A weak voice under multi-layers of reverb and compression, whimpering eye-roll inducing, juvenile lyrics that sound more tongue in cheek than her marketing team suggests. Overly processed, vapid pop music, heavy on style and little in way of substance. There were far worse pop stars with more annoying gimmicks but to me, that didn’t make the mysterious, loner persona any more or less interesting than the likes of Ke$ha or Katy Perry, it was just a different approach to the same model. I thought her music and public image was pretentious and insipid as if she was basically the hipster’s pop star. When Del Rey came on the scene, I wasn’t impressed. Most use their character as a diversion to make up for the lack of talent or authenticity. Lana Del Rey could very well be one of these characters.
It can easily be said that these performers utilize these roles to a far greater degree, maybe even a bit too much. We are lead to believe that these stars aren’t portraying a character but actually who they are. Gaga really is in fact, that weird, Miley that over the top, and Kanye that arrogant. In modern times, these characters like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and arguably, Kanye West, the line gets blurred. When you strip these stars down, they are just normal folks, not much different than the audience themselves. In reality, when Seger was singing “Turn The Page” he was probably a multi-millionaire, The Beatles smoking joints backstage, and KISS going over their taxes. Of course there are many examples of far more extreme characters like say David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona, or KISS. Regardless of how common or extreme these characters may be, they are there for the purpose of selling their product. Four lovable, witty cuddle boys with mop top hair dos, and boyish charm. Then there is characters like The Beatles. Singing songs about working in the factory, nostalgic over teenage relationships, and just generally looking like any 9 to 5 middle class dude. Sometimes it’s the everyman, like Bob Seger. The general audience needs someone or something to identify with on some level. In the world of secular music there are plenty of characters.
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