2. Pop Star
Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being
"real people" experiencing real emotions. Pop starts often have an iconic item
or physical action that can be recognized by many people examples of this is
Michael Jackson’s moon walk, Madonna’s bra and Kanye West’s brand Yeezy
with his shoes selling out rapidly when available.
3. Why Is Chris Brown a Pop Star?
He is recognised for more than his music, he gets plenty of media attention
especially for his violence with some of his ex girlfriends the most popular
being him punching Rihanna in the face. He also known for his dance moves
which he constantly uses in his music videos and live performances. The fact
that he is raising a child by himself attracted strong media attention and he
also decided to name his latest album after his daughter Royalty as well as
making a song about her.
4. Richard Dyer’s Theory
Dyer’s theory is that celebrities are manufactured by institutions or record
labels for financial reasons. They do this by changing their image and public
personality to suite the fans so that they can make as much money as they
can. Pop Stars are displayed in way that they are portrayed as “real people”
with “real feelings”.
5. 1 – Becoming a pop star
Chris Brown began by performing in his church choir and in several local
talent shows. When he mimicked an Usher performance of "My Way“ his mom
realised that he had a vocal talent and then tried to get him signed by a
record label. Unfortunately Chris had a troubled childhood with his parents
splitting up and his mothers new boyfriend was very violent.
6. Chris Browns image is his dance moves that he uses in live shows and music
videos. He is also known for his stylish dress sense and these 2 features create
a bigger target audience. Freestyle dancers may be attracted to his music due
to the upbeat style and might try to replicate his moves. Young adults as well
as teenagers may like his dress sense and may want to purchase similar
clothes to him. Chris Brown had a religious upbringing and since coming into
the music industry he hasn’t particularly displayed this upbringing with his
behaviour showing that he has been ‘changed’ by his label to be displayed as
a bad boy to appeal to the audience so that they purchase his music.
Star as constructions
7. Industry and Audience
Chris brown started out as a young bad boy on camera but did not seem to
have any problems in his personal life but after his incident with Rihanna he
seemed to get worse and worse having many problems and seeming to be in
the news for the wrong reasons every week. The bad boy persona attracts
both the female and male audience and with him recently rapping in his songs
he has brought in a new audience and in 2015 he did a whole album with Tyga
who was dating Kylie at the time which means fans of her are a potential
audience. Since having a daughter (Royalty) he has tried to improve and even
made an album named after her but he is still seeming to have media
problems.
8. Ideology and Culture
Stars have their own opinions and attitudes towards certain things and often
display strong devotion to a cause or ideas. An example of a pop star showing
strong opinion about a topic is Miley Cyrus who may be controversial due to
her style but she is a gay rights activist and has showed the public that
multiple times on twitter. Chris Brown does not seem to have a strong
attitude towards a specific subject but is still pop star
9. Character and Personality
Chris Brown has changed a lot since the start of his career starting as an
almost innocent character with songs like “kiss kiss” and “forever” but
developed the bad boy persona after coming back from jail. He has had many
problems off camera and behind the scenes and this has lost him many fans
evidence of this is the amount of albums that have been bought by the public
and the reviews on them with his early albums going platinum and multiple
singles were reaching the top 10 in the charts. Even though his albums
themselves may be getting less sales his music videos seem to still be getting
a lot of views with his 2014 hit “loyal” having half a billion views at the
current time (07/16).
