And for what, exactly? For grasping furtively at the brass ring? For not Knowing Her Place? Because, let's be honest... her face, it is not a Pop Star's Face. Her voice? Not a Pop Star's Voice.
One of the main functions of Pop Music is to cement the identity of the listener. Declaring oneself a Katy Perry fan (f'r instance) indicates an endorsement not just of an aesthetic but of a particular set of signifiers. Beauty. Youth. The barest hint of rebellion. A wanton and yet curiously virginal sexuality. Taken together, these things constitute a mask that slides invisibly over the face of the Pop Fan. It is a mask that resembles the presented image of the Pop Star, and this is where Rebecca Black fails, earning the enmity of her would-be fans. Her mask is flawed because it too closely resembles her True Face, and thus the True Face of her vicious, mocking audience.
The "Friday" video was made by a company called Ark Music Factory. It would seem that their business model closely resembles the "Song Poem" producers of the 60's and 70's. Ark accepts a substantial fee (rumored to be $2000) in exchange for writing a pop song (although Ark Artists such as the amazing 11-year-old CJ Fam claim to have written their own songs) and creating a semi-slick video for said song. They also feature the artist in Ark Showcases (there's been at least one, with footage to prove it) that seem to promote their stars to the other stars' parents and siblings. All of their artists and videos are SPECTACULAR. All of their artists and videos are... wrong.
The Ark aesthetic involves TONS of autotune, which comes in handy when crowbarring a less-than-stellar singer into a vocally demanding role (witness the differences between Alana Lee's live clip in the Ark Showcase with this pristine video version). The backing music is a dense mush of dance beats, electronic noise, and overblown guitars (Alana Lee's "Butterflies" is a great example of the "Massive Guitars mixed so low as to be almost subliminal" quality that these cats seem to go in for) that allows no space for contemplation... and yet, unfortunately for the featured artists, the lyrics shine through with a brilliant and shocking clarity.
This is unfortunate because Your Ark Team write some of the most epically insipid lyrics in the history of human expression. "You keep on tryin', texting me texting me with those smiley faces." "You had your chance, and you blew it blew it blew it, I gave you one more time to take me take me take me take me." This is perhaps the main tragedy of the Ark Music Factory. While the clients are perhaps not the flawless beauties (and there ARE a couple of male Ark Music clients, if you were wondering) and vocal titans pop fans are expecting, the vapid lyrics are the most glaring difference between Ark Music and mainstream Pop. Not that mainstream Pop music is not vapid... it is vapid in a DIFFERENT WAY. Much like the Russian Exchange Student who is mocked for asking if "anyone wants to make party", Ark's clients are derided not for their actual meaning (the only significant difference between Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and Rebecca Black's "Friday" is a bad girl/good girl dichotomy) but their inherent awkwardness. Again, the Pop Rejection of these artists is not due to their actual aesthetic qualitities, but instead the subtle flaws that brand them as outsiders.
For listeners with a particular sort of brain, this stuff is much more compelling than its platinum-selling counterparts. I find myself fascinated by the very vulnerability that signals the Media Legions to savage these poor artists. If we are to have vapid Pop Music, is it not preferable to have it actually speak to the awkward and inchoate nature of the teenage experience than a glossy, scripted version of the same? And yet, it is this very awkwardness that alienates the mainstream Pop fan. Ark's roster of artists ATTEMPT to convey the signifiers of Pop, but they GET THEM WRONG. Thus, they are attacked, picked apart for their own flaws (less than perfect bodies and faces, strained or tuneless vocal performances) and the flaws of their would-be mentors (overly trite lyrics, dated production techniques). Taken as a whole, the Ark Music Artists are clearly OTHER, and are bullied and shamed as such.
At the top of the page are the men in charge of Ark. Their names are Patrice Wilson and Clarence Jey. Patrice is the (fucking AWFUL) rapper who shows up in 90% of the Ark videos. Clarence has "completed exams" at the Trinity College of Music. He wrote these songs. They claim that they will roll out a video this Friday that will reveal "The Truth About Ark". I'm fairly confident that it won't include the "Five Days With Ark" video that they have pulled from all file-sharing sites. I'm also sure it won't feature the "You Make Me Crazy" video by Darla Beaux in which teenage Darla is strapped into a straitjacket. It seems Ark has (slowly) become aware of its ominous, cultish image and is making painful strides toward "hip" self-awareness. Hopefully their own limitations help to keep them... if not "honest", then at least as honest as possible.
The Ark Music Factory story promises to be a deep and resonant episode in the history of American Pop. Rather than succumbing to our love for schadenfreude, I hope we can learn and internalize the harsh truths that make up Ark's subtext.
It's better than fucking Ke$ha.
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