#now will Liam and Zedd get out and promote it?

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Tues 6 Apr ‘21

In this day and age, even real journalists are struggling with what it means to report news when facts can so easily be falsified and truth is so slippery-- how much more so your humble fandom chronicler, with no access whatsoever to the players in our stories! Fandom in general is nothing but grasping at shadows on the Walls(tm) and trying to make sense of it all without ever being allowed to see the real events, and being very aware that not only that, everyone involved in telling the stories is actively trying to mislead us, usually in multiple wildly different directions (truly unfortunate for a fandom more terrified of uncertainty than any group of people I’ve ever come across). Add in technology that makes it near impossible to discern the real from the fake and well… you start to understand the appeal of NFTs I guess! Given a truly verifiable DM screenshot someone could probably get a good bidding war going am I right?! I personally would pay good money for yall to start blockchain verifying your damn receipts (HOW sad am I that this isn’t really how NFTs work, imagine if they were actually so useful!)

Luckily, in fact things pretty much always turn out to be way simpler than fandom makes them, and usually it’s possible to get to what’s most likely the truth eventually. In this case: that Louis DMed Jedward! (In almost every other case, of course, it’s that things have been faked, screen recording or no, so this is the exception to the rule.) Anyway today saw some dramatic debunking of a DM from Louis, but then that debunking was (less dramatically) itself debunked, meaning if you’re just coming on board now you’re WINNING cause the whole middle part could be totally skipped and we are now back to the beginning and all of that can be ignored. And thank god, trying to understand it as fake when it seemed (to me) so obviously real was doing my head in (see tortured opening monologue.) So, the series of events goes like so: Jedward got up early this morning and continued to tweet about the industry and Syco and 1D, growing increasingly hysterical (“Justice is gonna be served!”, “You can’t silence the truth! Nobody can drag me down!”...uhhh that’s a lot for 6 AM damn) and then, boom, dropped a pic of a DM... from Louis!! In it he writes (the night before) “you guys have lost the plot hahahahaha you must be high”, lolll. Why would they make up him saying that, why would a faked message not be like “yeah right on” or something?! I mean, is he wrong-- what ARE they doing?? ARE they high? What is their endgame, other than getting attention to promote their new music, in talking so much about 1D and Little Mix? Louis is, as usual, asking the real questions, and more importantly, without actually giving anything away or committing to anything. Additionally I wondered if he may have wanted to sort of disrupt the narrative that he unfollowed them because he supported their message and wanted more people to see it (which you have to admit is a, uh, counter-intuitive conclusion and not remotely the most obvious way to interpret an unfollow); he may in fact wish people would shut up about his business and let him handle it himself as he sees fit, as he’s indicated many times in the past in similar situations.

Some people are enthused about Jedward’s crusade though, and happy to speak publicly about it- Nicholas Liddle chimes in about some of their points to say “from a journalist AND publicist standpoint I can confirm this”, plus “Louis Tomlinson is one of the most sweetest, genuine, unproblematic artists...take it for what you will,” and “stream Walls,” aw. Singer Lily Allen congratulates Jedward on “being iconic” and says yes, she agrees with what they’re saying.

AND there are actual OTHER THINGS GOING ON: Liam for example!! He’s got a beautiful bushy mane of lion locks and he’s tweeting about NFTs, are he and Louis twinning or what?! Liam actually let a pap get a glimpse of him though, unlike SOOOME Louis’- he was photographed in a parking garage looking like he really wished he had a jacket. According to the pap captions he was outside a TV studio in London and “gearing up for his BAFTAS performance”. Well idk about all that but I do know that he was looking good! Additionally he posted “I’ve had my eye on NFTs for a minute now and love this new piece” and goes on to promote some animated digital art featuring his old collab buddy Zedd, and to say that he’s gotten a few pieces by the artist and “can’t wait to get more!” He shares a still from one that he bought from the same people (who have been doing tour visuals for years apparently).

And Niall’s back with the aesthetic pics! We got scenery, we got a studio pic, we got scrumptious desserts and stylish selfies and we got a PUPPY, hell yeah! Hitting ALL the insta bases there (well, he could show a little titty…? but other than that…) Oh yeah and did I mention-- tiny song snippets!! Nice. What’s he working up to I wonder? Something is coming I bet you!!

[zaynliam]

Looking back on the interview with Liam Payne, who released the new song "Stack It Up" [Series of Himeko Imaizumi]

[Note: The article below was originally written in Japanese and was translated using Google Translate]

Published on September 29, 2019

The 28th edition of the series “ Throw Back to the Future ” by Yumeko Imaizumi, who is widely active in radio DJs and liner writing. This time, I wrote about Liam Payne , who released a new song “Stack It Up” in September 2019 for the first time in a year, with memories from past interviews (list of columns so far)

Liam Payne delivered a single for the first time in a year. The title is “Stack It Up feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie”. Speaking of Liam, as a member of One Direction (hereinafter 1D), a super idol who swept the world pop scene! Jonas Brothers, which was very popular at the time, released the album “Lines Vines and Trying Times” in 2009, and after that, three people started shifting to solo and the pop scene was said to be absent from the idols. 1D was born from the audition program "X Factor Season 7". It's 2010.

In the United States alone, the total sales of singles and albums exceeded 25 million, and the performance of the concert in 2014 has been brilliantly ranked first among the biggest artists. Young people from the UK quickly became the world's top group and built a gorgeous pop scene.

I first met 1D when I was still doing a hall tour in the United States. After an interview before the show in San Francisco, I saw their stage still fresh. At that time, I couldn't imagine that it would be so explosive in popularity, but I thought that the staff had a strict patrol system. It may be due to changes in the times, but due to the spread of SNS etc., every photo is strictly checked, the off-photo of the member of the smile full of happily eating japanese sweets that I took as a souvenir, immediately came out. I'm sorry.

From the time of their debut, without much time, they stood on the stage of Madison Square Garden. When I experienced that stage, I first faced the reality that 1D was going to be amazing. Next to Madison Square Garden is a pop-up shop where their goods are sold, filled with girls and parents every day. The dolls of six members who got in the crowd. When Niall and Liam came to Japan, they had nostalgic hands in the interview.

Now, although the prelude has become long, 1D, which ceased activities in 2016, became solo and started activities that take advantage of their individuality.Liam released “Strip That Down” in 2017, but this was a hit with over 5 million copies and it was a good start.

After that, the single was constantly distributed, and in 2018, he became the first solo player to visit Japan for promotion. In that interview, I was able to hear Liam's attitude to music and honest opinions, so I will post everything on the site. 

(Cooperation: Fm yokohama “Radio HITS Radio” & Yuriko Banno)

Liam: (I got a doll from the 1D era) Wow, I miss it. My hair is gone now (laughs).(Laughs)

Imaizumi: It ’s time to visit Japan for the appearance of “POPSPRING 2018” (held at Makuhari Messe on March 24th). How was the stage?

Liam: Because of the late release of the album, we did cover songs on this stage.By doing the cover, I was able to feel the possibility that I would be good at this kind of song. When I sang a 1D song, the fans were so excited that some children were moved and crying. I was glad to be able to feel the passion of Japanese fans again this time, and I was glad that there was such an opportunity.

Imaizumi: The solo activities of 1D members have their own personality, but you know that Liam is also a commercial success?

Liam: That is certainly said. But what is the basis for success? Everybody is doing at their own pace, and with their own tastes, both Harry and Nile have toured, and Louis has produced good songs. It ’s not about competing in it. For me, I recognize that I am fighting in a bigger scene after leaving the group.Around there are Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and Drake. Because you are in it.

Imaizumi: What is Liam's solo style?

Liam: I'm still looking for it. The soon-to-be released album (First Time EP 2018) will be a playlist-like piece. Now listeners are listening that way. My work collaborates with various people, puts in various flavors, and any solo artist may be, but the debut work pursues what it is like. You have to figure out what you should send out. So far, I've been singing people's feelings in the group. I was able to learn it because I became a solo artist. I often found myself a little far away from a machine that moved like a group. So I was able to make various types of sounds.

Imaizumi: When I'm in a group, I hear that you want to do solo music because you want to do music that is different from the group, but in the case of Liam, you mean you left the group and found it?

Liam: That's right. The reason why 1D was successful was because we believed in the music we were doing. Of course, I had my favorite style, and I think that contributed to my taste. I also wrote a song. But after leaving the group, when I thought again, "What can I do?", I wasn't dancing in the group, but I didn't like to dance. You can meet such a discovery. The first single has the phrase “I'm free now” in the first lyrics, but that freedom means I want to experience and try things. I want to find out what I am. It's hard, but now I'm learning from it.

Imaizumi: You jumped into the ZEDD concert, but you seem to have enjoyed Japan for the first time in a while.

Liam: Up until now, it was hard for hundreds of fans to get out of the hotel. I come in when I enter the store. But now I don't care about anyone, I can go outside, and in that sense I can enjoy the freedom away from the group.

Although it was a short interview, he spoke a lot and told us about his thoughts. In 1D, he was a simple youth, but in just 5 or 6 years, Liam has grown into a responsible person. I didn't think I would talk about the 1D era, the difference between solo and 1D. After this interview, it was not a full album, but released “First Time” as an EP. A year later, you finally released the single “Stack It Up”, is he still searching for himself in music? You can listen to “Stack it Up” once and you can see that there is an old friend Ed Sheeran in this production. The collaboration with Ed can be said that Liam's lyric worldview was born out and a new style was born. The end point of your search may have come to light.

Written By Himeko Imaizumi

[nerds4life]

Have you noticed anytime Liam collabs with another artist it somehow becomes mostly about the other artist? I mean stuff about his music still gets out there and such but I remember this happening with Zedd and now I notice it's happening with Charlie Puth too. It's like Liam's promoting them in a way but it never seems to be a two way street. Not that they can't be friends it just seems to lack that organic feel.

I’ve said this many times before. It is the same situation for all the boys. The collabs disproportionately benefit the collaborator, rather than the boys themselves. Yes, they get exposure to a new audience and new genres of music, but the collaborator, be it Charlie Puth or Zedd or Sia or Marren Morris or Steve Aoki, get access to the 1D fandom, and the 1D fandom comes with a lot of blind loyalty and money.

[cannes-anon]

I really hope they'll get to hang out more even if now the collab is done cause liam needs more people like anton (aka supportive, not snakes, lovely) in his life

liam can start by joining zedd at omnia this weekend. promote echo tour, a little favor and shizz 🙏

[thembutterflies]

well not comparable really because niall has 2 platinum US singles (SH is eligible capitol just hasn't collected it yet) so he's still doing better overall. so far liam is just a one hit wonder--they've tried really hard to make get low do something and so far... not much has happened there. let's hope it's not! maybe his next song that he's on will do better

Well I meant that STD is charting higher on billboard right now. And it has more streams I think a big part of it is because of Quavo but we can’t know for sure until Liam’s second song. Get Low is a Zedd song they barely promoted but the video should be out soon so we’ll see then. Still that’s another collab.

Niall has 2 proper solo songs out and I don’t think we can compare until Liam also has 2 songs (and yet again he has no music video and they’ve all been released on a Thursday so I’m interested to see how his 3 single will do and hoping its released on a Friday)