LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: STAR SEARCHING 💫
Happy Back-to-School! Are you ready to make a big splash for the new school year? Every year, I feel like I watch young people set their expectations sky high for a perfect, wonderful, YA-novel-style school year, and then get upset when things aren’t quite what they turned out to be. Maybe set some realistic expectations for yourself this year.
Speaking of great expectations, let’s talk about FAME. While most people tend to focus on the glitz and glamour surrounding and celebrity culture, we here at CRYBABY MAGAZINE know that there are a lot of sad people with famous faces out there. This season’s FEATURED ARTIST is Lady Gaga, and I’ve brought you a collection of videos showcasing her breakthrough early years. In MUSIC, we have a playlist that explores the ups and downs of fame from the people who experienced it firsthand—superstars at the height of their notoriety. In FILM, we have a pair of documentaries about what it takes to become a K-pop star. And in YESTERDAY’S TEENS, we’ll introduce you to these four boys from Liverpool that the girls are just screaming for.
XOXOXO
RACHEL SWAN / CRYBABY MAGAZINE
MUSIC 🎵 🎵 🎵
FAME // PLAYLIST FALL 2024
Drowned World / Substitute for Love - Madonna
1998 / BAY CITY, MICHIGAN
Pink Pony Club - Chappell Roan
2023 / WILLARD, MISSOURI
2008 / MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NY
Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls
1996 / LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
2024 / CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UK
2015 / VANCOUVER, CANADA
2024 / CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
2000 / KENTWOOD, LOUISIANA
2011 / MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
Pedestrian at Best - Courtney Barnett
2015 / MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
1975 / LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
Flashing Lights - Kanye West (feat. Dwele)
2007 / CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
1985 / MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
2018 / PITTSBURGH, PENNYSYLVANIA
2016 / MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NY
Sky’s the Limit - The Notorious B.I.G. (feat. 112)
1997 / BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY, NY
Hollywood - Victoria Monét (feat. Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monét)
2023 / SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
1980 / NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2020 / MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
1976 / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
FILM 👯♀️👯♀️👯♀️👯♀️
9 Muses of Star Empire (2012)
Directed by Hark Joon Lee
The 2012 documentary “9 Muses of Star Empire,” follows an up-and-coming nine member pop group as they try to enter the South Korean K-pop scene. Like many K-pop groups, 9 Muses has been assembled by an entertainment company as one of a roster of hopeful groups in training. In this system, the individual members have very little control over the artistic direction of the group, essentially signing their lives away in their contracts. There’s a heavy focus on image above all else, and members are told what to wear, what to sing, and how to behave both in public and private.
9 Muses’ experience is similar to many never-made-it stories in entertainment. The group is terribly mismanaged, focusing more on the image of the group than on the music or taking care of the girls in any way. The managers seem to focus on blaming the girls for everything that goes wrong, even pitting them against each other. There is little group cohesion or sense of working together—in private interviews, every member seems to have secret dreams of leaving the group and becoming a big star on her own. Sick days aren’t an option, and as time goes on, the girls start to get burned out and sucked into competition with each other. The whole thing seems to be run more like a cult than an academy.
For a more recent peek into the K-pop music industry, check out this 2024 Unreported World news piece that includes more insights into the pressures of fame and fan culture that stars face in South Korea.
FEATURED ARTIST ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Stefani Germanotta - LADY GAGA
When Lady Gaga arrived onto the national pop scene, she was like nothing else out there. It’s easy to forget what the pop charts looked like before she arrived, but I was there, and it was bleak. The music industry was in freefall after the internet made it extremely easy to steal share mp3 files. Stars were suddenly having to pivot to touring and merchandising to make money. Britney Spears had a very public meltdown in 2007, one of a long list of stars who were cracking under the pressures of fame. Smart hipsters were listening to indie music and getting into collecting vinyl, because major labels weren’t taking risks on anything that wouldn’t sell. Enter the pop star of the future: LADY GAGA.
Lady Gaga seemed to have an ambition and drive for pop music unseen since Madonna. In a 2008 performance at a toy drive in IKEA parking lot, her opening track announces her to the crowd of onlookers: “I want the future. Revolution is coming, and I want what we want. You deserve the future. My name is Lady Gaga, and this is my house.” She then treats that IKEA parking lot like it is the Super Bowl Halftime Show she would eventually perform at.
Gaga’s early songs were about embodying the excesses of American 2000s culture in the most artistic, eye-catching way possible. Lady Gaga incorporated elements of fashion and performance art into her everyday life as a pop star, which turned out to be hugely successful as social media was growing on the internet. Like many breakout stars of the 2000s, she proved to have a savvy ability to use the paparazzi and TV cameras to her advantage. The number of iconic looks were stacking up: the meat dress, the Kermit coat, the bubble dress, absolutely everything in the Bad Romance video. She brought high fashion off of the red carpet and magazines, into the public consciousness, and back into the hands of the queer community, all while loudly commenting on our national obsessions with fame, and violence, and death.
I consider Lady Gaga the first true superstar of the internet age. I’m also extremely grateful that she has been able to turn it into a long, successful career. In the early years, the pressure she was under felt so heavy, I was fearful that we would lose her before she got to grow into an adult artist. I’m so grateful that she was able to survive and continues to be an artist who seems to be committed to using her fame and platform for good in the world.
Fun Fact: Lady Gaga did more for gay rights than the U.S. government, mostly by never shutting the hell up about how much she loved the gay community. She faced intense public pressure to back down, and she just kept speaking her truth. Never underestimate a loud girl in a fun outfit. You will regret it.
If you would like to drown in some Gaga nostalgia, please enjoy the GAGA MEDIA ARCHIVES on YouTube to watch Ms. Stefani Germanotta in action throughout time and space. And if you’d like a peek into the future of American pop, check out current subversive pop princess Chappell Roan’s set from Bonnaroo this year. Chappell is taking over the country at an alarming rate, and you need to get in on this party if you aren’t already!
INTERVIEW YOURSELF 🎤︎
Would you ever want to be famous? Why or why not? What would you want to be famous for? How famous would you want to be?
What are the benefits and drawbacks that come with being famous?
If you were famous, how would you want to engage with your fans? What about your haters?
Who are your favorite celebrities? What do you like about them? How do they use their fame in the real world?
How would you like people to remember you 100 years from now?
YESTERDAY’S TEENS 🎸 🎸
I hope you have your vaccines up to date, because we’re taking the time machine to February 1964, and there’s a new disease called “Beatlemania” sweeping the youth population of America.
I confess I don’t get The Beatles. Neither of my parents are big Beatles fans, so I didn’t grow up listening to them, and I never dove into their catalog until my brother “discovered” them in the 2000s. HOWEVER, it’s pretty incredible to hear the venue full of young fans screaming their heads off before the guys have even started playing. The Beatles themselves (all in their early 20s at the time) seem delighted and amazed at the crowd’s excitement, even actively encouraging the crow’s participation.
These guys have no idea what’s in store for them.
For a firsthand, real-life account of what it’s like to grow up in the entertainment industry, I recommend Alyson Stoner’s excellent podcast series “Dear Hollywood.” In it, they go into detail about how their experiences in entertainment impacted their mental health, body image, relationships, and career. If you’re interested in the day-to-day reality of being a child star, this is a great account.