(Part 2) Best products from r/popheads

Two of my favorites of similar themes -

So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star by Jacob Slichter (Semisonic's dummer)

Kanye West Owes Me $300 by Jensen Karp

Not quite totally in the pop genre but two memoirs I really enjoyed as someone who plays music. The Semisonic one is about a one hit wonder (on the pop charts at least) and Kanye West Owes Me $300 is about a never was but they were really good memoirs on the music business from a personal perspective. And they both show the ups and the downs but it's not all dark at all, I thought both books were pretty hilarious (especially Karp's) and they were both quick reads. So they're both not totally pop but if you're interested in what it's like to be a professional musician I would definitely recommend.

The Twitter beef with Louis was pretty wild and childish but fortunately the 2 did reconnect after Louis' mom passed away and I think they're good now.

The not touring thing isn't his fault, he has anxiety. He does want to tour - he even has a chapter/page in his book where he explains "I want to play live. I will play live and he has shared in the past how sick he felt before performances when he started out performing solo. I'm sure he'll tour in support of his upcoming album (whatever it's titled and whenever its coming) and he has been rehearsing, so I still have faith in him lol. Hopefully he does start out with smaller venues like he suggested in the book, and eventually be able to confidently do bigger shows/tours.

> I suppose today the most viable way to replicate that would be to have store-specific bonus tracks

Oh trust me, that still happens! There are a total of 24 songs released as part of Madonna's Rebel Heart but you would need to buy the deluxe edition in a European supermarket chain to get the first 20 (it's not enough to buy the deluxe edition, as there's still a track missing, Auto-Tune Baby) AND THEN either buy the super deluxe or the Digital EP to get the other 4 remaining tracks.

You wanna get Dua Lipa's version of Cher's Bang Bang? Then go to Italy to buy a special edition of the standard version of the self-titled album... and if you want the tracks in the deluxe edition like Room for 2 and Last Dance you betetr import the Japanese version because otherwise you would miss out one track: For Julian.

Speaking of Japan, artists adds bonus tracks in that country's versions because the economy dictates that it must be that way: Good luck finding Kesha's Emotional from Rainbow online, join the conversation of why Fifth Harmony's Big Bad Wolf remains trapped as an add-on in a foreign edition of 7/27 and never stop thinking that Camila left I Have Questions to rot in Japan alongside the Daddy Yankee remix of Havana.

This also happens in the US with the Target bonus tracks: Nicki's Barbie Tingz from Queen, Troye with Running Shoes and This This from Bloom, Carly with Never Get To Hold You and Love Again from Emotion.... the list goes on, and the idea of retailer exclusive bonus tracks is a controversial one

Oh the fragrance hobby is no joke, people pay literally thousands of dollars a bottle for rare and exotic perfumes by artisan perfumers. There are review channels on YouTube, fragrance-centric blogs and Instagram accounts, books about the history and aesthetic value of fragrances. There’s even different scenes in the hobby like those who only do natural scents without alcohol, the essential oil crowd, the people who buy only vintage unopened bottles from 70+ years ago, people who collect just the bottles, people who trade fragrances like the subs r/FragranceSwap and r/PerfumeExchange; to those who make a deal to split the cost of a bottle of perfume and divide it afterwards to save money on subs like r/fragsplits and r/SplitFrags; those hardcore into home fragrance like luxury candles by a company dating back to the 1600s that made candles for Marie Antoinette, the incense lovers who spend $700 on Japanese incense made of rare woods by a company that makes incense for the Japanese Imperial family, to the folks who look for rare (and sometimes illegal) perfume ingredients made from animal products like ambergris (basically, whale vomit from whales that consume mainly squid; it’s used as a fixative and is supposed to have a mild, spicy odor) or [civet oil](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civet_(perfumery) (an oil procured from the anal glands of a small cat-like animal - yes, really - that’s used to extend a perfume’s lifespan and strength). It even has its own vocabulary of specialist terminology with which to describe different scents and odors: “head note”, “sillage”, “drydown”, “accord” - there’s an entire language that fragrance lovers use to communicate how they perceive fragrance.

It’s an insanely deep hobby, one with a history spanning literally thousands of years and traditions, not to mention a global industry that’s projected to reach $48 billion dollars in valuation. Turn away now, before you get sucked in lol.

I shamelessly read "Taylor Swift: The rise of the Nashville teen" at a library once, tho I wasn't really a fan before hand. But after just reading about her childhood (before the age of 16ish) with her doing theater, struggle during school days, getting into the industry, made me think very differently of her in a good way and many of my preconceptions of her vanished. I think she was very smart with her opportunities (despite her privileges), she's obviously very talented, and i can understand her competitiveness better.

I think of her as more human now, though still a little bit SNEKkkK.

She has a very interesting story that'd be great for a doc!!

A couple of key things that can make a difference here: finding songs that fit your personal taste, and reading informative translations.

With the lyrics, you can miss out on a lot if you don’t know the full context, meanings, wordplay, etc. For annotated translations that explain these things, I recommend Muish and Doolsetbangtan. There is more intricacy and depth to many of their lyrics than people often realize.

Speaking of their lyrics, if you’re interested in lyrical analysis and/or psychology, you can check out this podcast episode of Jungian analyst Murray Stein analyzing the translated lyrics of BTS’ most recent album Map of the Soul: Persona, which was inspired by his book about the theories of psychologist Carl Jung, also called Map of the Soul.

As for song recommendations, I suggest checking out this 25-song guide co-written by Kim Youngdae, a Korean music critic who knows their discography very well and wrote an extensive book analyzing their music. The guide includes a few sentences about each song’s style and content, so you can look through the list, see if anything catches your eye, and give it a listen. BTS’ discography is pretty diverse, so even if some songs aren't for you, you might find others that are. If not, of course that's okay too.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

this book is super interesting in regards to his beginnings (esp. re: Denniz Pop) - Katy Perry era, it was a super fun & easy read too