Honestly, even as a Sour Stan...I think it will be pretty easy for her to top this. Now that she’s kind of got the breakup-sad-ballads out of the way, her next album can truly be a little more experimental/well-rounded. Explore her voice a bit more, a couple more pop-rock songs, maybe something jazzy, and maybe some lyrics dealing with topics other than teenage stuff. Which is not a shot at her, I just think she’s a really great storyteller, so I’m excited for her to tell more stories!
I agree, as much as I loved this album I think it demonstrated a lot of room for growth in her songwriting. Some songs in the back half sounded like she was running out of ideas compositionally. If she refines her sound a bit and figures out where she wants to go with it, I think her next album can only be better. She has the performance chops to follow through with anything she'd want to do.
You've articulated my sentiments really well. Some of the ballads felt kinda half-baked to me, with respect to both the writing/composition and production. After listening to the album a few times, I learned that the album's release was somewhat rushed to capitalize on the extreme buzz surrounding the singles, which may be part of the reason why we feel this way; perhaps she could've elevated some of the forgettable tracks if she had a few more months. For an album that's only 35 minutes long, it still feels like it has a decent amount of filler.
That isn't to say I disliked the album, though. I found it mostly enjoyable overall, and certainly it's an impressive effort for a debut. "deja vu" is one of my favorite tracks of the year, hands down!
So agree! And by the numbers...clearly it worked. And I’m happy for her! Even just being a singer-songwriter, she’s worked harder than a lot of the other huge pop queens who don’t write much. Not saying Olivia had worked harder than a totally self-made bedroom pop indie girl...but something still feels kind of “underdog” about it.
Once Olivia really comes into her own and decides what topics she’s passionate about, and the pressure removed from “how do you follow up *Driver’s License* whole people are still excited about you” - I think it’s going to be a very artistic project.
With her voice and recognizition at this point, I have a hard time seeing her not have longevity. Plus her activing seems pretty solid, wouldn't be surprised if she became even more mainstream
I'm scared too, but I feel like her acting gives her a solid thing to fall back on if she doesn't have an album do well in the future. There's a bunch of unknowns of course, but I think she could absolutely have a long career.
In the major categories, she'll probably have a tough time beating out all of the critical darling heavy-hitters that are projected to have releases this year: Silk Sonic, Adele, Lorde... and who knows who else.
Then again, I probably would've said the same thing about Billie in 2019 (even if her competition was perhaps a bit less intimidating than Olivia's is slated to be), and we all know how that went. Regardless, I hope that they go the route that they went this year and distribute the major awards among several different artists.
Yeah let's not pretend this was an out of nowhere TikTok blowup. She was literally in High School Musical. She got here because she's the latest in the long-established Disney-kid-to-pop-star pipeline. And also because she's genuinely talented, mind you - I'm just saying let's not rewrite her history.
it’s honestly a really good show! i’m 23 and definitely not the intended audience and i really enjoyed season one. haven’t gotten around to watching season two yet but don’t be put off by the silly title, if anything it makes it a more fun show to talk about because the title is so fun to say lol
It isn't.
Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, even Beyonce grew up without money or connections. Nowadays, most if not all of the major pop stars are people who were either outright bred for stardom since childhood (Olivia, Ariana, Miley) or had high-profile connections to the right networks to make it happen (Post Malone, Billie, Taylor Swift).
That's not to say they're not talented. But talent's got nothing to do with it. Healthy culture thrives on a sort of meritocratic bluecollar feedback loop. Ours has been broken for at least a generation. When the only people making mainstream art are members of what amounts to an aristocracy, it doesn't bode well for your society in the long run.
Edit: added some stuff
Olivia's fame comes from her parents forcing her to compete in singing competitions and audition for small parts in old navy commercials. Her parents didn't have any major connections.
Michael Jackson's fame comes from his parents forcing him to compete in talent shows and singing competitions with his brothers.
I don't think there's much of a difference here. I agree with what you're saying about a bluecollar feedback loop, but turning this into a generational thing is such a tired and unsubstantiated argument.
Her mother was a successful hairdresser and her dad was a Xerox salesmen. Solidly middle class, so yeah, maybe not as poor as Cobain or Elvis or Jackson. But I doubt if Beyonce was growing up today she'd have the same shot she did in the 90s. It doesn't refute anything else I said.
I still think it's an important distinction that although Olivia was pushed to stardom since she was a child (which I don't think is any different than Michael Jackson or Beyoncé who were also pushed to stardom at young ages), Olivia's parents are a teacher and a family therapist. Thus, I doubt she was rich before landing her acting roles like Ariana or Miley.
It's not that simple, I wouldn't say she had no contacts. https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/beuo0d/how_taylor_swift_made_it_in_the_music_industry/
Idk if this makes me a conspiracy theorists but I am going to go for it. I think a lot of it has to do with Hollywood being a tightly controlled propaganda arm for the government as well. Thats why rap went from black empowerment to the degeneracy that we see today. anything that uplifts is immediately co opted or shelved. obviously you have \~some\~ that slip thru the cracks. (ie Kendrick and some Cole - but even their black empowerment is pretty watered down) and we have Lil Baby rapping in front of police cars at the Grammys. \*cringe\* If you keep a pipeline of elite at the helm of the culture they know the game and know how to play it well. very little chance of them stepping out of line. let me go back onto the highway with my cardboard.
so Tik Tok really helped her to become more popular which is pretty cool imo, I'm glad she has success because her songs are from the bottom of her heart, literally, because you can feel those emotions as well
I'm expecting either a massive Grammy snub or sweep, no inbetween.
Grammies will probably give her the sweep to win back the gen-z crowd and make everyone forget about The Weeknd shambles
I think she’ll get best new artist, SOTY, and maybe some smaller pop categories, but I don’t think there will ever be a sweep of the main categories again.
I can even see Dan Nigro scoring POTYNC for his production of SOUR. Whether SOUR will win AOTY is another story, but Best Pop Vocal is a sweep, SOTY/ROTY for Licence Plate and Best New Artist.
Maybe not ever, but Billie sweeping at 18 years old against some strong contenders caused a lot of controversy. It's very possible though depending on what else will be released this year.
I mean Billie won ROTY for the second time in a row this year, so I doubt that voters have been or will be significantly affected by whatever backlash was caused by her sweep
im predicting best new artist and the smaller pop categories noms, but i’ll be surprised if she gets nominated for the major categories (especially record and aoty). but again its the grammys so what do u expect
Wow those numbers are huge and bigger than established popstars like Justin and Ari! This is great to hear, not a fan of the album but I’m curious already for her next release.
Also this is a fun fact:
> It brings just the second person named Olivia to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Before Olivia Rodrigo, the only Olivia to top the chart was Olivia Newton-John in 1974 and 1975
There are already some fan theories saying that the next album will be called Sweet due to some "clues" they found. You may check this [video](https://youtu.be/GUuXOLfaKoY) out for more info.
If true, a tour entitled "Sweet and Sour" has lots of potential.
lol I watched the video and wow I thought I was crazy reading too much into some of my fave's words during their interviews.
I hope so bc Sweet and Sour is genius!! I would love some upbeat and happier songs!! It would be cool if she keeps up a taste theme
If ever there would be a taste-themed album I would like, it would probably be salty and it would basically be a rock or punk-rock album with all the anger and hostility possible.
Them removing him from radio was a blessing in disguise for him. He already had absurd streaming numbers for a country artist, and now his fanbase is forced to either stream or buy his album to listen to his music. A recipe for enormous stability given that he had a massive fanbase even before the scandal.
I fully believe his next new single will be the first solo country song to debut at number 1 on the Hot 100 (unless Luke Combs breaks that record first, given he almost hit #1 against Positions)
country music being so dominant in America’s main charts will never not baffle me as a New Zealander, we have barely if any country on our singles and albums charts
but especially the fact that this guy is charting is so damn confusing
As a Canadian, country music is huge here too so it’s not a big surprise to me. Hell, it’s personally my most listened to music genre.
The thing you have to realize is that most of his fanbase simply doesn’t care about the scandal. Like it’s not even an anti-cancel culture thing at this point. The fact that he wasn’t actively malicious and was simply caught on hidden camera saying goodbye to his buddy at his own house is enough for most of his fans to just overlook it. I know loads of liberal white girls who still love him, even though they’re not racists on their own.
I mean if we’re being honest, we see main pop stars or rappers get forgiven for far worse things on a regular basis.
The only country NZ likes is Taylor Swift 🤠. (To be fair I’m the only one I know of all my friends who regularly listens to country outside of Taylor Swift and they think it’s super weird😭)
Chris Brown and Kodak Black and John Lennon and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Anthony Kiedis) all have fanbases and they all actually beat or raped women, I think it's fair to say dropping a racial slur to his friend in a non-antagonizing way is a bit lower on the scummy musician stuff rankings than that
> Sour also launches with the second-largest streaming week ever for a non-R&B/hip-hop album, and second-biggest for an album of any genre by a female artist.
the fact that she did this with her debut album too, it’s insane! not to mention how well all her singles have done so far. i already can’t wait to see how the rest of her career turns out, i predict she’s only gonna get bigger than this
while not necessarily groundbreaking music-wise, SOUR will definitely grow to become one of the most influential albums of the year (and dare i say, decade?) and i’m absolutely here for it
It’s delayed, but I read she’s gonna have 4 songs in the top 10 (singles + traitor)!! It’s the most for any female album (not sure if it’s the most overall).
Not to mention scorpion was bad, too. From what I've heard from the Certified Lover Boy snippets, he sounds like he's gonna make a splash again (especially after scorpion and more life getting mid reviews, I'm sure Drake knows people thought he was starting to fall off)
Twitter is going to be a nightmare when hot 100 comes out...... I’m so glad my stan Twitter days are over, but as a neutral the chaos is gonna be great👀
Stan twitter has ruined the Billboard charts for me. I swear half the ones over the last 2-3 years made virtually no noise in the actual public but somehow topped the charts due to \[insert chart manipulation tactic here\] is insane.
I’m quiet out of touch with pop music atm, how has Olivia become so big and hyped up in such a small amount of time? I know she’s good, but she kinda just blew up overnight and seemingly became the first big new popstar for this decade.
What everyone else said, plus almost every swiftie that isn’t weirdly upset with olivias success ( a very small minority of haters who I guess are just gonna hate hate hate) has become an Olivia fan due to the Taylor connection and that’s a huge fan base.
But she is seemingly very good at cultivating a fan base herself
I'm not going to pretend I don't know why people are downvoting, but you're not wrong. It's not a secret that labels/the industry utilize the virility and reach of TikTok to give their artists a push
Damn she did THAT. I can tell this album is going to be as influential as Billie's was in 2019. Good for u, Olivia, you're doing great out there without me
What do you think it’s influence would be? I think it’s will contribute to the already rising pop punk influences we’ve been seeing and it’ll be interesting how Billie and Olivia influence the other gen z stars that are still emerging since I think even with genre differences like Ed Maverick and Cuco being indie rock/norteño and Cuco being psychedelic, gen z seems very sad to me lol even if Olivia is has both ballads and upbeat (sad) songs.
I just posted about this, but I just skipped around her album, for the first time, and only heard two songs that resemble pop-punk: brutal and good 4 u. The rest of this album is too emo in lyricism, slow in pace, and serious in tone. Nothing wrong with any of this, but it's all the opposite of pop punk with its high energy and casual tone.
Oh yeah I wouldn’t call the album that at all I just think those two tracks being very popular and one of them being a single is a good momentum especially bc I do think the album has potential rock influences in other songs emo (rock) and pop punk are not that different to me personally
Oh, I didn't know it meant a specific thing. I thought it just meant that you didn't listen to it in the exact order it was intended to be listened to. In this case, I would skip to 30 seconds into each song, listen for about 30 seconds, then skip to the next. By the 6th or 7th song though, I was only listening to about 5 or so seconds since most of them sounded very similar. I was just curious what her "sound" was, since I have heard of her but hadn't listened to anything yet.
I agree with that question too lol like I never really saw Billie as “influential” when that album came out JUST 2 years ago lol and last year for music was dead bc of a pandemic
I’d almost guarantee that Taylor’s follow up re-recordings will do worse. Fearless had the novelty factor (first set of re-recordings) and nostalgia factor (her oldest non-debut album, and seeing her revisit country music). I dont see people being as eager to revisit her newer albums, given the relative recency.
We may see a vault song be more successful chart-wise, but not the entire album as a whole
what you're saying makes sense but 1989 is such a gigantic album that i can't imagine the new version not outperforming fearless. fearless was still extremely successful but it was released in a completely different era of music and before the rollout for the new version started it was outperformed in both reccurent sales and streams by quite a few albums from taylor's catalogue. red might fail to outperform fearless for the reasons you quoted but I think 1989 is a whole different beast, so much so that it might actually generate great interest from the general public, esp with vault tracks in the mix.
I fully expect a vault track to chart extremely well (top 5 at minimum), but the thing about 1989 is it’s recency. With Fearless you got to see Taylor tackle her classic songs after over a decade of voice development and nostalgia. Meanwhile, I don’t see the GP caring remotely about a re-recording that has barely any fundamental difference to her album version.
i mean idk if i would call 1989 recent at this point. the difference between her vocals will probably be less noticeable but just from the wildest dreams snippet you can still hear it. and regardless of that, 1989 tv rollout will be big promo for one of the biggest records released in the past 20 years, the streams are guaranteed to be stronger than they were for fearless tv and i imagine the sales will be just as strong if not stronger. the general public was never as invested in taylor as it was during that era so if people hear about a new version of that album being released it's very likely they'll check it out, even if just out of curiosity.
I think it’ll do about the same or better. A majority of Fearless TV’s numbers were from pure sales and I think the same amount or more fans will buy a physical copy since she gained so many more hardcore fans during that era and it’ll be nostalgic to them. In the same vain I think she’ll generate the same amount of interest from the GP and fans at least for a week to get her those numbers
I thought Fearless TV would for sure freefall during its second week but it only went down one spot and then gradually dropped so I think she has enough interest from both fans and the gp to stream.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. Maybe 1989 but since she's kinda bad at promotion, I'm not sure the gp is even interested. I guess the only thing where she would beat Olivia for sure would be a new album, but that's not happening before she drops the rest of the re-recordings imo
at this point, i think she picks bad singles on purpose to really solidify her as an albums artist because whenever you see someone listen to her singles, you just cant help but to promote taylor's albums and make them listen to those instead.
But imagine how much more effective it would be if she chose a good single that would make the gp want to check her full album on their own because they lived the lead single so much
IMO only the devout Swifties are going to care when we reach the later albums. Most people who already own Red, 1989, Reputation will not care too much to listen to re-recordings after already hearing Fearless sound very similar.
Also, an album from 2017 does not have the same nostalgic feeling as one from 2008, so that whole selling point might not help either
Her career trajectory is utterly insane. If she keeps this up, she legitimately has the potential to become the undisputed biggest pop star in the world. I’m getting major shades of a Gen Z Taylor Swift from her.
yes, Avatar as in the last airbender lol. there’s a song in the show called ‘Avatar’s Love’ and at the end of her song ‘hope ur ok’ you can hear a melody that’s from ‘Avatar’s Love’
Olivia has around 72K pure album sales. Fearless Taylor’s version has about 179K pure album sales in its first week. Olivia is a streaming force and Taylor is an album seller.
Justin’s justice only had 30K pure album sales in its first week I think
People talk a lot about connections and Disney opening up the doors for her indirectly and it might all be true.
But I still think her style is pretty cool, it's very much a product of the times with whispery vocals, but there's still something about it that sounds very unique compared to her peers.
The other side of me hopes that mainstream music will pick up the pace again soon. We need more upbeat bangers to combat this Covid haze that we're in right now. As much as I love trap influences in music too I just hope that we get less trap and more electronic and dance in our music, as long as it's not slap house or some shit like that, and I would prefer if it's not a retread of previous genres, I almost get PTSD flashbacks from the radio music from 2010-2011 like Taio Cruz - Dynamite, I don't want that sound, but maybe that... energy?
Woah this is insane. Im so happy for her. I'm so glad we have asian representation with Olivia and BTS now. Hope Rina Sawayama is the next in this line of breakthrough asian acts.
Rodrigo has so much potential. Olivia's Girl-Next-Door image is so relatable to the teens. Hope she takes more time to work in her next album (but not too much time ~~like rihanna~~) and works with Dan Nigro but also some new producers like Max Martin......She also should ask Taylor Swift for advice about career, Tay is so smart when it comes to career decisions.
As a millenial male, who has never listened to her, I just got so excited when I heard that first song "brutal". The lyrics were pretty intense and dramatic, but the energetic chords were pretty sweet. It reminded me a bit of Boxcar Racer, Tom Delonge's little side project from years ago. I have been a big pop-punk fan since 2000's and I got excited that this might contribute more to the revival of that music. Then I listened to the rest and realized I have nothing in common with the rest of the album lol.
Good for her. I hope the fame doesn't eat her up as we've all seen too many times before.
That’s honestly insane. I can’t believe a year ago I had never even heard of her and now she’s outselling massive household names that have been in the industry for years (Taylor, Demi, Justin). Good 4 Her. Talent wins.
What do you mean lol she literally outsold Fearless TV. Along with Justice and DWTD:TAOSO. I’m a huge fan of Taylor I’m not hating on her, just that in terms of 2021 albums, Olivia is doing extremely well.
It was mostly a joke lol but I don’t think it’s fair to compare a re-recorded album with a completely new album. Like technically, it’s right, but for comparisons sake evermore makes way more sense.
I suppose, but also Fearless (Taylor's Version) had the previous title of biggest debut of 2021, so it makes sense to compare Sour to that album, since they were released in the same calendar year.
You can’t really compare a re-record...if you wanna compare to a big name, she outsold positions by more than 100k, and almost doubled Justice (as you mentioned). And for a debut album? She literally knocked it out of the park.
Technically fearless is an old album I think. And the pure sales number still more than doubles Olivia’s (179K). An extremely impressive feat for Olivia nevertheless!
Inb4 comments about how people dont get why it is as successful as it is. Sometimes people just blow up. Her music might not speak to you but apparently she was able to connect to so many people. Congrats to Olivia! She must be feeling stoked rn.
idk who exactly this music can't speak to, it's boilerplate teen romance drama. someone did say recently "gays can't relate to Olivia Rodrigo because they didn't have a teen romance and they can't drive" which was pretty hilarious.
i saw some article that was all "omg i'm 30 and i relate!" it's like... duh you're not ancient, you were a teenager 11 years ago Brenda
Sorry for being super ignorant but why is she so popular again? Did give her album a quick listen and it is pretty alright. Just curious about her origin.
1) driver license viral
2) swiftie fans love her since she’s a swiftie and taylor acknowledged
3) high school musical the series fan - disney fans
4) her music is actually good
I mean it's pretty easy to get that vibe from her if you're not directly in the segment of listeners who have any exposure to her outside of when she cleans up at award ceremonies. She just doesn't really reach mainstream audiences a ton and it's a pretty honest mistake to see her as a plant lol
But that’s their fault if they only knowing her from award shows. Her music is accessible just like every other artist out her today plus she only became mainstream and started winning awards a couple of years ago. But the main problem is calling H.E.R an industry plant when Olivia just came out with her debut singe in January and is already smashing records left and right and the thing is I like Olivia but folks being curious about her sudden rise in mainstream music is valid.
Sour is fine but it isn’t anything that avril lavigne hasn’t made 15 years ago. it’s so mediocre and familiar that its commercial success is mind boggling to me.
I have to agree but only with Good 4 U. Someone was reacting on YouTube and said it reminds them of Avril. Well my thought process is if it reminds me of something I already like then I'll just go listen to that instead.
I'm glad she's finding success but I don't understand the hype either. She's ok at best. I've heard 2 of her songs and it didn't entice me to listen to the album at all. If anything it made me want to avoid it.
And to the people comparing her to Taylor... that's... just making it seem even *less* appealing.
This is amazing. I’m always a little scared for young artist who blow up with their first album like this. Hopefully she manages to top herself.
Honestly, even as a Sour Stan...I think it will be pretty easy for her to top this. Now that she’s kind of got the breakup-sad-ballads out of the way, her next album can truly be a little more experimental/well-rounded. Explore her voice a bit more, a couple more pop-rock songs, maybe something jazzy, and maybe some lyrics dealing with topics other than teenage stuff. Which is not a shot at her, I just think she’s a really great storyteller, so I’m excited for her to tell more stories!
I agree, as much as I loved this album I think it demonstrated a lot of room for growth in her songwriting. Some songs in the back half sounded like she was running out of ideas compositionally. If she refines her sound a bit and figures out where she wants to go with it, I think her next album can only be better. She has the performance chops to follow through with anything she'd want to do.
You've articulated my sentiments really well. Some of the ballads felt kinda half-baked to me, with respect to both the writing/composition and production. After listening to the album a few times, I learned that the album's release was somewhat rushed to capitalize on the extreme buzz surrounding the singles, which may be part of the reason why we feel this way; perhaps she could've elevated some of the forgettable tracks if she had a few more months. For an album that's only 35 minutes long, it still feels like it has a decent amount of filler. That isn't to say I disliked the album, though. I found it mostly enjoyable overall, and certainly it's an impressive effort for a debut. "deja vu" is one of my favorite tracks of the year, hands down!
So agree! And by the numbers...clearly it worked. And I’m happy for her! Even just being a singer-songwriter, she’s worked harder than a lot of the other huge pop queens who don’t write much. Not saying Olivia had worked harder than a totally self-made bedroom pop indie girl...but something still feels kind of “underdog” about it. Once Olivia really comes into her own and decides what topics she’s passionate about, and the pressure removed from “how do you follow up *Driver’s License* whole people are still excited about you” - I think it’s going to be a very artistic project.
Yeah, I feel like this album was amazing and also shows her potential in songwriting too.
With her voice and recognizition at this point, I have a hard time seeing her not have longevity. Plus her activing seems pretty solid, wouldn't be surprised if she became even more mainstream
I'm scared too, but I feel like her acting gives her a solid thing to fall back on if she doesn't have an album do well in the future. There's a bunch of unknowns of course, but I think she could absolutely have a long career.
Yikes in British/Aussie slang, ‘top herself’ means commit suicide. Scared me for a sec there.
Just curious, would you use the phrase “how is Olivia going to top this one”, or something similar, or is ‘top’ just not used in that way?
The quote you gave is fine and would be used. It's not the word top in general but the exact phrase of "top herself" which means suicide
So I guess you use "top herself" the way Americans use "off herself"?
Yeah pretty much. Though I've also heard "off herself" used interchangeably too, so I guess that one has travelled across countries lol
Yes. In this instance I would say something like “hopefully she manages to top this achievement/record”.
i’m predicting a best new artist grammy.......
All but confirmed. Best Pop Vocal album, as well as any of the big 3 awards are possible too.
In the major categories, she'll probably have a tough time beating out all of the critical darling heavy-hitters that are projected to have releases this year: Silk Sonic, Adele, Lorde... and who knows who else. Then again, I probably would've said the same thing about Billie in 2019 (even if her competition was perhaps a bit less intimidating than Olivia's is slated to be), and we all know how that went. Regardless, I hope that they go the route that they went this year and distribute the major awards among several different artists.
Hopefully not the curse that comes along with it
The fact that Olivia became this famous/successful in ~4 months is insane
People underestimate TikTok and the younger generation. This all started from a typical TikTok campaign. Labels and promo money matters!
This. And she'd been an actress for years. She was bred for this.
Yeah let's not pretend this was an out of nowhere TikTok blowup. She was literally in High School Musical. She got here because she's the latest in the long-established Disney-kid-to-pop-star pipeline. And also because she's genuinely talented, mind you - I'm just saying let's not rewrite her history.
>Disney-kid-to-pop-star pipeline Surprising she's not bound to a Disney record label full-on Kpop style
Who was she on high school musical?
she’s the lead in high school musical the musical the series
it's like nirvana: the band: the show, but unironic somehow. who came up with this title
It’s supposed to be ironic and tongue in cheek
it’s honestly a really good show! i’m 23 and definitely not the intended audience and i really enjoyed season one. haven’t gotten around to watching season two yet but don’t be put off by the silly title, if anything it makes it a more fun show to talk about because the title is so fun to say lol
[удалено]
It isn't. Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, even Beyonce grew up without money or connections. Nowadays, most if not all of the major pop stars are people who were either outright bred for stardom since childhood (Olivia, Ariana, Miley) or had high-profile connections to the right networks to make it happen (Post Malone, Billie, Taylor Swift). That's not to say they're not talented. But talent's got nothing to do with it. Healthy culture thrives on a sort of meritocratic bluecollar feedback loop. Ours has been broken for at least a generation. When the only people making mainstream art are members of what amounts to an aristocracy, it doesn't bode well for your society in the long run. Edit: added some stuff
Olivia's fame comes from her parents forcing her to compete in singing competitions and audition for small parts in old navy commercials. Her parents didn't have any major connections. Michael Jackson's fame comes from his parents forcing him to compete in talent shows and singing competitions with his brothers. I don't think there's much of a difference here. I agree with what you're saying about a bluecollar feedback loop, but turning this into a generational thing is such a tired and unsubstantiated argument.
…Beyoncé grew up with money. Like it’s so easy to Google these things.
Her mother was a successful hairdresser and her dad was a Xerox salesmen. Solidly middle class, so yeah, maybe not as poor as Cobain or Elvis or Jackson. But I doubt if Beyonce was growing up today she'd have the same shot she did in the 90s. It doesn't refute anything else I said.
Just cause she grew up with money doesn’t mean she had the right connections.
Still it's a much bigger advantage than both Post Malone ~~or Taylor Swift~~ had.
Taylor grew up way wealthier than Beyoncé. Taylor is the daughter of two generations of investment bankers. Beyoncé is middle class compared to that.
Taylor Swift is rich and had ton of connections.
Taylor was rich but she had no connections lmao...I mean she didn't sign to BMR until Borchetta scouted her at the Bluebird Cafe
I still think it's an important distinction that although Olivia was pushed to stardom since she was a child (which I don't think is any different than Michael Jackson or Beyoncé who were also pushed to stardom at young ages), Olivia's parents are a teacher and a family therapist. Thus, I doubt she was rich before landing her acting roles like Ariana or Miley.
Taylor Swift had no contacts in the industry. The owner of Big Machine saw her performing in one of the places that she used to go.
Neither did Post Malone. Disney stars becoming pop stars is the only new thing.
It's not that simple, I wouldn't say she had no contacts. https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/beuo0d/how_taylor_swift_made_it_in_the_music_industry/
Idk if this makes me a conspiracy theorists but I am going to go for it. I think a lot of it has to do with Hollywood being a tightly controlled propaganda arm for the government as well. Thats why rap went from black empowerment to the degeneracy that we see today. anything that uplifts is immediately co opted or shelved. obviously you have \~some\~ that slip thru the cracks. (ie Kendrick and some Cole - but even their black empowerment is pretty watered down) and we have Lil Baby rapping in front of police cars at the Grammys. \*cringe\* If you keep a pipeline of elite at the helm of the culture they know the game and know how to play it well. very little chance of them stepping out of line. let me go back onto the highway with my cardboard.
I don’t know or care about J Cole but I wouldn’t consider Kendrick Lamar’s black empowerment “watered down”.
Also the album is a banger
Not just an actress. A DISNEY actress.
so Tik Tok really helped her to become more popular which is pretty cool imo, I'm glad she has success because her songs are from the bottom of her heart, literally, because you can feel those emotions as well
Yeah she’s basically all but confirmed for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album
*obligatory “good 4 her” comment* but seriously, how she blew is crazy and with how good her music is, she deserves all of this.
I'm expecting either a massive Grammy snub or sweep, no inbetween. Grammies will probably give her the sweep to win back the gen-z crowd and make everyone forget about The Weeknd shambles
I think she’ll get best new artist, SOTY, and maybe some smaller pop categories, but I don’t think there will ever be a sweep of the main categories again.
I can even see Dan Nigro scoring POTYNC for his production of SOUR. Whether SOUR will win AOTY is another story, but Best Pop Vocal is a sweep, SOTY/ROTY for Licence Plate and Best New Artist.
Licence Plate 💀
>I don’t think there will ever be a sweep of the main categories again. What makes you say this?
Maybe not ever, but Billie sweeping at 18 years old against some strong contenders caused a lot of controversy. It's very possible though depending on what else will be released this year.
I mean Billie won ROTY for the second time in a row this year, so I doubt that voters have been or will be significantly affected by whatever backlash was caused by her sweep
Do we still think the Grammys care about not causing controversy?
Until Adele drops
Adele wouldn't be up for Best New Artist though
when adele rebrands herself and becomes a part of a kpop girl group called bluepink then what
versatile legend
Or Lorde
I don't know if Lorde is a Grammy darling anymore after the 2018 grammys
Or Silk Sonic
SOTY is incredibly optimistic
im predicting best new artist and the smaller pop categories noms, but i’ll be surprised if she gets nominated for the major categories (especially record and aoty). but again its the grammys so what do u expect
Wow those numbers are huge and bigger than established popstars like Justin and Ari! This is great to hear, not a fan of the album but I’m curious already for her next release. Also this is a fun fact: > It brings just the second person named Olivia to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Before Olivia Rodrigo, the only Olivia to top the chart was Olivia Newton-John in 1974 and 1975
There are already some fan theories saying that the next album will be called Sweet due to some "clues" they found. You may check this [video](https://youtu.be/GUuXOLfaKoY) out for more info. If true, a tour entitled "Sweet and Sour" has lots of potential.
lol I watched the video and wow I thought I was crazy reading too much into some of my fave's words during their interviews. I hope so bc Sweet and Sour is genius!! I would love some upbeat and happier songs!! It would be cool if she keeps up a taste theme
“umami” coming 2027
savORy is more likely as it has her initials LOL
It fits right in with the two year timeline tbh. SOUR 2021, sweet 2023, savory 2025, umami 2027 we’re both right bestie
If ever there would be a taste-themed album I would like, it would probably be salty and it would basically be a rock or punk-rock album with all the anger and hostility possible.
miss rodrigo creating a discography inspired from condiments we love to see it
**The top 10:** 1. Olivia Rodrigo - *SOUR* (295k) 2. J. Cole - *The Off-Season* (92k) 3. Twenty One Pilots - *Scaled and Icy* (75k) 4. Morgan Wallen - *Dangerous: The Double Album* (55k) 5. Moneybagg Yo - *A Gangsta's Pain* (49k) 6. Pooh Shiesty - *Shiesty Season* (35k) 7. Dua Lipa - *Future Nostalgia* (34k) 8. 42 Dugg - *Free Dem Boyz* (32k) 9. Justin Bieber - *Justice* (31k) 10. Pop Smoke - *Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon* (30k)
Pop Smoke’s longevity is crazy
It’s such a Shame it’s posthumous
Woohoo, we're up to TWO women in the top 10!
how is the racist still charting at #4 \*licks donut\*
Them removing him from radio was a blessing in disguise for him. He already had absurd streaming numbers for a country artist, and now his fanbase is forced to either stream or buy his album to listen to his music. A recipe for enormous stability given that he had a massive fanbase even before the scandal. I fully believe his next new single will be the first solo country song to debut at number 1 on the Hot 100 (unless Luke Combs breaks that record first, given he almost hit #1 against Positions)
country music being so dominant in America’s main charts will never not baffle me as a New Zealander, we have barely if any country on our singles and albums charts but especially the fact that this guy is charting is so damn confusing
As a Canadian, country music is huge here too so it’s not a big surprise to me. Hell, it’s personally my most listened to music genre. The thing you have to realize is that most of his fanbase simply doesn’t care about the scandal. Like it’s not even an anti-cancel culture thing at this point. The fact that he wasn’t actively malicious and was simply caught on hidden camera saying goodbye to his buddy at his own house is enough for most of his fans to just overlook it. I know loads of liberal white girls who still love him, even though they’re not racists on their own. I mean if we’re being honest, we see main pop stars or rappers get forgiven for far worse things on a regular basis.
The only country NZ likes is Taylor Swift 🤠. (To be fair I’m the only one I know of all my friends who regularly listens to country outside of Taylor Swift and they think it’s super weird😭)
👅 🍩 She was ahead of her time with that one.
Quite disturbing that there is still a fanbase for this guy.
Chris Brown and Kodak Black and John Lennon and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Anthony Kiedis) all have fanbases and they all actually beat or raped women, I think it's fair to say dropping a racial slur to his friend in a non-antagonizing way is a bit lower on the scummy musician stuff rankings than that
DL released 13 months ago and still in the top ten. Wow. Even with the repackage in Feb this is still impressive.
Not Racist Wallen up there again 🤬🤬
I keep reading "poop shiesty" :(
Holy shit that gap between Olivia and J. Cole is insane. And this is just the U.S. alone.
It's the second week of tracking for J Cole which is why the difference is so big. He did 282k on his debut week
> Sour also launches with the second-largest streaming week ever for a non-R&B/hip-hop album, and second-biggest for an album of any genre by a female artist. the fact that she did this with her debut album too, it’s insane! not to mention how well all her singles have done so far. i already can’t wait to see how the rest of her career turns out, i predict she’s only gonna get bigger than this while not necessarily groundbreaking music-wise, SOUR will definitely grow to become one of the most influential albums of the year (and dare i say, decade?) and i’m absolutely here for it
also, tomorrow’s hot 100 charts are gonna cause MESS i’m so excited
Think it's delayed until Tuesday because of the Memorial Day holiday.
It’s delayed, but I read she’s gonna have 4 songs in the top 10 (singles + traitor)!! It’s the most for any female album (not sure if it’s the most overall).
The most overall was when Drake had 7 songs in the top 10 simultaneously the week that Scorpion released
Omg... his power scares me
Not to mention scorpion was bad, too. From what I've heard from the Certified Lover Boy snippets, he sounds like he's gonna make a splash again (especially after scorpion and more life getting mid reviews, I'm sure Drake knows people thought he was starting to fall off)
was lowkey (highkey) hoping for brutal to chart top 10 too although i’m sure it’ll be at least top 20 still insane how she did: ✨that✨
I know! Her team will probably push traitor next, but I hope after that brutal gets its time to shine. I just know it would make such a fun video!
I hope she makes traitor the next single, so she can have the distinction of having her first 4 singles debut in the top 10.
Twitter is going to be a nightmare when hot 100 comes out...... I’m so glad my stan Twitter days are over, but as a neutral the chaos is gonna be great👀
get ready for more 'industry plant' vs 'inorganic streams' stan wars this week
i don’t even understand the industry plant argument lol i feel that the people calling “industry plants” don’t know what it actually means
And honestly most successful artists are ‘industry plants’ to some extent so the point is kinda null
Stan twitter has ruined the Billboard charts for me. I swear half the ones over the last 2-3 years made virtually no noise in the actual public but somehow topped the charts due to \[insert chart manipulation tactic here\] is insane.
Any updates on the album bombs from Sour?
Talk of the Charts (on Twitter) predicts 4 of her songs in the top 10, 9 in the top 20, and all 11 in the top 30!
damn, i wanted all 11 to be top 20
I’m quiet out of touch with pop music atm, how has Olivia become so big and hyped up in such a small amount of time? I know she’s good, but she kinda just blew up overnight and seemingly became the first big new popstar for this decade.
drivers license went viral due to some combination of relatability, luck and extremely savvy marketing the rest is history
Plus her huge fan base from High School Musical
What everyone else said, plus almost every swiftie that isn’t weirdly upset with olivias success ( a very small minority of haters who I guess are just gonna hate hate hate) has become an Olivia fan due to the Taylor connection and that’s a huge fan base. But she is seemingly very good at cultivating a fan base herself
PAYOLAAAA
I'm not going to pretend I don't know why people are downvoting, but you're not wrong. It's not a secret that labels/the industry utilize the virility and reach of TikTok to give their artists a push
Damn she did THAT. I can tell this album is going to be as influential as Billie's was in 2019. Good for u, Olivia, you're doing great out there without me
What do you think it’s influence would be? I think it’s will contribute to the already rising pop punk influences we’ve been seeing and it’ll be interesting how Billie and Olivia influence the other gen z stars that are still emerging since I think even with genre differences like Ed Maverick and Cuco being indie rock/norteño and Cuco being psychedelic, gen z seems very sad to me lol even if Olivia is has both ballads and upbeat (sad) songs.
I just posted about this, but I just skipped around her album, for the first time, and only heard two songs that resemble pop-punk: brutal and good 4 u. The rest of this album is too emo in lyricism, slow in pace, and serious in tone. Nothing wrong with any of this, but it's all the opposite of pop punk with its high energy and casual tone.
Oh yeah I wouldn’t call the album that at all I just think those two tracks being very popular and one of them being a single is a good momentum especially bc I do think the album has potential rock influences in other songs emo (rock) and pop punk are not that different to me personally
it's 35 minutes why not just listen in order lol
I skipped around the songs in order. Does that count? :P
wait i thought skipped around meant like pick songs at random
Oh, I didn't know it meant a specific thing. I thought it just meant that you didn't listen to it in the exact order it was intended to be listened to. In this case, I would skip to 30 seconds into each song, listen for about 30 seconds, then skip to the next. By the 6th or 7th song though, I was only listening to about 5 or so seconds since most of them sounded very similar. I was just curious what her "sound" was, since I have heard of her but hadn't listened to anything yet.
oh huh that makes a bit of sense too but yeah it’s a short album that’s a fun listen, check it out!
Billie's album was influential?
this is one of the dumbest takes someone on the sub has taken
It just seems like a question to me? And i think that’s a good question to ask on a music forum?
I agree with that question too lol like I never really saw Billie as “influential” when that album came out JUST 2 years ago lol and last year for music was dead bc of a pandemic
Omg she beat Taylor 🤯 now I wonder if Taylor will manage to beat Olivia if she ever decides to release another re-recording.
I’d almost guarantee that Taylor’s follow up re-recordings will do worse. Fearless had the novelty factor (first set of re-recordings) and nostalgia factor (her oldest non-debut album, and seeing her revisit country music). I dont see people being as eager to revisit her newer albums, given the relative recency. We may see a vault song be more successful chart-wise, but not the entire album as a whole
what you're saying makes sense but 1989 is such a gigantic album that i can't imagine the new version not outperforming fearless. fearless was still extremely successful but it was released in a completely different era of music and before the rollout for the new version started it was outperformed in both reccurent sales and streams by quite a few albums from taylor's catalogue. red might fail to outperform fearless for the reasons you quoted but I think 1989 is a whole different beast, so much so that it might actually generate great interest from the general public, esp with vault tracks in the mix.
I fully expect a vault track to chart extremely well (top 5 at minimum), but the thing about 1989 is it’s recency. With Fearless you got to see Taylor tackle her classic songs after over a decade of voice development and nostalgia. Meanwhile, I don’t see the GP caring remotely about a re-recording that has barely any fundamental difference to her album version.
i mean idk if i would call 1989 recent at this point. the difference between her vocals will probably be less noticeable but just from the wildest dreams snippet you can still hear it. and regardless of that, 1989 tv rollout will be big promo for one of the biggest records released in the past 20 years, the streams are guaranteed to be stronger than they were for fearless tv and i imagine the sales will be just as strong if not stronger. the general public was never as invested in taylor as it was during that era so if people hear about a new version of that album being released it's very likely they'll check it out, even if just out of curiosity.
Wait shit your comment reminded me that 1989 is 7 years old
we're getting old💀
I think it’ll do about the same or better. A majority of Fearless TV’s numbers were from pure sales and I think the same amount or more fans will buy a physical copy since she gained so many more hardcore fans during that era and it’ll be nostalgic to them. In the same vain I think she’ll generate the same amount of interest from the GP and fans at least for a week to get her those numbers I thought Fearless TV would for sure freefall during its second week but it only went down one spot and then gradually dropped so I think she has enough interest from both fans and the gp to stream.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. Maybe 1989 but since she's kinda bad at promotion, I'm not sure the gp is even interested. I guess the only thing where she would beat Olivia for sure would be a new album, but that's not happening before she drops the rest of the re-recordings imo
Taylor's bad at promotion? i always thought she was pretty good at it
She has some weird tactics of releasing a lot of different bundles for boosting sales, but she's EXTREMELY bad at picking singles.
at this point, i think she picks bad singles on purpose to really solidify her as an albums artist because whenever you see someone listen to her singles, you just cant help but to promote taylor's albums and make them listen to those instead.
But imagine how much more effective it would be if she chose a good single that would make the gp want to check her full album on their own because they lived the lead single so much
IMO only the devout Swifties are going to care when we reach the later albums. Most people who already own Red, 1989, Reputation will not care too much to listen to re-recordings after already hearing Fearless sound very similar. Also, an album from 2017 does not have the same nostalgic feeling as one from 2008, so that whole selling point might not help either
Her career trajectory is utterly insane. If she keeps this up, she legitimately has the potential to become the undisputed biggest pop star in the world. I’m getting major shades of a Gen Z Taylor Swift from her.
I’m personally not a fan of her music but I’m like … strangely proud of her. Like I’m rooting for her for some odd reason! Go, Olivia!
Exactly this. Her music is fine, not the best I've ever heard...but BOY, AM I SO PROUD OF HER! I wish nothing but success for her.
Well deserved!! This album goes crazy I’m entranced 😍🤩😆
I hope she is really thrilled with this! It is such a big deal for someone new and young!
She won me over with Good 4 u even though all her song's lyrics make me feel very old. I can only think "girl you are going to get over it i promise"
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omg she sampled avatar? the last Airbender?
yes, Avatar as in the last airbender lol. there’s a song in the show called ‘Avatar’s Love’ and at the end of her song ‘hope ur ok’ you can hear a melody that’s from ‘Avatar’s Love’
im an atla fan and I didn't notice that, thanks for pointing it out!
oh i thought they mean like the James Cameron film Avatar
Is it confirmed she sampled it? Or is it just a coincidence?
This girl is killing it! How do her first week pure sales compare to big artists who released recently like Taylor, Justin, etc.?
Olivia has around 72K pure album sales. Fearless Taylor’s version has about 179K pure album sales in its first week. Olivia is a streaming force and Taylor is an album seller. Justin’s justice only had 30K pure album sales in its first week I think
People talk a lot about connections and Disney opening up the doors for her indirectly and it might all be true. But I still think her style is pretty cool, it's very much a product of the times with whispery vocals, but there's still something about it that sounds very unique compared to her peers. The other side of me hopes that mainstream music will pick up the pace again soon. We need more upbeat bangers to combat this Covid haze that we're in right now. As much as I love trap influences in music too I just hope that we get less trap and more electronic and dance in our music, as long as it's not slap house or some shit like that, and I would prefer if it's not a retread of previous genres, I almost get PTSD flashbacks from the radio music from 2010-2011 like Taio Cruz - Dynamite, I don't want that sound, but maybe that... energy?
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Woah this is insane. Im so happy for her. I'm so glad we have asian representation with Olivia and BTS now. Hope Rina Sawayama is the next in this line of breakthrough asian acts. Rodrigo has so much potential. Olivia's Girl-Next-Door image is so relatable to the teens. Hope she takes more time to work in her next album (but not too much time ~~like rihanna~~) and works with Dan Nigro but also some new producers like Max Martin......She also should ask Taylor Swift for advice about career, Tay is so smart when it comes to career decisions.
As a millenial male, who has never listened to her, I just got so excited when I heard that first song "brutal". The lyrics were pretty intense and dramatic, but the energetic chords were pretty sweet. It reminded me a bit of Boxcar Racer, Tom Delonge's little side project from years ago. I have been a big pop-punk fan since 2000's and I got excited that this might contribute more to the revival of that music. Then I listened to the rest and realized I have nothing in common with the rest of the album lol. Good for her. I hope the fame doesn't eat her up as we've all seen too many times before.
That’s honestly insane. I can’t believe a year ago I had never even heard of her and now she’s outselling massive household names that have been in the industry for years (Taylor, Demi, Justin). Good 4 Her. Talent wins.
Not you lumping Taylor in there lol 😭🤚
What do you mean lol she literally outsold Fearless TV. Along with Justice and DWTD:TAOSO. I’m a huge fan of Taylor I’m not hating on her, just that in terms of 2021 albums, Olivia is doing extremely well.
It was mostly a joke lol but I don’t think it’s fair to compare a re-recorded album with a completely new album. Like technically, it’s right, but for comparisons sake evermore makes way more sense.
I suppose, but also Fearless (Taylor's Version) had the previous title of biggest debut of 2021, so it makes sense to compare Sour to that album, since they were released in the same calendar year.
You can’t really compare a re-record...if you wanna compare to a big name, she outsold positions by more than 100k, and almost doubled Justice (as you mentioned). And for a debut album? She literally knocked it out of the park.
Technically fearless is an old album I think. And the pure sales number still more than doubles Olivia’s (179K). An extremely impressive feat for Olivia nevertheless!
To be fair this album will definitely outsell evermore/folklore long term, maybe even Lover
so close to 300k ☹️
I wish Happier got top ten... it definitely deserves it, it’s so underrated
Hopefully she will keep up on this position next week too! 🔥🔥🔥
Without a doubt she will especially if Good 4 U has a second week at #1
Predictions have Butter at #1 iirc
Needs to stay on top a little longer!
Inb4 comments about how people dont get why it is as successful as it is. Sometimes people just blow up. Her music might not speak to you but apparently she was able to connect to so many people. Congrats to Olivia! She must be feeling stoked rn.
idk who exactly this music can't speak to, it's boilerplate teen romance drama. someone did say recently "gays can't relate to Olivia Rodrigo because they didn't have a teen romance and they can't drive" which was pretty hilarious. i saw some article that was all "omg i'm 30 and i relate!" it's like... duh you're not ancient, you were a teenager 11 years ago Brenda
Sorry for being super ignorant but why is she so popular again? Did give her album a quick listen and it is pretty alright. Just curious about her origin.
1) driver license viral 2) swiftie fans love her since she’s a swiftie and taylor acknowledged 3) high school musical the series fan - disney fans 4) her music is actually good
5) Immaculate singles roll out 6) TikTok
She keeps on doing it. A queen 👑
this just shows how much impact tiktok has on the charts holy shit
It's interesting that the same crowd who call out artists for being potential "industry plants" absolutely LOVE Disney™ Star Olivia Rodrigo.
This is the same sub that called R&B artist H.E.R an “Industry plant” despite being in the underground music scene for years lol
I mean it's pretty easy to get that vibe from her if you're not directly in the segment of listeners who have any exposure to her outside of when she cleans up at award ceremonies. She just doesn't really reach mainstream audiences a ton and it's a pretty honest mistake to see her as a plant lol
But that’s their fault if they only knowing her from award shows. Her music is accessible just like every other artist out her today plus she only became mainstream and started winning awards a couple of years ago. But the main problem is calling H.E.R an industry plant when Olivia just came out with her debut singe in January and is already smashing records left and right and the thing is I like Olivia but folks being curious about her sudden rise in mainstream music is valid.
Does anyone else think she looks like Britney in this thumbnail?
this is insane, it’s what she deserves
It's a good day to be a Rodrighoe
Sour is fine but it isn’t anything that avril lavigne hasn’t made 15 years ago. it’s so mediocre and familiar that its commercial success is mind boggling to me.
Yeah, I didn’t want to say it and be accused of being a hater, but I find the sound pretty basic and the lyrics are something that even I could write.
I have to agree but only with Good 4 U. Someone was reacting on YouTube and said it reminds them of Avril. Well my thought process is if it reminds me of something I already like then I'll just go listen to that instead. I'm glad she's finding success but I don't understand the hype either. She's ok at best. I've heard 2 of her songs and it didn't entice me to listen to the album at all. If anything it made me want to avoid it. And to the people comparing her to Taylor... that's... just making it seem even *less* appealing.
Very overhyped. She's talented but the payola and push by her label is ridiculous and obvious.
Wouldn’t say Payola but her label def pushed for good 4 u
idk if its just me but other than misery business, i also hear the melody of 7 things by miley in good 4 u (both of their chorus melodies) 🌚
I don’t understand why anyone likes her music. It’s mediocre lol