Lights, Camera, Action

I find this new song by Supa Smash Bros both inspirational and vulgar.

‘pop star’ is song by Melo and Mr. Scenery under their group Supa Smash Bros.

The title alone – ‘pop star’ – makes one think of similar songs such as Nickelback’s ‘Rockstar’. And predictably so, on a song with such a title, the listener is always gonna expect to hear the word ‘rockstar’ thrown around a lot in the song.

That’s how predictable Mr. Scenery and Melo's song is, but then it is possible to go beyond that predictability and find the meaning behind the song.

The song alternates around two positions: on the one hand, it's lewd; and on the other, it's inspirational.

I'll both praise and probably condemn these two seemingly differing positions.

‘Bitch, and I ain't no rapper’ goes the first words of the song, and then in the second line, we hear Mr. Scenery say that he ain't a preacher

He might not be a preacher, we know that, but him saying he's no rapper stretches the imagination. But perhaps his saying that he's no preacher is a way to justify his crudeness.

Anyway, who is the singer addressing? We might never know, but since I said I'll both praise and condemn the crudeness of the lewdness, let me start: I think we are at a point where it's not vulgar to be saying words like ‘bitch’ and ‘shit'. On one hand, this is a celebration or recognition of our less holier-than-thou side.

Thinking of Americans, I'm reminded of this clip where a preacher utters a vulgar word only to catch herself before the word's through. Anyway, on the other hand, being able to say such words is freedom of expression.

Moreover, it can be argued that this is music, with secular music being a venue of whatever else that cannot be said in church 😊. Moreover, if badness is one of the hallmarks of secular music, apparently one can't also be a pop star or rock star without a sour attitude towards life.

Right there, I think I have managed to praise and condemn one of the song's position.

But here's the thing: even the guy (Mr. Scenery) singing about naked bitches has an inspirational story (if not snippets) to tell on the same song: he raps that he started from the bottom leeching and now he's the one people are seeking.

Of course, ‘leeching’ and ‘seeking’ are made to rhyme.

And then he tells us that he won't stop until he achieves it. How inspirational can one get? The fact that we're alive means that we haven't stopped seeking for fortune and fame, isn't it?

Well, if you can forgive the reviewer's daydreaming, let's move on.

Melo and Mr. Scenery have partnered up as Supa Smash Bros. On Spotify, I realize that they have about one single or two. I think this is explained by the fact that Mr. Scenery has an album out and some songs, the last one being released on the 16th of June.

Lights, camera, let’s get active

That's the chorus by Melo.

You can't replace me

No duplicate me

Those are beautiful words: nobody wants to be replaced; and nobody wants to feel they can be duplicated.

The duplication in this song cuts both ways: one, ‘replace’ and ‘duplicate’, if you can forgive my logic, are distant synonyms; two, there’s no way you can copy his style. He's a pop star, remember? And not everyone can be a pop star, right?

Except, the inspirational part of the song that makes me want to attack it is when Mr. Scenery sings:

Let the world know who you are

That's a bit wild, isn't it? On one hand, it should be inspirational, but not everybody wants to be known and not everybody can be known. Some people don't need the fame; some people don't want the camera and lights.

But if you are a lover of rockstars or musicians singing about musicians, this is another song to add onto your music or listening radar.