In my collection I have over almost 300 CDs from 35 different artists including Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Marina (formerly and the Diamonds), Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Janelle Monae, Florence + the Machine, Tove Lo, Britney Spears, Rihanna, The Spice Girls, Olivia Rodrigo, Melanie Martinez, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Lykke Li, Gwen Stefani, Kacey Musgraves, Adele, Katy Perry, Kesha, Amy Winehouse, Fiona Apple, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Tyla, Dua Lipa, Lorde and Chappell Roan. You'll probably notice that there are virtually no male artists in my collection and that's on purpose. I generally find women to be more interesting as artists and performers and I've always related to them more than I do men. (Plus women are actually underrepresented in the music industry believe it or not so I want to combat misogyny by actively supporting them as much as I can.)

The crazy thing is, I actually got the bulk of these albums this year. It all started when I bought Beyoncé's Renaissance album on a whim and decided I might as well own her other albums. When I finally got them all, I decided to get all of Lana's stuff and before I knew it I was spending more than half my paycheck on CDs 😅 (which, I can admit was a financially irresponsible thing to do but in the moment nothing felt as good as opening up a new package or knowing that there was another one on the way).

Some are my favorite artists that I listen to on a regular basis (Gaga, Chappell, Charli), some I have because of the nostalgia factor (Spice Girls, Britney, Miley) and some I have because I couldn't be a fan of pop music and not have them in my collection (Whitney, Mariah, Janet, Madonna). 

There are others that I'm actually considering selling because I literally only got them because I liked one song and impulsively bought their entire discography (Fiona Apple and Kacey Musgraves). I'm also thinking about getting rid of Lykke Li too because I only got her when I bought a Janelle Monae CD lot on eBay and the seller included a Lykke Li CD for free and I was like well if I have the album I might as well get her others. (What can I say, I'm a completionist 🤷🏽‍♂️) I'll probably end up keeping them though.

The crazy thing is, there was a point where I felt that it was somehow important for to me to have a collection that featured legacy acts like Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Tina Tuner but then I had a sudden realization. I've spent upwards of 2000 USD on my collection so far and I don't listen to these other women often enough to justify owning their music. Not just that, but some of these artists like Dolly and Barbra have HUGE catalogues that are incredibly intimidating because they'd not only take a long time to source, but would cost a lot of money to purchase as well. Additionally, the CD collection I have right now is already so huge that traveling anywhere with them is going to be such a hassle that I kinda want to just focus on artists that mean something to me personally (i.e. artists I've consistently listened to as a child, teenager and young adult) and not try to curate a collection of iconic female pop acts of the last 60+ years. In a way that being a pop archivist is kinda what I'm doing, but it's probably better for my bank account (and my mental health) to space things out over time instead of getting everything all at once.

Now my main priority is getting the rest of Kylie Minogue's, Sabrina Carpenter's and Christina Aguilera's discographies so I can finally CHILL TF OUT. I think my collection is getting out of hand so I should probably take a break for a bit until I relocate. Granted I also liked Halsey's latest album The Great Impersonator so I'll probably end up getting the rest of her stuff too before *actually* chilling tf out. At some point I'll probably get Paloma Faith and Nicola Roberts because I liked their stuff during high school along with Jade Thirlwall and Addison Rae because I like what they're doing right now, but it's not a priority ATM so we'll see. There are a bunch of other female pop artists I also think about collecting but there comes a point where a cute little hobby turns into debilitating mental illness so I should probably chill out fr 🥲

I'm addicted 🥲