Who are pop's "Big 3"?

[socotra 3,295]

Thinking about this following the ongoing Drake/Kendrick beef – for anyone not up to speed, there's established consensus in the rap community that Drake, Kanye, and J. Cole are the industry's "Big 3" of the last decade. Who are pop's Big 3, and who has it been for each decade past? 

I think right now there's no doubt that Taylor and Beyoncé occupy the two top spots, but who's the third? As far as music goes, as much as I'd love for that to be Gaga, I just can't see it being her on musical output alone (and it changes the conversation a bit if we take into consideration her acting career) but I can't totally see an obvious third choice. The Weeknd? Ariana? Had Rihanna continued on the trajectory she was on through the end of the 2010s, I think it'd clearly be her.

What do y'all think? 

[Red 97,895]

As of May 11th 2024, Taylor, Beyoncé and Billie (yes sue me)

[PartySick 156,251]

Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, and The Weeknd are the most commercially successful at the moment, apparently. So there's your "current top 3".

You wanna talk about impact though? Beyonce and Gaga are absolutely two of them.

[weed 73,078]

If J. Cole is part of the "big 3," and maybe even Kanye, then it's definitely not about success in the last decade... I would say Drake, Future, and Cardi B for that metric. 

If we're talking culturally, for pop music, I would say Billie, Charli XCX, and Ariana. If we're talking about success, then it's Taylor, The Weeknd, and Ariana (or potentially Billie, 2x Oscar winner, won all 4 big Grammys in one night, huge on streaming)

[RenegAde 18,815]

Taylor Ariana and Beyonce. Are the only three that I can see maintaining their current steam. Reinnesance did wonders for Beyonce, ariana has been able to somewhat keep the same pace since thank you next scoring at least 2 big hits a year. And we all know taylor 

I'm not counting the men because im petty. they never count female rappers when they make their own tier lists. There's no reason why nicki, cardi or Megan isnt part of the "big 3" of hip pop. How many mainstream successes have kanye and j cole within the last 5 years ?

[Guest]

I agree with Ariana, Taylor and Beyoncé.

[TEANUS 14,903]

I still think our big four (sorrrrrryyyy) icons are Gaga, Bey, Katy and Rihanna. I’m refusing to put current pop girls at any similar level yet. Gaga had the discussion/controversy, Bey had the acclaim, and Rih and Katy had the numbers

[DelusionalGaga 29,570]

Taylor, Beyoncé, Ariana 

Or

Taylor, Beyoncé, Drake

[PartySick 156,251]

4 minutes ago, TEANUS said:

I still think our big four (sorrrrrryyyy) icons are Gaga, Bey, Katy and Rihanna. I’m refusing to put current pop girls at any similar level yet. Gaga had the discussion/controversy, Bey had the acclaim, and Rih and Katy had the numbers

Yeah honestly this.

"Your fave's fave" is literally Gaga's description  Beyonce is undeniably one of the most influential artists of the last 20 years, Rihanna remains at the top of the game despite her most recent album being a decade old, and Katy's Katy!

[Red 97,895]

6 minutes ago, TEANUS said:

I still think our big four (sorrrrrryyyy) icons are Gaga, Bey, Katy and Rihanna. I’m refusing to put current pop girls at any similar level yet. Gaga had the discussion/controversy, Bey had the acclaim, and Rih and Katy had the numbers

You sound like the Madonna fans when Gaga came out

[Addison Rae 16,178]

Gaga 

Khia

Addison Rae 

[Bling 31,289]

Gaga

Stefani Germanotta 

Ally Maine

[RenegAde 18,815]

If Gaga had released more music post ASIB she'd definitely be up there too. I mean she's not far behind anyway.

She's definitely top 5 if we're talking just females and top 10 if we're adding men.

She has decent daily streams. Her 10 year old song randomly go viral and there's still some demand for new music even though she lowkey ignores her music career for long periods.

[Noah 26,933]

I do think Dua is up there, she has 2 of the 3 most streamed Albums of all time by a female Artist. 

[Anderson123 37,859]

Taylor, Beyoncé and The Weeknd I think. 

Gaga, Billie, Adele, Rihanna and Ariana are quite high up there in some way.