For the uninitiated (and the un-American), “the ball drop” in New York’s Times Square signals the beginning of a New Year. Yet, depending on whom you ask, this year’s festive season heralded the demise of more than a calendar. The ball still dropped. The year ended on cue. But as the festivities concluded at the fabulously named Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve around the corner, pop’s most recent voluminous chapter also drew to its final close.
In a small three-song set, One Direction quietly finished their last performance before breaking up for the foreseeable future. Like the dawn of a new year, the group’s hiatus brings some element of re-birth. Namely: what will happen to the members of this generation’s biggest boy-band now that their banner run is over? Who will be the “Justin one”? Who will star in 2017’s pantomimes? Who is destined to lose?
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Zayn Malik is already set up for the coming months, with one Fader cover story behind him and a deal inked with RCA Records. So while mouths remain closed over the future of Niall, Liam, and the other one, all eyes lean keenly toward the group’s de facto leader, Harry Styles. And in an interview with the UK paper The Sunday Star, rapper-cum-businessman Jay Z has already staked his claim for the hunk-faced boy band member.
“I would love to sign Harry,” he said. “Simon is going to want to carry on working with him, of course. But we could do a joint venture—we both have big qualities we can bring to the table.” He then continued to say, “Harry can make more than enough money for everybody to get a piece of the pie.” Indeed, this is true. One Direction reportedly make £200,000 a day per member. But are those the words of someone who cares deeply about art and music? Could Jay Z really turn Harry Styles into a “mega-star,” or will it go the same way as Rita Ora, who’s now suing Roc Nation in a desperate bid for contract termination? And why does Harry need this old rapper’s help?
In the last few years, Jay Z has cared about investment far more than he has about music—and the prospect of Styles seems to slot in neatly next to his other business ventures: Roc Nation Sports, some champagne company, and Tidal. Because, here’s the thing: Harry Styles isn’t an artist. He’s an entertainer. He is America’s imported fantasy of a cute, flowery, British man in the nicely rounded vein of a family-friendly Mick Jagger. He’s a one-man business plan. And, in a credit to his honesty, it’s unlikely Jay Z wants to develop Styles into a complex and expansive pop virtuoso like Timberlake. What he really desires is to dip his tongue into One Direction’s over-baked $73 million money pie.
I guess this is fair enough. Business moves like this are what make businessmen successful, which is something Jay Z is wildly good at. That’s why he has a personal net worth of $640 million. Still, it leaves a sour taste. Jay used to be one of rap’s driving forces, yet as he settles into his role as a middle aged hip-hopper, he’s becoming nothing more than a self-serving caricature, the rich uncle who pops into your life on occasion each year, looking a little more out of place each time, sporting last season’s fashion trends and doling out ill-dated career advice. Like a walking embodiment of the dollar signs that flash in the eyes of Wall Street’s money-hungry denizens, his role in music now seems to be a character that only rises from his ivory-gated lair when high-powered business decisions are to be made. This is fine. We can’t decide who Jay Z chooses to be. We certainly can’t be mad at him for being good at business.
But there is a sense of discomfort to be gleaned from the role Jay Z wants to play in the future solo career of this generation’s most lusted after boy band member. Styles came from the TV talent show X Factor. Despite registering four (unreleased) solo tracks with the American Society of Composers earlier this week, he has yet to prove himself as a songwriter, a musician, as anything more than a nice boy with a pretty face who dresses like a West Kensington mom at a wine-drenched brunch. It’s not important to be a songwriter or even a musician in the world Styles previously operated in, but it feels disturbing that these qualities don’t matter to someone like Jay Z anymore. His desire to sign Styles highlights the closing gap between manufactured pop stars and authenticity, where the two are married into an amalgamated mess.
It’s probable that Jay Z would succeed in turning Styles into a mega-star. Like a major label, he can bankroll the necessary studio sessions, producers, music videos, promotion, meet and greets, and merchandise. But any label with a sizeable bank account could make considerable money from the Styles brand—and arguably, so could a label without funds, too. Instead, the main thing to consider is longevity. For every Robbie Williams, there’s an Abz Love. For every Justin Timberlake, there’s a Chris Kirkpatrick. Does Jay Z have the patience and desire to develop Styles into the artist he needs to be to compete for longevity with Zayn?
It may seem ridiculous we’re having this conversation about the remnants of a boy band that were primarily designed for teen girls and X Factor parents. But that’s the state of music in this decade of poptimism. With the right producers in Skrillex, Diplo, and BLOOD, Justin Bieber has become critically lauded for releasing some of the best songs of last year, so it’s perhaps acceptable, exciting even, to see what the members of One Direction do next. As a new year crawls from the ash of 2015 and the wreckage of another boy band, it could bring with it the golden plume of another new pop behemoth.
Or maybe we’re talking shit. Maybe Zayn Malik’s solo career will suck, Harry Styles’s, will bomb, and the rest of them will lounge around in LA for a few years before embarking on the inevitable reunion tour plus double disc DVD. Then again: they said the same about Justin Timberlake.
You can find Ryan Bassil on Twitter.