This is probably directed more towards any Doper parental units of female Tweens out there. What are your daughters listening to? My youngest is Practically-Seventeen, heavily into Alanis Morrisette, and Tween bubblegum pop is beneath her radar; she is unable to advise me beyond a lot of eye-rolling at my maternal cluelessness.
A nice little girl at my church who I had for first grade Sunday School and who is now just finishing up with 7th grade was in a car wreck this week, suffered a broken jaw, and now has her jaw wired shut for the next 6 weeks. I want to bring her a “Get well soon” gift, and I thought it would be kewl if it was her old Sunday School teacher who presented her with a CD of whatever is the hottest bubblegum pop on the charts this month (as opposed to bringing her some drearily uplifting Christian pop from the Berean Bookstore), which she almost certainly does not possess.
It has to be completely harmless, G-rated, non-emo, angst-free, no hidden meanings about bestial sex to shock the grandparents. Kissy-face Osmond-type romance is okay, but not songs using the word “ass”, or singing about druuuuuugs.
These are folks who won’t allow Harry Potter in the house, but a long-time Sunday School teacher can get away with the smiling, well-intentioned presentation of whatever the current version of Hanson is (that’s how long it’s been since I paid any attention to the bubblegum charts).
So. Who’s hot amongst the junior high slumber party set this summer?
Sorry, my 13-yr-old sister likes semi-innocuous rap and semi-innocuous emo.
I can understand why a church-related gift would want to not have it, but I don’t see what’s wrong with a curse word here and there. I don’t think modern pop rap (the kind that gets played on Top 40 stations) or emo overdo it with the curse words: when they are there, it draws extra emphasis to what’s being said. That said, I personally object to some themes in even pop rap such as an overly sexualized worldview (but not those in pop emo, to the extent that they could be said to have themes.)
I personally like Gwen Stefani’s solo pop music, even though it’s corny and bubblegummy. She was the frontwoman of No Doubt, and has a very Madonna-inspired pop sensibility that I have to respect; even though I’m not her target audience, I recognize a catchy, well-produced song when I hear it. Of course, it helps that I think she’s hot. I think her music is mostly pretty wholesome, but there are a few sexy references that might not fly with your girl’s family. I can think of one out-of-character drug reference in her song “Luxurious” (something like “We’ve got hydroponic love and we smoke it”), but it would probably sail over their heads. Then there’s the popular single “Hollaback Girl,” where she uses the S-word several times, but about as innocuously as you can get – it’s like a cheerleading chant, even with a marching band backing her up. If I were you, I’d look up her lyrics online and see if it’s something you feel comfortable giving.
There’s also the very wholesome and cute Mandy Moore (a better actress than singer, if you ask me), and Hannah Montana, the Disney Channel’s popular girl singer played by Mylie Cyrus (Billy Ray’s daughter). Those will be about as G-rated as you can get, but musically, Gwen would be better if you’re dead-set on girlie-pop.
Finally, check out the High School Musical soundtrack – it’s another Disney Channel production that became an insane breakout phenomenon among tweens and teens, especially girls. That might be your best bet, actually. You can listen to sample of any of these on Amazon.com.
I don’t know the name, but there is a current song by a female R&B/hip hop person that is about being “under her umbrella.” My description makes it sound like a sexual innuendo, but I assure you, it’s not. The song seems to be about being there for one another. Sort of like a modern-day Lean On Me.
Then again, I only hear it a couple of times a week at work when someone puts the Top 40 station on the radio, and the 10% of the lyrics I am remembering could be waaaaay off from the actual message.
That’s because you don’t go to my church. These are people who flinch when they heard the word “fart”. Seriously.
“Musicality”, or “artistry”, isn’t a consideration here–sheer trendiness is. I wanna give her the 15-minutes-of-fame-in-2007 CD that all her peers are going to get this summer, no matter how eye-rollingly puerile it is.
It’s not at all ‘current,’ but I highly recommend Hoku’s self-titled album from 2000. She’s the daughter of Don Ho, and the album has a few very catchy songs, is completely vanilla, and a few of the songs have a religious bent, though the album itself is not religious.
It’s not the latest and greatest, so it might not fly for your purposes, but definitely a good showing in the ‘bubblegum pop’ category.
That “Umbrella” song is by Rihanna, a young protege of Jay-Z, and I find her voice incredibly grating (especially in that particularly song). She had a big hit last year, “S.O.S.,” that sampled Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.”
In that case, go with the *High School Musical * soundtrack or Hannah Montana. Both are shiny, happy Disney Channel properties, so they’re tween-trendy and clean as can be. Anything from as far back as 2000 won’t cut it.
The Kid is also 13 and while likes her emo/rage/metal/rap thing, she still also listens to Radio Disney -
I third Hannah Montana - for tweenpop she’s not bad. High School Musical is HUGE with the tweeners. The Disney Mania series is also pretty popular - it’s remakes of Disney movie songs by the current Disney line up players.
Just a thought - you might want to check with her parents to make sure that she doesn’t already have the album in question. These CDs are popular for a reason - everyone in that age group owns them.
Yeah, my usual procedure when giving CDs or DVDs to teens is to include the receipt in the card so they can exchange it if they wanna. I can’t really ask the parental units if she already owns such-and-such, because it’s supposed to be something a tad subversive, something off the “We don’t pollute our ears with rock music! We only listen to Christian Radio” Fundie track–I don’t want to give them an opening to politely decline my little offering. And these are also the people who boycotted Disney because of their “gay-friendly” policies, so I doubt whether they let her watch the Disney Channel.
High School Musical vaguely rings a bell; I believe my daughter may own a copy. That’s a solid endorsement for “trendiness” right there. Sounds good. Thanks, all, for the input.
These are people who flinch when they heard the word “fart”. Seriously.