For eight years, MNEK felt as though everybody was mocking him. He has since released an album titled Bulldozer, and through it he is declaring what he believes a pop star should be — and stating that he wishes to become one.
Before putting out his second album, the British singer, songwriter and producer published a stream-of-consciousness essay on Substack, in which he spoke freely about the doubts that came after his debut record, Language. In the piece, he described feeling as exposed as glass, and said that people were making fun of him for wanting to be a pop star. “I felt like everybody was laughing at me,” he wrote. “Like ‘aw Uzo wanted to be a popstar.’ It reiterated all these doubts I had of myself anyway.”
He has now replied to that mockery with a full record whose main idea is “The Wall” — a dance track backed by a choir about rejecting permission and occupying space. “Ain’t asking for permission, make some room,” he sings. Further on, he makes light of the gatekeepers who once stood in his way: “I know my shit is hot/I got these industry white man on my waiting list/Gotta be my own hype man like I rate my shit.”
MNEK’s Confidence Gap
MNEK spoke to Rolling Stone about spending almost ten years dismissing the criticism surrounding Language before returning to public attention. He describes a wall of shame that made him feel he ought to be ashamed while chasing success. That wall has broken apart, along with the questions he held for years.
The way he approaches pop stardom has shifted greatly. He argues that success in pop music isn’t constructed from fragile egos or excessive sensitivity. Instead, it demands resistance, self-assurance that verges on delusion, and a nearly grandiose sense of self. One must desire it — and deciding what that very ambition actually entails has itself become a central discussion within pop.
MNEK’s approach to Bulldozer is about fortifying that position. On “Reverse,” a club track about getting uptight men moving to his songs, he says there’s a level of confidence he wants other people to have via the music. But it’s also for himself. “It’s for me to feel like, OK, I can step into these rooms where they’re super heteronormative and very straight down the line, and be exactly as I am — and be able to not only belong in there, but to actually conquer and be something of note in those types of worlds.”
Tinashe Names Her Album After the Question
This isn’t just MNEK’s story. Tinashe, who has spent more than a decade chasing pop stardom, has made her own ambitions plain — by titling her eighth studio album Popstar.
Her hit singles “2 On” and “Nasty” were released 10 years apart. That’s a long time to be working towards getting everyone else to see what you know to be true of yourself. She told Rolling Stone earlier this month that she started in a pure place, thinking of where she was going to go in her life as a beautiful thing. “As the industry side and the business side of it creeps in, it gets a bit less glamorous. It gets a bit less like rose-colored glasses.”
The album’s title track, “Popstar,” carries that tension. “Don’t fall in love with a pop star/Didn’t know we’d get so far,” she sings. “Tell me, is it everything you thought it’d be?”
The Question Recurs Across the Record
That question recurs across the record, showing up on “Too Easy,” where she pushes back on skeptics who don’t view her as a pop star: “I know that I’m a superstar,” she sings. “They hate to see I’ve come so far.” It’s also present on “Empty Stadiums,” a nightmare about waiting and wanting: “I’ve been singing so long and nobody hears it,” she sings. “And I’m standing on the stage just waiting for applause that’ll never exist.”
The Industry’s Barriers to Entry
MNEK and the other artist are both fighting against a system that tends to push them to the side. He points to the barricades put up deliberately to keep certain kinds of artists out of those rooms. The people who do not fit the traditional standard of a “pop star” are often left at the edges while budgets and chances get streamlined toward acts deemed safer, or more predictable, and therefore simpler to sell.
When an artist’s creative identity grows complicated, there tends to be little agreement on what to call them. Tinashe has carved out her own path, making it simple for anyone uncertain about how to label her — her eighth studio album carries the straightforward title Popstar.
The singer has spotted the contradiction himself. He points it out directly, calling attention to the gap between what is said and what is meant. “Tinashe, with her calling her album Popstar, it’s genius because you know there’s all that lore about her inspiring all these K-pop stars and her being the template for all this shit,” he says. “If that’s not what pop music is, I don’t know what else she’s gonna call it. She is a pop star. She’s a Black woman who’s making pop music from all different diaspora — dance, R&B, electronica. But there’ll be someone who looks at her and says, ‘She ain’t a pop star.’ And you have to answer why you’re saying that.”
What a Pop Star Actually Is
Anyone from Rihanna to Beyoncé to Drake fits the picture of a pop star in MNEK’s imagination. The meaning of the word has changed, he says, because the monolith culture has changed. “Pop star has to be however you interpret it,” he says. His description of what it means rests on a list of desires — a desire to play to big crowds, to be a household name, to perform.
“It sounds weird because you’re so used to hearing them associated with different genres,” MNEK says. “But pop star is beyond genre.” Throughout our conversation, he often deploys “pop star” as a verb — like it’s a clear and intentional action that can be taken, rather than a label bestowed by some cultural consortium. “That is how you pop star,” he says while talking about Adéla, another artist unafraid to lead with her deepest desires.
The Fourth-Wall Turn
MNEK and Tinashe are not subtle about what they are doing. They are writing direct commentaries on pop stardom into their music, which amounts to breaking the fourth wall. Their ambitions are not hidden; they are placed right at the forefront of their songs.
The essay on Substack by MNEK is a component of the same undertaking. It is his attempt to explain himself to an audience that questioned him. It addresses the question that has shadowed him for years. The album serves as the louder rendition of that explanation.
Key Facts Box
- MNEK’s debut album is Language
- His second album is Bulldozer
- Tinashe’s eighth studio album is Popstar
- “2 On” and “Nasty” were released 10 years apart
- MNEK is 31 years old
- The essay was published on Substack
A change is happening within the talk around pop stardom. Rather than waiting on others to define their status, artists are taking control and defining it themselves.
Source material: “Pop Stars Can’t Stop Singing About Wanting to Be Pop Stars,” Rolling Stone.
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