Here's the dark truth: any kid like this that gets old enough to have a sense of self-protection around this exploitation is way, way less valuable than a new,

Here's the dark truth: any kid like this that gets old enough to have a sense of self-protection around this exploitation is way, way less valuable than a new, younger, fresher one that is completely innocent. You'll get the occasional one who's bright enough to sock money away secretly (from what little I understand, the rapper Chamillionaire was like this?) and pivot into being one of the exploiters with age and maturity, or just be able to make a graceful exit. The thing is, these kids are meant to LOOK like your classic MC Hammer, acting like lottery winners and living large. To figure out that you have to fake that while secretly being a bit cleverer, and pull it off, is impressively shrewd, and I don't think the system selects for it. The system is not assigning extra points for wise. I would add that a systemic side-benefit to the group form seen here and in K-Pop is that it's easier to swap out kids and discard them, where in a more isolated celebrity model there's more of an incongruity behind building up a star only to then drop 'em and present a different, younger star to replace them. In a group house it's the house that is the star and it's easier to drop a kid.