By CHESTER CHIN
I’m going to begin by making a musically-blasphemous statement – I’m sick of Adele.
There I said it. Is the world still spinning around? Has everyone recovered from their shock? Good.
Don’t get me wrong, the girl has massive talent and her voice is nothing short of phenomenal. And oh, there’s also her little feat of proving that the music industry isn’t just a beauty contest.
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| Colossal: There's no denying that this British songstress has massive talents. |
But our local radio stations have a way of over-playing “hot” tracks and make them sound despicable after the 100,959th replay of the week. That’s the unfortunate case with Adele.
The local airwaves killed Adele for me. Now every time Rolling in the Deep or Someone Like You comes on the radio, I feel like tearing my ears off.
But let’s save that topic of radio killing the music star for another day.
To her credit, I won’t say that the British songstress’ music is overrated. As an ex-fan (yes, it’s possible to lose adulation for your favourite singer), what I love most was the fact that the twenty-something broke conventions with her very presence in the music industry.
Adele proved that popular music is not just all promotions and empty hypes. She doesn’t subject herself to pop gimmicks and she certainly doesn’t put out bad songs.
As I’m writing this, Adele’s sophomore album 21 has spent over 23 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart.
So, why are these 70,000 odd Americans (and a large part of the global community) still flocking record stores and purchasing 21?
Here’s three educated speculations I can offer you as to the reason(s) why Adele’s so famous:
Adele’s popular because she’s a beacon of hope amidst Lady Gaga’s theatrics
To a certain extent, Adele is the anti-Lady Gaga. She’s free of any pretentious gimmicks and controversies. Most importantly, you’ll never see Adele wear a dress made out of raw meat!
But then again, every other female singer-songwriters from the UK has been a testimony against Lady Gaga. The likes of Duffy, Natasha Bedingfield and Kate Nash have stake their craft on pure pop lyricism instead of well-crafted marketing. And yet, they don’t seem to enjoy the same amount of success that Adele does.
Besides, just because someone likes Adele, that doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t enjoy listening to Born This Way.
Adele’s popular because my mother likes her music
Yes, my mum turns up the volume when Someone Like You comes on the radio. So do my aunties…and to a certain extent, my dad and uncles as well.
To brush off Adele’s success as a product of how palatable her music is to senior people is a lazy theory , and a little ageist too. Old people do listen to good music.
Apart from that, a large portion of 21‘s sales come from digital sales (the album holds the record for being the best-selling digital album of all time).
What Adele has managed to do though, is produce songs that are so musically-diverse that they transcend all age demographics there are. Whether you’re 14 or 40, Rolling in the Deep will have you tapping your feet along to the track’s infectious beats.
Adele’s popular because her music is emotionally-resonant as they are catchy
This is perhaps the safest (read: dull) explanation to reason Adele’s popularity. She possesses a soulful voice that makes listeners pour all their emotions out. An added bonus would be that although her singles are ridiculously catchy, they’re also actually lyrically meaningful.
But (yes, there’s always a but), the argument on whether or not someone’s music is good is a very subjective thing. Personally, I think Rachael Yamagata’s Worn Me Down is super catchy AND meaningful, yet you don’t see her topping any mainstream charts.
Sure, 21 is mostly filled with mid-tempo ballads, something that’s very rare in today’s pop landscape. But so does Beyoncé’s 4, but that turned out to be her least commercially successful record.
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So when all’s said and done, why are Adele and her hit record 21 so popular?
There’s no concrete answer to that question. What’s for sure though is Adele is indeed a rarity in the contemporary pop music scene. Her songs tread the line of mainstream allure and indie non-conformity. They’re good without selling out as pop fluff.
Adele’s no Britney, Christina or any cookie-cutter pop star. Her image and music is distinctively her own. And in all the pretentious mumbo jumbo fuelled by marketing and promotional stints, Adele lets her music’s originality soar.
Perhaps that’s what that matters at the end of the day. Good old music and nothing else.
