Post by The Fluorescent One on Jun 26, 2017 5:11:08 GMT
2008. How much do we all miss it now? Well, in 2008, we weren't missing it at all! The economy did The Titanic, political tensions were pulling families, friends, and Sheryl Crow's relationships apart, gas and grocery prices were astronomic, the paparazzi were declaring war on celebrities, everyone was laughing at the idea of a black President, and... with all of this going on, you'd sure expect our culture - especially music - to have looked like it was about to take a significant dive in offering the people its usual overdose of opulence. Right? (I have 3 characters for you: V. H. 1.)
Enter, one: Lady Gaga. Sure, she started small. Her hype campaign, as far as mainstream exposure was concerned, was relegated to a small vlog series on YouTube and a wave of praise from gay fanboys which would soon become impossible to ignore despite the eventual and quite powerful backlash to her image. Which, again, you might assume had something to do with her album's themes of fetishizing the trappings of immense wealth and celebrity culture. No... it was her clothes. Mainstream America found her alienating because of her kooky designer outfits... Talk about bitchy / catty.
Well, initially I'd decided that I had already gone through enough hell defending Millennial Madonna against the ageists and haters, and I'd already chosen my pop diva camp of the lot with Gwen Stefani (at the time, I would have followed her through a decade of average follow-ups based on my passion for Love. Angel. Music. Baby.), I was ready to just ignore her completely. Either I wasn't really taking advantage of YouTube, and I guess in 2008 Vevo wasn't yet what it would become in the following year, in previewing new artists when they were up and coming. Or I flat-out just didn't care about what was popular. Which (the latter) couldn't have been true since I took right to major hits by Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, I even had to admit that I was digging New Britney.
In fact, Britney's Blackout / Circus makeover might have been the perfect justification for ignoring Lady Gaga initially. As well as Slant Magazine's review of her debut album, The Fame, which amounted to taking her to task for what seemed like her flaunting materialistic drooling over fashion and metaphoric(?) drug culture to any semblance of activism or confronting the status quo. (The fact that we still don't really have that, no apology to Katy Perry necessary, other than Beyoncé's "Formation" video might be one of the reasons social media is turning into such a toilet pool for organized, weaponized communities of bullying and harassment attacking anyone who expect people on the internet to take responsibility for their behavior.)
Compared to Gaga, who (yeah) Madonna was anything but amused by as she began her first year racking up megahits, Britney had perfectly plugged into the spirit of the rebel experience: dance like everyone's watching and it will somehow free the human race of oppression. Dance as communal / tribal love protest against all manner of corporate, legislative, morality policing foe. Or, to be critical, perhaps it was just another hollow attempt of Britney's Publicity Machine to mirror Madonna's flawless sense of public image transformation. I mean... you explain "3" as anything other than a horrific, vacuous copycat of Katy Perry's already questionable "I Kissed a Girl" (<- YouTube's upload of the music video is 9 years old this month).
Eventually, however, I think it became clear (maybe "3" just exacerbated things) that Britney was doing what she always did (be she not girl or not yet woman)- look like she was being fed the steps to her faux late 20's empowerment trip. Britney lacked authenticity as well as originality. And if Gaga did one thing better than Britney, it was own her image. Not to mention she arrived on the scene as one hell of a package: she was always an ArtPop "Princess." She was educated; locked, loaded, and ready to take on anyone who'd challenge her credentials. She was a true feminist and whipped any negativity from the press based on her gender right back at them. She had a performance artist background, as well as a keen appreciation for artists of all worlds. Developing fast relationships with designers and art world professionals.
And, yeah, she managed to parlay all of this into a millennial pop music career to rival competing projects by Britney, Fergie, Rihanna, Madonna, Katy Perry, and Beyoncé. Though only Madonna and Britney's fans seemed to have a problem with that. (Oh, and the likes of Joanna Newsom. Who sort of inspires me to: Joanna Who? Not a good look on a feminist.) Turns out, thanks in large part to Britney's 2007 stripper chic rebirth and "Gimme More"'s buzzy, thudding I Know Who Killed Me electro pole dance, the tune of pop at the time was changing radically. (Though, really, didn't Aaliyah kind of get there first?) (The answer is: yes.) (Hip-hop producers as well as Ladytron, Peaches, and electroclash kind of co-authored the EDM revolution as we know it.)
Her instant popularity with gay music lovers is eventually what lead to me giving Gaga a spin (on Napster, which I was actually a paying member-of for maybe 19 months from 2009-10). Unlike Tyler Oakley (who was such a big fan that upon meeting her he was able to get a high quality picture taken with her strictly for his social media accounts), I wasn't impressed right away. Why? Due mainly to my harsh political stances against the kind of Let's Ignore Our Problems that fueled zombie culture during the Bush Administration which gave us reality TV like Laguna Beach and The Hills, scripted TV like Two and a Half Men, The Shield, N.C.I.S., Entourage, 24, and Rescue Me, horror films like Saw, The Ruins, Wrong Turn, and Turistas, etc. The world was just not a fun place at the time. Not at all.
Hence why I think I felt bad after writing Gaga off. And I tried, once leaving high school in June of 2002 (not to mention, after the events of and following 9/11), to stop bashing people for liking whatever music they liked. Though I still had to sling a little eyeroll Britney's way. (Guys, gimme a break here.) But eventually, it proved Gaga couldn't be written off anyway. Cut to: "Bad Romance." Or, the moment Gaga took over the world. (Too bad that reign wouldn't last, right?)
(To Be Continued.)