There are only three superstars in America today, Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Kanye West. You can't avoid them, everybody knows who they are and everybody has an opinion on them. Used to be records were ubiquitous, now it's people. This is what the internet has wrought.
For a minute there we thought we had the equivalent in Adele, but she could not follow up her breakthrough record, "21," at the same artistic level. That was the magic of the Beatles, they never disappointed us, and they were always moving forwards. This is something that has been lost from music today. Today, everybody coasts. They find their niche and stay in it. It's so hard to gain an audience that they don't want to risk losing any of theirs. Experimentation is anathema.
Most people didn't used to follow the news. Kids didn't read the newspaper nor were they addicted to television news, of which there was a limited amount. News was not 24/7, music was. You couldn't escape a hit record. That was the power of radio. Hits were ubiquitous. No longer.
The internet allows you to reach everybody in the world. Literally everybody. Go to the most remote hamlet, and they've got smartphones. But what spreads...
First you must have a personality, an identity. This is where music is lacking. We've got cartoons, but other than Kanye, no one who is 3-D to all citizens. You don't have to be in the news 24/7 if you create a good enough record. But no one creates a record that good anymore.
As for artistry, the only media that can reach most people and affect them are movies and streaming television. But let me be clear with movies, the only ones with ubiquity are superhero movies, and contrary to what purveyors and fans believe, there's a wall around them. A good number of people want to see them, but even more don't.
And theatre-going is the antithesis of the modern paradigm, wherein everything is available 24/7 and is relatively cheap. Movies have turned into events, which has minimized their impact. Whereas streaming TV subscriptions are cheap, and everybody has them, like Spotify. As for ad-supported tiers, the usual suspects are clueless. In the modern world ads look like content and you only see them on TikTok and Instagram. Madison Avenue needs a makeover. Sure, there was a breakthrough decades ago when commercials featured rock music, a graduation from the Greatest Generation's crooner classics, but since then there has been stasis. Ads today must be doing the viewer a favor, they cannot be interruptions, they must be interesting. Yes, the ads on Instagram are tailored to the viewer, and if you don't want a bunch of the products hawked, you're like the Unabomber, living off the grid. As for TikTok, many people can't even tell the difference between ads and user-generated content. As for influencers...they are whores. Influencers are like boy bands, appealing to the lowest common denominator youngsters, like New Kids on the Block. There is no Max Martin in the influencer game, so we've got no Backstreet Boys or NSYNC, unfortunately.
In other words, if the ad-supported tiers were a thing, the companies would release the numbers. Spotify does...a bunch of listeners generating de minimis money. As for Netflix... This is what happens with today's breakthrough companies. They're ahead of the game, and then they become mature and have no second act. Good examples being Meta and Netflix. They wowed, and now they no longer can. Whereas the above trio, Elon, Donald and Kanye, seem to realize that he not busy being born is busy dying.
Elon is the Beatles, if the lead singer was Charles Manson, or maybe Tiny Tim. Someone who knows how to gain attention through constant innovation. Once again, musical acts don't realize this. The reason Musk is interesting is because he's got a number of hits and keeps moving into new, unrelated territory. What does PayPal have to do with Tesla? Or Tesla with SpaceX? Or any of these three with Twitter? And unlike the musicians, Musk isn't busy being a brand. He's all-in. Unlike the musician brands, he lays down his own money. He's not about ripping people off but delivering new and better experiences, oftentimes unforeseen. And you can criticize him, saying he wasn't the innovator at Tesla, but if you were alive back in the sixties you're aware that the Beatles were not universally loved, were not warm and fuzzy. The Greatest Generation never warmed up to them, except maybe for covers of "Yesterday" and "Michelle."
As for the Donald... He realizes that audience is king, size is everything, and truth is irrelevant. The internet amplifies outrage. And Trump delivers that every day.
As for Kanye... We're only paying attention because of his greatest hits. The music and the clothing. Got to say, like the Beatles, we were always interested in his next move. Speaking of moving, to Wyoming, a notoriously white, conservative, rural state? Yes, Kanye was breaking racial barriers. And the success of his clothing lines. But for Kanye it wasn't enough. He's still saying he's going to be president someday. He stopped speaking through his art. Then he got so addicted to attention that he tested the limits to stay in the limelight and pushed away not only Fortune 500 companies, but the public. Yes, some things are still over the line.
As for streaming TV... Sure, it was the beginning of lockdown, but we'd never seen anything like "The Tiger King." And what resonates most is always humanity. We cared less about the animals than Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, Jeff Lowe and the rest of the royalty in a world we didn't even know existed.
And "Squid Game" made us confront our own life and death. Were we at risk, what would we do to survive.
Great streaming TV is always about the concept and the humanity. The essence of the classic rock of the sixties. When it became about gaming the formula, with corporate rock, it died. That's what keeps us paying attention to the trio above, they never blink, never concede, they're all in.
In an era where politicians are wishy-washy.
What do we keep hearing? You've got to appeal to the center. When all of the above tells us that is death. This is why AOC is such a star. She weighs in on everything and never compromises in her youthful viewpoint. She's an icon for disillusioned young adults. Oh, you hate her? Well, in order to have a profile in the modern world you must have haters, if you have no edge, no one cares about you.
I'm not saying I want to hear from and be exposed to Musk, Trump and West every day, but they've figured out the system when everybody else is afraid or doesn't understand it or...
Yes, the millennials were all about fitting in. And if you alienate someone, they can't be your friend. You need to be a member of the group, whereas with boomers it was all about singular excellence. And losers hated winners, unlike the kumbaya youngsters.
So, in order to become a superstar in today's world you must start with an essence. Elon and Kanye had track records. As for Trump...we thought he was a billionaire, and he was the beneficiary of "The Apprentice" in the same way Coldplay and Dave Matthews Band were beneficiaries of VH1. Both of these paradigms died, but these three squeaked through and have coasted on this past exposure.
So, if you want to succeed today, you must have not only an essence, but you must have a track record. Complaining is useless. You've got to earn the right to complain, like Trump and West. Complaints without underpinnings are worthless. We only care when superstars complain, not nobodies.
So first focus on your identity. That's what TikTok is all about and what today's educational system is trying to constrict, trying to make everybody a rote zombie.
Then you have to focus on accomplishments. If you've got none, we are not going to take you seriously. You must have a base, and I'm not talking about fans, but works.
And then you must create something special, or be pushing the envelope to the point where we can't take our eyes off of you.
This is beyond twentieth century tropes, like rap wars. Most people don't want to die, and they can't understand the constant use of gun violence.
You must be singular, not worrying about the backlash or wanting everyone to love you. You must stand your ground. You must be so interesting that we can't take our eyes off of you.
Now Musk, Trump and Kanye have turned into clowns, to some degree pariahs. Why don't we have reasonable superstars?
Well, we did for a moment there, with Bernie Sanders. Age didn't matter, his beliefs did. He was the Democratic party's worst nightmare, but the people's hope. And you've got to give people hope.
But leaders who aren't crazy, that's what we're looking for.
And it's not about data, statistics, it's about state of mind. You've got to enter our consciousness organically. Data is old school. Data can't tell you where you're going, and the data got it wrong on Trump in 2016.
I'm sick and tired of hearing about the above trio. But that's the world we live in. Where three men have risen above the fray and are known by everybody. And those who used to be well-known have become niche. Complaining musicians who care first and foremost about money.
We want icons to rally around, to have an opinion about, but those addicted to twentieth century models won't deliver them. Three men had to forge their own paths with little support. You make your own career, others don't do that for you, the established companies are lost in the past, they've got money and nothing else. They want to mold you, restrict you, smooth over and compromise your work when it's the unexpected edges that hook us.
The internet allows you to reach everyone, but it's very hard to do, and they're all originals.
As for the rest of the so-called "stars"... They might as well be in distant galaxies, their light is dim and who really cares about ancient galaxies anyway, a few but not many.
We live in an era of individuals. Have an identity if you want to climb. Be confident in doing it your way. And if you don't have traction it's your fault.
Then again, there's room for fewer superstars than ever before.
But we still need 'em. We need people we all know and can talk about.
That's human nature.
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