I honestly think it all happened so fast for him he didn’t know what to do

Rap as an industry is violently independent right now even if it’s, contradictorily, still culturally stuck in the rat race of materialism and haute culture

Notice how nobody brings up kpop which is a whole industry of black face pop stardom

There’s no such thing as ubiquity in 2026. There’s no “mainstream.” (And not, industry-backed pop artists aren’t mainstream, they exist well outside of the FOV of more people than ever before)

Everyone can dig miles deep into whatever rabbit hole they want to be interested in. Good luck getting everyone to enjoy the same thing at once anymore

But there is still a mainstream, even if it's more splintered now than it was 20 years ago

Mainstream absolutely still exists in 2026 and Fakemink and Esdeekid are absolutely not a part of it right now

What thread of “mainstream,” ubiquitous culture exists that’s arisen since Covid started? Morgan Wallen? Sabrina Carpenter? Pshhhhh. Please.

All the "heavy hitters" though didnt become popular until the tail end of the 2000s and in the 2010s we saw their careers flourish
I'm not sure how that means the 2010s struggled for pop.

We're also neglecting just how different the times are. Music consumption is as popcorn as it's ever been. Tiktok didnt exist in the 2010s to prop up newer sounds. I don't think it's surprising to see new breakout popstars each year in pop, atleast.

If the question is why the same thing doesnt happen in rap right now, according to raps, it is, at least on the marketing front.

Everything's so niche these days, and I don't think the labels have found a way to adapt to the modern landscape.

Billie Eilish
Sabrina
Chappell Roan
Tyla
Olivia Dean
Morgan Wallen
Olivia Rodrigo
SZA
Bad Bunny

All reached superstar status post-Covid

You may not listen to these artists yourself, but they are absolutely household names (or soon-to-be in Olivia and Tyla's cases)

67 kid

sza , bad bunny, and billie were all pre covid tho

Labels made money off two things:

ownership of music (partially achieved through ownership of studios)
ownership of distribution

Music is very easy to make and distribute without labels now. Artists own their own music, and tech companies own the platforms and algorithms for distribution

The major label is officially dead. They do not exist anymore except to provide an institutional backing to prestige things in the industry like plaques and award shows

Artists can just make their own imprint to distribute to licensers and production companies for physicals

They were not superstars pre-Covid

billie def was

This is just pop music, not a mainstream

Chappell Roan and Tyla

Tyla being a household name is insanity

Feels like this same topic gets rehashed twice a year, if youre in your prime or close to it or a paramount figure in your genre & you impact is limited to meeting a sales quota you’re not that impactful

Who the f*** is Olivia Dean

4 of those artists are not pop artists, they are just popular

And I can name plenty of pop artists that are not mainstream

I explain that in the post

Water was released like four years ago, she isn’t “soon”

Ehhh, she hit another level in 2024