Taylor Swift is on the cover of the new New York magazine this week, boldly named as "The Biggest Pop Star In the World." That's a big claim. And one of a sort that seems increasingly difficult to make. The world is so confusing now.
It wasn't so long ago that TV sets could only reach channels in the double-digits, that tumblrs were just misspelled gymnasts, and there wasn't this great sense that—wherever you were—something cooler was happening elsewhere. But now everything is atomized: we have no idea who that person hosting Saturday Night Live is next week; we need apps to tell us what songs are playing, and we forget the artist as soon as we Shazam.
As much as the Internet has brought us all together, it's torn us all apart. How do we compare things whenn its all apples and oranges? It's terrible!
Eh, it's not actually that terrible. The universe is a giant ecosystem. According to Hindu philosophy, everything is one. The appearance of distinction is an illusion called "maya." There are still narratives that connect us, there are still parallels that make sense. The worlds of hip-hop and pop music, really, are not that far apart. At Complex, we're here to remind you of that, by bringing you the definitive list of pop stars and their rap star equivalents.
Written by Mike Zaroni
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