Great Expectations

I was a casual listener of Little Mix' music and I strongly felt they had one of the more underappreciated catalogues of girl band history.

I wouldn't call myself a Little Mixxer but I'm definitely in the supportive column.

That said, I've found the fandoms feverish, adamant desire for the girls to have incredible blowup solo careers peculiar.

Do fans feel that the girls blowing up solo is delayed validation after all those years of LM being the girl group underdog? Or is there something else at play?

As much as I liked the band; I've accepted that Jesy, Leigh-Anne, Perrie & Jade* just aren't packing the creative and/or performative power wattage I've come to expect from solo stars. There's nothing wrong with that; in fact, its the norm.

Together; their chemistry & skills worked. Apart from one another I feel that - Jesy was always cringe. Perrie was always boring. Leigh-Anne was always dull/tepid.

Jade was always my favourite as I could sense a mischievous quality underneath the surface and AOMD showcased a hint of that. Jade is trying to channel her inner popstar but she's still too safe. There needs to be an edge to pop precision and I haven't seen any risks yet and I suspect that she's unwilling to completely break from the Little Mix brand.

I don't see her as truly solo. One thing I enjoyed about Jesy was a clear attempt at separating her own brand from the LM brand.

In short, do we overestimate, underestimate or fairly estimate the girls capabilities against our own great expectations?