that almost everyone else in the world has forgotten these albums even existed, if they ever knew of them in the first place.

As cruel as being branded a flop may seem, it can have benefits besides simply serving as a Bat-Signal for diehard fans. A commercial decline often results from an artist deviating from what initially made them successful, but a flop can also inspire this kind of experimentation. Some artists try to return to their proven formula, but for others, flopping can liberate and lend perspective. After her rushed 2013 album Britney Jean was widely seen as a commercial and critical disappointment, Spears took her time and worked with new collaborators, resulting in one of the most cohesive and forward-thinking albums of her career, 2016’s Glory. It, too, failed to replicate the chart success of many of her prior albums, but Spears and her stans didn’t seem all that fazed. She gushed about the record in interviews and appeared to be more connected to her material in performances than she had in years. While many Spears stans pretend Britney Jean doesn’t exist, they won’t shut up about Glory.

This kind of post-“failure” experimentation is exactly what yielded Ciara’s unforgettable 2013 single “Body Party,” too. Following a series of lead Ciara singles that failed to chart, the effortlessly seductive slow jam built around a sample of Ghost Town DJs’ “My Boo” became her first top 40 hit in nearly five years upon its release. Just a few years earlier, her album Basic Instinct had debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard 200—a steep drop from her previous albums, which had all debuted in the top 3. Two months after Basic Instinct’s release, Ciara and Rihanna had gotten into an argument on Twitter, and one of Rihanna’s responses—“Good luck with bookin that stage u speak of”—became not just a meme, but the refrain of those calling Ciara a flop. (Rih and Ci seem to have reconciled since, thank god.)

But after the unexpected commercial and critical success of “Body Party,” Ciara was booked to perform at the 2013 BET Awards, her first awards show performance this decade. It’s hard to imagine that she wasn’t thinking of everyone who called her a flop when she took the stage, and that her fans weren’t on the edges of their seats waiting to see her prove them wrong. Fortunately for them, Ciara didn’t disappoint. Watching her defiant barn-burner of a performance, everyone could finally see what I had all along: a superstar.

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-enduring-appeal-of-pop-stars-who-flop/

[ryanripley 86,575]

1 minute ago, Decidueye said:

 

I have noticed that the term “flop,” employed to describe big artists or albums that fail to top past commercial victories, seems to grow in popularity with each passing year. Lady Gaga’s last two albums, Joanne and ARTPOP, have become synonymous with flopping,

i stopped reading here lol

[Jinzo 9,639]

"As cruel as being branded a flop may seem, it can have benefits besides simply serving as a Bat-Signal for diehard fans. A commercial decline often results from an artist deviating from what initially made them successful, but a flop can also inspire this kind of experimentation. Some artists try to return to their proven formula, but for others, flopping can liberate and lend perspective"

[shame 25,360]

me and my Pitchfork at whoever wrote this

[thierryrreiht 20,792]

It's always a matter of perspective, comparison, bias, delusion, and entitlement.

[BLACKOUTbritney 22,264]

How is Joanne a flop?

By 2016 album sales standards Gaga did amazing 

No mention of Migos etc who literally have streaming representing 90% of their sales and flopping miserably with less than 30k pure sales because pitchfork doesn’t trash rap music do they 

[Guest]

Okay ARTPOP flopping is fair; but I don’t think Joanne flopped? Album chatted well, singles relatively well. It wasn’t a smash album but I wouldn’t call it flop either. Also I wouldn’t call Rainbow a flop and I definitely wouldn’t call Melodrama a flop. 

[ryanripley 86,575]

there has to be middle ground between what classes as a flop and what classes as a smash hit or it's just going to f*ck sh*t up

Joanne was very comfortably in that middle ground: it wasn't a smash hit album but it was by no means a flop

if we only categorize albums as smashes or flops then what's the point tbh

[ordinarynam1310 2,453]

You guys didn't even read the whole article, the author literally POINTED out calling ARTPOP and Joanne is ridiculous.

Great article though

[Edonis 28,837]

Chris Stedman's first and last article on Pitchfork, apparently

[Jinzo 9,639]

Me looking for witness 

 

[IAmNotHere1997 25,824]

So Joanne with 2nd best first week sales for a female in 2016 is a flop? Interesting.

[Duella Dvil 10,309]

9 minutes ago, gabrielflorin01 said:

So Joanne with 2nd best first week sales for a female in 2016 is a flop? Interesting.

Can you read? Because that's literally not what was said.

[Reginald 13,839]

*removes own wig*

[ALGAYDO 30,724]

4 hours ago, Decidueye said:

Me looking for witness 

 

Nnnnnnn Hitless flopped so badly that it was even left out of the floppage list!