Notes on Pop Culture: put your paws up and buy a cassette player
From mega events to a niche singer (and everything in between).
Whether you're a Little Monster or not, you were probably impacted by Lady Gaga's concert in Copacabana during the first weekend of May which followed the tradition of the event Todo Mundo no Rio, which featured a Madonna concert last year. This year mega-show broke the record for the largest audience for a solo female artist, with over 2,5 million people in attendance (unimaginable, but real). It's estimated that the economy received a boost of R$600 million (around $100 million) in tourism-related sectors, including food and entertainment. Additionally, the Rio government came close to R$1 billion in earned media. When you perform or launch something in Brazil, the stage is always bigger.
And the singer herself saw this boost on the charts. She had 16 songs on Brazil’s Top Spotify list and 8 songs boosted on the Global Spotify chart. As Kaique said, “this spike in streaming is a real indicator of how powerful that moment was digitally (…). With Brazil being one of the top markets on Spotify, it played a major role in boosting the global consumption of both her new and old hits”. Brazilian consumption is seen globally as passionate — which, mind you, can be either good or bad. If you are loved in Brazil, you’ll be famous forever. But if you do something bad to Brazil, your career is over.
In addition, fans were taking over the city of Rio de Janeiro days before the big day. Many gathered in front of Copacabana Palace (the singer’s hotel), while many others enjoyed the eternal Brazilian summer along the Copacabana beach. Some brands took the opportunity to promote their products and services. Major players like Max promoted the series The Last of Us using the iconically-sad phrase Gaga used to cancel her 2017 show in Brazil. But it was Grindr, the gay dating app, that stood out with phrases like “Emergency! Send more tops!” and “Looking for a G.U.Y? Try Grindr!” — the “G.U.Y” is a reference to Lady Gaga’s Artpop song.
Now, on the other side of the world, Erika de Casier released her new album, Lifetime, exclusively in cassette format for sale on her Bandcamp. And it sold out immediately (you can listen to the ripped off lo-fi version on YouTube). In this new work, she went full Trip-Hop/Downtempo to create a whole new moody work. I already wrote about the return of these “more chill” music genres and how we need it nowadays in a past edition — and I am full here for it!
I don’t see this as a boom of the return of cassette tapes, but rather the revival of analog rituals as forms of consumption. We saw the vinyl boom over the past decade, driven by music fans and high-fidelity enthusiasts. Now, we’re seeing artists investing in physical media that function more as visual and sonic aesthetics (the lo-fi texture is the perfect spicy for her music) and as a statement about how they see the world.
In times when we live less and less with spirituality and commitment, small rituals become religious — especially when they’re influenced by something divine (in this case, music and art). I belong to the last generation to have direct contact with the analog world: born in the '90s, I grew up in a small town where everything arrived and updated more slowly. Now, with everything hyper-connected, I’m happy to see artists encouraging people to look back, without rejecting the present, but seeking for a better future — and it is in this insane knots of everyday stimulations that we move forward.
After a long time, the MET Gala delivered looks that were extremely elegant, intelligent, contemporary, and necessary. My favorite, by far, was Teyana Taylor, who embodied the Harlem Rose concept in her custom look by Marc Jacobs. Every detail is tempting… but the giant pleated durag is simply the most beautiful item of the entire event. On the other hand, Doechii showed up with the Louis Vuitton logo on her face. A lot of people loved it, but I keep wondering how far we should go in literally donating our bodies to a brand. The face as a billboard? This is soooo United States. I hated it.
To finish, I want to share something fun with you. I had an assignment in my Master about what a “Dimas Henkes starter pack” would look like and I created an image about what I consume and how I see people who consume the same things as I do. Sometimes we feel unique, but in reality no one cares (laughs!). What would your starter pack be like?
Tooooooootally recommend:
1 - Going against the trend of major luxury houses that are only choosing men to creative director roles, brands like Uniqlo and Cos reveal their secret: “Women designing for women”.
2 - Bad Bunny’s freshly announced World Tour - without the U.S. entirely.
3 - Watch new Apple TV’s series The Studio. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. And thank me later.
Loving the starter pack cameo
And during Spain's blackout, analog media showed its relevance!
(our starter pack has wine and horoscope stuff in common, hahahaha)