It's as if you know me better than I ever knew myself

Bubblegum pop princess, my new fav nepo baby, Autobiography's 20 year anni 💖

Recent hyper-specific, pop culture-related, mind-blowing moments:

• You know when you hear a song and have an extremely vague recollection of another somehow-related song? No lyrics, no rhythm, no artist, no title, just vibes. I heard Chelley’s “Took the Night” and knew there was some song I mentally associated with it. (In my case, the association usually has to do with a dance routine.) It wasn’t Priscilla Renea’s “Dollhouse”. It wasn’t Natalia Kills’s “Controversy”.¹ It was “Tea Party” by Kerli. I can hardly articulate how satisfying it was to pull this information out of the deepest crevasse of my brain.

• This is what I genuinely consider a ‘fun fact’: I learned that Gina Gershon played the jaw harp on Scissor Sisters’ “I Can’t Decide”. Jake Shears and I actually DM’d back and forth a few times a couple months ago because someone impersonating his “online manager” commented on my post saying I’d made a “profound impact” on Jake’s career, that “a thank you text would be insufficient to express our gratitude”, and that “we love you”. I know she was a bot or scammer or whatever, but it’s still nice to feel loved and appreciated!

• Spotify suggested “Ladies” by Sarai (2003), a certified Middle School Dance grind train banger, to me while I was driving recently. I nearly had to pull over!!!! This is partially because there are few songs left that I legitimately forgot about and haven’t heard even once for 20+ years, and partially because I didn’t know it was sung by the first white female rapper represented by a major U.S. label. Eve would’ve killed it with this one had she not been hanging out with Gwen Stefani, but maybe Sarai just released this one hit wonder so label mate Jennifer Lopez wouldn’t steal it first.

In today’s issue:
💖 Chet’s interview with bubblegum pop star Kaci Battaglia
🎨 Nostalgia-inspired art projects
👚 Abercrombie vs. Hollister’s brand strategy and resonance
💿 This week’s time capsule: Autobiography, Tidal, and “7 Days”
🖇 More random links 4u

ICYMI, last week’s issue included links on Abercrombie’s pivot, my favorite celeb couple that never was, now-debunked news about Kim Cattrall’s alleged return to AJLT…, and so much more.²

Support Nicstalgia with a paid subscription for less than the La Perouse scent from Gilly Hicks. My friend still has one of these (!!!) Like Spice Girls lollipops, it’s among the few Millennial-era products that serve more as a financial investment that significantly appreciated in value than a product itself. Go figure.

Huge thank you to Nicstalgia supporters who I will love forever: Janine, Marie, Liv, Mitra, CY, and Aleena! 💐💐💐

💖 I don’t need a hit and run

I loved friend of Nicstalgia Chet’s interview for the Hit + Run podcast (shoutout to Mikaila) with bubblegum pop star Kaci Battaglia. I’d heard of Kaci before but wasn’t super familiar with her discography. Since watching this episode, I’ve listened to “I Will Learn To Love Again” approximately 50 times.

Chet did an awesome job of incorporating archival music, photos, and video clips into this episode. He has expert knowledge on everything deep, niche, rare, and otherwise-forgotten in the world of bubblegum pop music. Of course, Chet has Kaci memorabilia in his own epic physical media collection. Kaci was really appreciative of his thoughtfulness, telling him, “You have the coolest hobbies!” Kaci’s answers were well-spoken, articulate, honest, open, and thorough. The conversation flowed very well. I could’ve listened for another hour!

After splashing several singles overseas as an adolescent, and a brief resurgence on the club scene in her early twenties, the world hasn’t heard much from Floridian pop princess Kaci Battaglia since 2011.

I caught up with Kaci last year to discuss her time in the teen pop market. I was shocked by her honesty, kindness, and the similarities in our own journeys in Hollywood. We discussed everything from nepotism, Incubus, our favorite unreleased Diane Warren songs, to a shared love of Judy Garland.

I deeply related to Kaci in how she described her teenage temperament. She was often told to tame her excitement and enthusiasm, as if her eagerness would come off as disingenuous. Who can be that nice? Who can be that happy? Listening to Kaci share her story made me think about the naivety and innocence of youth and the ensuing impact of pursuing a career in talent performance. (Yes I had to go back and retype ‘innocence’ because now I always spell it ‘Innosense’ like the bubblegum pop band.) At the end of the day, like Kaci, I just wanted to dance and sing. It actually was that simple, and nothing else mattered. The world, the industry, and our own minds can be cruel, but when you have that drive, passion, and talent, the light inside never goes out.

Sonically, Kaci distinctly belonged to the bubblegum explosion of the early 2000s, but as an artist and songwriter, she was ahead of her time. Her career was stunted by an entrapment in a bad contract, which is unfortunately a very common story in the music industry. I was fascinated by her usage of the web 1.0 iteration of the internet, before social media, to connect with fans. She also blogged as a way to establish some semblance of normalcy for herself, despite being a famous teenager. Not many people know that she was the real-life blueprint for Hannah Montana. We would not have Miley Cyrus without Kaci Battaglia!

Kaci leaves it off on a positive note, “If this journey has taught me anything, it’s that we’re all connected.” Watch the interview here:

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📲 I’m just a simple girl in a high-tech digital world

My fav things from the internet this week:

I’ve never needed anything more in my life than this orange iPod nano table with spinning menu wheel, wired headphone coasters, and changeable artwork screen. Grace Baldwin is such a talented artist, and I need someone to go drive to Georgia to pick up this table for me okay thanks so much.

Speaking of nostalgic DIY projects, I’m obsessed with this Disco Clippy made out of PVC piping. The former Microsoft employee who created Clippy even loved it!

Abercrombie Won by Leaving Teens Behind. Sibling Brand Hollister Is Taking the Opposite Approach. TL;DR, teens today are concerned with comfort over fashion. Fleece > skinny jeans.³

Speaking of Abercrombie, their men’s crochet polo has allegedly become the shirt of the summer, courtesy of “the cerulean sweater trickledown”. This article is surface-level interesting, but what the real conversation here is about how two factors, 1. fast fashion distribution models setting warped expectations of quality, and 2. insecurity around modern-day expression of masculinity, are leading men to buy a $100 shirt from Abercrombie (dumb).⁴ ⁵

Ashlee Simpson’s Autobiography album celebrated its 20th anniversary this week.⁶ Ashlee performed her greatest hits at a recent event in West Hollywood, which looked fun! Jessica Simpson had the best idea in the universe and said, “Let’s tour together and take the kids!”

This week marks 28 years of Fiona Apple’s iconic debut album, Tidal. To celebrate, I will be playing the CD, and of course, listening to one of my favorite Spotify playlists: Fiona Apple Ranked in order of rage.⁷

Whenever I post anything about Craig David, everyone (myself included) gets (rightfully) thirsty!!!! This week marks 24 years of his enchanting song, “7 Days”. I don’t know if I could wait until Wednesday tbh…

I could never listen to ambient music until now! In My Hour Of Weakness, I Found A Sweetness is an album by Romance that reimagines Celine Dion’s songs into ambient arrangements.

Now this is a nepo baby I can get on board with! Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, watched her daughter Delaney play the part of Ariel in a professional Miami-based production of The Little Mermaid.

“Just witnessed Mya perform the Rugrats joint for a sold out MSG. Can check that off the bucket list.” I can’t make any of her other shows in the area, but I’m happy for her!!

Jack White Surprise-Releases New Solo Album, Available Only at Third Man Record Stores. Interesting strategy. Now that’s what I call a Physical Media Renaissance™!

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¹ The lyric, “Online is the new reality. The internet is reality. Technology killed reality” continues to haunt me. It feels more uncanny with each passing day.

² Someone has also been making fake AJLT… filming notice posters in NYC, which I love. “No one’s fun anymore…what happened to fun?”

³ Shoutout to Gilly Hicks, my first retail job, where I – like teenagers today – constantly wore fleece. The difference is, I’d wear the fleece shorts or pants with a tank top (or even two, layered!!!) 2008 Gilly Hicks actual playlist is my most popular Spotify playlist, which I find wildly entertaining. Most people don’t even know this brand used to have its own freestanding stores, vs. a pop-up inside of Hollister.

⁴ Abercrombie uses a ton of polyester, a synthetic fabric that is cheaper in both price and quality than sustainable natural fibers. A&F is marginally better quality than Zara, but at a much higher price markup. Consumers, especially young ones, are simply accustomed to grotesque overconsumption and clothes largely comprised of microplastics. (Btw the “underconsumption-core” so-called trend is still overconsumption. No one needs this much stuff.)

⁵ Re: modern-day masculinity, “What’s acceptable for a straight man to wear?” is a very telling statement on the extremely strong association of fashion with patriarchal systems of oppression, i.e. homophobia toward gay men and dismissiveness of women and girls. This explains diet culture to a T – girls are too distracted shopping at the mall, thinking they’re fat and ugly and old, infighting, and ultimately maintaining the status quo while men continue ruling the world unbothered.

⁶ Autobiography is an album I’ve always loved. One time, me and my college roommate listened to it in its entirety and just sang along while we scrolled aimlessly on our laptops. I have it on CD and can finally stop stalking Discogs for vinyl because it will be released through the record label, with special editions at Urban Outfitters, probably Target, etc.

⁷ When I say “playing the CD”, I mean that literally, not on streaming.