Questions That Need Answers

June Edition

Greetings, icons¹!

To begin this week’s missive to you all, an earnest preamble:

Rejoining the Substack-industrial-complex feels silly and scary and inconsequential about 98% of the time. I am literally just another white woman afflicted by the compulsion to write and share her thoughts on the internet.² Yet the other 2% of the time, I am convinced that in the face of fascism, imperialism, and late-stage capitalism, we must indulge in the mediums and crafts to which we are called. I believe that doing so is part of how we build the world of our dreams. So, iN tHesE dArK tImEs³, I’m choosing to live in the other 2% as much as I can. More fleshed-out reflections on this to come, so for now, thank you for following along and therefore helping me shift that ratio. Even by a decimal point. It truly, truly, truly means the world.

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Since I started working on this newsletter, I’ve learned many things. These include: how to shave off 3-5 minutes from my morning commute; how to keep my part in tact when doing a slick-back ponytail; and how to get my nose piercing jewelry back in after it unclasps and falls out in the middle of a thrift store. But perhaps the most important lesson of all is that *iconic-ness* is always happening around us. I’ve come across a plethora of material that meet the Iconic Behavior standards, but as standalone topics, they don’t all necessitate deeper dives at the moment. Instead, they’ve led me to ponder more questions than I have capacity to thoughtfully answer. And thus was born: Questions That Need Answers, or QTNA for short.

These are the questions keeping me up at night, the questions I’ve been trying not to blurt out mid-conversation the past few months. And just like I made sure to include in almost every research paper I penned in college, I will say that these questions serve as a call for further research and scrutiny into important topics.

Questions That Need Answers: June Edition

1. Is Chloe Qisha the next big pop girlie?

Featured heavily on my March, April, and May current obsessions playlists, I’m hoping/predicting she will have her Moment™ in the states soon. Combining earworm hooks, upbeat 80’s-inspired synths, and a knack for vocalizing late-teen/twenty-something angst, her sound is a fun hybrid of Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan. Sexy Goodbye’s “You tell me I should chill, hun, it's on the to-do list” and 21st Century Cool Girl name-dropping Dawson’s Creek are some of my favorite quips from her growing oeuvre.

Since the May release of Qisha’s EP Modern Romance, she’s hit the international festival circuit and is slated for British Summer Time Hyde Park the same weekend as Sabrina Carpenter. I’m feeling a CQ stateside ascent is right around the corner!⁴

2. What is the Song of the Summer going to be?!

My finger has never been farther from the mainstream pulse after emerging from the months-long mania of wedding planning and then studying for a big professional exam (which I passed!). That being said, we also live in a world devoid of monoculture. The concept of a universal Song of the Summer is perhaps a foregone relic. Even though we had Espresso this time last year, finding 2025’s definitive summertime hit is a bleak endeavor when Morgan Wallen consistently leads the Billboard Hot 100.

However, I’m still going to choose one because I want to keep hope and optimism alive. For your consideration: How Bad Do U Want Me by Lady Gaga (LoveDrug is an honorable mention). I believe HBDUWM has what it takes to carry the torch of most-played song until Labor Day. It’s obviously a catchy, synth-pop bop fit for belting out on the dance floor after one or two or three margaritas. But, even more importantly to claim the Song of the Summer title, it’s perfect for scream-singing in the car with all the windows rolled down.

The release of Mayhem also unleashed the latent Little Monster that’s been living in me since I was fourteen, so I’ve been secretly preparing for a Little Monster Summer since March 7th. Diving back into the sacred texts of The Fame and The Fame Monster led me to rediscover classics like Dance in the Dark, Speechless, Summerboy (which, for me, is an eternal song of the summer), etc. My paws are up and ready to party!

3. When is the appropriate time for a biopic of one of our gone-too-soon icons? And will Hollywood finally get it right and cast who *I* think will be best for the role?

The biopic is a tricky venture, some fairing better than others. Who knows what is already locked up in pre-production hell or not, but I am eager to pontificate on two potential casting decisions…

First, I think that Ariana Grande could/should portray Brittany Murphy. Grande’s performance in Wicked not only showcased her acting chops, but the never-ending press tour had me scratching my head for who she kind of looked like. It only hit me a few weeks after the premiere that she somewhat bore a resemblance to Murphy’s Uptown Girls/Just Married/8 Mile era. While I’m not exactly sure which defining moment in Murphy’s life would work best for the biopic treatment, I think Grande would do the late starlet justice.

Next, I am more firm in my belief that Keke Palmer should play Whitney Houston. Yes, we do already have a handful of Whitney biopics. Most recently is 2022’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody. I’d argue that if Princess Diana can get endless screen time⁵, so can our queen Whitney.

Palmer’s newscap-clad look in her appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show really evoked Whitney to me. That paired with her insane talent (she’s even more than a triple-threat, y’all!) and on-screen charisma, she is a no-brainer for a Houston portrayal. I can literally picture a teaser now: a tight, face-framing shot of Palmer’s mega-watt smile behind a microphone while I Will Always Love You builds in the background. This will probably never happen, but a girl can dream.

4. My final question is more of a desperate manifestation…When exactly will Beyoncé and Lady Gaga reunite in the studio to finally gift us a third installment to their epic treatise on modern communication? And why can’t it be sooner than later, please?

I like to think of all of their sonic partnerships to date as an interconnected trilogy, mirroring Beyoncé’s own three-act saga that launched with Renaissance in 2022. Hear me out: we had the Video Phone (Extended Remix) in 2009 and 2010’s Telephone left us hanging with the infamous “To Be Continued” at the end of the music video. Gaga has confirmed we’ll be getting a part two to Telephone at some point—so we are officially in hurry-up-and-wait territory. I’m guessing/hoping/praying it will come via Mrs. Knowles-Carter’s eventual Act III, rumored among the Beyhive to be a rock album. Whenever it arrives, I’m confident it will be yet another milestone in pop culture herstory.

If you’ve gotten this far: thank you for reading this slightly unhinged soliloquy. And please let me know your thoughts on the questions posed above.

Until my next post to you all,

1. What do we think of this as a working name for the Iconic Behavior readership? (there’s 20 of you so far and I love you all.)

2. Probably a result of the asylum (one of many) that raised me: tumblr.com in the years 2009-2012.

3. As Jonathan Groff said, “…Beyoncé is the closest thing to religion I have…”, so I literally *thought* that phrase as the lyric from II HANDS II HEAVEN as I physically typed it. I hope you read it that way, too. The way GOD herself intended!

4. The chorus of I Lied, I’m Sorry is perfect fodder for a viral TikTok dance. And it does look like there’s one already that exists…however I’ve always envisioned a slowed-down version of the Macarena working perfectly.

5. This phrasing reads super sassy but don’t get me wrong, I am one of many daughters of Boomer women who inherited a love/fascination for Princess Diana.