Kendra Brea Cooper
The best male nominees this year are a mixture of old and new. Some of these artists have seen it all, and are still here after all these years. Their staying power says something about the things we take pleasure in, so here are some interesting bits about this years nominees.
From the Mickey Mouse Club, to NSync, to a solo career and appearances on SNL, we've watched Justin grow over the past twenty years. He's fit into our pop culture experience with his ability to span genres and hop mediums from music, to television, to movies. In the spinning and spitting force of media, there's something about him that sticks, he's both comforting and entertaining, with a lovely hint of nostalgia just like an old friend.
One of the most iconic celebrity relationships for generation Y was the matching denim wearing duo: Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Everything about the pair symbolized our need for soul-mate meaning, all the way down to the outfit pairing. Justin sang "Cry Me a River" a while after they broke up, and many suspected (in dramatic fashion) that it was a about Britney. Later, he hinted that this was true.
Pharrell is using his platform to invest in and shine a light on Bionic Yarn, a company that recycles plastics to make textiles. He has his hands right in the direction culture is going not only in music, but also in economics and consumption.
Pharrell has a way with the beat. He seems to understand music as something that is not an extra piece to existence, but as a part of what drives it. Pharrell knows that music does something to us, something that sits far beyond entertainment. Music is somewhere in the core of what it means to be human.
I'm always hearing stories of Justin losing fans to the glowing One Direction group, and they seem to flood in after every incident of misbehaviour that comes from the Bieber side of boy singers. It is up against this group that his actions toward his fans (spitting, ect) and society make him look like the ultimate bad boy. He is the "other". Let's face it, many young famous men have done similar things, but they don't get the reputation.
Justin's music is catchy, easy to dance to, and no different from all the other massive pop songs out there. We have expectations, call them "ideas" for the people that sing them. Right now, Justin seems to be the one we love to hate regardless of his music. Our reactions are always social, and stories of his court drama are told beside lockers and water coolers, because they're basically reinforcing social norms and relationships.
Eminem is a man who has a way with words. Sometimes, they went the wrong way with violent verses about women, or they went an interesting way with political verses that supposedly led to an investigation, and they went the right way with a song about reconciling with his mother. Some of his verses need to be taken to task, and others should be openly talked about. He's still here as a contradiction, and we wait for what's next.
Eminem was definitely the underdog in his early rap career. Somehow he made it, and the audiences responded to his controversial attitude in a big way. He hit his place in the cultural mainstream, which means that his lyrics (good and bad) hit a social nerve somehow. Eminem and his words give us a chance to critically look back on ourselves.
Like his good friend Taylor Swift, Ed carries a musical romance with his image. He is the unassuming boy who writes love letters in his songs and gives us a little faith in that old-school love. Ed's lyrics aren't sugar sweet, he sings of pain, drugs, and alcohol in one of the best voices to hit the stage in a long time. His songs are the soft drama we can relate to, even fictionally.
Ed Sheeran has stated Hip Hop as an influence, and claimed Eminem as one of his favourite rappers. Sheeran threads strands of this into his music, with quick beats and catchy language, and it has taken off.
Pop culture and all that ideology sitting in the blind spot. Also crafts.
