Pinpointed: The Khia Asylum

By Bailey Tolentino

For those who are active within online music fandom spaces, the “Khia Asylum” is a very familiar phrase. Belonging to this imaginary institution ultimately means an artist is either past their prime, yet to reach it, or most likely destined to never reach it. Given that online fandom spaces are breeding grounds for aggressive language and sweeping generalisations, many fans will use the term against artists they simply dislike or believe to be a “flop” for whatever reason. 

What is it really, though? Well, the term originates from a 2014 tweet poking fun at a young girl for crying over meeting rapper Khia, who had (and still has) merely one hit from 2002 — ‘My Neck, My Back (Lick It)’ — a song which has likely never produced an emotional tear. Khia is probably more famous for this shady term than for her music, at this point.

There are, of course, some artists who have undeniably established themselves as pop legends and thus avoided ever being thrown into the Khia Asylum, like Beyoncé and Rihanna… but there are some artists who were once massive, that many of us would have never imagined would fall back into irrelevancy, but are nonetheless — like Katy Perry (for making bad music),  and Nicki Minaj (for making bad life choices). So, this begs the question: How does one end up in the Khia Asylum?

I think it is important to note that the Khia Asylum is a liminal space or a purgatory, not a starting line. This is what most fans get wrong when trying to hate on their favourite artists’ competition. I am here to argue that you can only either escape the Khia Asylum or get sent to it; you cannot be born there. 

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter have been the names on the tip of everyone’s tongues in the past two years. They are perfect foils to explain my argument. There is an imminent threat that they may both get sent to the Khia Asylum; but out of these two, only Sabrina Carpenter could ever end up there. For the record, I am very indifferent when it comes to these artists. Each singer has two songs that I love and have saved to my library (‘The Subway’ and ‘Picture You’ / ‘Please Please Please’ and ‘Sharpest Tool’ respectively). I find the rest of their songs easy to ignore and their smash hits overplayed. The difference is that Sabrina Carpenter finally found her sound after many failed attempts, and thus escaped the Khia Asylum. Chappell Roan, however, knew her sound from the start and just had to wait for her “moment” to intercept it. 

I was first introduced to Chappell Roan by an old friend of mine, who always said she loved niche, theatrical, or notably queer music. She played me the single ‘Red Wine Supernova’ in early 2023, before Chappell blew up, and prefaced it by saying, “You’re going to hate this.” She was right, for I am a mainstream pop kind of girl, but I remembered this moment immediately when Chappell eventually did blow up, because — though I might have been adverse to it — her sound and persona were extremely unique and memorable. I admire how far Chappell has come, and I think her story is really inspiring. I also don’t hate all of her songs, but I appreciate that they have a specific character that is divisive. And that’s a good thing. Sabrina Carpenter, on the other hand, has always tried to make music for everyone.

Given the Khia Asylum is a purgatory, you cannot end up there for “sinning” or breaking the rules. If we are to stick to this metaphor, Chappell Roan started off in Music Industry Hell and ended up in Music Industry Heaven in recent years. Sabrina Carpenter, however, walked right out of Disney Channel and into the Khia Asylum by releasing four albums from 2015-2019 which all blandly followed the sonic trends of the time. Some were even outdated. Before her 2023 record emails i can’t send (which was massively boosted by the Joshua Bassett / Olivia Rodrigo feud), Sabrina was no more than a cheap copy of Ariana Grande. At times, she sounded like Halsey, and even Selena Gomez… Whatever it took to keep Disney happy and keep her name somewhat relevant.

Being a pretty girl, Sabrina got a handful of chances and loads of funding to get to where she is now. ‘Espresso’ is an undeniable hit, but Sabrina is not as established as people like to think. If Katy Perry can fall from the graces of Teenage Dream, so can Sabrina from the Short n’ Sweet hype of the past couple years. Madison Beer is a similar story to Sabrina Carpenter. She is also widely perceived to be conventionally pretty and has gotten a hundred chances, but she has yet to have her “Espresso” moment. I think these two women are the most precise examples of what it means to be a Khia Asylum member. Play the part of a pop star: dress up, go on tour, make good-enough/catchy-enough songs, cosplay whatever sound is currently trending, be super nice so people don’t hate you… Basically, remain neutral in every way, shape, and form. 

Both Chappell and Sabrina have to be very careful about their next releases. They can’t wait too long, but they also can’t release this year, or else they’ll get accused of selling out. When they return, they have to give the audience a bit of what we’ve been missing, but it can’t be so similar that we see no creative progress. It’s a very tricky line to walk. 

Once you escape the Khia Asylum, you cannot just ride the wave until it dies, because then you end up being a “flop” or a “one hit wonder” — which is a different thing altogether. The Khia Asylum isn’t full of untalented artists; it’s full of boring artists. Meghan Trainor is the perfect example of this. She has recently been teased for making the same song over and over again, because her recent releases do not veer far from her 2015 hits from her debut record Title (‘All About That Bass,’ ‘Lips Are Movin,’ ‘Dear Future Husband,’ etc.) 

I predict that Sabrina could fall into a very similar fate if she does not focus more on her artistry than her quirky petite Barbie Doll persona, in her next record. I say this because Trainor’s 2016 hit “No” came out one year after her year of stardom, and she was — in fact — the only person doing her sound at the time. Her 2015 hits weren’t just hits because it was 2015, it was because she had this “perfectly imperfect pop star” bit going that people really appreciated. Lizzo did a similar thing, but she also took it too far and now no one cares anymore. Neither Meghan Trainor nor Lizzo were born in the Khia Asylum, they were just sent there after their 10 seconds of fame. They seem kind of irrelevant now, but they were *the moment* for a while. The point I’m trying to make is that Chappell and Sabrina might seem out-of-this-world famous right now, but there’s a difference between being established and being of the moment. These two women just happen to be having a pretty long moment — but it’s not guaranteed to last forever.

Returning to the OG source of this term, Khia — the reason the fan was getting made fun of for crying over meeting her is because Khia is not known for anything in particular. Her one hit song is not exactly legendary, and more importantly, it is not distinct to her sound. It’s like crying over meeting PSY because you have good memories of dancing to ‘Gangnam Style’ as a kid. 

Chappell Roan is currently playing with fire by making herself more known for her public outbursts than for her music. That said, I think she has a better chance at staying out of the Khia Asylum because her persona is so intertwined with her music, and it always has been. It went through its awkward stages before Chappell blew up, and now, it just has to transition into proper adulthood; whereas Sabrina’s persona needs to awkwardly go through puberty in front of everyone. There are also some people like Zara Larsson and Tate McRae, who are too focused on the persona and not enough on the music. Yes, they are divas, but their discographies don’t pack an equivalent punch. So, although they are crawling out of the Khia Asylum, I am not sure they’re truly escapees. Steering clear of the Khia Asylum requires a careful balancing act between your musical sound and your celebrity persona/schtick. My main point is one cannot rely too much on one or the other; music lovers can feel when an artist is heavily reliant on one thing and not producing music for genuine reasons. It’s a cruel industry! I am not saying any of this is fair… but I am saying it’s possible to play your cards right.