P!nk

P!nk is one of those pop artists who you can’t seem to escape. She’s been in the game for years upon years and she’s still on everyone’s radar. Her hit catalogue actually dates back to the late 90’s. She was in two girl groups, Basic Instinct which disbanded before any official material was released and Choice which only released one song “Key To My Heart” for the Kazaam soundtrack. Soon after, P!nk was given the option to go solo, which she did, and for good reason. P!nk quickly found success with her first couple of solo records Can’t Take Me Home and Missundaztood spawning iconic singles like “Don’t Let Me Get Me” and “Just Like A Pill.” I remember listening to some of P!nk’s songs when I was just a child, and I so vividly recall her fantastic Kid’s Choice Awards performance of “Get The Party Started.” For someone to be killing it back then, and to still be so prominent in today’s musical climate, it’s incredible and it takes a real artist to do that. P!nk had been through all kinds of phases, portraying herself as the hardcore bad ass chick for most of her career, which was a different approach from peers like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears who were used as more sexual icons known for their looks. Even with everything seemingly being against the type of artist P!nk presented herself as, she was able to power through her many different eras, finding success over and over again. P!nk was a certified hit maker, with impressive vocal abilities and a unique vulnerability to her lyricism. She soon found herself at the center of the radio, producing hit after hit with tracks like “So What” and “Raise Your Glass,” ultimately peaking with what I believe is still her best record to date, The Truth About Love.

P!nk is one of the female pop-rock superstars that we admire and adore up to this day. We just love we can relate to her songs as she matures as an artist. But like some of the pop stars who were introduced in the late 90’s, Alecia Beth Moore a.k.a. P!nk had to follow what her management and record label thinks is best for her. She ended up recording a R&B/Hiphop album entitled Can’t Take Me Home. One of the producers who worked with her is BabyFace and to be honest, I think P!nk and her team came up with a good album. I know that she’s vocal about feeling disconnected with her earlier work, but it was a good project for her to experiment and for music fans to know her. Also, the music videos they produced that time were fun to watch because she has this attitude of a young woman who you wouldn’t want to mess with. The girl has spunk! Care to join me on a nostalgic trip to Pink’s early work? There you go!

I like ten of the thirteen tracks in P!nk’s latest album, Hurts 2B Human. That is quite a high number considering that only three of those songs (“Walk Me Home”, “Hustle”, and “Can We Pretend” have been released as singles. Also, I do not like the two singles chosen to be the singles of this album. So that makes P!nk’s new collection of new music, extremely likeable in my scale meter because it is not the perceived hits that really carry the album, but a lot of undiscovered gems that can help play out the slow but sure style of marketing P!nk has been employing for her last few albums to succeed. I am sure this album has legs because there are so many beautiful songs and interesting collaborations which the record company and P!nk herself can choose from.

You and I know that so many albums have retained number one spot on music charts across the world, some may even occupy the position twice with different albums, but what more can you say about three consecutive albums topping charts like Billboard 200? Alicia Beth Moore might not have the ovation and attention Beyonce Knowles-Carter and her contemporaries enjoy, but this feat deserves some respect you can’t overlook. The last two albums before Hurts 2B Human, “The Truth About Love (2012)”, and “Beautiful Trauma (2017)” enjoyed successive stints on the number one spot of the billboard 200, guess what? ‘Hurts’ is not letting this slide too, which makes it easy to assume that her best is yet to come. With over 90million records sold worldwide, she is ranked as one of the world’s best selling music artistes, and career accolades like Grammy Awards and so many more make her recognized for her good vibes, and energetic live performances. P!nk has always been unique, she has well documented this in her albums; most of her productions have been all about “I don’t care yo, and I’m not trying to fit in”. She’s being in the game for over two decades, but her pop fusion can be strongly linked with outsiders and rebels, unlike her contemporary pop stars. – Weird or Awkward? Whichever way you call it is probably right! Because if you have to talk about her genre – pop – it isn’t something you would call alternative music, but Pink has strangely balanced these worlds over the years. She has never tried to be the coolest songwriter or musician, you could tell from her emotional rawness, humor and communicable dance beats, but she's shown us herself which is aptly enough. Pink is simply a badass, and a pure one at that, but Hurts 2B Human is rather a reflection of her vulnerable and careful self, it is sad and loaded with past regrets, yet, the album still found its way to the top. Her albums engender deep songs that are impeccably flouting industry style, laced with attitude and a seeming genre rebellion. It is safe to say that her achievements have fallen short of deserved recognition, which is quite SHOCKING! She hardly gets mentioned in conversations about great musicians in her era, and most importantly among her pops folks. Some people may argue that she can out-crazy Lady Gaga, and out-sing most of these pop artistes because she is a total pop-star package, but somehow, she is oddly off the radar, probably a price for breaking borders. If you knew about how “Beautiful Trauma“ broke best sales figures in 2017, and how Hurts 2B Human is topping 9 different charts now, coupled with her strings of electrifying performances, then you would surely understand why so many people love her unique career path. You may not grade her as your favorite while some may not even know her, but so many people consider her their icon.