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Sunday 7 July 2013

'Pop'ped Culture

It had been a long time since I'd browsed aimlessly on the internet. Since my hostel has a net connection as stable as a long distance relationship, I had been cut-off, deserted and ignorant. I realize my playlist hadn't been updated at all so I take a look at the billboard top 40. I see names I can't recognise and they sound very flashy. Icona Pop, Pink, Pitbull. Bruno Mars. They seemed out of this planet, literally. Demi Lovato. Selena Gomez. Jonas Brothers. Wait, weren't they on the Disney channel a few years ago?

Out of curiosity (which I'm incredibly grateful to be, or who knows what might have happened if I'd just mentioned their names to show off a bit) I googled them. And decided to hear a few of their songs on Youtube. And there pops up a video with around 800 million likes. Titled Baby, featuring Ludacris. And all I could think was, ridiculous! And I start playing the video and see a kid singing baby for about two minutes. I realized my mom's complaints had some truth to them. After all the old Hindi songs she'd gotten used to, that necessarily had high-pitched voices and sung nothing less a perfectly tuned raga, what she was exposed to was worse than cacophony.But what did make me feel better was that the video had 3 million dislikes.There was still hope.And then I try to move on, and take a look at Pitbull. Mind-blowing was too much of an understatement I'd say. Here are some excerpts from his famous songs.

"A billion's a new million
Voli's a new vodka
Forty is the new 30
Baby you're a rock star"



"That badonka donk is like a trunk full of bass on an old school Chevy
All I need is some vodka and some Coke
And watch get Donkey Konged"

*For those who could not understand them, I have no translation.

For those who did understand, got curious and listened to a few more of his raps, you might have spotted a trend. He mentions a few places, Cuba, Miami, New York, and mentions boozing and getting stoned, and continues blabbing in Latin. His secret to success might still remain a secret, but hey, if you ever wanted a shot at fame, you know which road to follow.

And then I see, there is one video that crossed a billion likes. But I notice a rather peculiar guy in the video - not very attractive, a pot belly for sure. Makes me more inquisitive. I listen to it, and I find out in the end that the only words I gather from the video are 'sexy lady'. Well, that's reason enough to become the most popular song, isn't it?

Nevertheless, pop has its catchy beats and must have some other reasons as to why it is popular. There are some artists who are worthy of thy name. The Beatles were popular during their time and truly do have substance. But when boy bands like One Direction stand at the same position as the legends in the billboard charts, there will be a lot of fingers raised, tomatoes and eggs thrown as well.

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