Sabrina Carpenter’s newfound pop stardom has been ten years in the making. Photo courtesy of Billboard. 

ABBY KIDWELL | STAFF REPORTER | arkidwell@butler.edu 

Since the release of “Espresso” in April 2024, Sabrina Carpenter has been an impossible name to avoid in pop music. Swiftly dubbed the song of the summer, the lighthearted, catchy tune marked new triumphs in Carpenter’s career — namely, her first top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The singer-songwriter followed with an album announcement, performances at Coachella and Gov Ball and a second smash single. However, despite recently ascending to the upper echelons of Hollywood society, Carpenter is far from new to the scene. 

Many members of Gen Z first saw Carpenter back in 2014 when she starred on Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World.” During her four-year run with Disney, Carpenter also released four albums under Hollywood Records. First-year English major Olivia Dunst specifically remembers loving “Eyes Wide Open” and learning important truths from Carpenter’s character, Maya Hart. 

“I think I didn’t look up to her character as a person but I looked up to the way she portrayed friendship,” Dunst said. “I just feel like there were a lot of lessons about friendship when I was having a really hard time with friends.” 

When “Girl Meets World” concluded in 2017, Carpenter parted ways with Disney. Ever since, she has been slowly distancing herself from the company’s image and focusing on more mature projects, such as her music career. 

Carpenter’s first four albums did not exactly make notable splashes — in fact, most casual listeners do not know they exist. However, her fifth studio album, “emails i can’t send,” marked a significant departure from her original sound and aesthetic. Released in partnership with Island Records, “emails i can’t send” helped Carpenter secure coveted opportunities like performing on Saturday Night Live and opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Latin America, Australia and Singapore. The stage was set perfectly for Carpenter’s sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” to enjoy staggering success. 

The album is the classic Carpenter people know now — raunchiness, relatability and humor all wrapped up in a pretty, digestible package. Carpenter keeps it light with clever double entendres, despite writing about relationships that impacted her on a deep emotional level. In turn, fans appreciate her willingness to be unserious. She proves that art does not have to be sad to be meaningful, and sometimes, the best way to handle strife is with levity. 

Lauren Takeda, a sophomore peace and conflict studies and political science double major, thinks Carpenter’s growing confidence made the album more authentic. 

“It felt like whether or not people liked what she was putting out there, she was just going to do it anyway,” Takeda said. 

Carpenter’s self-awareness and ability to stay true to herself are some of her greatest strengths. For as many scathing lines that Carpenter directs at her romantic relationships, she matches them with lines poking fun at herself and her own follies. However, like all artists, Carpenter cannot escape constructive criticism, even from members of her own fanbase. 

When asked about Carpenter’s weaknesses, second-year PP2 pre-pharmacy major Abbey Beatty thought the artist’s lyricism holds the most room for improvement. 

“She doesn’t have the same emotional depth as some other artists, so I feel like if she wants to expand, that could be a limitation,” Beatty said. 

Right now, Carpenter is experiencing a moment where the general public is relatively kind to her and celebrating the expressions of female sexuality in her music without second thoughts regarding her Disney Channel background. However, it’s not unreasonable to say this seamless transition would have been impossible a mere decade ago. 

Miley Cyrus, for example, became a pariah when she shattered her good-girl image with the release of “Wrecking Ball” and its accompanying music video. Comparatively, Carpenter has evaded that specific backlash, although she is still not a stranger to controversy. 

When Olivia Rodrigo released “drivers license” in 2021, the general consensus was that Carpenter was the older blonde girl who stole young Rodrigo’s boyfriend, Joshua Bassett. Carpenter and Bassett both capitalized off of the drama by releasing their own singles telling the story from their perspectives — Bassett’s “Lie Lie Lie” and Carpenter’s “Skin.” “Skin” did not accomplish what Carpenter wanted it to accomplish because fans interpreted the lyrics as arrogant. 

However, in July 2022, Carpenter released “because i liked a boy,” which chronicled the hate and death threats she received from the public for the simple crime of pursuing a boy that was single. The song won people over, and Carpenter has not been a target for widespread dislike since. 

Dunst proposed that Carpenter has escaped criticism about being a bad example for children because her audience has aged alongside her. 

“We all grew up with her, so we aged out of Disney,” Dunst said. 

Carpenter’s peaceful artistic evolution could be attributed to many factors, but chief among them is the fact that women are dominating pop music like they never have before. Carpenter has been able to ride the same wave as Chappell Roan, Charli xcx and others because, to put it simply, liking fun, flirty, female pop music is cool right now. Previously, the pendulum would swing back and forth, but who’s to say that Carpenter, among others, is incapable of breaking the wheel? 

“Short n’ Sweet” is available on all streaming platforms and in stores.