Meghan Trainor: What Happened to Her?

welcome back to pop dissected [Applause] [Music] today we're going to be discussing Meghan Trainor and why it seems like she's fallen out of the spotlight she captured when she burst onto the music scene we're gonna cover all her studio releases the controversies that plagued her and what led to Meghan's music career to slowly fade into the background and of course there's no intent here to disrespect Meghan and I promise to remain respectful throughout the video but before we begin be sure to drop a like subscribe and turn on that notification bell for more future content on all your favorite pop stars Meghan Trainor's debut single all about that bass released June 30th of 2014 and it became a hit peaking at number one on 26 official charts including the Hot 100 the track has been certified diamond in the United States for 10 million total units and earned two Grammy nominations however all about that bass would be a hit with a big controversy where many deemed Megan was shaming people with thinner bodies many felt in an effort to uplift those with bigger bodies Meghan was in turn bringing down those who were slimmer in a statement Meghan explained how she wrote the track to help herself and others with body confidence and she didn't work as hard as she did to hate on skinny people what lyric I believe most people had an issue with was I'm bringing booty back to tell all them skinny that no I'm playing I know you think you're fat while this is blatant teasing Meghan does make the point to let our audience know she is joking nonetheless it's still hit a nerve her second single lips are movin was also met with controversy some claimed if Meghan was skinny shaming and all about that base then she was saying all men were liars on lips are moving however lips are moving seemed to prove Meghan's staying power the track peaking at number four in the United States however many noted it sounded way too similar to all about that base thus people began to believe Meghan didn't have much versatility as an artist then came dear future husband in which everyone and their grandmother accused Megan of enforcing traditional female roles in a heterosexual relationship now personally well I completely understand that and no one should be subjected to any kind of standard at the end of the day it's anyone's own choice how they want to handle their relationship whether we agree with them or not the song furthermore solidified the conception that Megan Trainor was anti-feminist now I believe feminism is about respecting a woman's choice whether it be to go against the grain of societal standards or make the choice to be a quote perfect housewife as Megan describes in the song and I'll leave it at that the track peaked at 14 in the United States not necessarily a huge decline from the preceding single the Megan would rise once more with like I'm gonna lose you which peaked at number eight though a collaboration with John Legend his inclusion was praised more than Megan as a lead artist additionally this would be the first single off title where we'd see a different side of Megan it was a lot softer and a lot slower and presented a theme not exactly seen in the preceding three singles now all four singles off title did immensely well especially for a debut record and when I personally think made Megan's stand out with this record was her channeling of a classic a doo-wop and soul sound across the record it wasn't traditional pop music she was offering something interesting and new as she climbed into the pop scene it was unique and I think aside from her songs being undeniably catchy this sound is really what helped her stand out amongst her peers title debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 238,000 album equivalent units 195,000 being pure sales and Megan would go on to win a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2016 however the sound I made Megan's stand out amongst the crowd would be lost with her second record thank you now Megan stated the record would be a more matured version of herself but upon recording the lead single no the records direction changed entirely with most of the tracks being replaced with new ones thus we can't be entirely sure what the record initially sounded like before most of it was reworked thank you released a May 13th of 2016 and went on to debut at number three on the Billboard 200 with 107 thousand album equivalent units and 84,000 pure sales this by no means is bad as the record was up against Drake's views and Beyonce's lemonade however I think the two singles preceding the records release did a number on her know and me too while no did maintain some of the sounds seen on title it went into a fully-fledged dance-pop territory reminder this is the track that reshaped the direction of the record the song was well received for its direction but additionally criticized for continuing that theme of faux feminism claiming the intent of the track is there but comes across as a gimmick a similar criticism to all about that base the video was widely noted for being a complete tonal shift of Megan's videography off title darker colors and a lot more sexual and there's nothing wrong with embracing sexuality but this shift could have turned viewers off it was almost like a full 180 of an image however the video was still positively received for its direction and the track peaked at number 3 on the Hot 100 but only number one on two charts internationally a huge departure from the success of all about that base the records second single me too peaked at 13 on the hot 100 and I attribute that to solely the song just being catchy it was met with widely negative reviews many sought a self-indulgent and braggadocious and in some sort of flawed attempt to be empowering it simply is the exact opposite and I have to agree despite this track being fun it comes across as narcissistic and it's not a good look better would be the final single off thank you and much more closely to a degree reflect some sounds title and personally it's the best single she released off of thank you the track unfortunately failed to chart on the hot 100 but was well-received for its musical direction some noting we got to see a more authentic Megan on this track better is another empowerment single and stacked up against all our other singles that were empowerment themed I think this one delivers its message most authentically and clearly and it's truly ashamed this track did not get more recognition but there's a tinge of irony in this but more on that later now this leads us into the present day with treat myself the time on for treat myself will show us this record would inevitably not live up to any of Megan's previous work in March of 2018 Megan stated the record would release June 19th also in March the lead single no excuses released the track peaked at 46 on the Hot 100 and as I've discussed with lead singles if it doesn't do well the record surely will not and it's rather that simple the lead is intended to promote and hype up the record it's on if that single doesn't perform well it's indicative of a lack of interest however of course there are many other factors that go into this though the track was praised for its sound as well as the empowering message about one demanding respect it was also noted as a return back to her sound on title and while I can sort of see that this is undeniably a pop track following that treat myself was delayed to August of 2018 with no official release date well that came and went but we got the record second single wave in September of that year the single unfortunately failed to chart on the Hot 100 but was praised for its maturity and I have to say despite the chorus having some unneeded production I absolutely love this track so time passed and we arrived in February of 2019 in which Megan gave us an EP The Love Train as an appetizer of sorts as her fans awaited treat myself while production-wise I think it sounds dated here and there I think it's an astonishingly mature effort that shows Megan's growth however the he went widely unnoticed and failed a chart on the Billboard 200 with the Love Train Megan showed immense growth and maturity however it took her a long time to get to that point she didn't necessarily exhibit that a lot very early on in her music career so by the time she showcased that talent people were just not interested and it's such a shame tree myself was finally given a January 31st of 2020 release date with Megan stating she had written for records worth of material in an effort to adapt to current industry trends and this speaks to a very crucial point I'll touch on in just a bit alongside the records release came the single nice to meet you featuring Nicki Minaj it peaked at 89 on the Hot 100 however this track was noted for once more potentially delivering an inauthentic feminist message and was seen as formulaic with specific elements crafted to the track to deliver a pop hit which in turn made it come across as mixing popular things together without any real substance or direction treat myself peaked at 25 on the Billboard 200 and received pretty mixed reviews what was most noted by critics was the record attempting to channel many different sounds across it and how Megan's continued evolution only hindered her and it's no surprise one critic stated how Megan is continuing to employ misguided anthems that missed the mark of authenticity so with that where didn't Megan Trainor go and what's happened to her I think this boils down to two things identity and misrepresentation first let's discuss identity Megan came onto the scene with her record that very much challenged conventional pop music she debuted with a vintage doo-wop throwback sound that wasn't particularly seen in the masses especially by a female pop star this inherently made her unique and gave her leverage to stand out amongst her other pure pop peers however Megan's sound regressed along the release of thank you while our bee is infused on this record as seen in title thank you very much dive into and explorations of the pop genre and this is an overall assumption of the record not looking at each track individually so with that Megan really lost what made her stand out for the most part but with treat myself she went right into pure pop and as Megan discussed a lot of the time was spent on treat myself trying to adapt to trends and the unfortunate thing about that is when you chase trends you date yourself instantly and your music can come off as inauthentic the Love Train most closely resembles Megan's work on title I personally believe it is her strongest effort since title many pop artists start out pop with other influences then shift across their records to try out different sounds it's an evolution sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't I think in a Megan's case her search to experiment with new sounds and frankly chase trends only harmed her in short she lost the sound that made her unique and instead of keeping influences of the vintage sound on succeeding records she primarily ditched it to go into sounds that weren't original or unique I personally feel she went from a very unique artist to blending into something very general finally we have authenticity and this also ties very much into identity I think that in an effort to change her sound and try new things Megan didn't deliver in a way that reflected a true gradual transition now only Megan knows her intent with her music but I think the want to try new sounds left her at sort of an identity crisis where each record was very different though giving her a varied sonic discography the transition through the records didn't seem to be genuine and for a lack of a better word felt forced bridging off of authenticity we come to her intent with her tracks nearly all of them being met with objections or controversies now I do believe Megan had an honest approach with her track she was riding and believed in the message she was sending out however I think the way they were presented was it in the strictest of clarity which allowed critics and listeners alike to criticize her music and label her as being fake or do bring a message solely for her own gain or to capitalize on a cause such as feminism or body positivity all in all it's a shame I love many of the messages that Megan does deliver but as I listen I can see how critics were able to poke holes in the songs and pull out flaws whether those flaws are real or just over exaggerated but it is important to also note megan has been additionally criticized for cultural appropriation and the use of a black scent additionally many people noted how with a lot of her singles Megan was circling around the same themes and the same ideas so I think that made people get tired of her so by the time she got to the Love Train where she was being a lot more mature in her content and giving really great storytelling people were not around to witness that growth Megan was set to join maroon 5 on their tour this year but as with all tours this year and indefinitely it's been postponed also outside of music Megan has served as a judge on The Voice UK and that's that so I have to ask all of you what do you think of Meghan Trainor's evolution musically as well as the controversies she's been wrapped up in are they just or are people overreacting furthermore what do you think is next for Meghan Trainor thank you so much for watching everyone be sure to drop a like subscribe and turn on that notification bell for more future content on all your favorite pop stars

Channel: Pop Dissected

Views: 170,501

Rating: 4.9184418 out of 5

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Id: -wNl9nljwc8

Length: 14min 54sec (894 seconds)

Published: Tue May 19 2020