Our society (especially our youth) embraces the MANUFACTURED creations of record labels like Nicki Minaj & Lady Gaga for their supposed talent and originality. These women who are nothing of their true selves and mere characters on stage are being applauded for being just that, characters, who AREN'T REAL. Sorry to say but their gimmicks are entertaining & fun for the club, but what comes out of their mouth sounds like gibberish to me, nothing with real substance that will last the test of time. That only lasts so long and for people who go on the gossip blogs (ie. Irv Gotti's idiot self) to say that Nicki Minaj is on the same level, let alone worthy of being in the same sentence of Lauryn Hill, is truly stuck in some twisted reality. (Doo Wop: It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in. Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans. Fake nails done by Koreans. COME AGAIN) & while people want to keep questioning whatthefck Erykah Badu rocks & Lauryn Hill rocks, they've been dressing like that since Godknowswhen. Lady Gaga was a plain old Italian girl rocking Abercrombie & Fitch like the rest of us. If your talent spoke for itself, you don't need the gimmicks, the ridiculous wigs or the shiny leotards to fuckin' make a statement. Yea, I get that their realm of music is completely different from the one I am referencing to, that's fine, but I just hate seeing our youth buy into whack ass music, FUCKED UP images of what a real woman should be & so much $$$ going to these people when it could be going to better shit in the world.
I'm down for self expression but only when it comes from a TRUE place.
2 comments:
Lauryn Hill is just as manufactured as Britney Spears, Elvis and Dixie Chicks are. Being manufactured however is not an insult to their talents. Miss Spears has a great voice (for her style), dance skills and a mass appeal look. Before you dismiss the mass appeal factor, thats to say that Gisele Bundchen is not talented. Modeling and performing on a stage/runway is very demanding. It requires a demanding stage presence that few are born with. Britney, Gisele, Gaga, and Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, and Elvis all have this ability to control the crowd.
Now with all this talent, artists dream to be signed to a label to be exposed to the world. Music labels are a business. People work to pay their bills, feed their kids. Therefore, smart business decisions are made to promote artists who have the most potential to become stars. Britney has done that, Lauryn as well. But they couldn't have done it without the support of a label for their resources: money, talent development, marketing. Lauryn was marketed perfectly as to fill a void of a female MC who talked about social issues. No one else did that, so she became an icon for that niche.
Lauryn on her MTV unplugged album even expressed the stress of marketing that propelled her success, "I had created this public persona, this public illusion, and it held me hostage," Hill said during one of many interludes in which she talked to the audience. "I couldn't be a real person, because you're too afraid of what your public will say."
Lady Gaga is very similar to Lauryn, in that she is a pioneer and wants to express her views globally. Lauryn did that through her amazing album and in Sister Act 2. Gaga in the midst of the digital age is doing that through social media. 180 million views on youtube, fastest to reach 10 million followers on facebook (only equivalent is Michael Jackson). She has peoples ears listening, as Lauryn did.
Gaga purposely makes sing-a-long style dance music because of its global and marketing appeal. Lauryn did that do with the song you quoted "Doo Wop." Lauryn's message was social awareness, Gaga's message isn't through her music, its through her music videos. She has addressed people's celeb fixation in paparazzi, several gay rights issues and in her videos make female characters dominate not objectified.
Lauryn Hill is very talented. I bumped her album yesterday and it still sounds like its new. She's very interesting that people still talk about her when she goes in hiding. Lady Gaga is just as talented. She's everywhere right now because she's interesting and daring. Bottom line, both are artists, interesting, and each of their personas are so large that they overshadow their actual music.
Thanks for the comment Bryan. I get where you're coming from and I understand the business aspect that everyone has to be marketed in some way to appeal to the masses and reach their status as an icon. It’s the only way their message will be heard worldwide and indeed, it can’t be done without the backing of a label/smart business decisions. But if we want to talk about Britney Spears as a reference, her being marketed as a sex symbol at a young age, didn't really do her any good either. Maybe for record sales and profits, but she lost her Self.
For Lauryn, and in the quote you shared, I don't think she is backing marketing as the way in which she gained her success. I actually think she left the industry BECAUSE she wasn't down with how she was being marketed. She was being made into this public illusion that wasn't honest or aligned with her true self. If you listen to the other parts of the Unplugged Interludes, especially #5, she says...
"And I’m just glad that I don’t have to slave anymore. You know, music was my love, and because of everything I thought had to accompany my music it became my burden. It just got stolen from me..."
"...And so now, I understand that it was because I was measuring myself or trying to compare myself to a standard that wasn’t reality. It wasn’t the standard at all, you know... What are you trying to fit into a standard for? We were each created to be individual standards, you know. And we’re trying to fit into a standard? It doesn’t make any sense, So now, after all that, I’m just ready to be me."
So when she says she couldn't be a real person, that wasn't by choice, I think that was the result of her having to compromise herself for the powers that be.
I agree, Lady Gaga is interesting (fashion wise) and daring (performance wise) and definitely coming up at a different time in the digital age than Lauryn Hill did. But the way I feel about females & my own musical preferences in general, is that you can still be your true self and be talented and not have to hide behind a persona to seek fame & appeal to people. But that’s the entertainment business and what would it be without Lady Gaga (right now). She truly is an entertainer. They’re from different genres/ times in the industry and that’s fine. I’ll stick to the conscious emcees. :)
Much respect for the dialogue!
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