She is a Disney princess lookalike with a lot more flair to her performances than anyone’s parents thought. Sabrina Carpenter captivated the world with the release of “Espresso,” the pop song of 2024 that had me, a 21-year-old man, singing in the shower; and yes, the song is downloaded on my phone!
The song is electric, makes you want to move and switches the ever-boring role in which a girl yearns for a boy. Rather, Carpenter and her listeners are the prize and that starstruck boy is in for a long chase trying to win anybody over. It perpetuates a feeling of confidence, self-love and the notion that you are enough without the validation of a man.
Garnering fame through one song was not enough for Carpenter, as she moved on to release “Please Please Please,” another hit song that would be a component of her “Short n’ Sweet” album that inevitably won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards. A gorgeous woman with immeasurable levels of talent (not only as a singer but as a songwriter and actress), Carpenter owes no one an explanation or apology for how she represents herself on stage.
However, Carpenter’s soft vocals, mesmerizing beauty and intense femininity have caused some people to craft a false image of her. Carpenter went viral during concerts not only for her singing but also for her on-stage movements and dances. Those who anticipated this princess would simply sit down and sing to the crowd like the soft-hearted Mitski were pleasantly surprised when Carpenter moved fluidly not on, but against the stage, accentuating her curves as she wore glittering dresses.
In another “controversial” appearance, Carpenter was joined by two male performers and the three reenacted an intimate position together that paid homage to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Some “fans” found the performance to be “inappropriate” and stumbled their way to social media to blast the singer for her displays.
Of course, the number of viewers unbothered by the on-stage mimicries greatly outnumber those who found Carpenter’s action as “disgusting” or “desperate,” and for good reason. If you or I spent even a few minutes skimming through the lyrics of “Espresso” and trying to analyze it, one would note that it is not just sunshine and rainbows.
“Now he’s thinkin’ ‘bout me every night.” “Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know.” “My honeybee, come and get this pollen.” Basic literacy would enable anyone to realize that Carpenter is, at the minimum, suggesting something other than just espresso! A quick glance at Genius’s breakdown of the song even points out that a key idea of the song is Carpenter’s partner being unable to sleep without her and it does not take much to imagine what goes on in an energetic (maybe even caffeinated?) bedroom.
It should come as no surprise, then, that some sexual innuendos may make an outward appearance during a performance of a suggestive song. The unjustifiable controversy plaguing Carpenter truly has no merit: if you were a real fan, would not you understand the contexts of her songs and have some form of expectations for their visualizations?
Even if some covertly identifies as a fake fan, I say, “so what?” to the performance. Carpenter is an autonomous artist and woman; what she does to represent her on-stage persona is nothing more than the product of her mind’s machinations and she is entitled to be as suggestive as she so chooses (as long as it is legal). The people who hate her are the only ones to blame for their misdirected anger; maybe take a closer listen to the music and look beyond the lines. Songs are representations of emotions at the end of the day, so what if those emotions include some sort of craving?
Sabrina Carpenter is ultimately a successful artist and woman who not only deserves her recognition as an artist but also respect as a person. She should not be subjected to jabs on social media for a performance that was very much enjoyed by others, a significant amount of others more than those who despised it. Even if her “fu*ks are on vacation,” Carpenter’s talents and personality should be at the forefront of interest and critique, not the performances that work in tandem with her vocals.
Image from Ralph_PH via Wikimedia Commons
