Here Are The Reasons Why Lana Del Ray Is Problematic
That nostalgic tinge, the old-world glamorous presence, That sensual deep voice, the melancholic strain in her music...
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (aka Lana Del Rey) has effectively enticed hundreds of thousands worldwide with her inimitable vocal prowess and distinctive melodies. And to date, the Norman F****ng Rockwell songstress continues to stir the hearts of younglings, adult males, and ladies alike, fueling fertile imaginations with eager for unrequited love, getting top on the seaside, older males et al.
Unsurprisingly, like every shape-shifting artiste (think Lady Gaga,Madonna) Rey, 34, has attracted polarizing sects— one side representing the religious fans and the other entailing those who’ve dissected the whole lot she’s completed, calling her out for her past movements and present habits.
But what is it about the Blue Jeans singer that makes her such a disruptive, divisive icon of the pop generation? Why, as a Guardian report identified, are extra other folks joining the ‘Lana Del Ray-bashing bandwagon’, hammering her reputation and unmistakable musical skill in the title of authenticity and different what now not’s? Is there any reality in the arguments dished out towards her?
Is Lana Del Rey in truth, seriously problematic? Why do other people hate Lana Del Ray?
When Authenticity Went Missing & Fans Felt Cheated
Interestingly, since 2005, there existed a large number of Rey aliases that have been songwriting and singing for success—May Jailer, Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, Phenomena, and Lizzy Grant before Lana Del Rey tasted victory. In 2011, she gave the impression with the self-produced Video Games that left indie aficionados swooning over her unforgettable, haunting voice supported via grainy, uncooked clips picked from Hollywood and residential videos, catapulting Grant to viral stardom.
2012 was the IT 12 months for Rey as her (Interscope Record's album Born To Die used to be launched—a stark contrast from her apparently blameless Lake Placid local's candy picture to an enigmatic, smouldering mid-60’s impressed pin-up persona that left a lot of her indie lovers befuddled.
But Rey pushed aside the chorus of accusations. “I’m always being myself. They don’t know what authenticity is. If you call to mind all the track that got here out until 2013, it was super directly and glossy. If that’s authentic to you, this is going to look like the reverse,” Rey published in an interview with Pitchfork. “I believe that shi*'s stylized. Just because I do my hair big, does not mean I'm a product. Music used to be in a really perfect weird place once I changed into known, and I didn’t like every of it.”
Few Rey detractors opined that her journey to Lana Del Rey, the 'non de plume' of Grant, was a well-designed plan, her unique new alias being carefully created and curated by her new management. Speculation was rife that every one her previous work was once erased from the world-wide-web, as a part of the label’s marketing acumen to give the new Rey to the international. “She’s putting on a show. She’s here to entertain us. There are a large number of things that don’t seem natural about it,” news editor Steven Horowitz wrote for Billboard.
It didn’t help that she claimed her nostril and lips were not cosmetic-ally enhanced.
Single-handedly, the cosmetic procedure denial isn't a explanation why to spew hate for Rey (or for any celebrity in the glamour trade.) In this situation, it is an amalgamation of other authenticity contentions, together with the 'struggling-to-make-it-big' act (her father had supported her occupation strikes) that built up towards Rey.
Live Performances V/S Glossy Videos
The hipster’s 2012 Saturday Night Live performance didn't assist her cause either. Dubbed as the ‘worst musical performance in the historical past of SNL’, it raised questions about whether she may just sing in any respect. Keeping the SNL and the Bowery Ballroom performance aside (which could be attributed to degree fright), Rey’s trademark swaying, noticeable slurring in few are living acts, has raised eyebrows in the previous. Few steps to the left, then right, eyes close and her palms stretching assiduously—does Rey channel the harm, unhappy soul vibe from the deep confines of a tormented heart or is at all times stoned to hide up her nervousness and lack of preparedness? Again, authenticity doubts rear their head, leaving listeners either pissed off by means of her listless efficiency or (by hook or by crook) much more interested in the 'sadcore'- inspired visible imagery Rey personifies.
From the feminist standpoint, her lyrics (He hit me and it felt like a kiss. He hurt me however it felt like true love) made the Summertime Sadness singer's case even weaker. Forget feminism, a big chunk of Rey’s fan base consists of impressionable, teenage ladies and heartbroken adults, lots of whom (on many Reddit threads), claimed to have discovered solace in the lyrics of Ultraviolence and different albums. While there’s nothing inherently incorrect in weaving the solidarity thread for the broken-hearted against a tapestry of her notorious masochism and longing, it does result in a bruised vainness and deep fissures in the self-image of listeners.
In all fairness, the authenticity argument in Hollywood or the track business is over-hyped. As Chuck Eddy, author of Rock and Roll Always Forgets and columnist for Rolling Stone and Spin elucidated for the Daily Beast. “Stupid folks pass judgement on musical acts in the event that they write their songs. Incredibly low-life idiots do judge music that approach. Smart other people judge track by way of the tune. You know pop-acts for decades and a number of rock acts haven't written their songs, so are they just right or now not? It doesn’t imply anything. It just doesn’t. It simply seems so dumb, I’m amazed that folks are nonetheless arguing about it,” he stated.
Let’s get actual: it takes greater than ability, hair-color, facial transformations, and engaging (manufactured or unique) intrigue to carve a cast, comfy space in the music business. Like Billboard’s Editorial Director Bill Werde pointed out, “there’s numerous interest around Rey because of this belief, the place other people don’t perceive the story, they don’t know why there’s a Lizzy Grant and why there’s a Lana Del Rey now. And that provides slightly of intrigue around this, which helps get other folks’s consideration for perhaps that split 2nd that’s required to get them back to click on a video and to hear a tune.
And if her albums continue to rake in the money and proceed to occupy top spots throughout charts international, the comic story’s on every individual that’s arguing about her ‘authenticity’ and wringing her picture. Like Werde defined, “If, at the finish of the day, when you find yourself at some degree the place everyone is rabidly on the lookout for information about your previous, then you definitely’ve already received the sport.”
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