A brief overview of what is currently trending on X in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Apple: Apple stock skyrockets to an all-time high following AI announcements
#LoveIslandUSA: Love Island USA Season 6 just premiered on Peacock this Tuesday, and it's already full of surprises.
USABasketball: The roster for the 2024 USA Women's National Team has been officially announced.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The Femininomenon that is Chappell Roan
What it is: If you have not heard of Chappell Roan, to put it simply, she's "your favorite artist's favorite artist" and "your dream girl's dream girl". Chappell is a pop icon who has been making music since 2017 but only exploded on the scene with her song Pink Pony Club in 2022. Currently on tour doing mostly the music festival circuit, Chappell is drawing gigantic, headliner-level crowds from the second row of the line up [Editors note: unjust! she belongs in the top spot, thank you to All Things Go Festival in NYC for recognizing this] performing her energetic and dreamy, queer-coded, feminine-empowering, 80s-inspired synth pop hits in often bright outfits and big makeup, likening to the freedom and fun that comes with Drag. When not performing, you can find her using social like a typical Gen-Zer: being her most authentic self on TikTok, bringing the audience behind the scenes with montages of her time on tour, engaging her fans attending her shows, and content of her just being herself, and this is not new, she was a teen girl first, and a pop star second.
Recently, she has been in the news for refusing to perform at the White House's Pride event citing Biden's handling in the events in the Middle East.
What brands can learn: Accusations of industry plants are just about everywhere, even among some of the largest talent in the world. Between these fingers being pointed, and the very transparent strategy of album sales from artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, fans are resonating with Chappell for a stage presence, talent, and authenticity that cannot be manufactured in a boardroom of music execs. Audiences are smart, they can see through when someone is not being themselves for the sake of relevancy (see: JoJo Siwa) and Chappell brings a level of authentic self-awareness that is not only shown through her music but through how she carries herself on and off stage: relatable, and inspiring. Much like Sabrina Carpenter, she knows where she came from and uses it as a launch pad to move forward. Her lyrics are raw, punchy, poetic and strike the hearts of teen girl yearning, love, and angst, but are set to melodies that settle in your brain for days. She’s not just in on the jokes with her fans, she’s riffing on them. If you see her show live, her energy is contagious and you leave wanting to see life through the rhinestone encrusted-lens she produces, with some having even compared it to a therapy session that is well worth the money. At the end of the day, she is a brand, and shows what leaning in with truthful authenticity can do for your audience. If you're going to have one person representing your brand in all of your content, they should be meeting how your social audience is feeling. It's clear she's in control of her own social channels and does the job of listening as much as she speaks, and when she does, shes not talking *at* them, but conversing with them, giving her fans the opportunity to be the other person in the chat saying "exactly" which is the ultimate audience relationship builder.
Examples: 1, 2, 3
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Ever seen a camel zipline down a mountain? Don't worry, it's wearing a helmet
Break out your old T-shirts with words on them, meme merch is back in (unironically)
YouTube relic Oh My God Shoes performed live in 2024!!!!
Trader Joes cooler bags might be the new Stanley cups
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