Tuning into some bad girls of pop music

While I'm far from being a true audiophile, I can't help noticing a rising trend in pop diva songs. Showing off your wild side has come back into vogue for the current crop of leading ladies on the mike and some pull that off better than others, in my opinion.

An example of the latter is Taylor Swift with her latest big video for "Bad Blood".  Her Sin City meets Michael Bay approach to this song about a personal feud(allegedly about her and Katy Perry) is practically a walking, talking parody of itself.

With a deluge of actress/model types posing as super warriors sporting names like Mother Chucker and Slay-Z(which sound like the reject name pile from Kick Ass 2) and lyrics such as "Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes", it's really hard to take any of this seriously, which would be fine if anyone involved here looked as if they were in on the joke. However, I don't quite think that's the case here:

Rihanna, on the other hand, at least sounds like she means business with "Bitch Better Have My Money".  The song does have a sharp thumping beat to it and listening to the smooth sense of control that she has with the lyrics make this a fine tune to hit the dance floor with.

However, folks are already complaining about the full on grindhouse style of the official video and as much as I appreciate that genre, it can be off putting at times.

 I felt the same way about Lady Gaga's "Telephone" when it took a similar approach. Sometimes, shock value adds no value to the end game. On the other hand, Rihanna has several great performance videos of BBHMM that provide a more subtle noir touch to the song. My favorite is the SNL finale one that introduced me to the song and took me by pleasant surprise in a kickass way:

At least there's one thing we can agree on with Rihanna and Taylor Swift; they're acting their age which is something that Madonna has given up on a long,long time ago.

Look, I'm not saying that Madonna has to be some prim and proper Downton Abby diva, far from it. It's just that her music of late comes across as stale disco leftovers rather than the typical refresh that she's best known for.

"Bitch, I'm Madonna" should sound like a victory call but instead it hits your ears and eyes like a wail of desperation as she surrounds herself with pointless celebrity cameos, bright colors, sock puppets(so not kidding about that) and her co-singer Nicki Minaj relegated to a hand held screen(what's up with that?).  Sorry, darling, but you look more like an Ab Fab skit than the queen of pop here:

Apart from Rihanna, I think my best bet for a real taste of bad girl bounce is in the Princess Rap Battle series, put out by Whitney Avalon and friends. Not only are the musical insults well aimed, there's no doubt about either the humor or the bad ass ladies who throw down with truly wicked glee here. Besides, who doesn't want to see fantasy maidens fighting?: