Niggie:
Aside
from her controversial SNL debut, Lana Del Rey has only played a handful of
concerts. She performed in Paris at the Nouveau Casino, where she debuted her song
Born to Die along with a new look and a deeper voice. She also headlined an
exclusive performance in New York where she chose to sing six unreleased songs.
Presumably, this was the singer easing her way on to the stage.
As
we saw, it still wasn't enough preparation. For anyone familiar with the music
industry, the result of her premature SNL performance shouldn't come as much of
a surprise, and it shouldn't change your opinion of the artist’s music.
Since
the performance, Lana Del Rey has been labeled by critics as a manufactured
wannabe. The question remains, why do we ascribe the importance of authenticity
to one artist and not the next? It isn't any feat worth bragging about to see
through Lana Del Rey's marketing. The less-than-perfect woman and singer used
the well documented resources of her father to get the leg up on the competition.
How many other pop musician success stories could be told differently?
Despite
the fact that she doesn't write all of her own lyrics, which is hardly an
argument against any modern day pop star, Lana Del Rey is still an artist at
heart. The music video for “Video Games” is comprised of clips and footage that
she chose, collected, and recorded. Some of the footage is of her growing up;
other clips are from cartoons and movies that she was drawn to and wanted to see
in her video.
When
asked by blog Faceculture about the vintage clips, Lana Del Rey said, “I think
a lot of the reason why I chose the clips from like the era of the ‘50s and the
‘60s is mainly because I actually just liked the quality of the film that the directors
used during that time. It’s not so much about the message of the clips that I
used … it’s more about what strikes me visually… what I just find to be
beautiful and that … is what leads my narrative.”
As
an artist, Lana Del Rey created a world for herself. In the songs that she did
write, she really comes through in the music. She created not only audio
stimulus, but visual to connect with her audience. What else do you want? She
isn't her marketing, and we should know that. Her album is out now, so if you
liked the song “Video Games” before her SNL performance, give it a listen
regardless. Her live performance does nothing to change the music everyone was
so excited by in the first place.
JJ:
A
woman steps on stage in front of the biggest audience of her life, and the
crowd is stunned by how beautiful she is. Yet mere seconds into her
performance, it is quite apparent she's out of her league, with her vocals completely
off-pitch, and her stage presence entirely lacking. It's 2011, and the media is
neither forgiving nor forgetting: Lana Del Rey's atrocious Saturday Night
Live performance
was a spectacle different from anything the show had experienced in the past.
While the show had seen a few blunders in their time – the Ashlee Simpson lip
synching fiasco, Kanye West's flat singing, or Sinead O'Connor ripping up a
photo of the Pope – the Del Rey situation is different in that she is a brand
new artist.
Del
Rey was booked entirely based on internet buzz and, quite honestly, a beautiful
face. Photos of her were everywhere, viral videos posted on every major site
leading some to believe she could legitimately be the next big thing; we bought
into something before we'd really tasted the product. SNL's booking of Del Rey
so early into her career was a serious misstep, considering that playing the
show is often a milestone for a developed or established artist. Perhaps the
shakiness of the deal was good for ratings, knowing that the world's eyes would
tune in to this up-and-comer.
That
said, it's hard not to question the judgment behind the booking, when everyone
from musician Juliette Lewis to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams
expressed distaste in Del Rey's performance. Popular New York record label DFA
Records tweeted, "Lana Del Rey plays Saturday Night Live next week. LCD Soundsystem
tried for 6 years to play Saturday Night Live. Isn't 'too soon' ok
advice?" Del Rey was only the second artist, following Natalie Imbruglia
in 1998, to appear on the show without an American release behind her. The
entertainment climate has changed significantly in those 14 years, and the
gamble could have gone either way.
Del
Rey is perfect in any other medium – her videos glossy, her recorded singles
catchy. Records can be altered, and money can be poured into any star, and
that's clearly the case here. Del Rey is the daughter of wealthy investor Rob
Grant, and early last year released material under her birth name Lizzie Grant.
With poor reception, that material was pulled, and Lizzie Grant underwent a
rebranding – styling the now Del Rey as a modern day Nancy Sinatra with vintage
frocks and lip injections.
This
part isn't really Del Rey's fault – she's the newest in a series of label
rebranding projects
that
effectively restarted the careers of artists like Alanis Morissette and Lady
Gaga before her. With a fresh look that was missing in the music landscape, Del
Rey with her floral headdresses and pouty face made a mark when her mug showed
up in music magazines and websites.
However,
her SNL performance
is a huge road sign that reads "Do Not Pass". Anyone can sound
half-decent on an album; look at recent releases from Paris Hilton and Lindsay
Lohan. The difference with those artists is that they're releasing vanity
albums for the sake of it, where Del Rey was marketed to music fans who know
better. People feel tricked in the game of style versus substance, and that's
going to be a hard one to bounce back from.
//Niggie Purrhnama & JJ Brewis, writers
//Graphics by JJ Brewis
//Niggie Purrhnama & JJ Brewis, writers
//Graphics by JJ Brewis
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