The making and unmaking of Iggy Azalea

I have almost completely given up on trying to keep up with pop culture. It's not because I'm trying to be out of the mainstream. I don't interact with enough people about that kind of stuff for it to matter. I think that, after 40, I realized that life is short and that my time is best-served pursuing art because it enriches me, not because I can talk about it with other people. That's what sports are for anyway.

 

I made a conscious decision to step away from pop culture a few years back. Gave up my long time subscription to Entertainment Weekly and decided not to pay attention. I have enough folks on my FB feed to let me know if there's a movie that will interest me or if there's something on Netflix I'd like.

 

And, to be clear, it's not that I don't necessarily follow critics or podcasts that I enjoy. And I saw "Black Panther." I'm not living in a cave or anything. But I'm fine not knowing anything in the Billboard Top 40 or atop the Nielsens. I don't actively try to keep up.

 

I totally understood that from your post. That's about where I am too.

 

Wonder how much Cobain hating fame had to do with his wife. She pretty much was the opposite. As difficult as being under the spotlight is there are celebrities who
definitely avoid it more than others. One example since someone mentioned them on another thread is REM.

 

I am.

Has decent internet, though, so I have that going for me.

 

I sometimes imagine that you sleep on the floor because mattresses are for the weak.

 

They put out an album two decades years into their careers that directly aped Nirvana so that they could stay famous.

 

It's a lot more difficult to keep up with pop culture. Twenty years ago there was no satellite radio (or has it been that long), There was no youtube. for a song to be popular it had to be liked by program directors on top 40 radio. Now anything popular is on the internet. Wonder if Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash think of how famous they would've been if the internet was around then.
They pretty much were only known on the east coast.

 

Wanting to make money and reach a wider audience does not = wanting to stay famous.

 

Most hotel room floors are more comfortable than the beds therein.

 

I found that when VH1 gave "Top 20 Countdown" the axe, my knowledge of modern artists dropped off. Now, it seems the only time you see new musicians on TV is award shows.

I'd consider Bieber an example. I can say I really know one of his songs. If he was popping up on TV every hour, I'd know many more, I'm sure. Not that I'd be a big fan, but I'd recognize them.