Music experts on why Zara Larsson is having a huge breakout moment Zara Larsson has been steadily making one of the most interesting comeback/breakout combinations that I've ever seen in pop music. Before 2016 even started trending again, her 10-year-old song "Lush Life" was climbing up the charts. It's the most summery song of all time, and yet, here it is blowing up in January! - On the surface, the reason why is simple — she pulled a fan onstage to perform it, and the fan did the choreography so passionately, it went viral on TikTok (another successful concert stunt, a la Role Model/Sally) The very fun choreo became a viral dance (180K+ videos posted to the hashtag, 800K+ videos set to the sound), and like so many songs before it, has been given a second life thanks to the platform. - But why was she even touring, having flopped? That's also thanks to TikTok. An absurdist meme that pairs her song "Symphony" with colorful, summery visuals — like if Lisa Frank threw up a dolphin — went viral in 2024, and even though she had nothing to do with it, Zara embraced it. She changed her entire style to evoke that image. She did what so many flops could not — became self-aware and embraced the camp of it all. - She was able to fully reenter the pop girl universe by opening for Tate McRae, and her 2025 song "Midnight Sun" is more successful than anything she's released in years. Some say (I say) it was the song of summer on the gay internet. - She addressed her career reboot in a recent interview with ABC News, saying "I’ve already had success and then my ‘flop era.’ And then it’s like, ‘ok, I flopped.’ So, it doesn’t scare me anymore.” Awesome. ****My question for you is — what does all of this say about the state of pop music, and the quest to escape the "khia asylum" to become a main pop girl? What has Zara done that other breakouts have not been able to? Is it her style, her embrace of being camp, or something else entirely? Let me know your thoughts!