The Khia Asylum: Pop Stars Who Flopped

Millions are incarcerated worldwide for violent crimes like assault, robbery, and kidnapping. There’s space in prisons for war criminals and government conspirators, but where do we store the one-hit wonders of the music industry? 

Source: Unsplash

Source: Unsplash

The ‘Khia Asylum’ — a psychiatric prison for popstars-turned-flopstars like Bebe Rexha, Ava Max, Katy Perry, and Alessia Cara. Once hitmakers, these female artists are now residents of the facility’s dreaded white walls and fluorescent lights, separated from the pop music world, and forced to witness newcomers hijack their spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list.

Perhaps the most common question from the ‘chopped’ and ‘unc’, whose feeds have not yet reached the world of ‘FlopTok,’ is: “Who is Khia?” This question, though inquisitive, reinforces the existence of the Khia Asylum. 

The namesake of the Khia Asylum is in remembrance of singer Khia, the one-hit wonder who blessed the world with “My Neck, My Back (Lick It).” A top hit, unfortunately for Khia and her fellow patients,  is not enough to sustain a successful music career, and can lead to a common tragedy coined by the chronically online as a ‘flop era.’ 

Khia’s flop era was so catastrophic that a photo posted to Twitter (now X) of a fan crying upon meeting her not only grew into a culture-defining meme, but highlighted the lack of industry space for Khia and her fellow flops. Thus, the Khia Asylum was founded in 2014, and several patients are admitted each year. 

Current patients at the Khia Asylum have various flop origin stories, such as Ava Max, whose success plummeted post-”Sweet but Psycho,” and Jess Glynne, whose streams drastically diminished upon the closure of Forever 21. Failure stories of patients, past and present, of The Khia Asylum have harvested a palpably feasible fear of floppage in the modern pop star community. 

“Guys please help me. It’s so lonely in here," tweets Bebe Rexha in a rare instance of patient communication with the outside world.

Bebe Rexha has been a Khia patient since 2022, filing for irrelevancy after a long but unsustainable radio residency. Her cell is neighbored by Alessia Cara, whose Best New Artist Grammy award eventually demoted her to Worst Old Artist. The Khia Asylum’s intake process is drastically easier than its evaluation for release, but escaping remains possible. 

"Hi babes. It's Bebe here, reporting from the Khia Asylum. It's hard here you guys. I heard Sabrina got out, Zara, Charli, they left, they never looked back and my fat a** flop a** is still in here," posts Bebe Rexha in a voice memo from her cell.

Source: Unsplash

Shockingly, most of 2025’s most popular female artists, like Sabrina Carpenter, Zara Larsson, and even reigning pop princess Taylor Swift, were once patients at the Khia Asylum. Sabrina Carpenter, admitted in 2015, recorded four albums from her Khia cell before escaping with “emails i can’t send,” and Taylor Swift was held for one year between “1989” and “reputation.”

“I’ve already had success and then my ‘flop era.’ And then it’s like, ‘ok, I flopped.’ So, it doesn’t scare me anymore,” shares Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson in reflection following her asylum escape.

Source: Unsplash

Zara Larsson, though currently freed, was admitted to the Khia Asylum during two separate periods. Her first minor flop was after winning “Talang” (a Swedish version of America’s Got Talent) at 10 years old, spending her post-trophy free time in classrooms instead of studios. Epic Records rescued her from the asylum in 2013, with hits such as “Never Forget You” and “Lush Life,” but a flop relapse towards the late 2010s forced Zara back into her old cell. 

“Yes! I feel like I’m out of the Khia Asylum for sure. I’m like, wait, it’s cool to listen to my songs?” acknowledges Zara.

In 2024, Zara Larsson’s song “Symphony” — an essential FlopTok tune — became the soundtrack to an iconic meme. This, alongside a trending TikTok video dancing on stage with a fan, were viral moments enough to qualify Zara for release. Since her time in the Khia Asylum, Zara Larsson has rocketed to stardom thanks to her Grammy-nominated hit “Midnight Sun” and social media popularity.

Tales of failure seed fear in established, aspiring, and flop-teetering singers like Camilla Cabello, who was recently rumored to have been seen purchasing a ticket to the Khia Asylum. Contrarily, as highlighted by Bebe Rexha, the existence of successful alumnae like Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Zara Larsson gives patients hope for escape—or at least parole. 

The Khia Asylum, on a deeper level, reflects modern society’s affinity for newness. Its humorous roots are a concealed sanction that women should be pitted against each other and reinforces unrealistic standards of success higher for women than for men. 

Whether it be a meme or real-life, the widest acceptance, both in the music industry and out, is that admission to the Khia Asylum should be avoided at all costs. The citizens of Floptok express hope that Bebe Rexha and her fellow flops will soon be released.

Culture, MusicEllie Mooneycelebrities, music, khia asylumComment