Most famous people somehow break boundaries daily by making music appealing to everybody. With this, we mean that creating music means that you must express yourself, which can be revolutionary. Right now, music is the backbone of pop culture, and we reference musicians all the time.
The messages behind every album, the way they sound, and how they unite cultures and subcultures make the musician more than just a musician. It’s also important to add that some of them tried hard to be famous, and despite the challenges, beliefs, and lyrics, they changed something in pop culture.
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Queen
Freddy Mercury is an icon these days still, being one of the most famous musicians in the world. He was bisexual, flamboyant and he changed how many people perceived the LGBTQ community at the time. We can’t speak about counter-culture without talking about Freddy Mercury and how Queen shared powerful messages.
Albums like ‘A Night at The Opera’ and ‘Queen’ are now classics, and their songs are anthems for many people. The whole band produced and created new sounds and became a safe haven for many subcultures that were fans. Both of those albums, for example, shaped a lot of the rock we know nowadays and served as inspiration for many modern pop stars.
Lil Nas X
Hip-hop culture it’s often misogynistic and homophobic because a lot of their members are this way. Even though the same culture has given space for many young black artists who otherwise wouldn’t be celebrities these days, it still has some flaws. Lil Nas X it’s so important right now because he showed us, and the world, that there’s space for everyone in that world.
Many hip-hop artists said that the genre is often about being an outcast, living outside society, or not having the same opportunities. After all these years, watching an openly gay rapper being accepted is a big step for a music gender with many homophobic artists. Yes, DaBaby it’s an example. With ‘Montero’ and ‘Old Town Road’ already so famous, we can be sure that Lil Nas is there to stay.
If you haven’t already heard some of these songs, thanks to TikTok – he’s huge on the app – you should try to listen to Montero. Very few songs made by guys are about his casual hook-ups with another man. The video was also incredible as we can see Lil Nas pole dancing himself to hell. He spoke about how revolutionary were the lyrics for him and everybody in the studio because many believed that the community wouldn’t approve of it. However, they did, and the song it’s still blasting through TikTok.
@lilnasx THATS WHAT I FCKIN WANT
♬ THATS WHAT I WANT BY LIL NAS X – lil nas x
Lizzo
There are incredible women through music history; however, one of the biggest representations of empowerment right now come from Lizzo. Her songs are now anthems that empower women of all types to feel gorgeous, good and be happy about it. Being unapologetic, honest and big isn’t as easy as you think nowadays, where beauty is sawed as and standard fit.
She also is an excellent representation of plus-size beauty and counter-culture in the beauty industry. Her songs share that in common with the fact that women are strong and powerful. She also spoke openly about mental health and overall became an example of how to be beautiful without looking just one way or having just one fit.
‘Cuz I Love you’ is a love song about the beauty of being a woman and how empowering that can be. Very few artists nail this kind of song without sounding preaching, but she does it in a humorous, fantastic way. That album and ‘Big Grrrl Small World’ represent the best she can offer to everyone.
Princess Nokia
Social commentary on hip-hop and rap is part of the genre, and many artists put the things worth fighting for in their music. Princess Nokia is the latest example of this, and how mixing subcultures can make you famous. She spoke about how you don’t have to fit into a mould despite your race, ethnicity or anything else because what matters is what you do with your heritage and about the things happening around you.
She’s being influenced by many sounds, and she explores and represents them without owning anything. In other words, she’s a clear representation of the rewards of being who you are in the industry right now and how you can share your biggest ideas with many people. Right now, she’s working on her next album, and she expects to introduce new, colourful storytelling to all of her songs.
The set ‘Everything Sucks’ and ‘Everything is Beautiful’ is one of the best sets of albums in the latest years. She shares the duality of her heritage, identity, and stiles without losing the social humour she makes. One is a more soft album, talking more about the duplicity and the feminine side of her; however, everything sucks; it’s almost rude, and it’s definitely unapologetic.
Frank Ocean
Before Lil Nas X, Frank Ocean was one of the first rappers to come out as gay and openly spoke about how this shaped his identity. You can read the open letter on his Tumblr blog, and while you are on that, you could also read the essay about the famous Orlando nightclub shooting. After that, he became one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation in late 2016.
Thanks to Blonde, many artists and songs that came after are what they are. And, thanks to the way he addressed his sexuality, an artist like Lil Nas X had a bigger space in the industry for themselves. Blonde, his latest album – released in 2016, sadly – is one of the best R&B albums in history, and we can’t recommend it enough.
You can find a variety of topics on ‘Blonde’; however, the most important about the album is the sound of every song. He changed the way we listened to R&B because he experimented with the genre. He made it sound modern in a way we never saw before, which broke boundaries at the time. R&B is a genre that most artists use in their own way, but he was the first, and the lyrics were about social matters. Listen to ‘Blonde’ at least once, and get to know better how sadness and party mixed sound.
