Being a “popstar”

“Popstar,” the title track from Tinashe’s fantastic new album, couldn’t be more aptly named. It features vocals covered in effects, a pounding drum pattern, glistening synths, and even canned sounds of audience applause that build into the first verse. Similarly, the lyrics lay out core details of what it means, for Tinashe, to be a popstar (“We all love to party all night / Just a girl with the stars in her brown еyes”). In an interview with Stereogum, she explained that “Popstar is an energy… it’s a persona one can embody.” I’m struck by the sense of awe that Tinashe imbues the “popstar” term with…

…Especially since not every artist does the same. Listening to Tinashe’s record, I found myself thinking of another song where an artist defined themself as a popstar– that would be none other than Aubrey “Drake” Graham on DJ Khaled’s “POPSTAR.” For Stake’s strongest soldier, being a popstar isn’t a fulfilling way of life but rather a thankless job. While he lays out the facts of his lifestyle (Bitches callin' my phone like I'm locked up / From the plane to the fuckin' helicopter) he sounds flat-out bored about it. On the verses, he name-drops the likes of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber and jokes that “You would probably think [his] manager is Scooter Braun,” hammering home that his conception of pop stardom is more referential than deeply felt.

Now, it’s not like Tinashe is completely thrilled with the lifestyle she describes in her song. On the chorus, she warns potential lovers not to “fall in love with a pop star” because her schedule probably won’t allow for that emotional commitment– in that regard, she’s not too different from Drake. The main difference is in her cautiously reverent attitude toward fame: Drake portrays his fame on a surface level, but Tinashe paints a picture of someone in the thick of it: “Still, I dress it up, but it's all a mirage / Gonna park my 'Rari in my parents' garage.” The tension of her track, characterizing the emotional pitfalls of fame with the pure energy it can bring, is what makes her role as a “popstar” so much more interesting to me than Drake’s.