{"id":466119,"date":"2026-05-29T13:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/466119\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:05:11","slug":"the-d-list-pop-star-purgatory-its-been-a-minute-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/466119\/","title":{"rendered":"The D-List pop star purgatory : It’s Been a Minute : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Is your fave in pop star purgatory?<\/p>\n

David Becker\/Katja Ogrin\/Steve Granitz\/Julian Hamilton\/Getty Images\/WireImages\/Redferns<\/p>\n

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David Becker\/Katja Ogrin\/Steve Granitz\/Julian Hamilton\/Getty Images\/WireImages\/Redferns<\/p>\n

We love a pop princess, but what about the pop peasants?<\/p>\n

These are the pop music artists who might have some mainstream success and fame, but they’re not exactly household names. Fans on the internet have created a metaphorical space for these pop almost-stars…the Khia Asylum. But how can artists break out of this pop star purgatory?\u00a0 And what does a fictional mental institution say about the way fans and artists are thinking about the music industry? Brittany is joined by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento<\/a>, NPR music reporter, and Billboard staff writer Kyle Denis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want more episodes about how we perceive pop stars? Check out these episodes:
Bad Bunny redefined what “America” means<\/a>
Rosal\u00eda & the evolving definition of Latinidad<\/a><\/p>\n

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse<\/a><\/p>\n

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR\u2019s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org\/podclub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This episode was produced by Liam McBain and Corey Antonio Rose. Engineering support came from Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Our Supervising Producer is Cher Vincent. Our Executive Producer is Barton Girdwood. Our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni.<\/p>\n