Limelight

Chapter Seventeen

~~Overthinking~~

NEW YORK MUSIC GOSSIP DAILY

Written by Editor in Chief: Callie Greene

It's been almost two weeks since Madison Strong's Sophomore album dropped and everyone is still reeling from the emotional and reflective effect REALISM had on her audience across the world. A piece that uncovered the glamorous lifestyle creatives with her social status exist in as much more complicated as the outside sees; complicated and murky and writhe with horrors the world was probably not prepared to talk about, but Madison continues to push boundaries with her music and in the end, making us all look inward to our own hidden traumas and unpack them. Madison chose to view the mentally draining process as more of a journey she chooses to bring her listeners on as a way to feel less alone and teaches us a lesson about crippling loneliness can be, and how important a healthy support system can be, especially in the world of glamor and success.

REALISM tied in a mix of different genres; from her usual alternative, indie and classic rock to more contemporary soul and RnB, probably to reflect the woozy and unsettled state of deliria she's in whilst juggling various personas before the public and in her personal life as particularly described in Euphoria's nightmare. A discussion between me and popular music critic Brianna Nickson and the artist herself, Madison, goes into more depth of analysis of her album on our up-and-coming podcast NEW YORK MUSIC GOSSIP, which is currently available on all streaming platforms.

REALISM has been trending a number three on YouTube and number one on Twitter consistently from its drop, and it's reached over nine million streams across all streaming platforms since its release. Madison is truly a force to be reckoned with in this industry and is rivaling other artists in her lane.

Despite this, Madison isn't above stirring the rumor pot, particularly on social media. Last night, Madison accused newly signed artist, Lia Garcia, of #Liasleepsherwaytothetop, or in other words, sleeping with Soul Fusion's CEO Malcolm Waters. She had posted a thread going into all the ways she had received special treatment since she'd been signed, which included, but wasn't limited to being put on Madison's latest single-release, cursing. The thread has over three million retweets and the hashtag #Liasleepsherwaytothetop has been trending ever since and millions of people have either been calling Lia out for the claims pointing out the fact that as well as Lia's record deal, the fact that she is also now being financially supported by Malcolm and living in his home or siding and sympathizing with Lia after she responded by releasing a recording of her first performance at Maryam Hussein's, Malcolm Water's younger sister, birthday party months before she was signed tweeting Nice try, but this is actually I got here. 

Aside from Lia's response, Madison's credibility has also been brought into question in the last few months, particularly when it comes to the upcoming rising artist, Lia Garcia. She has teased rumors of a rivalry between her and Lia, has been accused of her leaking Lia's unfortunate arrival to the City to the press, and there have also been tips from our subscribers that the first day they met, Madison had called Lia a "charity-case." 

In the week since Twitter blew up with Madison's accusations, Soul Fusion released a statement denying all of Madison's claims, reinforcing their values of individuality, professionalism, integrity, and honesty, and also made sure to stand by Lia in the midst of all the social media assault she'd been the target of. Madison hadn't been mentioned in their statement, so it can only be assumed that Madison will suffer no consequences. A lot of social media had blown up, calling out the Label for their lack of accountability in regards to Madison making the damaging accusation pointing out the alleged blatant disregard of the image and mental health of a woman of color signed to the label in favor of a white woman going out of her way to "sabotage" Lia's career. Lia hadn't said much on the situation besides her initial response, although Malcolm Water's eldest daughter, Blair, had retweeted a post suggesting Madison's weaponizing her privilege as an influential white woman to tear another woman down is hypocritical adding a link to Madison's #girlbossMads merchandise that had launched earlier in the year followed by a series of clown emojis, not-so-eloquently stating her position on the matter.