It all started with Lady GaGa. When she christened her growing legion of fans “Little Monsters” as a relatively new artist, she more than acknowledged, she encouraged crazed fan worship like never before. The name derived from 2009′s The Fame Monster, her rehashed debut album that explored the darker side of success (GaGa’s apparently obsessed with monster movies). If you’re a GaGa fan you wear the “monster” name with pride and report to “Mother Monster” willingly (whether you’re nine or 90); even Oprah‘s an unabashed convert. She’s even recorded a manifesto for them:

But did GaGa really start this trend of naming her fans? I remember playfully calling myself one of “Jay-Hova’s Witnesses” years ago because of my oft-ridiculed worship of Jay-Z. But Jay himself never really embraced the name, so it never went very far (same with Mariah Carey and her “Lambs”). Fans’ obsession with their favorite artists is obviously not a new thing—think Elvis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, et al. However GaGa aligns herself with those who adore her, and her mantra of “we’re in this together” grants her their unwavering unity and devotion.

Often compared to GaGa due to this exact thing, Nicki Minaj began calling herself “Head Barbie” as she planned for the release of her debut album, Pink Friday. Her female fans became known as Barbies themselves (or “Barbz” now, for short) and male fans were called “Ken dolls.” Minaj is known to retweet pictures of her fans’ undying devotion often, including images such as the one below:

During the earlier stages of her rise to fame, new UK sensation Jessie J publicly expressed via Twitter that she also wanted to name her fans. Reminiscent again of the theory behind GaGa’s Monsters, Jessie says she named her admirers “Heartbeats” because “without them I wouldn’t be here. They are my survival, they keep me alive. And obviously because I’ve had heart problems [in the past] and stuff, you know they keep me in check, they keep me sane and keep me going. I just thought it was a nice name that the whole world could understand.”

Here’s just a sample of artists and their “movements” (if you have more, feel free to leave them in the comments section). Where do you belong?

• Lady GaGa: #monsters
• Nicki Minaj: #barbies or #barbz
• Rihanna: #rihannanavy
• Wiz Khalifa: #taylorgang
• Curren$y: #jetlife
• Diggy Simmons: #jetsetters
• Mann: #birthdaygang
• Jessie J: #heartbeats
• Mariah Carey: #lambs
• Justin Bieber: #beliebers
• Jennifer Lopez: #lovers
• Adam Lambert: #glamberts

Bookmark to: