![]() “Anaconda” speaks to the playful throwback jams that currently permeate the charts. ![]() Insofar as Minaj candidly and playfully boasts of her impressive derriere, “Anaconda” is precisely the sort of quirky, brazen self-empowerment anthem that vaulted Swift and Trainor to the charts’ upper ranks. But is she really so out of place? “Anaconda” is built around a sample from Sir-Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 classic “Baby Got Back,” which makes it precisely the sort of nod-to-a-bygone-era that has prompted so many downloads and spins for Robin Thicke and others. Critics immediately called it an unlikely hit, and, it’s true - Minaj does seem like a holdover from inaccessible, turn-of-the-teens excess. It is in this climate that we get “Anaconda,” a song that jumped 37 spots last week, landing at number two and becoming Nicki Minaj’s highest charting single ever. Glance at the top 10 songs in this week’s Billboard Hot 100 and you’ll find that Pharrell’s minimalist funk is enlivened with comic candor in Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” Listen to the Afro-Carribean lilt permeating Magic’s “Rude” and Nico & Vinz’s “Am I Wrong.” Think of Sam Smith’s acoustic smash “Stay With Me” or the flavors of neo-soul running through superstar collaboration “Bang Bang.” Left by the wayside are those who refused to evolve - the Britney Spearses and Lady Gagas, clinging to their icy club bangers as current tastes drift away. What the post-Gaga pushback has sought is entertainment that feels organic. In their lyrics and packaging, stars have chased after a stripped-down, vulnerable image. ![]() Stylistically, hit songs have tended toward the acoustic, the folksy, the funky, the disco-ish and the Reggae-esque. The ensuing pendulum-swing has had a few major themes. The reign of techno was so relentless, that somewhere in the long expanses of 2012, I propose, the novelty wore off. Pharrell Williams, mastermind behind both songs, returned to the formula to create “Happy,” which predictably became the most ubiquitous song of early 2014.įinding the real source of pop’s current obsession with low-fi and low-key requires that we travel even further back: to the deluge of glitzy, futuristic, synth-pop ushered in by Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas and nurtured by the likes of Ke$ha, Flo-Rida and Katy Perry. You could say it started with the massive and simultaneous hits “Blurred Lines” and “Get Lucky,” two songs that harkened back to an earlier era with their disco beats and gentle falsettos. Let’s get to the bottom of this issue and watch the VEVO record-breaking video for Nicki’s “ Anaconda”.The candidly personal, the retro and the acoustic have dominated music for about a year. Isn’t that what feminism is all about? Being free as a woman to do what YOU want? Men are respected if they have a girlfriend or if they have one-night stands every weekend – it doesn’t matter what they do, they are still viewed as people. If she wants to wear pajamas, she should do it. This isn’t going to stop by having Minaj wear a turtleneck in her next video the point of the matter is that she should do as she pleases. On the other hand, there are tons of music videos that feature WoC being used as props in them. For Cyrus, the whole twerking thing might just be a phase in her career, but for artists like Minaj or even Rihanna, twerking, dancing and expressing themselves sexually is a means of constant backlash. However, for black women and women of color in general, it becomes a matter of even more overt sexualization. I’m not going to talk about cultural appropriation in music today, but this is just for you to notice that as women, we are constantly objectified. This thing launched her last album, Bangerz, as well as the tour that went along with it. Twerking has been around for years, but it wasn’t until a girl named Miley Cyrus came along and did it on national television at last year’s VMAs that the whole “twerk” craze started, took off, and became a thing. NO SHE ISN’T A FEMALE ICON! SHE DOESN’T REPRESENT WOMEN!!! SHE’S SHAKING HER BUTT ON YOUTUBE!! ![]()
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