Imagine having millions of streams and years of experience in the music industry and you’re sentenced to an imaginary asylum because the internet decided you’re no longer relevant. 

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That’s the Khia Asylum.

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You may have heard of it. But for those who are unfamiliar, the Khia Asylum is an imaginary institution where pop stars go when they’ve “flopped” or fallen out of the mainstream spotlight. The term comes from the rapper Khia who is best known for her hit “My Neck, My Back.” She rose to fame for that hit, but eventually that fame faded. A user on X created this concept of the Khia Asylum based on the rapper and the internet ran with it. 

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Some qualifications are having a few hits under your belt, but not enough cultural relevance to keep people talking. 

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Some artists on the internet’s unofficial list: 

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1. Noah Cyrus 
2. Alessia Cara
3. Cher Lloyd 
4. Olivia O’Brien 
5. Bhad Bhabie

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But not every flop lands you behind the asylum’s bars. Katy Perry is a great example. She might not be dominating charts like she used to but her legacy as a pop star grants her immunity.

It turns out overnight success can take a decade. 

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Sabrina Carpenter spent nearly a decade releasing music before “Espresso” was playing everywhere in 2024. She had five albums, a Disney Channel career, and a fanbase. But it wasn’t until Short n’ Sweet was released that she became one of the biggest pop stars. 

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Charli XCX is another great example. She had been making music for over a decade with hits like “I Love It” and “Boom Clap” that started her rise to fame. Her Brat album took her to a whole other level. Suddenly this specific shade of green was everywhere and everyone was having a Brat Summer. 

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And then Zara Larsson. Around the mid-2010s she was releasing songs like ”Lush Life” and “Symphony” which were absolute hits. I knew those songs and the lyrics, but didn’t know the face or name behind the song. It wasn’t until Midnight Sun came out that I realized she was the legend behind those hits. After her most recent album release she’s been getting enormous amounts of attention and cultural recognition.

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That’s three artists with three different paths and one thing in common: none of them were actually new artists. 

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So why does the internet keep acting like they are?

Zara Larsson made headlines after revealing her former label considered submitting her for Best New Artist at the Grammys. She told Perfect Magazine, “I don’t even want that…that would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I’m not a new artist.”

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She definitely has a point. 

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I think part of this is because people love an overnight success story. People love discovering an artist and acting like they were there from the beginning. But imagine being in the artist's shoes and spending over a decade building your career just to have the industry consider you a newcomer just because they are finally paying attention. 

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I don’t think it was that these artists were late to their breakthrough. Maybe it's just that we were late to recognize them. 

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So what made everyone start paying attention?

A hit song is great. But becoming a cultural phenomenon is even better. 

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Sabrina, Charli, and Zara already had hit songs. Their recent breakthroughs were more than just releasing another hit song. It felt like a rebrand of each artist.

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Sabrina didn’t just give us “Espresso.” She gave us the bangs, platform heels, more of her personality, and her cheeky lyrics. 

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Charli turned her album into an entire summer. The memes. The lime green. Brat Summer was something people could participate in without even listening to the music. 

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Zara leaned into a colorful, glitter-filled world with dolphins and flowers. 

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Sometimes it’s not just about the music. Their success is coming from giving people something bigger than the music to connect with.

Maybe escaping the Khia Asylum isn’t about making “better” music or releasing another hit. It’s about giving people a reason to pay attention to them.

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These artists didn’t just become talented overnight. They found a way to turn their music into something that people wanted to be part of. 

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That was their ticket out of pop purgatory.