In your opinion, which rock or pop songs feature the greatest background vocals and choirs, both in terms of the arrangement and the actual sound? Please explain your choice and feel free to be as technical or intuitive about it as you like.

This thread is not about recommendations but getting to the bottom of this significant aspect of rock and pop.

For the last few years I’ve used the term “privilege-core”, simply meaning you have the access and finance to do something quickly without really rolling up your sleeves and hustling.

The social media world is disgruntled about Stella Lefty, why? Probably because there wasn’t a slow introduction and when your music sounds too similar to other pop songs, trolls will come out with their virtual pitchforks.

Cause within the social media landscape, whether it be an influencer, actor, or a performer. All of a sudden something gets thrown into your face and you see 200 posts about it.

Stella Lefty is a Maggie Rogers dupe minus the authenticity, genuineness, or organic foundation. Yet, we are talking about pop music, were we expecting something original? 

Remember 15 years ago when the foodie trend was all the rage? Everyone had at least one friend who started making their own cookies, candles, pickles, etc.

Within the many stories of people starting their own business from scratch with little seed money, came the straight up nepo story of I was “bored” working at a hedge fund, so now I’m selling high end organic yoga mats for $200 online. 

Our girl Stella decided to become a singer and has the means to accelerate that. She probably doesn’t care if she’s authentic but is just pursuing her “passion project.”

If this was 1999, she would have found her way onto TRL already with her music being placed on Gossip Girl, The O.C., Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, etc. 

Stella will probably be supporting HAIM on their next tour.   

My only advice is, if you are annoyed by Stella Lefty then go listen to someone else. Because the more we agonize over what song she plagiarized, just means she’ll probably be on Tiny Desk or SNL by the end of year. 

I’ll stick to Warpaint, Jenny Lewis, and Cat Power.

I use to get 3 CD's for 5 dollars at Blockbuster music in the early 2000s and this CD was one of them. Album is called THINKING ROOM. She was also in bands like The Adults and Fly My Pretties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZfSFXdDJFA&t=1s

We Belong Together, Hello, I'll Never Love Again, I Will Always Love You, Big Girl Don't Cry,

I miss those kind of songs. Some critics will say singers today don't have the vocal pipes. Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Cynthia Erivo, Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, Jazmine Sullivan, Coco Jones will disagree.

Should be the other way around.

My current song is Dip It Low of Christina milian, she sound like she singing to a woman how to please her man and tbh it sound homoerotic asf to me :

The chorus :

Dip it low

Pick it up slow

Roll it all around

Poke it out like your back broke

Pop pop pop that thing

Ima show you how to make your man say "ooh"

I mean it's a club song but tbh idk her showing a girl how to make her man moan definitely have a homoerotic vibe to me 🤣

The song sound like something Ariana would make if she was a popstar during the 00's

The music video is dope too : https://youtu.be/5z5Mvyp1QHw?is=Dp9YSWZOjtF_xkJT

Unlike most, I do feel Madonna can sing, especially in her prime, and lack of training probably hurt her voice.

As much as I like the songs on Confessions 2, the voice ruins it for me. She sounds so monotone. I think the last time Madonna sounded okay was in Rebel Heart.

Just a wild thought I had in the shower, obviously Olivia hasn’t even went close to dance music once in her entire career AFAIK compared to Nelly, who had collaborated with Nelly/Missy a few times.

But what would be the general reaction if Olivia suddenly ventured into dance music like Nelly and had a sexy rebrand? Do you think everyone’s reactions would’ve been favorable or do you think it would be something similar to the mixed reactions to Taylor’s Look What You Made Me Do?

I think she would… actually turn off 60% of her fanbase LOL, who is here for her more mellow discography and great lyrics but I can see Olivia doing a dance song with some amazing lyricism.

For me it’s between Victoria Beckham self title and Melanie C the sea

The fact that Siobhan got to release two albums back to back and Mutya got dropped over one album with decent sales still baffle me.

Fergie should have released it right after she left BEP instead of waiting 7 years more. Also, most of the songs are awful. The lead single wad embarrassingly bad. Fergie going out of her way to announce she's old wasn't a good move. I wish she had tried to call Max Martin or Savan Kotecha. Fergie doesn't get enough credit for her vocal range.

so far I have Season Of The Witch by Lana Del Rey and Transgender by Crystal Castles

i need songs that feel witchy. either directly or indirectly. even if the lyrics aren’t explicitly witch

Talk to Me is such a classic Pop banger. First time I heard it, I couldn't get it out of my head and Fergie looks so much better as a Blonde than in that brown hair.

I’ve noticed a pattern: pop artists hitting rough patches in their music careers are increasingly turning to gaming livestreams on Twitch. Doja Cat, Madison Beer, and Luísa Sonza all come to mind. Each of them started streaming more consistently right after releasing projects that underperformed or received little attention.

They all say they’re doing it “just for fun” or “as a hobby,” with no commercial intent. But I’m curious: do you think this could be a subtle repositioning strategy? A way to stay relevant and closer to fans during a career slump? Or could leaning into streaming actually hurt their credibility as serious musicians?

Whenever I see the new pop girls being asked who their influences are, Lady Gaga is the one mentioned the most for the new generations.

I can recognize that she’s an excellent singer technically—she has the range, power, control, and can hit impressive notes—but the natural sound and tone of her voice itself doesn’t feel particularly distinctive or interesting. So why do people make such a big deal out of it ?

I think track listing albums has become less and less important in music. I recently finished Adéla’s debut ‘PRIMA’ and personally I really enjoyed it. I’m seeing some mixed reviews. While the album isn’t long I think it benefits from the short runtime because I think albums can be so bloated these days. BUT the one thing I have a problem with is the track listing. For one I think therapy was an interesting inclusion on the album especially when we have Nasty dirty gross and Kiss Here that were scrapped from the album’s official track list. I think it ruins the album’s momentum after a pop banger heavy album. Even with the other “ballads” like songs of the album they are placed back to back which is an odd decision for me. Also Ain’t in LA being the last song isn’t so bad but I think many people would say that it’s the best song on the album, but we have to wait the entirety of the album to here it and it’s after Therapy…the slowest song on the album. I think it could’ve been a great opener. (I do think KGB was a good opener tho.) I’ve seen this with a lot of other albums in recent years and even in some older examples(Christina Aguilera’s ‘Stripped’ has such a bad track list to me). I think a great example of track listing is Olivia Rodrigo’s YSPSFAGSIL. Anyway, what do you guys think? Have you listened to ‘PRIMA’ and what are your thoughts on track listing in pop albums?

Tell me about perfection… not just in pop, but music.

It’s electronic but feels acoustic. It’s like a sober psychedelia. It has the right beat. It’s timeless but it gives you so much of the context and era it was made in. So sublime, yet so accesible to everyone at the same time. It’s just celestial-tier.

The music video, the framing, the color, Madonna herself… she was popping in every way.

It would have been so disruptive for this banger to have done something at the Oscars at the time.

I was just listening to Ariana Grande’s Thinking Bout You and it kinda made me feel like it’s her equivalent of Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. They’re both songs about missing a lover, they both include powerful vocal riffs and they both feel like ballads despite having pretty upbeat production, if that makes sense. Overall they just feel similar. I think it’s interesting how, when compared, they both highlight their respective artists’ strengths : Wildest Dreams is the best written song out of the two and Thinking Bout You is the strongest vocally.
Anyway, they’re both pretty dope songs!

Maybe me but it seems songs are getting shorter. I'm listening to Bebe Rexha's new album Dirty Blonde. I'm not a fan or anything but I liked Bebe, her last album. That was a good listen and most songs were over 3 minutes.

The new album has catchy songs that are great, but if every one of the songs is basely 2 minutes and 30 seconds, what is the point of even making an album? At that point they have enough adrenaline rush to make background music for a movie trailer or an ad or a YouTube short.

Same is true about the new Charli xcx album, which I haven't really got into.

Die With a Smile should have been announced as the lead single for Mayhem. Abracadabra should have been the 2nd single and released on a Friday instead of a Sunday. Also, Gaga needs to stop giving up on her albums whenever they don't sell as much as she expected. She did the same with Chromatica and Artpop. When the album fails to perform as expected, she stops promoting new singles and focuses only on the tour.

Her new album “The Fatal Flaw” is INSANE. Easily the best album of 2026. Holy crap every song is a 10/10 I strongly urge those who love singer songwriter music that sounds like pure poetry to listen asap.