Billboard calls Beyoncé the greatest pop star of the 21st century

[Guest]

Hmmmmmm hard to tell i think theres no greatest pop star of 21st century. Although u know may sound bias but I do think Gaga had an immense impact 

also i think Britney is the epitomy of pop star and Id consider her for this title of greatest popstar of 21st century.

beyoncé always had more impact in the US with mostly a specific audience. she cannot bring people together. maybe the same could be true about any popstar other than MJ which is why u cant compare anyone to him

[IHE 555]

She doesn't write anything. 🤣😂

[palma 2,199]

I love Beyoncé and everything she does (well.. bar that the Gift album idk what was that) but damn don't they love to make a god out of her. She gave us 6 (DIL doesn't count ) solid albums since she's gone and great visuals in the last decade or so but I don't see the stardom once that once graced MJ or Madonna or Whitney or even Britney. She's consistently recognized for her excellence, as she should she works hard, but other than that I don't see any layers into her brand. She's only the center of attention for what she does in the artistic scape and she rarely comments on what is going on with the world - unless again, she can do it within her music/visuals etc. She's the TP, I agree, but I don't find such a well polished package that interesting. There's no human element with her, it has to do with her Virgo perfectionism I guess.

To me the last superstar is Gaga because I'm interested in her every move, and Beyoncé's audience feels the same for her, as they feel a special connection with her. But tbh I don't feel privileged that I witness her music and I am able to consume it the way I felt with the stars I listed above. To allocate one person to the title of "the Greatest" is problematic to me anyways. It feeds the stan wars that makes pop music such a toxic place to survive within - and to see her always being marketed as that is the one thing turns me off about her. But then again I don't know how I would react if the media behaved the same way about Gaga so the hypocrisy is too real.  

There is also a social dimension to all this discussion going on. I am a gay boy in the Middle East and am able to connect with Gaga better as an oppressed sexual minority, and for a black woman all Beyoncé speaks is the Bible. I am uneducated regarding the oppression people of color face in the West, as I belong to neither sphere and there is a limit to what I can perceive through what I consume on internet/television/music or reading on my own - but I don't think people disagreeing that she's the GreatestTM automatically makes them hate seeing a woman of color succeed. It all has to with the audience I think. 

But let her take the title over Taylor Swift if those are the options please 

[pussycat 3,480]

This belongs to Ava Max. The way she can sample and reuse and recycle is genius and untouchable. It's something that has never been done before. They should praise her for changing the game. She's so powerful and creative it's scary. She is THE package.

Edit

Im fk joking but its not landing  lord have mercy

[KORG 4,756]

1 hour ago, AnnaNicoleSmith said:

Hmmmmmm hard to tell i think theres no greatest pop star of 21st century. Although u know may sound bias but I do think Gaga had an immense impact 

also i think Britney is the epitomy of pop star and Id consider her for this title of greatest popstar of 21st century.

beyoncé always had more impact in the US with mostly a specific audience. she cannot bring people together. maybe the same could be true about any popstar other than MJ which is why u cant compare anyone to him

What Britney should've been and what she actually was are 2 very different things. Not even counting her complete lack of singing ability, she was the dancer, the starlet, the pageant girl essentially... that all stopped in 2006 (I think) before she ever reached the moment of her peak, so her potential was never fulfilled. People talk about her as if she became some performing deity but she never did.

"Britney" is a word synonymous with big pop star, so that's pretty cool though. 

[DelusionalGaga 29,205]

The fact that all the arguments used against Beyoncé can also be used for her? Since when are charts and sales the ultimate metric for being a great popstar? If someone called Taylor the biggest star because she sells millions of copies of her albums, everyone here would riot because she's not the greatest performer. And if you gave the title to Adele people would complain that she's not a dancer and her music doesn't evolve. And Rihanna is neither primarily a songwriter, nor a great performer and hasn't released music for like 6 years.

Fact is, Beyoncé IS the greatest performer and she IS the whole package. She popularized the surprise drop with her self titled album and there's no album in the 2010s that has had more impact than Lemonade. And mind you, she just released another acclaimed album with a #1 single. Let's see if Gaga, Taylor, Adele etc are able to do the same when they have been in the industry for 25 years. 

[The Z 17,851]

14 minutes ago, DelusionalGaga said:

 there's no album in the 2010s that has had more impact than Lemonade. 

Sorry but what? 

[DelusionalGaga 29,205]

15 minutes ago, Dead body said:

Sorry but what? 

What album would that be in your opinion then?

[gagaisitalian 3,573]

The fact that he says Bey or Taylor just shows he believes most money generated = greatest pop star

[Thomas P 18,377]

I know a lot of people disagree, but she is the biggest pop star of the 21st century. Destiny’s Child was at its peak in 2000/2001, and she went solo two years later, becoming one of the biggest and best of all time. 

This doesn’t just take commercial status into question, but just pure cultural saturation. She has had the kind of consistent pop culture impact that is only dreamed of, and she’s been having it since 2008. 

EDIT: Mind you, I’m a huge stan of both Beyonce and Taylor, but sales and stats aside, Taylor isn’t anywhere near the pop star status of Beyoncé in my eyes. Gaga comes close, but when I compare Gaga to Beyonce, I feel like I’m comparing Barbra or Cher to Michael or Madonna, if that makes sense?

[Thomas P 18,377]

Beyoncé and Britney represent a fascinating split in pop culture interest.

Beyoncé worked tirelessly throughout the 2000s to assure that in the 2010s/20s the focus and cultural obsession in its entirety would be focused on her music. Britney has suffered from some ridiculously unfair attention on her as a person.

The narrative surrounding Beyonce since her self-titled release has been on her as an artist and musician, whereas the narrative surrounding Britney since 2004 (tbf since 1998, but even more so around here) has been on HER (even when some of the best and most influential music of all time was released by her in the time since).  She has become the most fascinating celebrity of all time, even when that’s not what she wished to be. It’s sad and upsetting and shows why an approach like Beyonces (cutting yourself off from the entire world) has some major benefits. 

The reason I bring this up is because I think that the two people who duke it out as the most important and prevalent pop stars of the 21st century are Britney and Beyoncé. 

To this day, their status as stars hasn’t dwindled, but where one is a music icon, the other is potentially the most told and tragic celebrity story of all time. I am a MASSIVE fan of the two, their music has consistently been some of my most played throughout my life, this is just an observation I made, interested in other people’s takes on it. 

[TMM90 2,797]

I call it White Guilt.

 

come at me, I don’t care anymore. 

[River 91,010]

“greatest”, is a pretty low level word, she’s still not “outstanding/superb/terrific/awesome/amazing” for Billboard.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, KORG said:

What Britney should've been and what she actually was are 2 very different things. Not even counting her complete lack of singing ability, she was the dancer, the starlet, the pageant girl essentially... that all stopped in 2006 (I think) before she ever reached the moment of her peak, so her potential was never fulfilled. People talk about her as if she became some performing deity but she never did.

"Britney" is a word synonymous with big pop star, so that's pretty cool though. 

No I agree that she had her prime and then there's nothing. But she could definitely be in the 21st biggest/greatest pop star category

[Fanta 5,019]

Lord have mercy. I'll let some other users do the dragging for me because I cannot anymore.